From Vegas with love: Part .5

We returned home from Vegas last Friday, insanely jet-lagged but otherwise intact. Aren't you dying to know what we ate while we were there? Of course you are. So back to the beginning...

Our plane got in around noon on Superbowl Sunday, so after we checked in and scoped out the Bellagio sports book (goes without saying: I lost every bet I made. Damn Colts), we went in search of lunch. Or maybe it was dinner? See also: jet lag.

Regardless, we ended up scarfing a wonderful lunch at Mon Ami Gabi, at the Paris hotel. It was delicious and just what we both wanted-- burgers and salad and delicious fresh, warm French bread-- but I had forgotten my camera. Wah-wahh.

Fast forward to later that afternoon, when we decided we wanted dinner. Around halftime, we ventured forth from the hotel to find a meal, and perhaps a TV. We ended up deep within the Crystals mall, part of the new crazy City Center complex. (A photo of City Center follows, just in case.) We were both so hungry, we didn't really care where we ended up, so we parked our butts at Brasserie Puck, one of Wolfgang's newest Vegas outposts. We sat in the bar area, which had a sick clear flatscreen TV hanging from the ceiling.

Crazy architectural angles

Our server was clearly bummed about working during the Superbowl, and as such he compensated by being incredibly obnoxious. After desperately trying to upsell us on "specialty cocktails," he revisited our table so many times we were convinced that if we only gave him the slightest encouragement, he would have pulled up a chair and joined our party. But more importantly, our food: after placing our order, a cheerful runner brought bread. This was spectacular bread-- warm, and clearly just-baked warm just from the oven, not re-heated warm. There was butter and chicken liver mousse. We ate the butter.

Deeeeeeelish

Then the real food: AV chose an organic mesclun salad and a pizza margherita. He scarfed the greens, claiming if there were a greens-eating contest he could eat about two dozen of those plates. And then he set on the pizza, which I tried as well. The crust was whisper thin and cracker crisp, the most barely-there crust you could imagine. It made the pizza light but overall more like a tomato cracker than a pizza. Especially since the mozzarella was pooled rather than scattered-- as AV put it, there was about one delicious bite per piece. Oh well.

Greens & parm

Can you spot the six delicious bites?

I chose a roasted beet salad with candied walnuts and fromage blanc. This plate was beautifully presented, with all different colors of beets decorating the plate. The little dollops of fromage blanc were the texture of mayonnaise but had the mild flavor of cheese. The only part of the salad I didn't like too much were the stealth sections of grapefruit hiding among the leaves.

Like something out of Willy Wonka

Overall, Brasserie Puck satisfied our hunger, but the only truly standout part of the meal was the bread. A good introduction to the Vegas food scene, it primed our palates for the delicious meals to come...

Brasserie Puck
Crystals at CityCenter
3720 Las Vegas Blvd. South #240
702-238-1000