Apologies for my absence - Judd and I were visiting family in the Southwest and just returned home last night.
I was a very irresponsible blogger and left my camera in my suitcase for our entire week (with the exception of our visit to the above-featured scenic lookout in Sedona, Arizona). But here is a recap of some of the culinary highlights of our trip:
Las Vegas, Nevada
We celebrated my uncle's birthday with a fantastic dinner at B&B at the Venetian Hotel. Those "b's" stand for Batali and Bastianich, the award-winning pair behind Babbo, Otto, Lupa, Del Posto, etc. And two of my personal heroes. In fact, I have a framed photo of Mario Batali in my kitchen. I have given those guys a lot of my money over the years, and we gave them even more last week. The menu at B&B is almost identical to the menu at Babbo, one of my very favorite places on nights when it is not filled with tourists. I had a memorable first course at B&B - grilled ramps (wild onions/leeks that only grow in the spring - my first time ordering ramps! they kind of taste like scallions, but milder), tossed in a vinaigrette, and served with burrata. In honor of my uncle's birthday, they gave us a bonus pasta course, penne carbonara with lamb pancetta, along with a nice red wine wine pairing. For my entree, I ordered pappardelle bolognese, which is my favorite item on the Babbo menu. It was just as good at B&B, though I think the serving was a little smaller. I especially loved my glass of Bastianich Tocai Friulano "Tocai Plus" - good thing, since it was $35 for a quartino (!!!).
No trip to Las Vegas for me is complete without a stop at Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris Hotel. I love French brasserie food and I really love the fountain at the Bellagio Hotel, which Mon Ami Gabi's patio overlooks. Which means a wonderful meal is made even better against the backdrop of the dancing water shows from the fountain in the Bellagio's 8-acre lake. Our waitress steered me toward scallops instead of steak since they serve grain-fed beef, which she explained would have a gamey flavor. The scallops were great, and, as always happens with scallops, too few in number. Am I the only person out there who can eat more than 4 scallops?
Flagstaff, Arizona
Believe it or not, it was snowing in Flagstaff when we arrived on Thursday afternoon. Yes, you read that right. Snowing in Arizona. In the last week of April. I didn't realize that Flagstaff is actually 7000 ft above sea level - think Park City, Utah - and it often gets lots of snow well in to the late spring. For lunch, we stopped at Josephine's Modern American Bistro, a particularly cozy place to eat on a cold snowy day. After snacking on some roasted red pepper hummus on warm curry-flavored pita, I had a delicious crab cake salad with a roasted corn and cilantro vinaigrette. I recommend it very highly if you ever find yourself in Flagstaff.
Kingman, Arizona
On our last night visiting Judd's mom in Kingman, we had dinner at Cracker Barrel, a guilty pleasure of mine. For my fellow NYC natives, let me explain: Cracker Barrel is part old country store, part southern/comfort food restaurant. There are almost 600 of them all over the country, most of which are right near a big highway, but I'd never been inside a Cracker Barrel until I met Judd. In fact, I didn't even know they were restaurants - they all have rocking chairs outside, so I thought they were furniture stores that maybe also sold Cracker Barrel cheese. (FYI - they do sell those rocking chairs in the country store part of the restaurant, but don't sell Kraft cheddar cheese.) On this visit, I ordered fried chicken tenderloins (more commonly known as chicken fingers) with macaroni and cheese and coleslaw. Decadent, I know. Most of their entrees come with cornbread OR a biscuit, but since I couldn't decide, our waitress offered me one of each - lucky me! Not healthy, not fresh, not fancy but extremely delicious.
I am happy to be back home, though this Times Square car bomb has me feeling a little rattled. I soothed my frayed nerves this afternoon by making a huge pot of marinara sauce with the nearly 7-pound can of San Marzano tomatoes that I picked up at Costco a few weeks ago. It helped.
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