Posts by Las Vegas

Vegas Uncork’d Transforms Caesars Palace Into Foodie Paradise

This year’s Vegas Uncork’d food and wine festival by Bon Appétit (May 9-12, 2013), was a non-stop series of high-profile events highlighting Sin City’s best chefs, sommeliers and restaurants.

Among the more popular events of Vegas Uncork’d were a “Master Series” of hosted dinners at Caesars Palace, where guests had the opportunity to rub elbows with celebrity chefs and sample the cuisine at the hotel’s world-class restaurants.

Eight “Master Series” dinners happened simultaneously on May 10. We know because this blog visited every single one.

The restaurants featured were Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill, Mesa Grill, Nobu Restaurant, Restaurant Guy Savoy, Rao’s, Central, Payard Patisserie & Bistro and Old Homestead Steakhouse.

Yes, these are all at one Las Vegas hotel. We marvel at this just about daily, especially because that’s not even a complete list of Caesars Palace restaurants.

At each “Master Series” event, chefs made presentations before each course, sharing thoughts about the dishes as well as their typically top-secret techniques. Oh, all right, they aren’t too secret. Several of the chefs have books and TV shows.

Perhaps the biggest draw of Vegas Uncork’d was the Grand Tasting on May 10. About 50 award-winning chefs and 2,500 foodies join together for an orgy of food and libations. Virtual orgy. We probably should have made that part clear up-front.

The gathering began with a lively red carpet.

After the arrivals, the chefs and their teams manned their stations and provided guests a rare culinary experience, with bites from their restaurants and a chance to schmooze with those who have helped make Las Vegas the premier restaurant destination in the world.

The Grand Tasting was held in the Garden of the Gods Pool Oasis at Caesars Palace, which looks like something out of a Hollywood movie, except Hollywood movies don’t typically have their own Ramsays or Flays.

We did mention there was food at this event, right? The new Nobu Restaurant at Caesars Palace won some extra points for artistic merit.

A portion of the Grand Tasting was reserved for restaurants coming to The Linq, the new restaurant and entertainment promenade from Caesars Entertainment. And we are not just mentioning this because there were cast members from “Jubilee!” at Bally’s on-hand, although that certainly didn’t hurt. See below.

Restaurants from The Linq giving guests a taste of what’s to come were Brooklyn Bowl, F.A.M.E., Off the Strip Bistro & Bar, Flour & Barley Pizzeria and others.

The final day of Vegas Uncork’d included a backyard-style BBQ, with an Italian twist, at Rao’s, and a traditional English Sunday Roast at Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill at Caesars Palace.

Here are a slew of Vegas Uncork’d photos this blog somehow found time to share in between visits to the treadmill. What’s not to love about Vegas Uncork’d, we asked rhetorically?

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