Cheer Up With Food

In the past few years there have been a rising popularity of tapas style restaurants in Las Vegas.   Forte European Tapas Bar & Bistro  has got to be one of the top tapas places in town!  Just upon entering I saw vibrant European art all over the bistro and the music selection was great - I really wanted to dance, but of course had to eat!  Forte serves a variety of tapas/comfort foods from regions all throughout Europe like Russia , Spain , and Bulgaria .   To see more of their menu, click here : A cocktail to start off the night.  To see what they make, click here :  Plov  ( Uzbeki style vegetarian pilaf )- the spices used to make this plov was pleasing to my palate!  Eating any type of rice is my weakness: Adjarski Khachapurri - this is a traditional Georgian boat-shaped bread filled with Georgian style pickled cheeses and a cracked egg.  Forget pizza, I could eat this all day: Their clay pot meal cooked the Thracian way: Bulgarian M

On April 20th @ 9PM,  Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown will be airing it's Las Vegas  episode on CNN .   Bourdain explores different sides of my hometown (yes, there's more than just The Strip ).  He goes to restaurants raved by the locals such as Raku , Eat. , and The Bootlegger .  Also, Bourdain goes to fine dining restaurants like é by José Andrés  and Restaurant Guy Savoy .  I am glad that the topic of the drought in Las Vegas is mentioned, which is something that cannot be ignored (conservation is important!).  The people that accompany Bourdain in this episode include food author Michael Ruhlman , artist  Anthony Bondi , illusionist  Penn Jillette , and former mayor Oscar Goodman .  Here's a preview to the Las Vegas episode or you may see it here :

Aureole Las Vegas  at the  Mandalay Bay , has recently launched an event called  #ChasingThursdays .  Every Thursday Aureole will be offering exclusive cigar pairings from  Nat Sherman , showcasing a cast of hard-to-find and wines from their " Unusual Suspects " wine list all priced at $39 per bottle, and will have menu items 20% off (except Happy Hour menu, small plates, and the $39 wine bottles... Still a good deal though for a fine dining restaurant!).  You get to enjoy all of this while listening to live jazz music and overlooking the swans at Aureole's outdoor patio. I love the aesthetics of this place: Happy Hour deals: Aureole's four-story wine tower.  The Wine Steward Angels are the ones who retrieve the wines: Some of the wines I saw while walking up and down the stairs that wrap around the wine tower: My husband here sippin on some 2007 Domaine Monte de Luz Tannat: The  tannat  is a red wine grape prominent in  Uruguay :

Last February I travelled to Berkeley , CA for a few days.  I was lucky to arrive on a weekend where it was pouring with rain!  Even though I didn't go to a lot of places due to the weather, I'm still glad I got to eat at these restaurants:  Suya African-Caribbean Grill On my first day, my tour guides, Emily and Tammy, recommended that I try  Suya  for lunch.  There's not much African-Caribbean restaurants from my hometown, so I gladly wanted to check out Suya: We all got a combination meal.  I chose to the Tilapia Fish with flatbread, grilled plantain, and grilled corn.  The fish was lightly flavored to me, yet it was distinct.  The sauce and grilled sides were nice add-ons to the meal: Emily got the Grilled Beef on a skewer with grilled corn and rice: Tammy got the Grilled Chicken on a skewer with the same sides I got: All these meats and fish were seasoned with Suya Pepper, a distinctive custom spice made with Jerk Seasoning , Scotch