After a low-key New Year’s Day of watching bowl games, our group headed out on January 2 to see a few more of the sights in Las Vegas. We stopped in at the Westgate Resort & Casino to visit its Las Vegas Superbook, reputed to be the largest sportsbook in the world. It was pretty quiet that afternoon (I’m sure much more than it was the day before!), but we enjoyed a few drinks at the bar as we observed the big screens circling the room playing some sports talk shows and relaying all kinds of information about upcoming events.    Beneath the screens lay the Racebook seats and VIP seats. Each offered a roomy desk, comfortable chair and a 32″ LED screen covering the action. 

From there we headed for Mandalay Bay, looking to get a great vantage of the Strip and the sunset. Heavy traffic along the Strip meant we arrived too late for a good view of the sunset, but we enjoyed people-watching along the way and seeing how much had changed since our last trip, about five years ago. We peeked in at Aureole, Charlie Palmer’s fine-dining restaurant where we had enjoyed a fabulous meal on that trip. Aureole’s most outstanding feature is its glass-enclosed, climate-controlled, four-story wine cellar.   “Wine angels” (young women dressed in black leotards), suspended from ropes, retrieve bottles of wine, adding a unique element of entertainment for the diners there.

We next made our way up to the Foundation Room on the 63rd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort. Its balcony offered amazing views of the Strip,    where we lingered just long enough on this breezy, chilly night to snap a few pictures before retreating inside to a cozy, semi-private room to warm up and enjoy some drinks.

Our last stop of the evening was on the west side of the city at Rhythm Kitchen Seafood & Steaks, far from the Strip but which our hosts had promised would deliver great New Orleans cuisine. My husband and I were particularly interested, as we had a trip to the Crescent City scheduled just a week later. Dinner was indeed impressive, complemented by friendly, prompt and attentive service.

A couple of the gentlemen in our party were eager to try the baby back ribs, only to learn after the order had been placed that the ribs had been sold out. Rather than just sending our server out to deliver the bad news, manager Christopher Washington came out himself and did say that while he didn’t have a complete order of ribs, he would provide to the table, gratis, the small portion he did have left. We each got to sample them, and they were delectable: succulent and fall-off-the-bone tender, seasoned just right without being drenched in sauce. We also shared an appetizer of Shrimp Brochette, skewered, wrapped in bacon and grilled — truly mouthwatering. As we waited for our entrées we also enjoyed the warm bread and hushpuppies (with quite a zip to them) brought to the table.

The menu offers a wide assortment of steaks, seafood, pasta and more, but each of us opted for New Orleans-influenced items: My Cajun Grilled Scallops were perfectly cooked, nestled on a bed of rice and served with chunks of Andouille sausage and big, tender spears of asparagus.   Several of the gentlemen ordered heaping plates of Jambalaya with chicken and shrimp,    while Julie ordered Crab Cake Elaine, Cajun rice smothered in crawfish etoufée and topped with delicious house crab cakes.   Sue opted for a very generous Seafood Cobb Salad, heaped with shrimp and crab. 

I would have loved to try the bourbon bread pudding or another of the delicious-sounding desserts, but we were all just too full. We were further impressed with the hospitality and great service of the staff when our check was presented to us: In addition to the free ribs, we were charged a corkage fee on only one of the two bottles of wine we had brought with us.

I would certainly recommend a visit to Rhythm Kitchen to anyone visiting Las Vegas, especially if you want to get away from the hubbub of the Strip for a fantastic, reasonably priced meal and excellent service.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor