Two new favorite things to eat in Vegas:

1. The quail terrine on the charcuterie platter at Daniel
Boulud Brasserie in the Wynn.

2. The blueberry blintzes in the cafe at Green Mountain Ranch.

I was only there three days, and spent a lot of time
winning poker tournaments, so I only had time for three
really good meals.

The SW Steakhouse at the Wynn is pretty good. I've made
better steak, but there's nothing wrong with this one.
Boneless Prime strip (also comes bone-in if you wish) done
ala Pittsburgh. I think they fumbled it by leaving it in
the window for a minute or two too long, so by the time
it got to me there was no sizzle to the sear. The two
side dishes I chose, however, were excellent. One was
a Hen of the Woods mushroom. Beautiful fungus, that.
The other was a puree of Yukon Gold potatoes. For an app
I got a heirloom-tomato caprese on a slip of proscuitto
with a nice, syrupy balsamic. That was tasty, too.

That was Monday night. Tuesday night I moved 60 feet to
the left to eat at Daniel Boulud Brasserie. *Much* better
experience. If you're going to get into the charcuterie
fad, this is the spot. 7 kinds of cold prepped meat on
a marble tile. My favorite was the quail terrine. I
threatened to order more of that for dessert (but of course
by the end was too full, dang it). Second was the
rabbit rillette, followed closely by the smoked duck breast
proscuitto (tiny pieces; maybe the size of a lemon twist;
but powerful). There were cubes of a nice chunky pate'
with crunchy bits of salt in it. Mortadella that they
said was made in-house, sopressata that they said was
not. Both okay. Thin-sliced ham, but I forget exactly
what kind. Home-made assorted pickles were a bit sweet.

I also tried the onion soup. I've hade better, but I was
nuts about the girl who made it for me, so maybe it was
only a little better and I remember it moreso. The unique
thing about Boulud's is the inclusion of chunks of braised
beef shank. Definitely brought it up a few ticks.

Main course was the Moules Frites. An enormous pile of
the tenderest mussels I've ever had. The fries are darned
good, but struck me as an up-sizing of McDonald's recipe.
I guess I was looking for something more like a refinement
of In-n-Out's. But it wasn't like I wasn't going to get
them the next night.

Which I did. I rolled in to Boulud again to try some
more things I'd seen on the menu. Well, one more thing.
The crispy duck confit. The nice lady next to me
recommended that I ask for it extra crispy or it wouldn't
be crispy at all. So in addition to being a total hottie,
she was also a cogent foodie. I got it her way, and the
fries on the side.

Brunch at Green Mountain Ranch was serendipitous.
I was driving out of town and decided that since it's
right along the freeway and not very busy it would be
a good place to park and nosh. And the food turned out
to be great. Even better than most casino cafe' meals.
Especially the blintzes. Three chubby crepes with
creme-fraiche filling (that's what "sour cream" means in
blintz lingo) and fresh berries, plus a side of blueberry
coulis that worked best when used very sparingly.

Oh yeah, and I won 5 grand in a poker tournament. So
I forget what the food cost, and I'm not sure why I
bothered to come home...

--Blair