Carnevino

On our last night in Las Vegas, my husband and I had a reservation at Carnevino - and it was truly one of the best meals I've ever had. (It's a Mario Batali / Joe Bastianich venture.)

We started with a farm fresh duck egg, which came with arugula and bacon.

We also had Carne Cruda Alla Piemontese (chopped to order Steak Tartare with raw mushrooms):

We ordered the special rib eye for two, which was aged for six-and-a-quarter months. This was definitely one of the best steaks I've had; it was amazing. (We'd also ordered sides of Italian broccoli with house smoked pork and brussels sprouts with pancetta.)

The steak was carved table side; the meat was remvoed from the bone, which was then put on a plate and placed at our table; were were "encouraged" to gnaw the bone because there was still meat attached and "a lot of flavor." My husband was...well, quite delighted that he had blanket permission to do this; I had just about to tell him he wasn't allowed to gnaw the bone!

It was required that we get dessert. (That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.) I got the carrot cake, which came with mascarpone.

Dal Toro

We didn't have many plans today, my husband and I; indeed, this afternoon we had none. This evening we had dinner plans, and afterwards we had tickets to the Blue Man Group, but until Mass later this afternoon, we had nothing going on. I was interested in seeing the Venetian and the gondolas (if for no other reason than to proclaim them not as good as the "real thing" I'd seen in Venice as a kid). We had lunch first at Dal Toro at the Palazzo, because it seemed apropos to have Italian food, before wandering around the rest of the Venetian.

We started off with some Meatballs Szifiose (Naples-style meatballs topped with mozzarella cheese and pesto served with saffron blue cheese dipping sauce). 

Both my husband and I got a panini with prime rib, herbed mayo, and cheese (provolone on his, mozzarella on mine).