New hot spot, Pedro del Este

It's been over a year since I posted anything.  Hard to believe that much time has gone by! I now have a new job that isn't nearly as insane as the last one and I've had a couple people ask why I'm not writing anymore so I'm going to try to get back to this again.

I couldn't think of a better "get back to blogging" post than our recent visit to Pedro del Este in Hudson, Wisconsin.

We were lucky enough to be invited to the soft opening of Pedro del Este a couple weeks ago.  Pedro del Este is the new sister restaurant to San Pedro Cafe in Hudson, WI.

Based on our experience, they are going to have a line out the door.

The ambiance is wonderful, warm, inviting, comfortable. The place was already packed when we got there. This was only the second night they were open. Our reservation was for 6:45. We were seated at 6:47.  We were seated at the beautiful bar (our choice for the bar over a table).

The menu is small plates and craft cocktails. If you like craft cocktails you'll love this  drink menu. I had a fantastic Cabernet and Dave tried their craft margaritas. The Cabernet was delicious. Dave enjoyed the margaritas, though honestly I think he prefers a San Pedro Cafe margarita, they are hard to beat (and he's kind of a margarita purest)!

For the soft opening they had a couple different menus available. Our server suggested we order at least three items to share.

We ordered the plantains, pulled pork and prawns. We were given fried chick peas to snack on while we waited for our plates.

There were at least 5 bartenders working in a small space. They navigated it like they had been working together for years.

The plantains were delicious, perfectly fried and served with a smokey, not too hot red pepper sauce. 

The pulled pork was, honestly, the best pulled pork I have ever eaten. It was smokey but not too smokey, tender and full of pork flavor. It was served with potatoes that were crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside and a cilantro puree (if you are into that kind of thing, Dave loved it).

The prawns were perfectly cooked. Did I mention this was only the second night they were open? Did I mention they were HOPPING? And the shrimp was PERFECTLY cooked!

We finished with dessert, a chocolate cake (flourless I think) with blood oranges and the most amazing caramel sauce.

If you are in Hudson you HAVE to try Pedro del Este, if you can get in the door. Trust me, there will be a line!

Congratulations to you, Pete and all the staff!

Vegas... epilogue

I hadn't planned on writing any more about my adventures in Vegas but my trip to the airport was just interesting enough I thought I'd do an epilogue.

I had a conference call with the folks back in Minneapolis at 7:30-9.  The next session which I would have attended didn't end until 11:45.  With a 1:40 flight I didn't think that gave me enough time to get to the airport and get through security.  It can be really bad here.

So after my call I found some breakfast, wasted a little time and headed for the airport.  The drive to the airport was completely uneventful, however when we got there, my cab driver got pulled over by a cop.  Apparently his ID was displayed incorrectly.  The driver tried to explain that it wasn't his ID, and he didn't know whose it was. I'm not sure that helped his case as if it wasn't his, where was his?  The nice officer told him to finish up with me and pull over.  I didn't wait to see what happened.

The line outside to check bags was really long so I decided to go inside. First class is a very nice thing.  The line to check my bag, were I not in first class, was really long.  The line for first class passengers was 6 people deep.  Nice.

The line for TSA pre-check was also very short.  My lucky day, maybe I should gamble?  I have to commend McCarran airport TSA.  They held to the pre-check rules.  There was a woman a few people in front of me in line.  She was not pre-check.  Apparently one of her traveling companions was and he thought that since she was "with him" she could go through that line as well.  Nope.  They sent her back through the other line.

So, again very early for my flight, I'm relaxing, if you can really do that, in the airport waiting for my flight.

Some airport observations:
Who buys a Coach purse in an airport?

Why do people talk on their cell phones in airport bathrooms (or any bathroom for that matter)?

Who thought manufacturing sparkly spandex was a good idea? And better yet, who thought buying it was?

Why did I go to Hoover Dam when I could have gone here?

The movie on the flight home was the new Star Wars movie so I watched that.  I highly recommend noise cancelling headphones if you don't already own them.

Lunch options were BBQ chicken sliders or shrimp over orzo. I took a risk and ordered the shrimp and orzo.  There was a chance they could have thought cilantro would be good in that dish.  I lucked out, no cilantro. The shrimp was actually pretty good and the orzo had a nice lemon flavor.

The soup this time tasted a bit like a tortilla soup, again, sans cilantro.

