The Insider Posts, Page 12

Ronnie Rainwater, Delmonico Chef de Cuisine and Duroc pig exhibitor, softly-stated our journey for the next 90 minutes in one sentence: “We used every part of the pig and just tried to be true to our restaurant and showcase the whole hog, using everything but the squeal.”

Hearing this made me a bit fearful as we anxiously awaited to travel the mapped menu of the hog’s carcass. I’m not a big fan of pork – except for the mainstream cuts of pork belly, bacon, and carnitas – and I was curious to see if this menu tasted roughly the same. Pork is pork, right? ‘The other white meat.’

I’m from a small town in Colorado known as Loveland. I grew up idealizing rock stars and get star struck when I see a celebrity, specifically a rock and roll idol. An embarrassing admonishment, and a slight tangent, as I walked passed Dave Navarro in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in my first year in Vegas, I shouted out, ‘There’s Trent Reznor!’

More often than not, Vegas is considered one of the drinking capitals of the world. Whether you’re into frozen yard drinks and beer in football shaped cups or if you like fine wine or off-the-menu cocktails, we have everything in Vegas. But what does it take to be a bartender or, rather, a mixologist in Sin City? We got to step inside the mind of one of the city’s finest bartenders: Max Solano. Solano is the curator and beverage manager at Delmonico Steakhouse as well the mixologist for all of Chef Emeril Lagasse’s restaurants in Vegas.

After the heat of summer dies down and the pools begin to close, that doesn't mean the party stops in Vegas. In fact, things get even hotter in the winter with a pretty decent list of day parties ready for you to join in all the fun.

To help Vegas stay as unique as possible, visitors and locals can try an interesting new kind of activity where you’re thrown into a locked room on purpose and told to “figure it out.” Locked room escapes have their roots stemming from an internet sensation beginning around 2001, but they're just beginning to make their waves in an offline format. The trend is on the rise with one open venue in Vegas and another on the horizon.

It doesn’t matter who you are, you’ve at some point frequented a dive bar and enjoyed it. For those that claim they’ve never been to a dive bar, well, you are definitely missing out. If you’re in Vegas, then just know we’ve got an abundance of dive bars of all varieties depending on your personal preferences. Not sure what makes a good dive bar? Well, you’re in luck because we have 24-hours on a dive-bar bender that will help you find which one you like the most and why you need to make sure you frequent one every time you’re in Sin City.

Beer lovers who happen to be in Las Vegas on Friday November 14 will be able to indulge in a beer pairing menu at Lagasse’s Stadium at Palazzo Resort that is heavy on the Goose Island beers.

Personally, I get a bit too excited about Goose Island Matilda and even though It is found widely these days it always feels like a special treat. Couple the good beers with the atmosphere at Lagasse’s Stadium and you can bet on a good night.

The beer pairing menu is as follows:

You don’t really need to be forced to stay at the Palazzo or Venetian resorts. Let’s face it, with the amount of restaurants, entertainment and luxury accommodations available it is a slam dunk. However, sometimes you have to convince those people you share space with so these three reasons are really all you need.

For one night only, one of the Venetian's shining restaurant stars – Delmonico Steakhouse – is hosting a five-course Templeton Rye Whiskey and pork dinner pairing. The menu infuses pork items with Templeton Rye Whiskey, which was the same whiskey that Al Capone used to flood the streets of Chicago and New York City during the Prohibition Era. Menu items for this dinner include like Cajun Boudin Boulettes, Caramelized Porchetta, Butterscotch Bacon Pudding, and Panéed Pork Chops, to name just a few.

It’s a luxurious and upscale new nightclub tucked away on the main floor of Bally’s Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. Catering predominately to the LGBT community, Liaison Nightclub is the first of it’s kind inside of a Strip hotel and it is making waves among visitors and locals alike.

“Our credo is where beautiful strangers meet beautiful people and we cater to the LGBT demographic,” said Thomas Davis, manager of Liaison. “We provide a space that is so unique and a product that is so different from all the other venues.”