I Ate At Every Celebrity Chef’s Restaurant On The Vegas Strip (Again)

Check out Part 1 of our celebrity chef restaurant speedrun here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPGgyputhpA

This video is not sponsored, but Resorts World did provide us accommodations for the week we were in Vegas – and we did really enjoy staying there! Make sure to check them out here! 🕺🏻 https://www.rwlasvegas.com/

HELLO FRIENDS!! You asked and we’re here to deliver – a second installment of us attempting to eat at every celebrity chef’s restaurant on the Vegas strip!! As big Food Network and Vegas fans we were happy to oblige… and we stuffed our faces with everything from Martha Stewart’s comforting pierogies, to Roy Choi & Jon Favreau’s Chef Movie cubanos, to Wolfgang Puck’s fluffy Kaiserschmarrn pancakes. Which restaurant was your favorite? And what other famous restaurants should we visit next? Part 3 just for Wahlburgers??

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MUSIC
Via AudioNetwork

Executive Producers: Safiya Nygaard & Tyler Williams
Production Manager / Producer: Melissa Douglas
Junior Associate Producer: Ishara Mathews
Content Promotions & Video Packaging Manager: Alaina Simmons
Editor: Andrew Lainhart
Editor: Mandy Padgett
Editor: Hailey Cox
Graphic Designer: Dayana Espinoza

CHAPTERS:
0:00 Intro
2:24 What Is A Celebrity Chef Restaurant?
5:15 Martha Stewart – The Bedford
9:49 The Jonas Brothers – Nellie’s Southern Kitchen
14:38 Bobby Flay – Amalfi
19:43 Roy Choi & Jon Favreau – The Chef Truck
24:09 Lorena Garcia – Chica
28:19 Ayesha Curry & Michael Mina – International Smoke
32:47 Wolfgang Puck – Spago
38:18 Ranking Our Favorites
39:54 Outro

#food #travel #vlog

(upbeat music) – Hello, friends, and welcome to another video. This week, we’re gonna be eating at every other celebrity chef’s restaurant on the Vegas Strip. And this time we’re doing the Jonas Brothers. Las Vegas, Sin City, the entertainment capital of the world. What happens there, stays there, viva it. Whatever your thoughts on it, there’s no getting around the fact that the Las Vegas Strip is world famous for being a partying, shopping, and gambling destination. A hotspot for entertainment, nightlife, and general debauchery. And beyond the endless number of Cirque Du Soleil shows, Vegas is also generally known as a place with a lot of really great, though sometimes expensive restaurants. And in the same way that different casinos on the Strip try and attract customers to stay there with their clubs, shops, and shows, they also try and compete with each other as to who has the more marquee places to dine. And in sort of the same way that different famous performers have Vegas residencies, high-profile celebrity chefs have their own signature Vegas restaurants. Now, as some of you may know, Tyler and I are pretty big fans of Las Vegas. We aren’t huge gamblers or partiers or Gucci shopper-atters, but we do love Vegas for its over the top theming, giant hotels, and just endless things to do and see and eat. – [Tyler] He made me offer I couldn’t refuse. Cinnamon. And a little while ago, we did a pretty crazy thing where we spent two weeks speed running staying at every single hotel on the Vegas Strip. Come on in. Come on in. Come on in. From the Excalibur to Circus Circus to Caesar’s Palace and everything in between. And during that trip, we also attempted to eat at every celebrity chef restaurant to get a little taste of what they were serving up and see which ones were worth the hype. – They’re definitely enhancing this, okay? – [Safiya] Is this Hawaiian bread enhanced? And being big fans of the Food Network and a lot of other celebrity chefs, food competition shows, restaurant makeover shows, and really any show where Gordon Ramsay yells at people… – What are you waiting for, a (beep) hot chocolate? (beep) off. – [Safiya] It was really fun for us to get a chance to actually eat some of the food we’ve been seeing on our screens for so many years. But after returning from our trip, we realized that actually we had missed a few celebrity chef restaurants that slipped through the cracks. More than a few actually. And when we asked you guys if you would wanna see a part two, a lot of you said yes. So in this video, we will be returning to Vegas and hitting all of the celebrity chef restaurants that we missed the last time around. So welcome to part two of our Celebrity Chef Showdown. Now, when making our list of restaurants to hit, we did have to define what we meant by celebrity