The Well is an all-in-one complex where you can “eat, shop, work, live, and play” located at Front and Spadina. I have been meaning to check it out for a while so when I heard that my good friends at Sovereign Souls would be displaying at an artisan market at the venue, I hopped right over.
My first stop was to check in with Sovereign Souls, great to see you guys again
Beautiful assortment of custom 108 and 54 bead Malas from various crystals
and other materials like wood and shells
Sovereign Souls also makes beautiful intention candles
I chose an adjustable Mala bracelet in Tiger’s Eye
I didn’t take too many pics of the rest of the market as I did not realize it would be open-air and I was FREEZING in my short-sleeve shirt!
Nice touch with the live DJ
I sought refuge from the cold by visiting the retail stores in the complex. My two favourites were Era Vintage and Adidas.
As the name suggests, Era Vintage is full of “pre-loved” clothing, collectibles, home décor, and accessories, specifically from the ’80s-’90s.
I actually have a hat with this exact picture! Too bad the hoodie wasn’t in my size
My favourites at Adidas were all their collaborations, such as these shoes and “smock detail sweatpants” by AVAVAV
Tracksuit collab with BAPE
And for car racing fans, collab with Petronas
While their retail space looks to be a “work in progress” their selection of food is substantial! I opted for Japadog’s “Avacado” an all-beef Japanese hotdog with avocado, Japanese mayo, cream cheese, and soy sauce along with Shichimi & Garlic “shaked” fries.
Lot’s of dessert options, notably Sweetie Pies, Postman Waffles, Big Fat Cookies, Uncle Tetsu and more.
But I didn’t want something too opulent so just went with a croissant with hazelnut filling from Nord Lyon.
All in all a fun day and I would visit again but next time I would pack a sweater!
For those of you who miss An Sibin, Riverside just got a new Irish Pub! The West Cork had a soft opening last night and a full grand opening today at 5pm.
Upon entering you can see that TWC has done extensive renovations to the space previously occupied by Hermie’s, Nomad, Soma etc. It looks quite good and the chairs are comfortable. The main room was packed
So I opted for the back room that hadn’t filled up yet (though it did by the time I left)
Lots of interesting things on the menu (sorry for the blurry first pic). Next time I want to try a breakfast or the wings.
This time I wanted to go with something authentic Irish, a Steak and Guinness Pie! It was quite good as I like strong flavours and you could definitely taste the Guinness. They were also kind enough to give me a side of the suicide sauce they use on their wings and that was pretty good too. I think the creamy mash could have used more flavour so I would definitely get the garlic mash next time.
In celebration of the Grand Opening, your first alcoholic beverage was on the house! I opted for the Whiskey Mule with whiskey, lime, cranberry and ginger beer. It was better than I expected and I would definitely have that again.
I didn’t go for dessert this time so I will have to try the bread pudding on the next visit.
Service was good. So far I felt “welcome,” an important point since I cannot say the same for the old An Sibin where it seemed like non-Irish guests were not welcome (but I digress).
I was quite surprised by how busy it was. Certainly one of the more packed Grand Openings I have visited. I look forward to future visits.
RL
Update: Back for a second visit, this time The Irish Breakfast Roll with egg, sausage, rashers, and pudding.
And it was HUGE!
Rashers are like peameal bacon but they reminded me of a thick cut smoked meat
I liked the black and white “pudding”
It doesn’t come with a side included so I opted for spicy wedges
Now I wasn’t planning on having alcohol but TWC had Connor McGregor’s Proper 12! I was super happy about that as I have wanted to try that for a long time. It was pretty good and again, strong flavour (which I like).
It’s always exciting to see new places open in our hood, especially from a major player in the restaurant industry like SIR Corp (Jack Astor’s, Loose Moose etc). It is amazing how quickly this location of Duke’s Refresher was setup (I watched the progress over the past few weeks). Very professional.
I was fortunate to attend tonight’s Friends and Family preview ahead of tomorrow night’s grand opening at 4pm. Here are my impressions…
The space was revamped quite a bit from the previous occupants, Brickwork’s Ciderhouse. An eclectic mix of taxidermy
and vintage electronics like Ghetto Blasters and arcade games (forgot to take a pic)
There is a second level with additional seating
And a lounge area
Interesting boat motors
The view from upstairs
Last but not least, a rooftop patio!
