Foo-Detour - CRAVINGS at The Mirage

“There have been few times in my life that I have ever been this hungry!” exclaimed John this past Sunday afternoon while trudging past Caesar’s Palace on our way to The Mirage in Las Vegas.

TIME OUT (Zach Morris Style): Questions you have right now may include…

1. What is with the funny looking Foo-Detour logo in the corner of this blog? Well, I didn’t want to just limit the scope of the blog to 99 pLAtes in Los Angeles. So, in an effort to continue and vary the posts (read: write off more meals as ‘expenses’ due to my non-profit writing venture) I’ve decided to cover some other restaurants that aren’t on the list. We’ll call them Foo-Detours. Get it…foodie+detour…brilliant I know, thought of it in the middle of the night.

2. What are you doing in Vegas? A group of nine 20-something, one 30-something and one almost-30-something (sorry Pat) headed out to Vegas this past weekend to run in an insane National Urban Scavenger Hunt competition…which is a whole different blog post…so we’ll just call it a Reunion Weekend.

3. Was John really that hungry?  
Yes – Exhibit A: He had resorted to eating paper.

 TIME IN

 


Things most people do in Vegas include: eating at any number or exclusive restaurants, taking in a Cirque-de-Soleil extravaganza or rolling the dice at high-stakes casino games.

Things this group did in Vegas include: ordered sandwiches at the not-so-exclusive Carnegie deli, watched the non-Cirque water show playing at the Bellagio and rolled the dice (health-wise) by playing flipcup in the not-so-sanitary O’Sheas Casino.

Regardless of the different vacationing styles, I wouldn’t have had it any other way…

Around 10:50am on Sunday, Stacey (small in stature but large in adventure), John and I made plans to have an early-ish brunch and then start our trek back to Los Angeles. At around 1:20pm (hence John’s famished state) we finally put that plan in action and lined up for CRAVINGS, The Mirage’s signature buffet.

Each of us had a mission…Stacey hoped to compare this buffet against the one at the Bellagio (her current favorite), I hoped they had king crab legs and John hoped to make it through the line without passing out from starvation.

“Maybe I can actually eat 99 plates worth of food” John exclaimed as we made our way past the Jazzie Scooters scattered through the dining room. Forget showgirls and the Hoover Dam, a Las Vegas buffet is really a sight to see. Imagine every possible food group available for consumption, then multiply it to the 6^th degree and you have the multiple-thousand foot long troughs of food neatly adorned with sneeze-proof glass.

“They have a noodle bar!” Stacey exclaimed, “This place is amazing!” This ain’t your neighborhood Sizzler…The noodle bar was just the first of 13 (yes a bakers dozen) food areas flanking the perimeter of a room the size of a football field. Salads, Chinese, Hot Grill, Sushi, Noodles, Fishmonger, Raw Bar, BBQ, Latin, Rotisserie, Carving, Italian and Desserts. 

After a brief huddle at the table, we decided a three-man zone offense would be the best way to tackle the field. I loaded up on seafood and Asian cuisine while Stacey made a beeline for the deli. Meanwhile, John…well he blitzed just about every other section. “They had eggs benedict over there!” he protested when questioned on his odd combination of breakfast foods and pho.

Here’s the thing about buffets…none of the food is AMAZING, it’s all sub-par. There are just a gazillion choices so your stomach never has a second to get bored (or get any oxygen for that matter). From chicken chimichangas to pan-fried potstickers...the world is literally at you taste buds.

Two plates deep, Stacey and I were starting to slow as John came back with a fresh made vegetable omelet from the chef’s grill. “I started with dinner and am ending on breakfast,” he firmly stated, “I am like the foodie Benjamin Button.”

Meanwhile, the buttons on my jeans were hanging on for dear life as I saddled up to the gelato bar for a scoop of vanilla bean (which – gasp – I could barely even finish). 

Like a gambler folding his last hand at the poker table, John conceded defeat to Cravings. Despite the glimmer in his eye as we rolled by the panini grill on our way out the door, the food comma had won out. “Can I throw up and start again?” he asked. ‘You gotta know when to walk away’ John, ‘know when to run’ (for the restrooms).