chef restaurant since there are a ton of restaurants in Vegas that boast some kind of a connection to a famous person. There are chefs and restaurateurs who are just famous for being really good at what they do, like Dominique Ansel, the Cronut guy. There are restaurants that are just owned by famous people and there are also restaurants that are inspired by celebrities like the Picasso restaurant at the Bellagio. So we decided that in order to make our list, the celebrity chef restaurants had to be from chefs who have been the central character in their own show, movie, or long form content series. And also that the content should be them being chefs or running restaurants. So they are both media personalities and chefs. The only exception we’re gonna make this time around is for the Jonas Brothers’ Nellie’s Southern Kitchen because we skipped it last time. But I am very curious about what the Joe Bros could be serving up. They do also technically have a Food Network special about opening the restaurant, so maybe they count. We also decided to just do one restaurant per chef, as some of the chefs on this list have multiples. Gordon Ramsey has like six restaurants in Vegas, and I feel like it’s a whole other video just to go to all of his and rank them against each other, which might be like the next video up. – Hell yeah, bro. – [Safiya] So with all of that, we ended up with seven restaurants to hit, which combined with the 12 that we tackled in our previous video, should be closer to every celebrity chef restaurant on the Vegas Strip. There are a couple that were teetering on the borderline that we decided to still skip. So sorry to Wahlburgers, but I just wanted to go to the Jonas Brothers’ restaurant more. Now, a quick note here, most of these restaurants are pretty expensive. In general, food on the Vegas Strip can get pretty pricey. See $70 Johnny Rocket’s order from last time? – [Tyler] Las Vegas pricing. – That’s so crazy, right? And a lot of these places are fine dining restaurants. And then when you add on the famous name upcharge, there’s even more of a bump. We will note when things are even pricier than the rest or when things are more reasonable. But I just wanna establish that we think that these prices are a little eye popping and we don’t usually eat like this. Also, in general, we did wanna try a decent spread of things in each restaurant. So just a heads up, we did end up over ordering at some of these places and taking the rest for later. But with all of that, let’s dine. Now on our last trip, we tackled these celebrity chef restaurants as we were staying in all of the 33 hotels on the Vegas Strip, Going to Flavor Town. And no one can stop me. So we ate our way up and down the Strip in an orderly logistical fashion, but this time, it was a bit more free-form. So we may be skipping around locationally a bit. To that end, I do wanna thank Resorts World for letting us stay there during our trip this year. But for the record, are no slouches with restaurants themselves between our favorite, the Famous Street Eats food hall, and this bomb.com morning and late night breakfast spot, Suns Out Buns Out. So next time you’re in Vegas, consider checking it out and saying hello to my little egg friend. But once we emerged from Resorts World, our first restaurant up was Martha Stewart’s The Bedford at the Paris. – Ladies gentlemen, give our first guest some doilies and a glue gun and she’ll give you the world. The one and only Martha Stewart. – [Safiya] Now Martha Stewart is incredibly famous, being, I would say, one of the leading lifestyle influencers in the entire world over the past 40 years. – Hi, would you ladies like a Jello shot? – Is that Martha Stewart? – I start my day with six of these. – [Safiya] And even though she’s a DIY queen, she’s also made enough content about making food and showcasing her own recipes that I think she’s earned the title of chef. – You and your family are gonna love it. – [Safiya] And in terms of businesses, Martha’s done it all. She had her own lifestyle magazine. She’s launched HomeGoods lines. She was on the air for almost 20 years straight with her TV shows, and in past lives, she used to be a model and a stockbroker. And a few years ago, she did get in a little trouble for some insider trading and she did spend a bit of time in jail. – Do you think jail would be right for me? (audience laughter) – It’ll probably do you some good. – [Safiya] But honestly, I think that this has only helped her brand as she’s