On to the food! I had the wings with Nashville 911 sauce. They were super crispy and well cooked. Heatwise they were closer to the typical Nashville Hot you would find at similar places than to suicide or challenge-level sauces at winghouses like Duff’s or Wingmaster.
I did ask for extra Nashville 911 sauce but next time I will have to bring some from home lol.
Drink-wise I tried Signal Hill Whiskey from Newfoundland for the first time. It tasted more like a Rye than a Bourbon with 40% alcohol.
I also had a taster of Brickworks 1904 as I have been on a cider kick lately. It was smooth though I prefer a stronger/more pronounced flavour.
Ok cool atmosphere and good food, so how was the service? In a word, fantastic! Everyone was super nice and attentive. You could tell they were just as excited to get this new neighbourhood joint up and running. I will definitely be back.
Let me start by saying that I am a “heatseeker.” I have done many hot sauce challenges and can tolerate millions of Scovile Heat Units. As such, I am often disappointed by restaurants claiming to offer the “hottest” of something. Indeed, most don’t have the ingredients to make something hot enough for me. I might add a Wall of Shame listing such disappointments to this review but for now, I will concentrate on those that offer “legit” heat!
Wingmaster
Home to my second “wing incident” Wingmaster in Brantford makes the hottest food I have ever had! The first time I tried their Blackenstein, it was listed at 6 million SHU! They discontinued this sauce for a while but brought it back with a vengeance with a claimed 10 MILLION SHU! I believe it. The wings cost $6 EACH but I defy anyone to eat more than one!
Blackenstein is not their only super hot offering. For example, The Hulk is dill flavoured with a legit over 1 million SHU of Ghost pepper heat in a beautiful toxic green!
Covid protocols were in place during my last visit so I had to get the wings takeout. The Hulk lost its beautiful green colour during the long drive home but neither sauce lost its heat!
closeup of Blackenstein
closeup of The Hulk
I cant imagine anyone topping Wingmaster’s heat levels.
C.W. Coop
While the Port Perry location where I had my (in)famous “wing incident” closed down, I have since learned that there are other locations still in operation. Their CooCoo waiver sauce is the only thing I have ever had that comes close to Wingmaster so I would definitely like to revisit them. Next time I will be sure to take pics as well (of the wings and aftermath, if there is any).
Duff’s Famous Wings
Duff’s and Anchor Bar, both hailing out of Buffalo, claim to be the originators of Buffalo Wings. Either way, I prefer Duff’s for both heat and flavour.
They no longer sound the alarm for Armageddon or ring the death toll bell for Death, their second hottest sauce, but these two sauces maintain their 850,000 and 500,000 SHU ratings respectively.
I typically order 2 pounds, one of each of Armageddon and SuperHot (150,000 SHU)
Closeups of Armageddon
And SuperHot
The Wing Factory
I was super impressed when I tried TWF’s Apocalypse sauce. They don’t list the ingredients of provide an SHU rating but I can say that it is easily on the level of Duff’s Death and maybe even Armageddon and Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin Reaper (sadly no longer available in Canada). Good company for sure!
Dave’s Hot Chicken
I must admit that I was a bit skeptical given that this is a chain and Drake’s involvement in bringing them to Canada but let me assure you, their Reaper sauce is not watered down! It is HOT! They definitely kept the essence of my favourite heat source, Carolina Reaper. I love how their disclaimer says it can cause “emotional distress, or even death.” Lol
I have ordered two sliders but have found that, given the heat level, one is enough lol.
barBurrito
Another option that makes legitimate use of the Carolina Reaper, the limited edition Norther Reaper, available with your choice of protein.
The first time it was offered I chose to have it with ground beef.
It was brought back a year or two later, but this time only available in a small size. I had a few of them with crispy chicken and all were scorching hot!
Sadly, their latest run is over. I hope they bring it back soon!
T.J.’s Curry in a Hurry
Phaal curry actually originated in the UK. With the closing of Bristol Bombay in downtown Toronto (thanks to Covid), T.J’s in Barrie is the only place in Canada (that I know of) to offer it.
The curry is claimed to be 1 Million SHU. It was indeed the hottest Indian food I have ever had although in terms of absolute heat it is not on the same level as some of the others I have mentioned.
