Vegas Trip- Michael Mina Restaurant + Serendipity 3 + Much More!

A few weeks ago (on Friday, at 4PM, to be precise), The Man was requested by his new boss to make a last minute research trip to Vegas!  Wow.

Photo credit McCollough Photography

I thought it was a joke at first... and in anticipation of that, his email went like this, "My boss wants me to Vegas this weekend as part of our research. No joke.  Do you want to come on Saturday?".  So off we went on the first of 2 Vegas excursions that week (we already had plans to go the following week for a wedding).   It was perfect also, because our friends (from my earlier Providence post) were still in town, and it was Diane's 2nd time in the States.  What better way to show foreigners the excesses that the States have to offer than with a trip to Las Vegas?  We are NOT by any means regulars in Las Vegas... it was actually my first trip there with The Man in the 4 years we've been together in Los Angeles.  (We had both been separately at various times... but now we were making up for lost time by going twice in a week).



 That Saturday, we woke up, ate breakfast, then set out on our journey.  I'm not really one for road trips, but this one was particularly fun because it was so spur of the moment.  On the way there, we looked up restaurants and decided that the Michael Mina restaurant had exactly what we were looking for.  There was 2 different tasting menus, as well as ala carte fare that was decadent enough to continue our week of rich and luxurious dinners.

The boys got the Cookbook Tasting Menu and the girls ordered the ZD Tasting Menu... But of course, in our regular fashion, E and I shared all the food.  We like to "split and switch", or just eat off each other's plates  =)  Here's the photo tour of our delicious meal at Michael Mina that night.:

Happy bellies at the end of dinner

Watermelon, Watercress + Goat Cheese Amuse Bouche

A's Sashimi of Dill Cured Hamachi w/ Salmon roe, cucumber + honeydew gazpacho

E's Caviar Parfait- w/ smoked salmon and shallot potato cake- Potato put this dish OVER THE TOP!

A's Blackened Butter Poached Lobster w/ Corn Succotash

Yup- definitely into it!

E's GLUTEN Lobster pot pie-  It looked and smelled AMAZING- so sad I couldn't try it

HAHAHA- Just the smell of butter put him over the top.  E was still full from our meals earlier that week.

E- Very pleased after a few bites

A's Roasted California Quail- Dark fruits, bacon wrapped foie gras- Delicious!

E's Dry Aged Rib Eye w/ Seared Foie Gras- at this pt, starting to think Foie Gras at 2 meals in a week is absurd.

A's Herb Roasted Rib Eye, Braised shortrib stuffed tomato w/ balsamic bordelaise

Ended the meal w/ TINY root beer floats!

Onto the next day... E made a stop at the conference, while us girls kept ourselves busy at Serendipity 3.  Ever since I was a wee child, I had dreams of going to Serendipity in New York, but somehow timing (and my parent's interest in going to a chocolate shop) never quite worked out in my favor.

So here we were... at Serendipity 3, with my very first Frozen Hot Chocolate!

And then it was time to head home.  Great, quickie trip to Vegas.  Just long enough to eat and see all we wanted to.