The cookie was a triple chocolate cookie.  I really didn't need to eat it but I did.  It was better than the "molasses" cookie on the way out.

The flight was almost completely uneventful, almost.  As we were on approach a man staggered into the first class section, really staggered.  The two attendants in the front asked him if he was OK.  He didn't seem to know where he was or what he wanted.  They tried to point him to the bathroom but he just stood there.  They continued to ask him if he was OK.  They escorted him back to his seat for landing. He wasn't obnoxious or belligerent, just very unsteady on his feet and didn't seem to know where he was or what he was doing. I don't know if he was just drunk or there was something wrong with him.  He appeared to be traveling alone.

Once we landed one of the guys in first class asked the attendants if they would need any help with him. The flight attendant said he wouldn't be going anywhere tonight, security would meet him at the plane.  And they did.

It was SO good to see Dave!  We stopped at the 5-8 for dinner before heading home.  The kids were very happy to see their mom!

I'm unpacked, laundry has started and Cider is curled up next to me on the couch being coaxed to eat by Dave.  Back to normal!

A cup of tea and then off to bed!  No construction noises tonight! 

Vegas... Day 5

After my mini-meltdown last night I figured I had to do something to make me feel better.  So this morning I started packing! It did make me feel a little better.  I still have a long day ahead of me and a few sessions tomorrow morning before I can catch a cab and head to the airport to head home.

I slept better last night but not great.  Wide awake at 1:18 this morning listening to the construction in the street down below.  Not sure when I fell asleep again.

I guess it's tradition now, here is this mornings sunrise.  Another cloudless day here.  It is supposed to be 77 degrees this afternoon!

And I got a nice shot of the Area 51 plane this morning.  I promise, last one!

I'm wearing "sensible" shoes (my Saucony's) today and I'm really feeling that blister.  It's about the size of a quarter.  Let's hope that doesn't decide to pop.

There were no really note worthy events or people in my sessions today.  The rooms weren't as full.  Maybe people were watching basketball or celebrating St. Patrick's Day out on the strip. I was a good girl, I endured the PowerPoint presentations.

I had a good long break over the lunch hour today and since I didn't want dried chicken again, I decided to go out to lunch.  I decided on Giada.  Considering how I'm feeling, I guessed by 6pm tonight I would just want to head up to my room and be done with the day.

Getting out in the air was just what I needed.  Remember, I've been stuck in conference rooms until 6 or 7 every night.  Sunshine and fresh air were just what the doctor ordered.

Giada is in the Cromwell which, based on the casinos I've walked through, is one of the classiest.  I didn't smell any smoke.  It was clean an tastefully (rather than gaudily) decorated.

I was led to the absolute perfect spot for me!  A table right near the big windows, which were open providing the perfect breeze, overlooking the strip.  I could have stayed right there all afternoon.

I haven't had lunch there before so I asked my waiter, Julian, what he recommended.  He had four recommendations, the Carbonara pizza, the Waldorf Panzanella Salad (which sounded amazing), the Lemon Pesto Grilled Cheese or the Lasagna.  I was split between the Waldorf Panzanella Salad and the Lemon Pesto Grilled Cheese.  I picked the grilled cheese and I opted to add Prosciutto di Parma to make it a grilled "ham and cheese."

I had a choice of a salad or "zucchini scapecce", I chose the zucchini.  What is scapecce?  Apparently it's a word made up by Giada meaning skinny curls of fried zucchini.  I Googled it and after pages and pages of posts about Giada's zucchini scapecce, I found one or two posts that referenced "zuchhini a'scapecce".  Based on those posts, the dish is sliced zucchini marinated in vinegar, mint and a little fresh chili pepper, which sounds delicious.

That, however is not Giada's definition. They were finely shredded pieces of zucchini that were breaded and fried.  Do I care?  No.  They were delicious. They didn't taste like zucchini, they were almost sweet, crispy but not hard like shoestring potatoes, and just enough salt!

But the sandwich, that was amazing.  The lemon pesto was divine, just enough lemon, not too much.  I'm not even sure what kind of cheese it was!  The lemon pesto with the salty prosciutto and the sweet heirloom tomato was, well, quite possibly the best "grilled ham and cheese" I have ever eaten.