Bombay Bhel
Slightly less ambitious than T.J’s claim of being the hottest in the world, Bombay Bhel claimed to have Canada’s Hottest Curry. I say “claimed” because I believe they took it off the menu when they moved to a new location.
The curry, which did not contain any meat or vegetables, was said to be made from 19 different spices ranging from 450,000 to 1,100,000 SHU.
It was definitely hot but I would say T.J.s is hotter. Given that it didn’t contain meat, I ordered a chicken Vindaloo at their second highest spice level as well.
Closeup of Canada’s Hottest Curry
And the chicken Vindaloo
I should mention that their garlic Naan was the best I have ever had.
Midori
Midori’s Ghost Spice Halloween special is simultaneously the hottest and best tasting Ramen I have ever had! And this despite the fact that it doesn’t actually contain Ghost peppers.
I hope they bring it back next Halloween. Actually, I hope they keep it on the menu permanently.
Kenzo
Easily matching, if not surpassing Midori’s spice level, but not quite matching the flavour, Kenzo’s Spicy Charsu with Level 3 spice lives up to its reputation for heat. It is now my “go to” Ramen.
KAMEN RAMEN
The first time I did the Volcano Challenge at Kamen Ramen they made me sign a waiver and It wasn’t that hot. In fairness, they made some modifications for me so maybe that was a factor. Also, it wasn’t at their main location.
I have since tried it again at their main location. Ironically, no waiver this time yet it was MUCH hotter!
it even managed to elicit some tears
but I finished it
and ended up on their Hall of Flame
btw, I washed it down with a strawberry maccaroon which was very good!
Afro’s Pizza
Afro’s pizza was the hottest pizza I have ever had. Let me clarify that though. The Davis Jr. is pretty spicy itself but it was the side addition of Mango Reaper that set this pie apart.
Normally I don’t like sweet with my heat so I was a bit concerned about the “hot honey” and mixing Reaper with mango. However, the heat was sufficient to wipe out any sweet flavour profile. This Reaper mango sauce is legit!
Past contenders
As I mentioned, Buffalo Wild Wing has pulled out of the Canadian market. They used to have a Blazin Ghost, which was later upgraded to Blazin Reaper that put out some serious heat. Unlike others, their heat really built up in the sense that the first wing wasn’t so bad but by the time you got to the third or fourth you were really suffering. In fact, the pic of me at the top of this review was taken after eating Blazin Reaper.
Sadly I don’t remember the name of the old place on Augusta Avenue in Chinatown that used to offer Scorpion pepper sauce wings. They were scorching hot and I don’t know of any other place that uses Scorpion peppers.
Wall of Shame
I have to think about how to cover this. There are A LOT of places I have tried that don’t match their claims of being the “hottest”, even those that offer challenges and require you to sign a waiver (I have won several hats and tshirts lol).
Some of the best things about visiting my hometown of Montreal are the incredible meals and of course re-connecting with friends and family! I had the chance to do both of those with lunch at Monarque, one of the top restos in the city, with my high-school friend, Michael Vathilakis, whom I haven’t seen in 34 years! Michael is now a top lawyer, and no, I am not in any trouble lol!
I started with the escargot over bone marrow
while Michael had the salmon tartare
for a main dish, i had the blood pudding
while Michael had the seared tuna
selection of chocolates and sweets for dessert
for drinks i had their Pistachio cocktail
and Blanton’s
yup, we were pretty happy with our meal! And it was so great to catch-up with Michael and share stories of old and new. All in all a great experience!
I decided to eat at two Michelin Bib Gourmand rated restaurants on my birthday, because why not?
First up, White Lily Diner for lunch. I had the Standard breakfast with two eggs sunny-side up, bacon, and what they call a “hashbrown” but what I would consider Rosti. In either case, it was great!
Their feature donuts of the day were Bourbon Peach and a Strawberry mix of some sort (forgot the specifics). Being a bourbon lover, it was an easy choice for me.
Now on to dinner at R&D. The acronym stands for Rebel and Dragon, the winner and one of the judges of season one of the reality show Masterchef.
The restaurant is known for its “Best Duck in the City”, a $120 dish that requires 24 hour notice. It’s a variation of Peking Duck, smoked and served with Bao buns.
But first, let’s look at some of the wild décor.
And now for the duck!
And yes, it was amazing!!