really embraced it and it’s given her a bit of an edge. – One of us is straight up gangster and the other one is Snoop Dogg. (audience laughter) – [Safiya] She served her time and now she’s friends with Snoop Dogg. – So just drop this into rapidly boiling water. Drop it like it’s hot. – Oh, yes, Martha. Yes. – [Safiya] But even having done it all, this restaurant at the Paris that she opened in 2022 is actually her first restaurant ever. And I have to say, like everything Martha does, it’s very tastefully done. How tranquil. – [Tyler] I know. – How beautiful. – [Tyler] I know. – This wasn’t here when we were here last time. – [Tyler] No. – Now the restaurant itself is modeled after Martha’s personal home in Bedford, New York. The entrance is like a patio, then there’s like a large cozy dining room and open kitchen, and in the back, it opens up into another room that’s almost like Martha’s study with giant fake video windows playing a scenic snowy landscape to make you feel at home with Martha. Look at these upholstered chairs. – [Tyler] Dude, they’re nice. – I feel comfortable. – [Tyler] Yeah. – Though I can confirm that these cabinets are not meant to be opened. Sorry, Martha. The cuisine at the Bedford is inspired by Martha’s love of French cooking, as well as her famed gardens with some of her own signature recipes thrown in. We started off with an order of Big Martha’s Pierogies. – [Tyler] Big Martha’s not messing around here, man. – Dude, Big Martha, it means business. Big Martha’s stays on business. – [Tyler] Well, that’s never been questioned. Okay? – And these were very good, super warm and comforting, and drenched in some serious brown butter. The brown butter goes crazy. And the potato inside the pierogies was like the best mashed potatoes ever. Super soft, but with a little scallion action going on. – Whoa. Whoa. You put that in a piping bag right into the mouth. – Now I was pretty sure that big Martha was Martha’s nickname from the big house. I can only imagine Martha in one of those real housewives from Salt Lake City together in white collar prison. Hey, Big Martha, can I get some pierogies? But it turns out that it’s actually a nickname for Martha’s mom. So I was a little wrong. We did also get a few items from Martha’s Garden, like the decidedly autumnal honey nut squash salad and the ricotta stuffed zucchini blossoms, which were very herbaceous. It’s almost like flowery here, like floral. But we did end up eating all of them. And we did also get the roasted chicken for two that they carve for you tableside. This is definitely one of their marquee dishes. – [Tyler] Well, that was delightful. – [Safiya] That’s so much chicken. – I know. – [Safiya] And it does kind of seem very Martha Stewart-y because nice bird and gravy read’s kind of like high effort holiday dinner at home. – [Tyler] I’m getting a little turkey dinner. – [Safiya] It is Thanksgiving. – [Tyler] In this mouth, yes. – And I will say I was a big fan of the herby stuffing and the chicken itself was tender and nicely salty. That’s pretty good. – [Tyler] Yeah. – I think we were getting like bougie Costco rotisserie chicken vibes. And then we did finish off the meal with an upside down lemon meringue pie. – [Tyler] Thirst trap. – Which came looking like a pile of rocks, but was actually very light as it was mostly meringue and fluffy cream. Very airy, airy. Now overall, I really enjoyed Martha’s whole vibe here. The backroom we sat in was a real showstopper and I thought the food was generally very good, both comforting but also fresh and light. Maybe that’s the work of the famed gardens. This is probably the best I’ve felt after eating at a celebrity chef restaurant. – [Tyler] Wow. – And I’m not just trying to ride Big Martha’s big D, okay? So big ups to Big Martha. Now next up on our list was the Jonas Brothers’ Nellie’s Southern Kitchen at the MGM Grand. – Hey there, we’re the Jonas Brothers. You’re watching Disney Channel. – [Safiya] So the Jonas Brothers are, as I implied, not chefs, but they are quite famous. The trio of real life brothers, Kevin, Joe, and Nick rose to fame on the Disney Channel in the 2000s on their show, "Jonas" and the "Camp Rock" movies. – Camp Rock. Camp Rock. – [Safiya] And from there they became bonafide team pop stars. ♪ High heels ♪ ♪ High heels ♪ ♪ Red dress ♪ ♪ Red dress. ♪ – [Safiya] Releasing albums, being linked to high-profile starlets, and then notably wearing purity rings for a while and then later taking them off. – Yes, yes, and