I paired my lunch with a nice Italian chardonnay.  Like I said, I could have sat there all day. I know, wine during "work" hours. You sit in a windowless conference room for three days and tell me if you wouldn't like a drink at lunch.

To drag out my time at the table I decided to just look at the dessert menu.  Yea, right, I didn't just look.  Last time I was there I ordered the assorted cookies which came with two of those divine lemon ricotta cookies (which I now know how to make so I can get them at home), two chocolate chip cookies (I think mine are better) and two peanut butter and jelly cookies (also not my thing).  So this time I decided on the chocolate tiramisu.

It was delicious, perfectly creamy with just enough chocolate, not too much booze, ladyfingers that weren't all mushy, and it was the perfect size.  The only think missing was a spatula to scrape the cup clean!

It was so nice out I walked back, slowly, to the MGM. It is cold and snowing at home, I wanted to get a little vitamin D while I could.  Today is St. Patrick's Day.  There were a lot of drunk people dressed in green on the strip already.  Interesting people watching.

I really, really did not want to go back to the conference center.  It was SO beautiful out.  I had two sessions left, I could do this!

Neither session was really worth the time and by the time the last one ended, I was done, DONE.

The number of green-clad drunk people had multiplied in just those few hours and being in a crammed elevator with them really wasn't all that much fun.  Shocking I know.  So I decided dinner would be somewhere in the hotel. One of the only choices available (that wasn't a buffet or look up at the menu place) was Wolfgang Puck's restaurant, so that's where I went.

Nothing on the menu really sounded good to me.  I really wasn't that hungry after that big lunch, but I was hungry enough to know that in an hour or so I would be hungry and by then things would be even more crowded.

There was a burger on the menu. It was a prime burger with onion marmalade, Vermont cheddar, lettuce, tomatoes and pickles and it was served with fries.  Done. I'll add to my Vegas burger comparison.

The burger was good, as good as Gordon Ramsey's, better than Hubert Keller's.  The burger was better seasoned than Gordon Ramsey's, at least for my taste, lots of pepper on it.  It was juicy and flavorful.  The toppings were massive, kind of like at Burgr.  The onion marmalade gave it a little sweet flavor and also made it a fairly messy burger to eat.  The pickles on it were bread and butter pickles, not dill. I prefer dill but it didn't ruin the burger.

The fries were "skinny" fries like the ones at Keller's Burger Bar, but these were better.  They were hot, crispy and just had better flavor.  I'm guessing they are frying in something other than canola oil.  And, lucky me, regular old Heinz ketchup!  No "fancy" stuff like at Gordon Ramsey's.

So, in order of preference top to bottom I think I have to go Gordon Ramsey, Wolfgang Puck then Hubert Keller.  I don't need a burger for a very long time now.

I get to go home tomorrow!!!!!  I heard it snowed there today.  Not really looking forward to that but I am looking forward to seeing my hubby and my "kids" and sleeping somewhere where there is no road construction going on!

And I got to see the night shift fly off to Area 51!  I know, I know, but I only promised no more pictures.

Good-bye Vegas.

Vegas... Day 4

Even after taking my allergy meds I woke up three times, 1:30, 3:30 and 5.  Maybe ear plugs next?

Once again a beautiful sunrise.  I may have to amend my statement that the only thing Vegas has going for it is the restaurants. The sunrises have been pretty spectacular.

I opted for a "look down at the menu" breakfast today.  The special was Banana Cream Pie Pancakes.  No thanks.  I'll have oatmeal.

It was ok oatmeal but honestly I think I'll go back to my yogurt parfait and a banana.  The decaf was better at the little shop where I was picking up my "look up at the menu" breakfast anyway.  Look at the amount of cinnamon they give you!  I wonder how many people dump the whole thing in their oatmeal?  That's a LOT of cinnamon.

I did it!  I got it!  I was diligent this morning and watched for the Area 51 plane taxiing out.  It's a perfectly clear sky here today so the sun was right in my window.  This prevented any in-flight pictures, today at least. I know many, maybe all, of you reading this are thinking "what is the big deal with the Area 51 planes?"  I just think it's cool that a plane-load (maybe more) of people fly off to a "top secret" government installation to work and then get flown back at the end of the day.  Don't you wonder what they really do there?  I want to believe! (wink wink)

On my way into the convention center I saw someone dressed in a lime green suit!  It's not St. Patrick's Day yet.  Is he early?  Who owns a lime green suit?  I will see if I can snag a picture.

