Life is Beautiful
And so it was. This weekend I attended the Life is Beautiful Festival here in Las Vegas. Where to begin. When you think of anything happening down town, the first things that come to mind are no parking and huge crowds. Shoobies as they used to say in Rocket Power. This Festival was the complete opposite. I was entirely impressed with how well put together the whole thing was and the number of things to do. Everything from Lionel Richie to celebrity chef Scott Conant was available all day long. To top it all off, Outkast came out and put on an amazing show (Lionel Richie was a very hard act to follow) and may or may not have blown one, maybe two of my ear drums…Did you say something? Sorry. Anyway, food was on a whole other level. I don’t even know where to begin. When I heard they had “culinary villages” set up I couldn’t help but get excited and dream up every possibility possible. I'll start with one of my growing favorite food truck Truck U BBQ. Mike Minor, formerly of Border Grill knows how to treat a piece of meat. From his burnt end burritos to his short rib tacos. I decided to go with the Pork butt Torta this time with duck fat fries. First thought that came to mind, heaven. Second, Torta, followed by a question mark. I'll call it a sandwich because it’s on a brioche bun. Every bite was like a sweet, smoky, salty goodness followed by the creaminess of the slaw. The fries give it a nice crunch to finish it off. It’s BBQ with love. The second day I stopped by Hearthstone. They’re new to the Vegas area and are actually the reason we got to go to the event. My Fiancé actually won these tickets through their instagram account…go figure. I figured I'd owed it to them but again they paid me a favor. Pork is hands down my favorite meat to when I saw to on an open Rotisserie I knew it was game over, so I ordered the Rotisserie Pig Wrap. And I'm glad I did. Slow roasted pig wrapped in a tortilla shell filled with garlic aioli, sweet peppers and arugala? Shut up and take my money. And they will take it again, and I will gladly hand it over because it was delicious. That worst part about it was when I got to the bottom and tried eating my own, aioli-covered hand. The last real snack I had at the event was something I saw on Instagram. Again, I swear, I am not a foodie. This was the pinnacle of my Life is beautiful culinary-gastro escapade. Cheburki Russian Dumplings at Forte Tapas. Shut the hell up and take everything in my bank account. That was the first and last thing that came to mind after I finished them. These were the crispiest, chewiest and yummiest thing I've had in a long time. And they were pretty too! Think of a crispy empanada in the shape of a calzone filled with marinated, almost creamy, buttery beef. It was not garnished with dill and green onion but you, nor I care about that. Totally lived up and exceeded the hype. All and all it was a good weekend. My ankles and lower back probably aren’t feeling the same way but i'm still young (despite attending a Lionel Richie concert). For the weekend, Life was beautiful thanks to Life is Beautiful.
Below are the three food items I mentioned. I'll let you put the name to each. Try not to drool. CNN's looking for the next Ebola story, don't let it be you.
