There are rules for making Neapolitan pizza. That’s... not hyperbole. There’s a group called the Vera Pizza Napoletana that makes those rules. And this new 4,000-square-foot pizzeria follows every damn one—the Italian tomatoes. The fresh mozzarella. The wood-burning ovens. Plus there are cocktails. Which isn’t a rule, but still.
Right off the casino floor at the shiny new Downtown Grand, there’s a place called Stewart + Ogden. It’s named after a couple of famous 19th-century Nevadans who happened to be big-time foodies. What that means to you: not a lot. Well, except this diner-by-day, bistro-by-night situation. Every casino floor needs more sandwiches.
Duck breast. Cornbread stuffing. Dried cranberry. Onion. Celery. Crispy sweet potato. Cranberry yuzu. That all adds up to a Chinese-food version of Thanksgiving in a dumpling. Exactly like the one available at Rice & Company. Everyone knows turkey’s just a formality anyway.
Oktoberfest is over... everywhere but at the Cosmo’s Boulevard Pool. There, it’s more than 150 beers (and beer cocktails) from five continents. There it’s... not called Oktoberfest. There it’s... actually an entirely different beer festival. But what’s important is that there’s beer.
Quick geography lesson for you—Las Vegas is a desert. Doesn’t get much real winter there. What it gets is a two-month wonderland of iceless ice skating (yeah, it’s a special rink) and seasonal Italian dinners with Wolfgang Puck and Mario Batali at the Venetian/Palazzo. Vegas winter is... better winter.
