😋 Exhilarating, dizzying, and downright delicious. That was my experience at “Vegas Unstripped,” the annual chef-driven culinary festival at Palms Casino Resort.
It took place over a week ago, but the memory of the bold taste sensations served up continue to dance in my mind. Guests packed the hotel’s pool area, forming lines at all the food stations to sample and luxuriate in the “one-of-a-kind dishes that chefs design exclusively for the festival,” and meet the chefs themselves. It was like culinary speed dating for three straight hours, and you could wash all these creative dishes down with imaginative craft cocktails by the city’s star bartenders.
There was one highlight after another including, from Chef Joe Valdez at Basilico, a fabulous Italian/Korean dish—“cappelletti filled with pork bulgogi sausage and topped with Gochugaru scallions”—that may have been created on Mars. Folks also made beelines for uber-Chef James Trees’ terrific New Zealand lamb tartare with tomato raita,” billed as “Za’atar Banh Khot,” which I think was a Middle Eastern and Vietnamese mashup. The deeply satisfying Asian egg salad sando—on milk bread with miso mayo and shrimp yuzu furikake—was also designed to take everyone higher, thanks to Chef Jackson Stamper at Ada’s Food + Wine.
How could I exit without dessert? The sweet-and-smooth coconut panna cotta with “mango mousse and passion jelly fruits”—from Chef Yuku Takamizawa at Moignet In Chinatown—made me float away into the night. ⬅️ Swipe for pix.
@vegasunstripped @thefeastoffriends #lasvegasmixtape