I don’t normally eat brussel sprouts but they looked so good in Yelp reviews that I had to order them and boy was I glad that I did! They were incredible!
For dessert I went with the ube pana cotta
Second wish of the day
inside
my companion had the kalamansi tart, which was very lemony
recap of our meal
after our meal, we got to meet Rebel…the very humble chef
and check out the pastry shop sharing the space with the resto
love the cake shaped like hot pot lol
Two great meals in one day from restaurants that live up to their Michelin Bib Gourmand ratings!
I have wanted to eat at Antler ever since the “controversy” of the chef butchering and eating game meat in front of vegan protestors. I also appreciated his recent posts against bill C-21 and was hoping to meet him in person. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to do so as he was at a private event. Still, the food was amazing!
We opted to sit at the counter where the infamous vegan show took place.
We started with the venison tartare, which definitely had a game meat flavour.
As main dishes, we had the venison loin…I could have eaten two of these lol (Strider AR for size comparison)
And bison rib eye.
Hard to pick between the two though I would give a slight edge to the venison but the bison was a bigger meal and the side dishes (mushrooms, potatoes, garlic rapini etc.) were also great
For dessert we had the smoked chocolate mousse
And egg nog flan
As in the case of our main dishes, both were excellent, but I did have a preference for one of them, in this case the chocolate mousse.
Antler was also kind enough to give me a “birthday cake” lol…quite different than my John Wick gun cake for my 50th last year.
I capped it off with their Duck a L’Orange cocktail
Full description of our meals
Controversy aside, does Antler live up to its reputation for food? You bet! If you are into game meat like bison, wild boar, venison, foie gras, etc. Antler is definitely worth a visit.
The last time I was in California in 2008, I was quite disappointed with the food experience, especially considering the reputation for being a culinary capital. Well, I can say that California has redeemed itself because I had some great meals!
First, The Stinking Rose, The Garlic Restaurant in San Francisco. If you love garlic, this is the place for you!
My appetizer, their signature “garlic soaking in a hot tub”
My main dish..16oz. prime rib with garlic cloves, garlic mashed potato and garlic spinach
And my dessert..you guessed it, garlic ice cream!
Next up, Animal…reputed to be one of the top restaurants in LA, this resto offers a wide variety of animal parts including pig’s head, pig’s ear, chicken liver, rabbit, sweetbreads, veal brain etc.
I started with the veal tongue garnished with Ikura and black mustard
Next foie gras over Spam over a hamburger all topped with a quail egg..it was AWESOME!
Finally tres leches, dulce de leche for dessert
Definitely worth a visit and worthy of its reputation!
Watches
Many major watch brands have a retail presence on Rodeo Drive but I was a bit disappointed with the selection in each store. I have to say they were not up to Vegas standards. Also, none of the stores let me take pics inside, again, a diminished shopping experience compared to Vegas. I did get some pics of their storefronts.
Audemars Piguet is one of my favourite brands but there were only two watches in the store that I liked, the Royal Oak Diver in the window and the white cased Tourbillon on display for US$288,000!
That Royal Oak Tourbillon was cheap in comparison to the watch I liked at Richard Mille, also a Tourbillon, the Yohan Blake for a cool US$660,000
Patek Philippe, another of my favourite brands…just had one Nautilus that I liked
Rolex..two Sea Dwellers but no Deep Sea or Daytonas
Some Type XX Transatlantiques in Breguet’s window
IWC, again, I saw a far better selection in Vegas however they did have a Rodeo Drive exclusive made of polished ceramic
The best selection by far was at Westime! They had TWO Breitling Emergencys, all the new limited edition Hublot and tons of brands including Urwerk, DeBethune, Franck Mueller, Zenith, Omega, Bell & Ross and on and on. They were also very friendly and gave me TONS of catalogues.
Clothing and accessories
Of course LA is well known for the high end fashion on Rodeo Drive (I’ll get to that in a minute) but it is just as strong for “streetwear”.
Located just next to Animal restaurant that I reviewed above, is the Supreme store. It was closed by the time I got there but there was already a line forming for the new clothes to drop at 11am!
Indeed, when I went back there at 11 am, the line was quite long. Funny thing, one of the guys recognized me from the previous night and thanks to my camera said “Hey, LA Times, you are back” hahahahah oh, street culture.
