Secret Pizza

In addition to our love of college basketball and the NCAA Tourney, one of my Vegas buddies also happens to be a foodie. When we arrived in Vegas, he started telling me about a pizza joint inside The Cosmopolitan.  He said the name of the place is called Secret Pizza  and that it is supposed to be legit pizza and gets it's name from the fact it doesn't have a website or any signage that signifies where to find it.  In fact, The Cosmopolitan doesn't even list it under the restaurants in the hotel.  

Entrance to Secret Pizza

Basically, you have to wonder aimlessly in search of it or ask somebody that knows where it is.  Not wanting to look like cheaters, we went in search of it and decided not to ask anyone where it was.  After about 5 minutes, we saw a man carrying a pizza box out of an unassuming hallway and we knew that we had found what we were looking for.  The line was fairly short and we both had a couple of slices in hand within five minutes of entering the hallway.  The pepperoni pizza was simply outstanding and some of the best I have had in recent memory.  The pizza was piping hot and bursting with flavor.  

Pepperoni

Since we liked it so much, we actually made a return trip in he wee morning hours approximately 14 hours after our first visit.  Luckily for us, it was still open, but we were unlucky in the fact that the line was all the way down the hallway and took 30 minutes to place our order.  On the second visit, I ordered sausage and it was comparable in quality to the pepperoni I had previously.  Although spicy sausage pizza at 3:00 AM might not have been the best decision I made in Vegas, I have certainly made worse decisions.  If you like pizza and want to go looking for this place, you will not be disappointed in this speakeasy-like pizza place.

Sausage Pizza

Secret Pizza
https://www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=4

Scarpetta

On our first night in Vegas, my wife said that she was in the mood for Italian.  Before going on my trip, I had researched various Italian restaurants and Scarpetta seemed to be getting a lot of buzz from bloggers and diners alike.  Scarpetta is Scott Conant's (celebrity chef and Chopped judge) flagship restaurant and we were quite anxious to try this upscale Italian restaurant at The Cosmopolitan.

From our table, we had a cool view of the Bellagio fountains

Bread Basket

We were lucky enough to get a table with a view of the Bellagio fountains.  The beautiful view was one of the best I have ever had while dining in Vegas.  Our waiter also brought out a bread basket that included an excellent variety of breads with some flavorful spreads.  For our first dish we started with the Braised Short Ribs, which sat atop a mixture of farro risotto and diced vegetables.  This flavor of the dish was outstanding and raised our expectations for the restaurant even more.  Without question, this was the best dish I have had so far in 2015. 

Braised Short Ribs

For our entrees, we ordered the highly praised Spaghetti and the Fennel Dusted Black Cod.  The spaghetti was very simple, but the noodles had a perfect texture and the sauce was divine.  The cod dish sat atop concentrated tomatoes and roasted fennel.  While the cod was very good, the roasted fennel might have been my favorite part of the dish.

Spaghetti

Fennel Dusted Black Cod

Since everything we had sampled so far was very good, we couldn't leave without sampling a dessert.  We ordered the Amedei Chocolate Cake that came with toasted almond gelato and salted caramel sauce.  This dessert was the perfect ending to a perfect meal.  The flavors of chocolate, almond, and caramel blended perfectly into an amazing dessert.

Amedei Chocolate Cake with toasted almond gelato and salted caramel sauce

In addition to the excellent food, the service was outstanding.  While enjoying our meal, we were able to see the Bellagio fountains fountains erupt twice.  This meal was certainly worth the short walk from The Palazzo to The Cosmopolitan and I will definitely add this restaurant to my list of Vegas favorites.  

Scarpetta
http://www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/taste/restaurant-collection/scarpetta.aspx
Livin the Good Life Rating=5

Holsteins

During a visit to Vegas in 2013, I had the pleasure of eating lunch at Public House inside the Venetian Hotel and Casino.  We enjoyed the food at Public House and they had plenty of TVs for us to watch the March Madness games.  I heard from a friend that Block 16 Restaurants, the group that owns Public House, also had a burger joint called Holsteins.  Since I am always up for a good burger, my wife and I ventured down to The Cosmopolitan to give Holsteins a try.

Seasoned Popcorn

We arrived to a busy weekday lunch crowd, but we only had to wait a few minutes before we were seated.  Our waiter brought us waters and seasoned popcorn right away while we perused the menu.  The menu had several delicious-sounding appetizers and "adult" milkshakes.  We decided to start with the buttermilk onion rings and they arrived before we had even decided which entree to order.  The crunchy buttermilk batter was absolutely amazing and they were served with a nice Chipotle aioli dip as well.  These onion rings were unquestionably some of the best onion rings I have ever had.  

Buttermilk Onion Rings with Chipotle Aioli 

Dining Area at Holsteins

Holsteins menu had several appetizing burgers to choose from, including the $28 Billionaire burger that included Foie Gras as a topping.  I decided to pass on that particular burger because I once had a distasteful dining experience involving Foie Gras.  For my entree, I ordered the Gold Standard burger with fries.  The Gold Standard was a dry aged sirloin burger with smoked bacon, aged goat cheddar cheese, tomato confit, baby arugula, and garlic-chive aioli.  The burger was very juicy and the toppings gave it a very unique taste.  This burger gets a thumbs up, but the fries were very bland and a complete disappointment.  Hindsight is 20-20, but I should have just substituted the fries for more onion rings.

The Gold Standard with Fries

My wife had the Maine lobster roll sliders with cole slaw and gave them her stamp of approval.  She allowed me to try a bite and I thought the toasted mini-hot dog bun was a perfect fit for the lobster.  I am usually not a huge fan of lobster rolls, but I would have eaten these any day of the week.

Mini Lobster Rolls and Cole Slaw

Holsteins ended up being an perfect choice for lunch.  The food, with the exception of the fries, was much better than your average burger joint.  The service was good and we did not have to wait more than a few minutes for either our appetizer or our entrees.  Holsteins was a little on the pricey side, so I certainly wouldn't consider it a great value.  Even though it was a little pricey, I would certainly go back because I want to try some of their other burgers.

Holsteins
http://www.holsteinslv.com
Livin the Good Life Rating = 3