yes. – Guys? – [Safiya] The Jonas Brothers group broke up in 2013 to focus on solo projects and though they stayed relevant, they did also kind of grow up. They had a bunch of crossover pop hits. They had Jonas heirs, Nick got married to Priyanka Chopra, Joe got divorced and eventually the group got back together. – Jokes on you. The Jonas Brothers can’t break up. They’re brothers. – [Safiya] Yes, that’s right. They re-Jonased, which is all we really ever wanted in the first place. – Oh, how the tables have turned. – [Safiya] But obviously they are not chefs, nor has their content or music ever really been about cooking. It seems that their dad, Kevin Sr, is the one with the culinary dreams and is the driving force behind the JoBro’s restaurant brand. – This is our dad’s retirement plan. – [Safiya] As Nellie is his grandma, and the restaurant is focused on serving classic southern comfort food just like Nellie used to make. Well, maybe with a few modern twists. This is actually their second location of Nellie’s Southern Kitchen as they opened their first one in Nellie’s hometown of Belmont, North Carolina in 2016. This new Nellie’s opened in 2022 and is located in the wing of the MGM Grand known as the district. – It’s an incredible feeling. We love Vegas. We’re just excited to have some biscuits tonight. – Yeah. – [Safiya] Which has a bunch of celebrity chef restaurants right next to each other. So yes, we will be coming back later in the video. Now the vibe of Nellie’s is kind of like hipster modern country. Inside, the Jonas Brothers branding is pretty low key, confined to just one wall near the back, but they kind of incorporate the music theme with some guitars on the wall and a stage, which while we were there, they just turned into a giant TV. – It’s like a skosh sports bar. – Yes, there is a TV distracting me from your face right now. And notably, there’s a lot of animal and bird decor. See, these giant owls on the wall. That’s a big bird. Now we ended up getting these southern rolls to start, which is basically a giant crispy fried egg roll with mac and cheese, chicken, and some spicy collard greens inside. Actually it’s very good. – [Tyler] Yes. – The collard greens are key because they add a different texture, a different feel, a different taste in there. This was super good and apparently this is also Frankie Jonas’ favorite dish, who is the fourth Jonas brother. Is it Frankie’s favorite because he’s like a kid? – He’s not a kid anymore. – [Safiya] Okay. He was too young to be in the band originally, but now has to bear the brand of Bonus Jonas. Regardless, he has pretty good taste because we really like this thing. – I’m a Frankie. – [Safiya] It’s like a sex and the city thing, like which one are you? – Are you a Miranda? Are you a Charlotte? Well I’m Frankie. – Now for our mains, I got these shrimp and grits, which were nice and cheesy, but did weirdly taste a lot like… Don’t hate me, pizza goldfish. – [Tyler] That’s a good flavor. – And we also definitely had to get the chicken and dumplings, which is one of their signature dishes, and I believe still based on Nellie’s own recipe. It’s kind of a warm bowl of gravy with dumplings of dough and shredded chicken. It is very soothing. Comforting. – [Tyler] Yes. – Like a great grandmother might be, but I probably wouldn’t choose it. But I understand this is the dish the whole place is based on. This is obviously a Jonas family favorite and it definitely reads as a loving homecooked meal, but it was a little plain in my opinion. – I don’t think it’s super flavorful, but I love it. – [Safiya] I think Tyler had the right idea by putting it on a biscuit to add a little difference in texture. – That’s a pro bite. – Nice. And then to finish it all off, we did get the Cup of Joe dessert. You want a little bit of Joe? A little scoop of Joe? A little shovel of Joe? Now we got this one because it seemed a bit more themed around the brothers, which is something they don’t do a lot of. But it turned out to be basically a version of a tiramisu. It is. It’s a tiramisu a la Jonas. Oh yeah, I’m here for it. With just a bit more of a fudgy chocolate layer on top. It’s damn good. Now overall, I do think it’s cool that the JoBros are helping their dad with his culinary dream. And if the goal was southern comfort food, I think that was achieved. But it’s pretty casual so it’s kind of pricey for what it is. I think the price would be more justified if there was a little more Jonas flair in the decor, in the menu. Maybe get