Las Vegas
Donutique with Pearl and Simon before they had to leave-- artful donuts, more on the art side than Sidecar or some of their competitors, perhaps a bit less sweet overall. Banana cream donut was definitely less sweet than expected, almost a tad boring, but so artfully done. Chocolate noir was closest to a normal raised chocolate donut, the strawberry was on the sweet side with a thick frosting, and Simon devoured his Boston creme. Finally the apple pie donut was more art than anything, but the apple filling below the non-sweet strudel weave on top made for a nice balance.
Said farewell to the Lai's after (and the on-and-off lines at Donutique), temporary farewell to Dennis, then wandered up to Sushi Samba for a so-so sushi lunch since they were right upstairs at the hotel. The stylish interior and excellent service were marred by much too strong a smell of vinegar from the rice, and the meal seemed epitomized by the flounder fin (engawa): failed to deliver anything memorable, especially for the price, but it's Vegas, so hard to complain too much given everything here is expensive.
As it was finally a more appropriate time to check-in, walked over to The Cosmopolitan after lunch. Not a bad stroll, although the F1 grandstands are seemingly taking forever to finish, and enough of the sidewalk is closed on the west side of Las Vegas Blvd. to be annoying. The forced detour inside Bellagio was appreciated in the end as it was nice to get out of the sun for a bit. Watched football the rest of the afternoon, then caught Dennis again for dinner at Paris Las Vegas.
Mon Ami Gabi has a commanding sidewalk patio that was quite busy, however as we did not have a reservation, the inside seating was where we ended up. Food was entirely adequate but no more, with the physically tenderized (aka hammered) top sirloin being not bad, but impossible to forget you were eating a cheap steak. Beef tartare wasn't much better, but at least the pricing was reasonable. After a fun discussion of status and loyalty programs over dinner, Dennis went back to his usual Vegas activities while I went for a walk, as it was a nice night outside and seeing both The LinQ Promenade as well as the backside of the strip (by the monorail) was kind of fun, not to mention the big mall connected to Planet Hollywood. Did not know there was both a Gen Korean BBQ and a Taco Bell Cantina in that mall, although I did know about the (multiple!) ABC Stores...