Browse Category: outta here

Would you like some meat with your meat?

Last night’s dinner was such a treat. We ate at StripSteak inside Mandalay Bay. It was absolutely ridiculous. We tried three different grades of beef last night: Prime, Kobe, and A5. They also make foie gras sliders (mini burgers) and specialize in Rib Cap (otherwise known to me as Outside Rib Eye). On top of that we had some pretty cool appetizers, sides, and fried dessert. Apparently Karrie (Kev’s wife) knows a lot of people in the industry because their general manager came out to greet us and we got complimentary champagne and duck fat fries. The service was also very good. When the main courses and sides came out, it took about 4-5 people to carry it all out at once and each dish was explained with great detail. It’s also one of those places where they refold your napkin each time to get up to use the restroom. Here are some photos of the dishes. I must say this was a very indulgent dinner. (The photos are a little grainy because of the low light and no flash.)

foie gras sliders
foie gras sliders…so greedy
kobe carpaccio
kobe carpaccio ($165 – yikes!)

prime rib
my prime rib with side of truffle mac n cheese and creamed spinach
It was rather large but I shared most of it with the table.

Man, it’s probably time for me to detox this week with a bowl of oatmeal per day…maybe two.

Viva Las Vegas…sorta.

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I’m writing from Las Vegas right now. We’re staying at Kevin’s house just 20 mins from The Strip. It’s our usual Vegas trip, no gambling, no drinking, no crazy nights. Just a lot of driving around, hanging out at the house, and tasting some good food. We got up early this morning to catch an 8 am flight and were picked up by Kev himself. We stopped at the Whole Foods to buy some breakfast and spent the rest of the morning at the house. Jes was on a conference call all morning and I played around with a new software that allows you to stitch multiple photos together for a cool panoramic photo.

Later, we drove to The Venetian to check out some photos in a gallery. We then walked over to Wynn, which I had never seen before.  I’m not sure what all the hype is about because it was plus/minus…your average high-end casino. Next stop was Bellagio to check out their Christmas-themed atrium packed with fake snow, huge polar bears made of carnations, and jumping water fountains. We then came back to the house to enjoy the tastiest ham and cheese sandwiches ever. They’re found at the Bouchon Bakery on the first floor of The Venetian. It’s an extension of Thomas Keller’s Bouchon (also owner and founder of The French Laundry). The sandwich was so simple but so yummy…good french bread, ham, cheese, and butter. They also had really good macaroons (big ones) and their Napolean is pretty good too. Johnny – I’m going to have to bring back a macaroon to show you what it should really taste like.

Monterey

jellyfish2.jpgThis past weekend we went to Monterey to visit the fishies at the aquarium. Last week when I checked the weather forecast, it said it was supposed to rain on Saturday but it was actually really nice! The sun was out and there was a full moon at night. The Monterey Bay Aquarium was just as I remembered plus some new additions. The main attraction was the Great White Shark that they had in their deep sea exhibit. I think it was still a juvenile so he was not as big as I expected but his teeth and famous “Jaws” face was still rather intimidating. They also had a Jellyfish exhibit where they framed some of the tanks to make them look like moving paintings. They called it “Living Art”.

For dinner, we ate at Fresh Cream. We had a nice view of the harbor and the food was yummy. The only drawback for Jes was the huge portion size. He ordered lamb and ended up with at least 9 ribs. They also gave us a complimentary strawberry shortcake and port in celebration of our wedding anniversary. That was nice.

In the meantime, Johnny was watching Koa for the weekend. I think they both had a good time together. Koa got to run on the beach, visit the Farmers’ Market, and walk around a new neighborhood with new scents to mark. When we got home last night, the dog crashed since he probably didn’t sleep well in such a new environment. Thanks for the rides and watching the dog, Brother.

Here are photos from this weekend.

He’s so proud and excited.


This is Bang, Jes, and Ryan pretending to be wedding guests.

On Friday, Jes and I drove Jimmy’s Subi into the city to take care of some pre-wedding stuff. Our first stop was the tux shop where the tux guy that Bang BOUGHT his tux from didn’t remember him. What an *ss. The guy was so obnoxious and kept checking out Jesse’s butt when he tried on the tux. Anyway, we ended up having to pay an arm and a leg for parking there for an hour, which didn’t make that errand any more pleasant.

Since Jes had a 12:30 conference call, we didn’t really have a chance to eat anything…except for the can of Chef Boyardee Ravioli that we found in Jimmy’s cupboard. That was yummy, by the way. So, we stopped for lunch on the way to rehearsal. We found a place called The Grove and the turkey, avocado, bacon sandwich on sourdough was so good. It really made me miss San Francisco or just living in a city where you can find quality food like that. The interesting part about that place was when we walked in, there were people seated along the wall on a long bench all with their laptops out on the tables. It felt like study hall and I had forgotten my textbooks.

Rehearsal was at the Flood Mansion on Broadway and Fillmore. It’s a hundred-year mansion that is now an all-girls private school. The wedding will take place on the main floor in the hallway. There’s an awesome view of the city and the bay since it’s at the top of the hill. We got to see Big Yao (Bang’s dad) and he was so happy that his only son was getting married. I gave him a big hug and said, “Congratulations!” and he said, “Oh, THANK YOU THANK YOU!” Big Yao’s so proud and excited.

Once that was done, we had dinner at PPQ Dungeness Island. It’s a Vietnamese seafood restaurant that gave us bibs and we grubbed on crab (of course), pork, beef, and garlic noodles. Afterwards, we decided to head back to Jimmy’s since I was tired, Huy and his sisters’ flights were delayed, and Jes wanted to go back and WoW-it-up.

Semi-Day-Off

Jes and I flew up to San Francisco last night so that Jes could help get ready for tomorrow’s wedding. Unfortunately, we’re both “working from home” and need to be by a computer at least part of the day. Jes’ boss is even asking him to go into the office today for a pointless meeting. I’m not sure how he’s going to get out of that but he will. I’ve already answered two work calls this morning and now I’m feeling the pressure of having to finish the three reports that are due Monday. *sigh*

Anyhoo…we’re now at Jimmy’s awesome pad in Alameda. He’s ballin’ with his 1500 sqft house complete with backyard and driveway and has graciously allowed us to stay in it this weekend. Now we have to figure out how to get to the city by 2pm for a tux fitting. Take Jimmy’s car? Take BART? Hm…

left out

I’m missing another photo class tonight.  I have to catch a plane to SF tonight.  Luckily, I have my instructor’s email and he gave me my assignments.  They’re actually going on an outing to take photos of the lake at sunset.  Boo…that sounds like fun.

Well, we’re going to be in SF this weekend.  The party should be fun and the weather should be nice and crisp…just as I like it.