some extended relatives to do some live performances. I’m sure there’s got to be a few more Bonus Jonases is lying around. You can’t tell me it’s just Frankie. Now next up on our list was Bobby Flay’s Amalfi at Caesar’s Palace. – Bobby, what are you doing? – You know what I’m doing. – [Safiya] Bobby Flay is a longtime Food Network personality having cooked and judged on like a million different food network shows. But he might be best known for letting his gruff competitive side shine in his own personal competition show, "Beat Bobby Flay." – Did you cut my shark? – Don’t ever approach a chef with a knife in his hand if you don’t want to get, you know… – [Safiya] And we have historically had beef with Bobby Flay as we’ve always been intrigued by the fact that his personality has this classic New Yorker edge. – Bobby, hold on, let me just teach you real quick. – I’m from the streets in New York, we don’t have kazoos. – [Safiya] And that his culinary specialty is Cajun and Southwestern cuisine. – You’re making an eclair with pistachios and you’re putting ancho chilis in it? – Yeah. – [Speaker] Okay, I’m leaving. – Bye. – So we always wanted to go to his Mesa Grill restaurant at Caesar’s Palace, which was a branch of his OG restaurant brand that he opened in New York in the 90s. But during the pandemic, he closed it down and replaced it with a coastal Italian restaurant, Amalfi. I have no impulse to beat Bobby Flay until he removed Mesa Grill. Now I wanna beat him to a pulp. And we were so irrationally upset about this that when we filmed our last celebrity chef video, we decided we would not step foot in Amalfi and instead went to his casual burger spot at Harrah’s Bobby’s Burgers. But looking back, we did feel like we shortchanged him a bit and Amalfi does look pretty cool. So we are willing to set aside our beef with Bobby and try it out. – I hate winning. – [Safiya] Now Amalfi is kind of like Bobby’s love letter to the Amalfi Coast in Italy. It seems that after spending a lot of time there both on his own and with Giada on their Discovery Plus show… – [Bobby] This is really good. – [Giada] Really good. – I could eat this every day. – [Safiya] It kind of became his new culinary muse. – I see the pasta, now I’m hungry. – [Safiya] And the restaurant itself does have a pretty cool atmosphere. It’s got very high ceilings. It feels kind of breezy and airy despite being right in the middle of the casino floor. – [Tyler] I got to be honest, I like the stone. – The decor is nice. The ambiance, yeah, it’s nice. It is. And it notably has a little pick your own fish market in the corner, which could almost make you feel like Vegas isn’t landlocked. Now we did order a secret appetizer that is not on the menu. – Bobby’s secrets. – But you can get it if you ask for it, which is the freshly baked focaccia with ricotta dip. – [Tyler] Secret menu. – And honestly I was pretty happy with this. It was a pretty simple dish, but it’s kind of like simple flavors done right. It’s an olive oil delivery device, but it doesn’t feel greasy. But moving on to the official dishes, Amalfi does have a serious emphasis on seafood. So we followed suit and ordered the tuna tartare on crispy rice and the charred octopus. Now we haven’t eaten a ton of octopus in our lives. – [Tyler] That’s a lot of octopus. – [Safiya] So the tentacle can be a bit intimidating visually. But this dish was amazing. – That is incredible. – [Safiya] Really? – Oh my god. – [Safiya] You were nervous about it. It was very tender with a smoky charred flavor and some tangy sauce. Yeah. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Bobby. – [Safiya] You said Bobby? – Hey, Bobby. – And it came with some grilled pepper that was slightly spicy and also added a little juicy crunch. That’s awesome actually. – [Tyler] Yeah. – I will give you guys a heads up. This was one of the best things we had all trip. I feel like Bobby’s converting me to the dark side right now. [Tyler] You mean his side? – They call him Bobby The Rizz-Meister Flay. And then we kind of had to get these squid ink fettuccine, which I believe is a specialty item at Amalfi. – [Tyler] This thing is beautiful. – [Safiya] It’s goth pasta. It’s a seafood pasta that comes with a little lobster, shrimp, squid, and a spicy tomato sauce. – This is a goth pasta bite. – They call it pasta Addams. – So good. – Tyler and I aren’t that adventurous of seafood eaters, which is probably something we’re gonna have to work on if we wanna keep making eating content. But