But really I went back to see the flagship store for my favourite brand, Crooks and Castles!
One of the reasons I love this brand is their gun themed clothing, which showed up in the store décor as well
Nice layout
Fetty Wap fans would get the Rari reference
I did not leave empty handed
And now for my new favourite streetwear brand, Robin’s Jeans! I love the bling!
I bought this hat as a gift for a special lady
Fortunately they had the hat that I wanted as well
And for blingy shoes, Giusseppe Zanoti
DITA Sunglasses..i was really looking forward to pick up a pair of Grandmaster 3 but after trying them on, they did not get the go ahead
More streetwear DOPE and DGK
HUF
Ok on to Rodeo Drive!
Versace, Versace, Versace, Versace
God I LOVE these shoes!
Speaking of cool shoes, it is too bad I did not have a chance to stop in at Maison Margiela
Dior
Louis Vuitton
Yes, the elevator at the Tod’s shoe store has two chairs for the ride..dont think I have ever seen that before
Valentino and Moncler
Typhoon
Rimowa
Cars
I booked a convertible Camaro SS through Hertz and it was not available when I arrived! After about an hour of arguing with them I was able to upgrade to their Dream Collection for an extra $75! Check out the selection!
I chose a red 911! The 911 Turbo was my favourite car around the track in Vegas (vs. a Nissan GTR, AMG SLS, and 430 Scuderia) and this one was super fun as well. I did have a very, very embarrassing moment though when I pulled up to a gas station in my shiny red 911 and the attendant said ‘you have to back up..the gas tank is in the front’…sigh
When I returned the car to Hertz, I arrived behind a beautiful gwagen, also available for rental through their Dream Car program.
It turns out I would see tons of G-wagens when I got to LA, including this spectacular mirrored one
At the opposite end of the spectrum, matte black..i saw several of these (or maybe it was the same one?)
There is something you don’t see every day, a Lorinser Mercedes
Lots of 911s
One of four or five Ferraris that I saw
McLaren
Mitsubishi Evo
Ducati dealer
Knives
You might think with the California specific anti-gun and knife rules that the knife scene here is lacking but it is quite the opposite…there are major knifemakers like Emerson and Strider (and many more) as well as major dealers like Plaza Cutlery, TAD, EDC etc. located throughout the State. Last time I was here I went to We Be Knives and TAD. This time I visited Emerson! Sadly Ernie had just left so I did not get a shop tour but I did check out their showroom.
I don’t always carry a knife, but when I do, it’s an Emerson
A big part of my trip was car-related so here are some pic and video highlights..
After a little birthday shopping at Caesar’s Forum shops, i headed out to Exotics Racing for my main birthday event…driving exotics around a racetrack!
First up, Nissan GT-R! I was seriously considering trading in my AMG for one of these but after driving it, i will agree with the often heard criticism that it is too technical and a bit boring.
Next the AMG SLS! I had driven one on the street but of course the track is different…certainly it was more visceral than the GT-R although it was very challenging to drive with a helmet on!
and here is a vid to give you an idea.
Next, Porsche 911 Turbo S…WOW, now THIS is a car built for the track! I loved it even while taxi-ing in the parking lot…just the feel of the gas pedal alone. Bottom line, this was my favourite and i am starting to save up for a 911 GT2 RS 🙂
Finally, the Ferrari F430 Scuderia…i hate to admit it, as i have never been a huge ferrari fan, but it was really good, jerky shifting not-withstanding.
I am also SOOOO glad i did the Corvette drift ride-along! One of the most fun things i did all trip! (certainly more fun than the helicopter landing tour of the Grand Canyon)…note the cooling fans
and a vid…the Corvette had the best sound of all cars…which is saying a lot considering the lamborghinis, ferraris, and MacLaren a the track!
Next up, the Shelby Museum and Factory Tour!!!!!
The guided tour was very informative…and we got to see some really unique pieces, such as the first cobra!!! Shelby turned down an offer for $23 million for this about a year or two ago!
More cobras
ha i rented one of these a couple of years ago (remember i drove it to visit TAD?)
Lots of Super Snakes as well
My favourite was the new wide body kit
Here is the latest and greatest, the Shelby 1000 with nearly 1000HP stock but you can pay extra and get it up to 1100!! I heard one take off but sadly
i could not catch it on video 😦
I did get a video of a Super Snake rumbling about though..
