Final Vegas thoughts- Emeril's and 'wichcraft

We had tickets to see Ka, a Cirque du Soleil production, on our last night. This severely limited our dining options that night. The debate between an early or late dinner was won with 5:30 reservations for Emeril's New Orleans Fish House. Listed by the MGM as a casual dining option, the restaurant impressed us. We let the waitress know we had tickets (the theater was just across the casino floor) and she expedited our meal while still letting us enjoy our dinner.

Neither of us remembers the specifics of the meal (attribute that to too much wine in the sun at the pool, the fact that we ate appetizers and entrees at a record breaking pace, and that two weeks have passed since our visit), but I do remember well cooked fish and interesting flavors. I'd do it again for mid priced Vegas dining that happens to be conveniently located in the hotel in which we are staying.

The surprise meal of the vacation happened by chance. After hiking the strip from end to end and taking the monorail back to the MGM I was starving and could not wait until dinner. I wanted something healthy, yet tasty. Something filling, but not fatty. Passing by the typical fast food, we stopped at 'wichcraft, a sandwich shop operating in the Craft family of restaurants run by Tom Colicchio. I was going to get a warm roasted turkey sandwich when my attention was caught by the roasted pork, cabbage, jalapeno, and mustard sandwich. Served on a surpisingly good ciabatta roll, this sandwich blew me away. The spice of the mustard and the jalapeno, the flavor of the pork, and the crunchy mouth feel of the cabbage combined for several of my most pleasing food minutes of the vacation.

The only other food pleasure I wish to report on is my renewed appreciation for drinking inexpensive wine out of plastic bottles in the sun. In Greece we would buy 2 liter bottles of wine and ration them out into half liter water bottles to take with us on our daily journeys. There is something so wonderfully refreshing about simply enjoying wine as a beverage. I love a fine wine as much as the next guy, but I love being reminded that the pleasure of wine is not only in its flavor and complexity, but in its ability to slightly gild the the little moments of life and to create a community experience for those participating.