we thought this dish was very good. Good. The lobster had a nice lemon flavor. The squid was bouncy but not chewy. And the spicy tomato sauce brought everything together really well. I think the squid’s my favorite. – [Tyler] Me too. – And like a hint of basil at the end. As a sidebar, we did also get the gnocchi al forno. – [Tyler] It’s gnocchi. – It’s gnocchi. Somewhere out there Giada’s having a nightmare. Which though it was nice and cheesy and soft, was pretty tame compared to the other dishes. And then to close it out, we did also get Bobby’s pistachio sundae for dessert. It’s extremely pistachio-y. The ice cream is like true to nut pistachio. Which was just a little too salty and nutty for me with not quite enough sweet to balance it out. And I don’t even like super sweet desserts. But nuts aside, we do probably have to hand it to Bobby. Even though he shuttered our beloved Mesa Grill, the food here is pretty good. And I will say Amalfi is definitely not cheap, but for some perspective, we did pay around the same price for our meal at Amalfi as we did at Nellie’s Southern Kitchen. So relatively, it wasn’t so bad. Okay, Bobby, that was pretty good. We can be, I wouldn’t say friends, but we could be not enemies. So our next stop was Roy Choi and John Favreau’s The Chef Truck at the Park MGM. I’m hungry. – [Tyler] Yeah. – I’m ready for chef. Feed me chef. Now though we did go to his Best Friend restaurant last time… – [Tyler] That thing is smoking. – [Safiya] Roy Choi is a chef that got semi slighted in our last celebrity chef video as we weren’t sure if he fit our criteria to be considered, but we kind of forgot about the chef show that he hosts with John Favreau. – What is this TV show for? – We don’t know. – Nobody knows. – [Safiya] Which was totally our bad. Now Roy Choi is famous for being the creator of the popular Mexican Korean fusion taco truck, Kogi. And he’s considered to be one of the founding fathers of the gourmet food truck movement. – [Roy] We had this truck, we had Twitter, and it was an opportunity to just cook the food that we wanted to cook. – [Safiya] And in fact, the 2014 movie, "Chef", was loosely based on his life, which is basically about a chef who finds a new passion for food while running a food truck with a dash of family drama and really early Twitter thrown in. – Why don’t you come by again tonight? I got a whole new menu just for you asshole. No, no, that’s not good. – Give me the phone. Give me the phone. – [Safiya] Now Roy Choi and John Favreau actually met on the set of the "Chef" movie. And though it doesn’t look like John had a ton of culinary background before, Roy basically taught him how to cook while filming. – [John] What’s the name of this dish? – Dumplings. – You’ve got to wait. You’ve got a way with words. That’s like how I- – [Safiya] And it seems like he kind of caught the culinary bug from there. – You’re a really good cook. – Thank you very much. – [Safiya] Nowadays he’s most well known for directing Marvel movies and the Mandalorian. – Wait a minute, wait a minute. – [Safiya] But he does maintain a foot in the cooking world. – We need to keep the wall up. We can’t have him starting to make food. Next thing you know, he is gonna open up a restaurant. – Right. – [Safiya] Now The Chef Truck, which opened earlier this year, is kind of tucked back behind the casino floor of the Park MGM. It’s supposed to be a life-size replica of the El Jefe food truck from the movie, selling some of its favorite dishes IRL. And after ordering some cubanos, beignets and tacos… – [Tyler] Ooh. – And no beverages. – [Tyler] No beverages. Accidentally, I forgot that. Do you need one? – [Tyler] No, I’m fine. – Okay. We grabbed our food and headed to the nearby seating area. We started off with The Chef Truck cubano, which is actually like a fusion version of a cubano and not like a classic one like they made in the movie, with eggplant, tofu, and portobello instead of meat. The tofu is very soft. It almost feels like cheese. And I would say this was kind of an interesting alternative, but it did end up being a little mild tasting. It doesn’t necessarily give me the feeling of the "Chef" movie. It doesn’t taste really like a cubano. And I would know because I have seen "Chef". However, we also got the Medianoche Sandwich, which I think is like a classic cubano. – [Tyler] That’s the thickest damn thing I’ve ever seen. John Favreau. – [Safiya] With mojo pork, ham, cheese, pickles, and mustard. And this one was very good. – That’s