We were not allowed pics inside the factory although we did get to sign our name on the wall
Finally the Ferrari store / dealership / museum in the Wynn hotel.
I was quite annoyed that they did not allow pics in the museum (kinda defeats the purpose)…what i can say is that the top floor had mostly 458s and Californias while the lower floor had a wider selection of exotics, not just Ferraris…for example, there was a Mercedes Maclaren SLR and Rolls Royce Phantom. Of course you can pay $25 to have your pic taken in a Ferrari
GUN STUFF
After doing some research, i wanted to go to Mojave Machine Gun experience but they seem to be out of business as they did not respond to any communication…so i went for my second choice, Machine Guns Vegas (MGV).
Upon entering MGV, you are greeted by girls dressed like Lara Croft…they quickly show you all “packages” and try to upsell you of course. I opted to build my own package as there were specific guns that i wanted to shoot.
the main area
my two hostesses
i opted for the VIP upgrade..this gives you access to a VIP lounge (with rear entrance for celebrities) and more importantly, a private range with two lanes…seeing as i did not want to be disturbed by other shooters, this was a worthwhile option for me.
ok now on to the shooting…the first gun i chose was a suppressed .22…they had a big selection of targets and i started with some zombies
next i shot the FN Five-Seven…not a great grouping, i know…but i was shooting more for the feel of the gun than for accuracy…my verdict is that i will not buy one after all
ok next the P90..i had shot one before but not with 20 rounds in the mag
another dream of mine, being a shotgun fan, to shoot the SPAS-12!!! I hoped the aliens at Area 51 did not see this
and now the moment you have all been waiting for, full auto! first the MAC-10
then the M60! I had to go shoot with the proletariat on this one as they could not move the stand
a little souvenir from my trip
RESTAURANTS
First off, i have to say that i was disappointed with the food in Vegas! In fairness, I had super high expectations coming in, given all i have heard and read in researching my trip. At the risk of sounding like a “snob”, my impression is that the food in Vegas would be appealing to someone who hasn’t been to many “world class” restaurants in culinary capitals like Paris, New York etc.
That having been said, with my jam packed schedule i did not have a chance to eat out at top restos every night and i made only two reservations in advance of my arrival.
One of my first activities was to shop at the Forum Shops in Caesar’s Palace (where i was staying)…here i came upon Max Brenner’s Chocolate by the Bald Man, billed as The First Chocolate Restaurant in the World.
an interior shot
I ordered their Illegal Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Pancakes…no, i did not finish them!
A free chocolate covered pecan for “dessert”
Again, given my schedule, i did not have time for a nice meal on my birthday so i had my “birthday meal” a day late at Steve Wynn Steakhouse at the Wynn. I chose SW over other steakhouses because of pics on the net, specifically i wanted to try their Tomahawk Chop.
I arrived early for my reservation so i had some drinks out Parasol Up / Down next door while i waited for my table. It was nice to sit by the man-made lake.
Ok now my table was ready…time for some steak!
they light up the waterfall at night and a singing frog comes out
Ok, on to the food…they start you off with a nice selection of bread and herbed butter
I opted for a blue cheese salad as an appetizer given the volume of meat that was coming
Finally the Tomahawk Chop! 30OZ. of steak..nearly 2 pounds!!! Of course, a lot of that is in the huge bone! Accompanied by the biggest baked potato i have ever seen and creamed spinach. The meat was, unfortunately, the fattest that i have ever had..granted, i usually order fillet mignon, but still! The creamed spinach was average. At least the service was fantastic.
I ordered a half bottle of Krug Champagne for my birthday…not cheap at $105
Actually the meal was not cheap at all! This is for one person!
The next day I was in a rush so once again i ate at Caesar’s Palace, this time at Central, open 24 hours a day and located in the main lobby.
I had the breaded chicken…which sounded a lot better than it actually was
at least the dessert was ok (not great, ok)
The next day i ate yet again at the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace, this time at the Cheesecake Factory! We don’t have these in Canada (at least not that i know of) and being a Big Bang Theory fan, i always wanted to try it.
The stuffed mushrooms were great! The sliders, not so much!
i opted for Chris’ Outrageous cheesecake, described as: A Cheesecake Factory Original – Layers of Moist Chocolate Cake, Chewy Brownie, Toasted Coconut-Pecan Frosting and Creamy Chocolate Chip Coconut Cheesecake.
