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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