I did make it to lunch today and I guess I didn't miss anything yesterday.  Today's lunch was exactly the same as yesterdays, well almost, today was a dried out piece of chicken over unseasoned (I won't even give it under seasoned, there was no seasoning) risotto and vegetables.  I guess yesterday the dry piece of chicken was over couscous.

Dessert was an assortment of mini cupcakes.  To view the assortment you had to wander all the way through the vendor area again. Each flavor was on a different table. Someone asked one of the hotel people why they didn't put a few of each kind on each table. The response was they were given "specific instructions" not to do that.  Great for the vendors I guess.  I decided to try one of the carrot cake cupcakes.  The cream cheese frosting was better than I expected.  The little orange balls were crunchy and had an orange flavor.  The cupcake was terrible, one bite and I threw it away.  More room for Otto tonight!

Most of the sessions today were just mind-numbing death by PowerPoint, though in one, I swear one of the Housewives of Somewhere sat next to me.  She was dressed in hot pink stretch pants and a black top that belonged on the strip.  She had really long, meticulously manicured nails, BIG hair and LOTS of perfume.  Not your typical IT person that's for sure.

Never did get a picture of the guy in the green suit.  Maybe he'll wear it again tomorrow for St. Patty's day.

I got desperate about 2:30.  I risked a migraine and had a Diet Coke.

My last session ended at 6pm and my reservation for dinner was 7:15 so I opted for the monorail over walking the two miles to the Venetian.  I've never ridden the monorail before. I must say I prefer it over dodging drunk people for two miles down the strip and back!  More security....

Because I was riding the monorail, not walking the whole way, I wore my sandals.  That turned out to be a bad idea for a couple reasons.

It is about a 10 minute walk from where the Monorail drops off to Otto at the Venetian.  You would think I could handle that walk in my sandals (they have a nice wedge to them, not flats)

Well, I couldn't.  Not tonight anyway.  About half way there I twisted an ankle.  Good news is it wasn't bad.  I didn't fall, thank god. But I was very conscious about how I was walking after that.

I do like the Venetian.  I think it is one of the prettier hotels and it is the home to Otto.  

Dinner started with delicious house made bread with oil and vinegar.  Yummy.

I ordered a simple Margherita Pizza and a nice glass of wine.  It was perfect.  The buffalo mozzarella was so delicious!  I would have loved to sit there and enjoy another glass of wine, but I think I hit a wall today.  I just really wanted to get back to my room.

So I carefully walked back to the Monorail where I had to call Dave (luckily he was up late).  I just needed to talk to him. He's very good at killing the tears when they start.  I am VERY tired.  I haven't had a full night's sleep in three nights and I'm not confident tonight will be much better.  I am SO ready to go home and I have another day and a half to endure here.  I have a call with work back home at 7:30 tomorrow morning, then another full day of presentations.  Black helicopters come take me away!

Oh, and the sandals were a bad idea for another reason. I now have a whopper of a blister on the side of my foot!  Walking shoes from this point forward.

One more day and a wake up....

Vegas... Day 3

3:27AM.  That's when I was awakened to jack-hammering and the beep, beep, beep of a truck backing up.  That went on for about half an hour and about a half an hour after that I feel asleep and woke up to the alarm I set at 5:30.  I also woke up with a scratchy throat and congested.  Great... getting sick? No, it was all over the news how it's really bad allergy season here.  Allergies?  In the desert?!  Seriously?  At least I'm not sick.

I woke up and thought it was Wednesday.  Imagine my disappointment when I realized it was only Tuesday.

This is today's sunrise.  They are beautiful.  I thought the contrails looked pretty this morning.  And I looked up just in time to see the Area 51 plane fly past my window again!  I will catch it tomorrow!

I had meetings with folks back in Minneapolis starting at 8AM then down to the convention center where I sat in windowless rooms until 7PM.  Thought I was going to be done at 5, no such luck, so much for my reservation at Giada at 7 too.  Insert sad face here.

For those of you who think this is really fun and I'm just a complainer, here is one of the rooms I was in today (they all look the same!).  Look closely at this room (you can click on the picture to enlarge it).  See that door over on the left??  We weren't allowed to enter or leave through it.  We had to use a door that was behind me.  All of the tables butted up against the side walls so you had to go down the middle aisle to take a seat. I wonder what the fire marshal would think?  I am guessing they would allow us to use both doors in the event of a fire, though I still think only half of us would make it. I'm sitting near the door in all the rest of my sessions!

