By Popular Demand

Thanks for the gratifying inquiries. Here it is, the food post. Remember, except where noted, this is just what I ate:

Monday: Apple croissant, poached eggs on brioche toast with beurre blanc, wheat toast with Vermont butter and blackberry jam, spinach and garlic sautéed in lots of butter, and a bowl of fresh tropical fruit macerated in lemon juice. Next, we stopped for Italian thick hot chocolate, made with dark chocolate and heavy cream, and a shared butterscotch milkshake with toffee syrup, dulce de leche ice cream and chocolate bits. For lunch we split a Fuji apple salad and some lobster rolls (made with dill and yogurt) served with a mountain of freshly made potato chips. Our magnificent casino host surprised us, waiting in the room was a ginormous cheese plate, a bottle of excellent cabernet, and a tray filled with big strawberries painted with dark and white chocolate to look like little tuxedos. Dinner was a vegetarian minestrone with garlic toast, crusty peasant bread with white bean and garlic dipping sauce as well as a nicely salty tapenade, fettucine with field mushrooms, English peas, parmesan and truffle oil. Dessert was a plate of crispy fried cannoli filled with mascarpone and pumpkin, on a bed of candied cranberries with a caramel dipping sauce. Whew!

Tuesday: See above for breakfast, but add the chef’s gift of a pastry basket filled with an apple croissant, cheese Danish and a velvety, cupcake-y banana nut muffin. We ate nothing else until dinner. The amuse bouche was grilled romaine rolled like a tiny croissant, nestled next to a bit of artisan goat cheese, topped with a nameless mushroom and sprinkled with fresh herbs and balsamic, all perfectly composed on a spoon. My first course was a Pacific yellowtail crudo with trumpet mushrooms, toasted pine nuts and a creamy sauce, topped with a pile of sliced black winter truffles. Yes, I said a pile of truffles. Next came pumpkin ravioli (I do love me some pumpkin) with knobs of lobster, fresh herbs and a coarse mustardy sauce over a bed of fresh corn that popped in the mouth. Then I had a sunchoke and mushroom risotto with toasted pumpkin seeds and butternut squash. Dessert was a heavenly bread pudding with Meyer rum and brown butter ice cream. Then the chef sent out little cups of espresso-infused chocolate soup. On the way back to the car we stopped for shared pastry; cheese Danish, almond brioche and a chocolate croissant.

Wednesday: Same breakfast again, but this time the chef sent a gift basket with a warm pecan sticky bun, a chocolate almond croissant and a banana nut muffin. Then later we had more chocolate, this time I had Venezuelan hot chocolate and an espresso. But what you really want to hear about is dinner. We were invited to a test of the new menu at the as-yet-unopened Fleur tapas bar. It went on for hours. The kitchen sent out a total of seventeen small courses, each lovely and delicious and perfect. Robert ate all the meat ones, I ate all the fish, and we shared the rest. If you get a chance, try the mussels in basil and parmesan, and the lobster mac’n cheese with brunoised veggies, and of course the mystical, magical, truffled onion soup. We had the very first Afogatto they ever served, only the second one they ever made. This one was mashed strawberries and lychees with vodka in a bowl, they pour in liquid nitrogen and whip it to the consistency of a Slurpee. Need I say “Yum”? It was yummy beyond belief. There were three (count’em three!) dessert courses. You’re welcome to details, but I’ll have to tell you by voice, the Internet doesn’t have room for all the superlatives. It was a privilege to be there, and our deepest thanks to Juan, Owen, David and Yvonne who made it happen, and a shout out to our cheerful buddy Xavier.

Thursday: Yes, I had the same breakfast, again. It’s that good. This time the toast was cranberry and we had freshly made beignets with nutella and jam. Lunch was a superb trio of butter-poached lobster rolls with kettle chips. Before leaving Las Vegas we had pastries. Mine were a pecan tart in a hazelnut crust with cinnamon whipped cream, and a vanilla éclair with praline and candied hazelnuts. On the way home we stopped for hummos and tabbouleh, then my swan song of indulgence for the year before returning to my usual veggies and grains and protein powder; a sprinkle-covered glazed doughnut and a blueberry doughnut.

Of course I have pix of everything, let me know if you want to see any of it. And to answer the other question that often comes up: I gained exactly two pounds, which was well worth it.