Nothin Much, Just Livin The Dream

As some of you may know, one of my man-crushes...uh...I mean idols, is the great

Bobby Flay.

Bobby Flay is a celebrity chef who has had numerous TV shows on The Food Network including Grill It! with Bobby Flay, Boy Meets Grill, and my personal favorite Throwdown With Bobby Flay. He is also a beast of an Iron Chef, having had the most battles on Iron Chef America with 47 and the most wins with 30. Furthermore, Bobby is the host of The Next Food Network Star, a judge on The Next Iron Chef, and is set to be a main judge on the upcoming show America's Next Great Restaurant. Combine this with the fact that he is the owner and executive chef of ten restaurants (yeah I said ten!!) and there's no denying that Bobby Flay has dominated every aspect of the food world. Plus he's a ginger so how could you not love him??

This brings us to item #77 Eat at Mesa Grill in Vegas. It was really a no-brainer for me to include this on my list. 1) Bobby Flay is my idol, 2) Mesa Grill is his cornerstone restaurant, and 3)Vegas is...well, Vegas. It's the ultimate dream.

So......

After numerous trips to Vegas, a little begging and pleading, a little more begging and pleading, and a good run at Blackjack by Jim's dad, I finally convinced everyone to make my dreams come true and go to Mesa Grill this past weekend! When we got there I was like a kid in a candy store and I couldn't go without getting a picture with the man himself.

Southwestern Cuisine With A New York Accent

Bobby Flay conquers the world one chipotle pepper at a time

The Warm-Up

Mesa Grill Classic Margarita

Blue Corn Muffin, Asiago Bread,

and Walnut Raisin Bread

The Apps

ROUGH CUT TUNA "NACHOS"
Mango and Habanero Hot Sauce
+ Avocado Crema

CRISPY QUAIL

Hot Mustard + Ancho Chile Sauce + Honey

SMOKED CHICKEN AND BLACK BEAN QUESADILLA
Avocado + Toasted Garlic Creme Fraiche

The Main Events

SIXTEEN SPICE CHICKEN + MANGO – GARLIC SAUCE
Mango - Green Onion Salsa
+ Cilantro Pesto Mashed Potatoes

PAN ROASTED VENISON
Cranberries
+ Pumpkin Tamale with Allspice Butter

22 OZ BONE IN
CHIPOTLE GLAZED RIB-EYE
Red + Green Chile Sauce

Let me just start off by saying this meal was freakin delicious. Mr. Flay certainly did not disappoint. But obviously with every meal comes highs and lows. So let me break it down for you:

First off, the margaritas were OUT OF THIS WORLD. As in the best I've ever had, not exaggerating. The bread basket was pretty standard. A nice twist on things with the blue corn muffin though (gotta add that southwestern flare). As for the appetizers, the "rough cut nachos" were extremely rough cut seeing as they weren't nachos at all and were just tortilla chips with tuna tar tar in the middle. Still good with the crema and habenero/mango salsa.

Next we had the crispy quail. Now I've never had quail before but to be honest I couldn't tell you what it tastes like from this dish. I thought the outer skin was just too crispy for me to really get the taste of the meat. On the other hand, the smoked chicken and black bean quesadilla was SUPER DELICIOUS. You could taste every part of the quesadilla in each bite, from the smokiness of the chicken and the richness of the cheese to the garlic in the creme fraiche on top. And let's be honest, avacado just makes everything better.

For the main entrees, I had a taste of most of them but my dish was the GIGANTIC 22 ounce ribeye glazed in chipotle with red and green chili sauce. The flavor of the chipotle glaze was really good and the sauces went perfectly with the steak but I wish it was cooked a tiny bit more. I asked for medium rare as I usually do but it came out slightly underdone.

After a few rounds of margaritas and a bottle of cabernet for the table, I didn't really notice anymore though haha. Jim got the 16-spice chicken and that seemed pretty good. The sauce was tasty and you can't really go wrong with mashed potatoes with cilantro and pesto in them. A friend of Jim's dad got the venison but I don't think I even had a taste of that. All I remember from that dish was the pumpkin tamale with allspice butter which was AMAZING. I could eat a whole plate of those things as an entree.

After all was said and done, we were all wayyyy too stuffed for dessert so unfortunately I missed out on Bobby's chipotle ice cream or whatever southwestern twists on dessert he offers. The funniest thing about the night was the fact that after we finished eating, I still had a huge portion of steak left. Now I'm not one to go wasting food, especially part of a Bobby Flay meal, so I decided to box it up to go.

I carried this steak around with me for the rest of the night. When we were playing blackjack at Ceasars, that steak was there. When we were playing beer pong at Blondie's, that steak was there. And when we were walking back to our hotel along the strip at 4 am, that steak was....being manhandled and eaten straight off the bone, making it the greatest drunchie meal of all time. Oh Vegas, how I love thee.

#77 Eat at Mesa Grill in Vegas