Four of Many

Before continuing the trip report into Friday's escapades, I wanted to throw out a special thanks to the Poker Peaker. Thursday in Vegas would be the first time I'd get to meet a fellow metal head, poker blogger. We're few and far between. He let me borrow his USB thumb drive and I gave him a CD-R so that we could exchange some songs that we thought the other might enjoy. Otis put the songs on his laptop, and I've yet to retrieve them, but will do so shortly. Our tastes seem eerily similar so hopefully I had a chance to introduce him to something new and worthwhile.

Friday in Vegas would be my only losing day poker-wise. Unfortunately for me, the winning days were too small to make up for it. Nothing really memorable happened, and that was fine with me. The focus of that day for me was 100% on dinner. Otis made reservations at some place called Nobhill.

Fine dining experiences are rare for me. I'm a meat and potatoes more meat kind of guy. Food is mainly a method for protein ingestion and when I saw the menu I was pleased to see the words Filet and Angus. How could I go wrong?

For my appetizer, I had this:

Charcuterie Board
Select Meats, Grilled Sausages, Marinated Olives, North Beach Focaccia

When it was presented to me, it felt as if I had just stood on my chair and exclaimed, "Bring me your finest meats and cheeses!" Because they did. I shared some with BG who's somewhat of a food aficionado and knows how to translate the fancy-schmancy stuff on the menu into layman's terms.

For my main course, I had this:

Filet of Angus Beef 'Rossini'
Seared Foie Gras, Shallot-Potato Cakes, Pinot Noir Reduction

I had to ask what this Fo-ee Grass thing was. Apparently, it's some kind of goose liver. I figured what the hell, I'll eat it. I had learned from watching the show Manswers that the liver is the best organ to eat if you need to cannibalize a dead friend with whom you've been stranded on a desert island. It's the organ with the most stored nutrients. And because geese are pretty much exactly like humans, I figured I'd be downing some pretty damn good nutrients with my Filet. My cholesterol did temporarily sky rocket, but I figured I could compensate later with some oatmeal or something.

In all seriousness, this was the best meal I'd ever had in my life. If it wasn't such bad manners to lick the plate clean I probably would have. What made it even better was the company. Who would have thought that three years after meeting these fine folks at the Sherwood Forest bar that I'd be substituting an $18 glass of Pinot Noir for a round of Soco shots.

An honest, heartfelt thanks to BG, Iggy, Maudie, Derek, Pauly, Change, Al, Otis, Jeff and Marty for what was truly the best 3 hours of my trip.