Imagine that you are dreaming about immersing yourself into what any foodie or food nerd like me would consider their ideal version of food heaven. A place where the chef personally hands you his delicacy along with a drink pairing to go with it. Sounds appealing, right? Lucky for us you can make that fantasy into a reality with an annual event thrown by the folks at Conde Nast. Bon Appetite magazine holds their Vegas Uncork’d festival every year. It offers fans of their magazine a chance to rub elbows with their favorite culinary icons in several events over the course of four days. The big kick-off for the event is their Saber Off ceremony and the epic Grand Tasting at the pools of Caesar’s Palace.
At the Saber Off, a chef ceremoniously uses a big knife to open a bottle of champagne, with all the chefs featured in the Uncork’d event standing behind him raising a glass of champagne toasting to the start of the food festival. The sponsor of all that bubbly this year was Perrier Jouet. Before the ceremony began at the pool inside of the Cosmopolitan Hotel and Casino, the resort put out a tantalizing array of food and desserts for those attending to sample. In addition to food, servers were circling with a cocktail made with the champagne mixed with gin and exotic juices, and finished off with the trendy big circle of ice and boba pearls. The chefs and staff of the magazine in attendance were gathering in the cabanas because of a light dusting of rain. We weren’t the ones working or being photographed, so we took advantage of the gourmet spread. There were ahi tuna tacos, lamb chops, gourmet sliders and a big table with a plethora of tiny deserts to sample. It was incredible. While we ate, I tried to act like it wasn’t a big deal that I was chowing down next to the likes of Iron Chef Morimoto and Roy Choi.
The next event that I was lucky enough to attend was their big kick-off called “The Grand Tasting,” located at the pools in Caesar’s Palace. It was like a dream or the scene with pink elephants out of Dumbo. Booths were lining the multitude of pools in the aptly named Garden of The Gods pool area. It was a multisensory overload to the foodie brain—Guy Savoy this way, Giada here, Gordon Ramsey there, Guy Fieri too, oh my. DJ’s pumping music while different performers danced through the crowd on stilts and elaborate costumes.
At each booth was a bite and a libation to sample. Steak tartar, truffle artichoke soup, sliders, fish and chips, parmesan risotto, bacon wrapped dates, roasted pork sandwiches, sashimi, it was a dizzying array of food samples, and I was in heaven. For a bigtime foodie, this really was a fantastic experience and one I strongly suggest other food aficionados should experience. The price tag is a bit steep, with the VIP early entry running at $350 per person. However, if you price some of the more glam tasting menus in town, it’s not that staggering. It’s like getting to experience most of the high profile menus from the Vegas strip all in one place. Just take my advice and pace yourself, and keep your camera ready, since you will be starstruck getting up close and personal with some of your favorite food icons in one beautiful location.
MARSHALL DAVIS 2017 CASK SERIES PINOT NOIR This vineyard, founded in 2011 by brothers Sean Davis, Ryan Marshall and Matt Marshal, creates small batch vineyard-specific wines. Located in Willamette Valley in Oregon, this family-run winemaker crafts full-bodied wines that are some of the most prestigious to come out of the region. STRIPLV was sent a bottle of their Cask Series Pinot Noir to sample. It smelled of berries with an autumnal aroma to the wine. It pleasantly dry with light and very fine tannins, perfect to pair with a grilled steak dinner. The Marshall Davis Brothers pride themselves on the details when creating each of their small batch wine creations, and it shows in the flavor of this Pinot Noir. Become the wine nerd amongst your friends and sign up for one of their wine clubs delivering new varieties to your door a few times a year, or treat yourself to one of their many offering at marshalldaviswines.com.