Want more excitement? This guy had his finger in his ear the entire hour and 15 minutes of this presentation.  Very distracting. I also got to sit between two heavy smokers and next to someone who chewed her nails the entire time at other sessions.  These are hour and 15 minute sessions folks.

Having to go through the vendor area did have its perks.  Yes I had to listen to pitches for things I have absolutely no influence over whether my employer would every buy, but I did get some swag, a really nice water bottle, a cloth to clean my computer screen, a bag into which I can put all my chargers and a light up blue "diamond" ring!  It's hard to see but it's there between the cloth and the water bottle!

My day finally ended at 6:45 after a session with one of the SAP experts I had hoped would be able to help me fix an issue we are having at work.  She sort of helped.  There was no one there who really knew about the system in which I have the issue, but this person pointed me in a good direction, I think.

I went back up to my room, washed my face, put on a new one and headed out to dinner.  Since I had to cancel my reservation at Giada, I thought I would walk over to Gordon Ramsey's Burgr and get my comparison over with.  It's not quite a mile walk from the hotel.

On the way there I passed two, count 'em two, 24 hour Walgreen's stores.  I planned on hitting one on the way home to see if they could hook me up with some of my allergy meds.

After asking for directions twice (I'm not proud) I finally found the restaurant. I have to note, Planet Hollywood has to be the smokiest of any of the casinos I've had to walk through.  The line at the restaurant wasn't too bad. I was seated in about 20 minutes.

I got a very cool seat right in front of the kitchen.  The place was hopping!

My server, Jay, suggested an appetizer because the burgers would probably take 25 minutes.  Good up-sell Jay! I didn't really need an appetizer, I could have waited the 25 minutes, but I missed lunch again today and the really bad cookie I had at 2pm had worn off so I ordered the hummus.  OH.MY.GOD this was the best hummus I think I've ever had.  I have to find his recipe. There was no way I could finish it and eat a burger but I put a dent in it.

I decided on the American Burger.  It was as close to the burger I had at Burger Bar, beef, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle and onion, no bacon, crispy or otherwise.  I also ordered the "Just Fries" so I could compare them to Burger Bar. I don't know what I was thinking. There was no way I was eating all that food!

The burger was really good, I mean really good!  Yes better than Hubert Keller's.  It wasn't as big (not a bad thing) but it was juicier and had better flavor. I will say as good as mine, not sure I'll go better.  It's very hard to get better than Butternut Woods Grass-fed Highland beef!

The fries were better than Hubert Keller's too.  They were really good, obviously hand cut and skin on.  My only "beef" with the fries was the ketchup.  They came with two kinds, Chipotle Ketchup and Curry Ketchup.  I wasn't particularly fond of either.  I think I'm a purist when it comes to that condiment, plain old Heinz please. I probably could have asked for it, but I wasn't going to eat that many fries!

I sat next to a really fun "kid" (she was 24) whose mother was here at, of all things, an SAP conference (different from the one in which I am participating).  I shared my fries!  I think I ate 4 of them.  No way I was finishing them.

On the way home I popped into a Walgreen's.  YAY the pharmacy was open.  Double YAY he could fill my prescription.  I had to get a three month's supply but I didn't care.  In two days I'll be feeling human again!

Today I asked myself why a lot.  Why do people bring children to Vegas?  I've seen them from infants to tweens and teens.  Last night, around 9pm, walking back to the hotel from dinner I was behind three girls that could not have been more than 13 or 14.  They were walking the strip, no parents.  Why?  Why bring your 6 or 7 or 8 year old and walk them down the strip at night?  I just don't get that.

Why do people bring their dogs to the strip?  Really, why?

Why would you want to stand around and watch someone play a slot machine?

Why isn't it Friday?

Tomorrow is another full day of conference rooms but I should be done at 6PM instead of 7PM.  I have reservations at Otto at 7:15 and I'm not missing it.  I can't wait.  I'm going to get a pizza this time!

It's been a long day. I'm tired.  I'm going to take an allergy pill which will knock me out, hopefully between being tired and the pill I'll sleep through the construction tonight.

And... tomorrow is Wednesday!