As we cruised down Tropicana Ave toward the freeway, I was reminded of our newly minted Vegas motto. “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas…until it moves on down to your love handles.”

#4 - Little Dom's Oyster Po Boy

“Hellooo….we’re rich!” Adam exclaimed as the platter of oysters appeared in the center of our table at Little Dom’s restaurant. No we’re not actually rich…but there is nothing wrong with acting like it.

Let me bring you up to speed. Previously on 99pLAtes, my new roommates Peter and Jessie joined me for pLAte #3 at Comme Ca. Well, I thought it only fitting that for my next dish, I’d have a meal with my old roommates – Adam and Meredith.

Adam and I met circa 2002 on the heights of Boston College. He was intrigued by my Survivor: Newton Campus television show I co-produced (for fun) and I was obsessed with raiding his collection of Napster music (he had the SNL theme song!). Fast forward four years and we’re roommates together in LA, living in the luxurious La Vista Terrace.

Meredith and I met a few years later while working together at the highly regarded website TMZ.com. Let me tell ya about what it’s like to work for TMZ. First of all….what’s that? Lawyers? On the phone….right now? Confidentiality agreement….right…

Ahem – pardon the interruption, back to our regularly scheduled blogging. At any given point in the last four years, some combination of Meredith, Adam or me lived in Apartment 213. At one point, all three of us lived there…at the same time…which was – ridiculous. There wasn’t enough room on the DVR, let alone in the apartment.

Now that you know the players…let’s talk about the place. Little Dom’s, located in the heart of Los Feliz village is the preeminent first date place in my opinion. You want a no-pressure, better-than-average food and cozy atmosphere spot – go to Little Dom’s.

I should note that so far on the blog, I’ve only been to places in neighborhoods I know…pretty soon we’re gonna have to go rogue people. Koreatown? Compton? Any takers?

Back in Los Feliz, where the level of hipster-ness is tolerable (unlike Silver Lake – sorry Peter), Adam, Meredith and I met for our mini-reunion. After a quick drink over at Big Bar, the new cozy watering hole next to Alcove (go with the LA Cocktail – it has egg in it and its delicious), we settled in for our main meal at Little Dom’s.

 

Our waiter, who may or may not have been a stunt double for Zach Galifinakis, showed us to our table and listed off the specials. The fun thing about this blog is before I even walk in the door, I know what I am going to eat – no pressure, no decisions, “no…t on the menu???” I exclaimed. What I was searching for was the Oyster Po’Boy…which is the same as the Fried Oyster Sandwich Mr. Galifinakis pointed out

Just for fun we ordered a platter of oysters to start things off, because (as mentioned earlier) “Hello…we’re rich!”. While sipping on white wine, the three of us reminisced on our time together in 213 (“I slept on an air mattress…for five months!” Adam exclaimed) and the neurosis’s of our new respective roommates (love you guys…mean it!). When the oysters arrived we each slurped two down, but noted they tasted fishier than we were expecting…will this spell disaster for the impending pLAte? Will this be the first blog entry where I cannot endorse the food?? Will Batman survive from the laughing gas and catch The Riddler???

Alas, the Oyster Po’ Boy did turn out to be a little fishier and greasier than my liking. Served on top of slightly over-toasted focaccia bread, the oysters suffered from over-breading and just a general fishy taste similar to the problem we ran into earlier. Little Dom’s rounds out the po’ boy with greens, an Italian meat called ‘speck’ and a spicy mayonnaise (called remoulade for all you food snobs). Naturally, I polished off the entire pLAte (the FFK in me cannot let food go wasted) but I ended up feeling less totally-worth-the-food-coma full and more I-need-to-go-for-a-run-tomorrow full. 

The traditional dishes on the table, Adam’s hangar steak and Meredith’s ricotta ravioli, seemed to go over a bit better. Although with the avalanche of mixed greens on Adam’s plate (and one bottle of Chardonnay down) it was hard to find the steak at all. 

Complaints about the pLAte aside, I still stand by Little Dom’s as a go-to dinner spot you can always keep tucked away in your back pocket. Besides…it’s not every day you see a celebrity waiting tables…

…and on a bus stop right outside the restaurant. 