Once again, nothing special.
Last, but certainly not least, MIX at Mandalay Bay! I found this through a web page on the most spectacular looking restos in Vegas and even based on pics, i knew i had to try it out! And i was not disappointed as i loved this resto!
To get to the dining room, you have to go up a glass elevator and pass through a lounge that has SPECTACULAR views!
The glass elevator
The lounge
The view from the lounge!!
Now on to MIX…the most beautiful restaurant i have ever seen! I literally eat out every day and have been to thousands of restaurants in my life and I can’t really explain it but I felt “at home” here! I requested to be seated facing inward, as opposed to sitting by the window despite the spectacular view outside.
Service was fantastic..they also gave me a lot of “complementary” things like this glass of champagne
and this soup
Still recovering from the Tomahawk chop the other day, i opted for the half portion of Tuna tartare…a mistake as i could have easily finished the large.
Next i had a filet mignon with foie gras..and it was excellent!
Again i was pretty full so i just had a scoop of salt water taffy ice cream
a complimentary dessert drink
And a very happy customer!
So there you have it, another restaurant added to my list of worldwide favourites. Still, i will admit that while excellent, the food at MIX was not as good as Girl and the Goat in Chicago or Barberian’s Steakhouse here in Toronto but the overall experience is one that i definitely want to repeat.
WATCH SHOPPING
I used to think New York was the “mecca’ for watch shopping but i think that crown may go to Vegas! I visited a few watch shops and the selection was unreal!
First of all, many manufacturers have their own dedicated stores..Rolex has one in Caesar’s Forum Shops
and in the Wynn
Breitling also has a store in the Forum shops,
as does Panerai
Breguet has a couple of stores
Tag Heuer at Crystals mall
This is the largest IWC store (in terms of selection) in north america
In addition to these, there are tons of dedicated watch stores like Wynn & Company
Tourbillon
Tourneau had a better selection of Rolex than the two Rolex stores (sorry no pic)
and my favourite, Roman Times! Wow! What a selection! I have never seen such a selection of Franck Muhlers, for example, they had 4 display cases! Great service too! They let me try on, handle, and photograph everything, including this FM priced at $219,000..and they had ELEVEN versions of this one alone!
They had three out of the four limited edition Hublot 4000M dive watches
And this new IWC Pilot perpetual calendar
I got tons of catalogues…this was just from day 1…i got at least that many again over the next couple of days.
CLOTHES SHOPPING
Shopping in Vegas is incredible! Seriously, i came with a list of stuff to buy and i found almost everything, in my size, and some even at a discount! I think Vegas has surpassed New York as my go to shopping destination! I have covered watch shopping specifically in another thread so this will be mostly about clothing and accessories.
The Forum Shops are the main reason i decided to stay at Caesar’s Palace…and they did not disappoint!
My first stop was the True Religion store…they had the largest selection of jeans in my size i have ever seen..more so than the New York store in SOHO and the factory outlet at Woodbury! The red jeans were 50% off and then another 25% off while the black coated were 25% off!
Right next door to True Religion was Christian Louboutin, another planned stop.
I scored the wallet that i wanted but sadly they did not have the matching shoes
Next stop, Louis Vuitton…again i got lucky as they had the sunglasses that i wanted..aviators with LV logos on the lenses..
Finally Guisseppe Zanotti..same designer who makes Lady Gaga’s shoes without heels..they did not have the ones i wanted in my size at the store but they were available at another location so they had them shipped in overnight..i was shocked that the “other location” was actually their New York store (I assumed they were talking about another store in Vegas!)
Next up, Crystals at City Centre…
A Paul Smith store!
Even better, Tom Ford!!!!
I saw some nice ties at Hermes but decided to hold back a bit
As i wanted another seven-fold tie from Bvlgari
Woohoo a three floor Prada store!
I wanted these shoes in another colour..i nearly passed out when they had them in CAMO!!!!!!! and in my size too! God i love Vegas!
