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| - Part I : Cosmo Food Crawl
Being a resident in this surreal city, (think adult Disneyland) we have so much available at our fingertips; it can be overwhelming and after a while, one can get jaded over the constant barrage of overstimuli pounding at you like a sobakawa pillow repeatedly beating your face. But, you gotta take advantage of what's available to you, so we regularly don our armor, spray ourselves with tourist repellent and trek on over to the strip (consequently we have to burn our clothes from all the smoke)... We don't normally drink so we come up with other amusements...
So instead of a Pub Crawl, we do a Foodie Crawl; where we go to several restaurants, dine on their signature dishes and enjoy multiple ambiences... which turns out to to be an entertaining nite!!
The Cosmopolitan is the perfect destination for such a night; there's dedicated restaurant floors so each venue is in close proximity, they are as diverse in cuisine as well as ambience and there's exists a perennial, 'hipper than thou' vibe that makes it conducive people watching and casually hopping in and out of venues sans guilt...
JALEO
Jose Andre's Jaleo has to be the BEST restaurant on the Strip; with Tapas cuisine winning an all-time, hipster popularity contest (probably due to its small portions so they don't overeat..those thin emaciated waifs and emos) the food served here is bar none the best Spanish cuisine you'll find anywhere (LA has the Bazaar which we love too, but Jaleo has a more casual upbeat ambience that suits us so well).
And it's our first stop at the Food Crawl, where we parked ourselves at the Bar (no reservations necessary) and thus started an evening of debauchery and culinary mayhem....
The first to do upon arrival arrive is to get a carafe of their Sangria, it's the best ever- it's got hints of Cinnamon and even Apples in it! It's lighter than most and has just a clean finish to it (Sangria has a tendency to be either sickenly sweet or harsh from the cheap Wine) neither which you will get when you order Sangria form Jaleo. It's memorable and quite addictive; forever ruining Sangria ordered anywhere else..
Pan con Tomate y Jamon Serrano: A classic Spanish dish and great way to open up your taste buds is the Toasted Bread with Tomatoes on top with Serrano Ham, drizzled with a touch of Spanish Olive Oil. The heavenliness is in the crunchy carbs married with soft, acidic texture and creaminess of fat. it sates all senses and leaves the appetite wanting more...
To balance the meal a bit, we ordered a Salad, the Remolacha con Citricos: Salad of Red Beets + Citrus +La Peral Cheese + Pistachios + Sherry Dressing. The salad was balanced and harmonious with that unique flavor that Beets have with a mild acidity that was pleasant.
A great little dish to get at Jaleo is the Mixed Olives, Aceitunas Rellenas y Aceintunas Ferran Adria: Olives stuffed w/ Anchovy + Piquillo and Ferran Adria Liquid Olives. This little number is awesome with drinks; salty, briny and bathed in luxurious Olive Oil, both traditional and avant grade version entertain the palate, as wells the mind.
There are so many dishes at Jaleo that are so awesome and deserve special recognition; the Sunday Roasted Pig and the Lobster Paella to name a few. But due to timing issues, we weren't able to order those, so the highlighted dish is a special favorite in the seafood category, Calamares en su Tinta: Basque style Squid Stew with Ink. I'm a firm believer that that this may be the best, softest Squid that I have ever had; the Ink sauce was so savory in conjunction with the lime colored concoction which I wasn't' able to recognize, but relished it with fervor. I can't say I remember it with Ramps and Micro Greens but it's added value in any case.
It was truly hard to tear ourselves away from Jaleo, but we were on a mission to explore and more needed to be done. So down the hatch with our last sip of Sangria and moved On To The Next One (Hold up freeze. Somebody bring me back some money please....)
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