Little Dom’s

2128 Hillhurst Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90027

(323) 661-0055

 

#3 - Comme Ca Cheeseburger

We are almost a month into the blog and Peter Geist is very pissed off. “First off, you didn’t even tell me when the blog began,” rants Peter “and secondly I haven’t even been featured yet!” Of course many more expletives were involved, but just typing them out wouldn’t do the rant justice.

Peter was about to ship off to NYC to tape the next season of “Celebrity Apprentice”, so we decided a roommate dinner was in order. The three of us, Jessie, Peter and I, moved in together about two months ago and have lived in “Three’s Company” bliss ever since. 

 

A reservation was booked for Comme Ca, a neighborhood French restaurant known for it’s creative cocktail mixologists and for their Comme Ca Cheeseburger. “How good can a French Cheeseburger be?” you ask? Unbelievably good…but we’ll get to that later.

 “First off some of this conversation has to be OFF BLOG,” Peter ruled. Woodward and Bernstein wouldn’t stand for such editorial decisions, but when roommates dish dirt…not all of it can be broadcast on the internets. However, just for fun I’ll provide snippets with no context:

“His face is busted!”

“You’re a girl, you don’t even poop!”

“There was definitely over-the-table hand holding.”

Before we get to the food, a note about the drinks. The best part about these concoctions (Jessie – “Besides the alcohol”) is the ice. Peter’s whisky based drink was served with an icicle inside, while my raspberry muddled mixture had the same kind of ice I used to get on the snow cones from the Mr. Swirly Ice Cream truck.

“There is a lot of things on this menu, but I feel like I cannot get in too deep,” said Jessie. So to simplify things, we ordered off the pre-fixe. Jessie and I would share a beet and goat cheese salad and steak frites, Peter went with the French onion soup and steak frites and one Comme Ca Cheeseburger for the table.

After settling on our “Celebs We Want to Sleep With” list (Jessie – Mark Ruffalo, Peter – Paul Rudd, Me – James Marsden Chris Pine), the appetizers arrived.

Appetizers – French Onion Soup & Roasted Beet Salad

Peter went to work right away poking and prodding at the cheese bumbling over the sides of his mini-crock pot of French onion soup. Slurping away, Peter didn’t have much to say which leads me to believe he enjoyed it very much. Meanwhile, Jessie and I happily devoured our salad. The dish included a mixture of deep red and burnt yellow beets accompanied by a hunk of goat cheese. The key here is to get each element, lettuce, beet & cheese, onto your fork in one fell swoop for the ultimate bite. Wrapping up all the flavors into one is the only way to go…which makes me believe Pepporoni Pizza Combos were way ahead of their time.

 

Satisfied with taste and color (Jessie – “I wish I had an outfit this color”) the beet salad was delicious, but I was more interested in finding out whether or not this illustrious burger was all that it was cracked up to be.

Entrée – Comme Ca Cheeseburger & Steak Frites

Speaking of cracked, that’s exactly what happens inside your mouth upon first bite into the cheeseburger. Cracked in a good way though as you bite into the just-charred-enough outer rim of the patty. Inside, however, is a different story – the cheeseburger oozes a mixture of dripping juices and cheesy goodness that bests In-and-Out any day of the week. Wedged between the patty and the bun is a layer of lightly dressed coleslaw that kicks a little sweet crunch into the dish.

“This is by far the best pLAte I’ve had yet,” I proudly exclaimed. I know, I know…we are only three in, but this cheeseburger certainly warrants making the list of the 99 best pLAtes.

Make no mistake about it, the steak frites was great too. I mean anything topped with herbed butter is going to taste pretty delicious, but the meat was cooked to our liking and dunking the frites in the house-made aioli dip “made it worth coming here” claimed Jessie (who suddenly was only speaking in Zagat sound bites).

The only “miss” of the meal was the Panna Cote we shared for dessert. While a slightly charred burger tastes delicious, a slightly charred Vanilla pudding tastes pretty terrible. 

And with another pLAte down and a roommate temporarily satisfied...Peter can move on from being pissed off about being unrepresented on the blog to being pissed off about being misrepresented on the blog. Love ya Puddles!

Comme Ca

8479 Melrose Avenue

West Hollywood, CA 90069

(323) 782-1104