é by José Andrés [Las Vegas]

é by José Andrés (@chefjoseandres) is located inside Jaleo, one of his restaurant inside The Cosmopolitan Hotel.

Reservation is only available by email only and become available 3 months in advance with 2 seatings each night (5:30pm & 8:30pm) from Wednesday through Sunday with only 8 spot per seating. I was lucky enough to grab a reservation for our first night in Vegas for their first seating at 5:30pm only a bit more than a month in advance given that it was the only night that we could fit into our schedule.

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This is a rather exclusive and intimate experience for $195 per person excluding beverage , tax and tips. Wine pairing is at extra cost with 2 selections, one at over $350pp but with 21 course happening in a rather quick succession, I was glad that we didn't order the wine pairing.

Love how the team of 3 chefs crafts the progressive menu in front of you, they definitely put up quite a show. With 3 chefs and 2 wait staff serving just the 8 of us, I can't help but feel real special.

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And as we were told, the room design was kind of José André brain with his memories and inspirations through the years.
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 The final steps of each dishes are put together and plated right in front on us; that's definitely the kind of show every foodie would love to see. The plates that each dishes was served in were also specially made by hand from Europe which you won't see anywhere else.

 As soon as we sat down, we were greeted by the model of José Andrés hand holding a hot towel with herbs and lavender wrapped inside.

SLS Hotel Las Vegas

Was looking for a cheaper more affordable hotel for our Las Vegas trip since we knew we wouldn't spend much time in the room and we me kinda make a bunch of dinner reservations (aham, limited budget). I finally found a deal online for the yet to open SLS Hotel Las Vegas (@SLSLasVegas), a boutique hotel that was previously Sahara for $91 a night so I was pretty skeptical and when it finally opened a month and a half ago, the review was not that great. So I was crossing my fingers that it would turn out great and things will start to move smoothly by the time we get there.

The lobby itself was pretty small and nothing as impressive as the other hotel in Vegas but it definitely have the feel of a cute boutique hotel. Love the changing background behind the check in area.

 They have three different towers with different themes; Story, Lux and World. 

I made reservation for World Tower which features a super comfortable king plush bed. Although the room is not as spacious as most hotel in Vegas, it was plenty enough for the two of us.

The Griddle Café [Las Vegas]

The Griddle Café (@thegriddlecafe) is located inside SLS Hotel where we are staying and after checking in, we decided to drop by for lunch. We arrive at around 1:30pm and the place was packed and we had to wait for a couple of minutes for a table, so if you don't want to wait please make sure to make a reservation online.

We didn't order much since we have an early "epic" dinner reservation coming up (by epic I mean 21 course tasting menu, post will be coming up). We ordered a dish each without drink by oh my, the portion was huge and we could barely finished them.

Love the dark gloomy diner décor of the space with the light signs. This is the perfect place to get your big portion of hangover cure after a night of partying in Vegas. 

"Peanut Bubba" Crunchy French Toast $14.95

~ "Mon's French Toast" dipped in a peanut butter crunch, then grilled to perfection. Topped w/powdered sugar and vanilla whipped cream (Hubba, Hubba, Peanut Bubba!)

When this arrive, I was shocked at how humongous it was... how is it even possible for such a big slice of bread?! This was perfect with the crunch of the peanuts and the crust the peanut butter batter it was dipped it. It didn't even need the maple syrup but with my best effort, I was barely able to finish one slice and Ben had to finish the other with leftover.

bywoods [Italian / Mediterranean]

I was invited to Media Tasting dinner at bywoods (@bywoods760) and I can't help but feel excited since there's a lot of restaurant along St.Clair that seems to be so under-explore. bywoods is the latest endeavor of Tony Cappellano and the Boom Hospitality Inc team with Chef Craig Dehne helming the kitchen.

 
The space is divided into two adjacent dinning rooms with a small front patio.
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The bywoods

~ gin, organic rosemary, lemon juice, sugar & club soda

I am disappointed to say that it tasted very bland to me, almost like gin with water and ice... even after squeezing the lemon wedge in didn't help much.
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Prosciutto Pizze $15

~ fig, gorgonzola & dressed arugula

Love the crispy flatbread with the mount of fresh arugula on top and knowing how much I like fig and prosciutto, this was so perfect for me.

Military Green [OOTD]

Outfit Details:

Jacket & Pleather Skirt- F21(old); Sneaker -Nike (Little Burgundy);

Sunnies (men's department) - H&M; Bag - Rebecca Minkoff (Holt Renfrew)

 

Fall is upon us and the temperature have been dropping day after day and although I am not as afraid of the cold as most of my friends, I still need a light jacket these days. Love the versatility of this light jacket and this military green color is basically a neutral that goes with everything

 

Oh and not sure if some of you have the same problem but I have a rather large head and a lot of the sunglasses out there are either tight or look rather small on me... so sometime I look in the men's department when tends to be larger and which I can share with Ben as well.

Love Food Fest in Support of Action Against Hunger [Event Oct 7th -Promo]

 

 

Toronto food lovers will not want to miss Love Food Fest where you get to support Action Against Hunger (@ACF_Canada) while some of Toronto's top chefs will compere to recreation our favorite childhood recipes.  

 

Tickets are available for $125 only which include tasting of nostalgia dishes from all 20 chefs plus many wine, beer and food vendors. There's also a silent auction to further support this great cause.

 

Location:

Artscape Wychwood Barns

601 Christie Street, Toronto

 

 Date & Time:

Tuesday Oct 7, 2014 at 6:00-9:30pm

 

Ticket Details:  

$125

 

 Get you tickets here

 

 

 

About Action Against Hunger :

Action Against Hunger / Action contre la Faim (ACF) is a leading international humanitarian organization that fights hunger and its root causes worldwide.  Founded in France in 1979 and with 30+ years of experience in conflict zones, natural disasters and response to food crises, ACF is one of the most important international organizations specialized in addressing hunger and its underlying causes. We work in more than 45 countries and reach approximately 7 million people annually.

For more on Action Against Hunger, visit their website here

 

 

Roundhouse Craft Beer Festival 2014 [EVENT]

This will be the 3rd year Steam Whistle Brewing (@SteamWhistle) will be hosting The Roundhouse Craft Beer Festival (see post from previous year here, here & Winter one here)

I am a bit behind on this post since this happened back on Aug 9th but I guess better late than never. It was a busy weekend, I only got to drop by for a short period of time after attending a friend's Birthday Brunch (which mean I didn't get to try the food at the festival)

 

I'll have to say that it's bigger and better with bigger space and more vendors which mean more choices and shorter line ups.

 Big Rig Brewery (@bigrigbrew)

 

Railway City Brewing Co. (@railwaycity)

Would love to try the Double Dead Elephant but it wasn't released yet, so tried the Honey Bee'Lixir instead. It was a amber color, a heavier beer than I had expected. It has a sweet burnt sugary taste with malty taste and a little bit of bitterness to balance it out.

Amsterdam Brewery (@amsterdambeer)

Tried the Travesty which was a special brew for the event, collaborating with Steam Whistle own brewer Erica McOustra (@konafone). This was Ben's favorite of the day and her even went back for seconds but unfortunately it was sold out. It has a floral bourbon scent to it with a  sweet smokey caramel flavor to it.