suburbanwhisk

In August, I was able to take a long weekend to Las Vegas with my husband. Right there, it was a very different trip as if it is was a bachelorette party. Using our American Express points, we were able to able to score our flight and hotel for free. Little did we know when I planned the trip, it was going to be restaurant week. There were great deals to be found.

STAY: Palazzo – The Palazzo hotel is connected to the Venetian hotel at the north end of the strip. It is across the street from the Wynn and a mall. I noted to my husband, that this is one of the only hotels in a city that I actually never wanted to leave. Everything I needed for a relaxing vacation was part of this resort. The room was huge, approximately the size of our first apartment. We were able to use the pool at Palazzo or Venetian. We tended to choose the Palazzo side, as it was not as active as the Venetian side. It should be noted that each side also had a day club. TAO Beach Club was on the Venetian side.

EAT: Obviously, the most important part of the trip! Due to the great deals of restaurant week and not wanting to leave the hotel, I did violate my main rule – Do not eat at a restaurant that you can have in the city.

Lavo: We had brunch here our first day here. Being a guest of the hotel, we received bottomless mimosas (nothing wrong with this) and 30% off. Hubster had a Lobster Benedict and I had blueberry pancakes. Look at these beauties.

Michael Mina: My parents ate here a few years ago. All they have spoke about Vegas, is this meal. Being restaurant week, we got a three course meal for $50, along with wine pairings for an additional $25. I had miso cod, which was not as salty as it could be. My husband found a wine that he loved that he would have never considered before.

Hubby didn’t think he ate or drank enough after this meal. On our way back to the Palazzo from the Bellagio, we stopped off at B&B Burger and Beer. Hubby had a huge burger along with a chocolate milkshake made with chocolate beer.

Morels French Steakhouse & Bistro: We needed a restaurant that would allow children for brunch as we met up with some friends who relocated to Vegas. Sometimes, this is a hard feat. Their restaurant week deal was a three course meal for $20. Unfortunately, there were no drink specials. I had a stuffed French Toast with mascarpone cheese.

B&B Ristorante: Four Batali and Bastianch courses for $50 along with unlimited Fruitano. I’m there. Each course was better than the other. I ate some braised beef, which is very rare for me. It was very good. Each course was so much food that by the third course (main meal), I was almost full. The apricot and peach sorbets were very light at the end.

Wicked Spoon: This buffet gets decent reviews. They tried hard to make fancier dishes. We went for Monday lunch.

CUT: This steakhouse has a bar menu that you can get along with the steaks by the bar. We ordered a bunch of small plates. Each dish was very good. The only bad thing is that they did not participate in restaurant week.

Before we left we went to Emeril Lagasse’s Stadium. This restaurant is a stadium seating of couches along with lots of televisions to watch sports.

Long Island looks like a giant fish. In that island, there are two boroughs of New York City, Nassau County and Suffolk County. Most people tend to only hear of the South Fork for the Hamptons and Montauk. My favorite spot on Long Island is the North Fork. There are 20 miles of vineyards along with numerous farm stands. Whenever I go there, I do not feel that I am on Long Island. Take a look for yourself.

(above picture from my friend)

If you live locally, you can easily make it a day trip. It is about 60-70 miles from my house. If you choose, there are a bunch of places/bed and breakfasts/motels that you can stay at.

On this particular daytrip, I went to three vineyards along another couple. It was a gray day with misting rain, so I was not looking for places with a large uncovered patio.

Palmer Vineyards – We sat in their covered patio. This vineyard allows you to bring your own food. This is a plus as not all places allow you too. They also offer food from a food truck along with treats from Greenport’s Noah’s. You are only allowed to taste by the glass or tasting here. They do not allow open bottles, unlike other places. I got a tasting that included three whites and one rose.

Schinn Estate Vineyards and Farmhouse – We got a bottle to split while we sat outside. At first, it was misting rain, but it cleared up. We also tasted two glasses of wine. No outside food was allowed, but we were so full from the prior vineyard with our snacks of cheese and crackers, potato chips, and vegetables.

Kontokosta Vineyard – This vineyard is opened until 6PM -Which is a good thing when you are headed towards an earlier dinner reservation in Greenport. What is nice about this vineyard is that you can take the bottle or glass of wine and walk outside towards the bluff. The bluff overlooks the Long Island Sound. While it was gray outside, it was still peaceful.

We headed into Greenport for dinner. We ate at Noah’s, which is a mostly small plate restaurant. The roasted garlic bruschetta was a favorite of mine.

Before we headed home, we stopped at the bar of First and South. They had wine on tap from some of the vineyards. After another glass of rose, we headed home.

There are only three more weekends until the unofficial summer closing. This trip can be done at any time, including the winter.

What are some of your favorite wineries?

suburbanwhisk

Travel

Suburbanwhisk travels…to Las Vegas

Suburbanwhisk Travels… to the North Fork