partying like the rock stars we are

we were still relaxing in our room when kelley arrived, and she was happy to get off her feet and hang out with us for awhile.  even with all of the activity downstairs - gambling, shopping, peoplewatching, you get it - this group of old ladies was perfectly content to just hang out and chat and get caught up on each other's lives while sitting on beds and couches in our hotel room.  heh.

we had dinner reservations at l'atelier in the MGM grand, and so we got ourselves up and dressed and freshened up before hopping into a cab and heading over.  

i wasn't familiar with this restaurant at all and hadn't checked out the menu online or anything beforehand.  but i trust dailygluttony and lilcee when it comes to all things food, and i knew we'd have a great time and enjoy some delicious food.  plus, this place earned michelin stars which is always pretty impressive, right?

the place is done in black and red and was kind of like a throwback to the 80s, which was amusing.  i did like the pretty floral centerpiece on our table, though:

the first couple of pages in the menu detailed their current tasting menu.

now, although i'm pretty much a bottomless pit, nine courses seemed excessive even to me.  and so we turned the page and decided to do the create-your-own instead.  this gave us our choice of three options from the menu, and there were plenty of dishes to pick from.  

after making our selections, we were presented with a bread basket with several different types of carbs to enjoy:

and then the amuse bouche arrived.  as soon as i heard the words "foie gras" i knew i had to send a picture to the old lady, who shudders at just the thought.  after the french dinner we'd enjoyed on the disney cruise a couple of years ago, she vowed never to touch the stuff again.  heh.

it was delicious and salty and buttery smooth, and i enjoyed every bit of it.  served in a shot glass, it was the perfect amount, and a nice way to start our dining experience.

my first course was the le jambon - iberico de bellota ham served with a slice of toasted tomato bread.  so good.

i washed it down with my cocktail of the evening - le rubis, a refreshing combination of champagne, st. germain, pomegranate, and yuzu juice.  it reminded me a little of sangria.

dailygluttony had the oyster shooters, which is something i'm not a fan of but it always looks cool.

lilcee had the red snapper ceviche, and she said it was really good.

my second course was the spiced maine lobster served over spaghetti.  i was pleasantly surprised at the generous portion, and i'm pretty sure this is up there with some of the best seafood pasta dishes i've ever had.  so yummy.

kelley ordered the smoked salmon, served with a potato waffle and dill whipped cream.  i thought of the bean, who would have loved every bit of it.

lilcee's crispy langoustine fritters looked amazing.  i'd debated ordering it too, but i figured the lobster pasta would have satisfied that craving.  she was happy to share though, and i happily accepted a piece (which ended up being even better than it looked).

my final course was the french style hangar steak with roasted shallots and shishito peppers.  and i was happy to see that it wasn't a huge portion, because i was actually full from the other courses i'd enjoyed:

...but not too full to enjoy the special potato puree that was served alongside it.

dailygluttony's last course was the iberico pork with crispy onions and risotto, and she said it was delicious.

we capped it all off with dessert, and this was the mango mousse:

mango sorbet:

and the "le chocolat."  under that fun chocolate disc was a delicious housemade ice cream with oreo crumbs and topped with a little sliver of edible gold.  kelley pointed out that it looked a lot like a ferrero rocher wrapper, which was pretty accurate.  ha!

a couple of the girls ordered coffee, which was served with this fun little snail-looking chocolate piece:

and we were presented with a final gift from the chef - some sort of fruity gel candy and little chocolate boats.

i think the server was a little horrified when we asked him to box up kelley's leftover hanger steak...and the candy...and the bread basket.  hahahahahahahahahaha.  so damn funny.  but hey - we were all stuffed and that shit wasn't cheap.  doggy bags all around!

when we got back to caesar's, the cab driver dropped us off right in front of the entrance to omnia nightclub.  i should've taken at least one picture, but i was too mesmerized by the plethora of skintight clothing, sky-high heels, skinny pants and the cloud of cologne.  the line wrapped around the building, and i was grateful all over again that i wasn't with a group who wanted to do...that.  heh.

nope.  instead, we headed right up to our room and cleaned off our makeup and put on pajamas.  this was 11:30 on saturday night in vegas:

hell yeah.  we'd planned on doing face masks together, but no one was up to it.  i think everyone was dead asleep before midnight.  muahahahahaha.  so awesome!