More great shops at the Venetian
and the Wynn
So all in all, a very successful shopping trip! In addition to the above, i ordered some custom cowboy boots at the Cowboy Christmas show…but that is fodder for yet another thread 😉
AREA 51
I have been posting bits and pieces of my recent Vegas trip…thought you might like to see what was one of the coolest parts, my Area 51 tour! This is an all day excursion through stunning scenery with some cool stops on the way to the front gate of the top secret military base! I posted 161 pics on facebook and i’ll re-post some of my favourites here.
Our first stop was at the airport to see the designated fleet of planes (painted white and red) that transport people to the base everyday…we did not get out of the car to take pics though (due to bad experiences in the past).
Next on to the 2 hour drive..again, stunning scenery on the way!
i loved this winding road
Our next stop was by some ancient hiroglyphics
Next we did a high speed run on the same dried out lake that appeared in the last scene of Independence Day..man that was fun!!!
Another stop to take pics of the scenery
including Joshua trees…these get their water through their skin as opposed to roots like regular trees
Ok back on to the highway..more specifically the Extra Terrestrial Highway! The name was suggested by a movie and the state liked the idea so much that they actually changed the name! This is the first of two signs that we crossed.
We passed by this alien store but sadly it was closed
The long road ahead
Just before reaching the town of Rachel, we saw these military vehicles at the side of the road…hmmmmm
And we reach Rachel
You can see the ENTIRE town behind me, in one pic!
And now one of the coolest parts of the trip! Check out the dust cloud behind me!
That folks, was not caused by wind!!!!! It was a LOW, and i mean LOW flying aircraft!!!! That explains the military trucks we passed…i tried to zoom in but i only had a 24-70mm lens
wow that was worth the trip alone!
Next a quick photo under the second ET Highway sign…
…before stopping for lunch at the Little Ale’inn!
UFO self parking
Their own flying saucer
Lots of alien stuff inside
I of course had the alien burger
before signing my name on a $5 and posting it on their ceiling
and taking a pic with the founder’s grand-daughter (wearing a brace as her truck just flipped over)
now back on the road
next stop, the famous “black mailbox” seen in a few movies…
the last leg to Area 51!
an alien in the clouds???
Note the size of the joshua trees as we get closer to Area 51…something they are testing???
Eureka, we are here!! note the microphones among the cactus to greet us
and the signs warning of deadly force for crossing the line!
note the white SUV on top of the hill watching us!!!!
all in all i loved the tour..i enjoyed it more than the helicopter landing tour of the Grand Canyon..next time i would bring a longer telephoto though…you never know what you might see.
GRAND CANYON
When it comes to Grand Canyon tours, there are MILLIONS of options from simple fly-overs to full day excursions with exploration of gold mines, drives by Hummers etc. etc. Given that i already had a full day Area 51 tour planned and i am not much for “touristy” stuff, a four hour tour was enough for me. More specifically, a helicopter landing tour where we fly over the Hoover dam, land 3,500 feet down in the Canyon and then fly back over the Vegas strip.
I took about 150 pics…here are about a third of them…
And here we go!
Lake Mead..one of the largest man made lakes in the world…Las Vegas gets 90% of its water from here!
Touchdown!
They had pic nic tables set-up for us..time for a Champagne toast!
On the way back, we stopped in the middle of nowhere to refuel
…before flying back over the Ring of Fire
and the Vegas strip
COWBOY CHRISTMAS SHOW
A few months ago i posted about cowboy boots…in the process of my research, i discovered a FANTASTIC brand called Rocketbuster..they make about 500 pairs a year for the likes of Oprah, Julia Roberts etc. Their boots are made to measure and i was procrastinating sending in my measurements as i did not want to make a mistake. Luckily i fanned their Facebook page and found out they would be in Vegas for the Cowboy Christmas Show, coinciding with the National Finals of Rodeo the EXACT days of my trip! Did I mention that i love vegas? lol
And here they are!! Look at those unbelievable designs!
Here i am with the founder..the crocodile boots i am holding are $3,900
And here she is measuring me up personally!
Next we sat down to design my boots!
This gent designed the rhino toe on my boot
This customer got wingtip cowboy boots.
more pics from the show
ANDREW DICE CLAY
Last but not least, I had front row, centre seats to see Andrew Dice Clay in concert. Crazy story as well… note my shoes don’t match,,because i only brought one pair as i am planning to buy here..i was worried i would look like a knob in my Oakley boots..guess what?? Andrew Dice Clay was wearing the same Oakley boots but in black!!!!!
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