Food Galore in Sin City - Day 2

Our second day at the Bellagio started with fresh crepes at the Bellagio's Palio Pronto. This is also the location for the world's tallest chocolate fountains pouring decadent and copious amounts of white, dark and milk chocolate for their various confections. Another speciality of Palio Pronto is the crepes. They are are prepared in front of you on an extremely hot griddle and it's amazing to see the dexterity of the cooks managing several at a time. The menu selections of crepes include many wonderful sweet and savory options. We settled on a ham and cheese crepe. The crepe was thin, hot and had the ideal amount of filling. It was a perfect start to our day!

Our morning at Bellagio's Spa made us hungry so we headed over to the Venetian Resort and had appetizers at Enoteca San Marco, Mario Batali & Joe Bastianich's casual restaurant overlooking the beautiful Venetian scenery and singing from gondola drivers. We settled on three selections of charcuterie (proscuitto parma, salumi and coppa) and three cheeses. The three condiments were outstanding and atypical of what you normally see with cheese presentations -- truffle infused honey, marinated cherries and spiced apricots. They really complimented the various cheeses and made it fun to try each cheese with each condiment to see the variations we preferred. We also ordered fried zucchini blossoms stuffed with a mild goat cheese, a seasonal delicacy which this Italian enjoyed!

After some gambling and more shopping, we arrived at Morel's French Steakhouse & Bistro. The restaurant includes French classics and you are immediately welcomed by their iced seafood bar and an impressive charcuterie and cheese bar. The atmosphere is comfortable and the service was formal yet friendly. Brad ordered the Seafood Fettucini, which was loaded with clams, mussels, shrimp and lobster in a garlic & white wine sauce. I enjoyed the Shelton Farms' Chicken, perectly roasted with Meyer lemons in a fennel and olive jus. This was one of the most delectable chicken dishes I have had in a long while. The chicken was crispy on the outside and juicy with every bite. It was presented well with spinach and small roasted potatoes. Wine choices this evening included one of my favorites, a Rex Hill Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Can you tell yet that Oregon Pinot's are a weak spot for me?!

Their dessert menu has an interesting addition. For those of you who are connoisseurs of French pastries, you know that "macaroons" as we Americans know them are not the same. At Morel's, they take the flaky cookie halves and serve them with a variety of fillings. We were given lemon, nutella and a raspberry filling. We enjoyed mixing and matching the flavors and discussing our favorite combinations.

If you haven't seen the production of "Jersey Boys," I highly recommend it. The show tells the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, from the start of their career to the present day. It's largely a musical and the performances were spectacular. How fun is it to see young and old swaying to the music and everyone enjoying themselves without a care in the world?! Our Frankie Valli was an understudy that evening and he had such a voice that I can't imagine what the main lead would have sounded like. The theater at the Palazzo is new and specifically built for this show. Our seats were in Row Z in the center and they were just perfect. The sound quality was such that you didn't feel that you had spend more to get closer to the stage. An excellent production and evening all around!

Day 3's culinary adventure awaits you on "Ode to Everything Food."