a sandwich you can take home to mama. – [Safiya] Yeah? That’s a sandwich you might tweet about in 2013. – The meats were kind of spicy. It had a little mustardy smack, just enough grease, a little pickle crunch. This one was definitely a winner. This is giving me what they were eating in the movie vibes. – [Tyler] Yeah. – It’s like take me here. You know? We also got an order of these shrimp po’boy tacos, which were pretty straightforward, but the spicy mayo aioli was nice and tangy. Okay, all right. Tyler wins the taco eating competition. I’m not gonna even try. And we also picked up an order of the spicy watermelon with kimchi paste on it, which was actually really good. Cool and juicy. Altogether they kind of almost have a cucumber-y taste, you know what I mean? Just like really fresh. And finally we grabbed an order of the beignets. – [Tyler] I got to make sense of this. – [Safiya] Now I also remember the beignets from the movie. In fact, they were one of the food items that stuck out to me the most. And these were also very good. – It’s basically a perfect bite of any food. – [Safiya] Too sweet? – No. Not that sweet. – [Safiya] Oh, light and fluffy and not that sweet. But the best part was actually the literal pile of whipped cream that they were served with. I love that they weren’t afraid to just drench in whipped cream. – [Tyler] No. Yeah. – I don’t know if this was normal whipped cream or if it was enhanced somehow, but this stuff was amazing. Light, sweet, addictive. – [Tyler] Has anyone else heard of this? – Have you guys heard of whipped cream? I wanna tell you guys about something. – [Tyler] Should we try it on more things? – Overall, this place passed the vibe check for me. I like that it’s a giant food truck parked in a casino and I would definitely stumble by if I needed a bite or just a pile of whipped cream. – [Tyler] Do you have a piping bag with whipped cream please? – Pipe it into my mouth, Roy. You heard me. So our next stop on our list was Lorena Garcia’s Chica restaurant at the Venetian. – Lorena Garcia. (audience applause) – Yeah. – [Safiya] Now Lorena Garcia is a high profile Venezuelan chef who has hosted a number of her own cooking shows and segments on different Spanish speaking TV networks. (Lorena speaking in a foreign language) – What do you think? (presenter speaking in a foreign language) – [Safiya] But she’s also guested on a ton of American shows, competed on Top Chef Masters, and she was also one of the judges on the short-lived, but interesting sounding NBC show, "America’s Next Great Restaurant." – Four investors putting down their own money. – I’m looking for passion. – [Safiya] With a specialty in a variety of Latin cuisines and a serious diehard love of cilantro. – And I like to use herbs. – What kind of herbs do you like to use? – Cilantro. – Of course, cilantro. – I mean, what kind of a question? If I see cilantro, you see me screaming. – [Safiya] Lorena has earned success as a restaurateur and top chef as she served as the executive chef of the Miami International Airport and also helped create the Taco Bell Cantina Bell menu. – [Safiya] There she blows. Chica is right smack dab in the middle of the Venetian, kind of in a busy corridor, and it has a fun, vibrant, almost club-like atmosphere seemingly at all times. – [Tyler] Ambiance. – Is it brunch or midnight? As when we were there at 12:45 PM, it was already pretty turned up. This is like taking the what time is it inside of the casino floor to the next level. And also very dark. So we’re gonna have to use these little lamps to see which are gonna give us that nice ‘are you afraid of the dark’ lighting. So I apologize for looking like an underlit egg for the rest of this section. Put me in an Arepa Benedict, Lorena. I’m an egg. Chica’s cuisine is sort of like elevated street food that draws from a number of different Latin American countries. And we started off our brunch with a bang with Lorena’s top chef winning buñuelo doughnuts. Oh, the red is also something. Oh, I thought that was the plate. That’s jam or something. I don’t know what secret sauce Lorena puts in these. – I put all the sexy I have in those buñuelos. – [Safiya] But these things are amazing. – So good. – [Safiya] The doughnuts are doughnut-ing. The buñuelos are buñuelo-ing. – It’s doing all the good doughnut things. – They’re soft, light and fluffy, but also pretty moist. There’s lemon and ricotta in them, but the main flavor ends up being pretty buttery. I love that butter. I can’t believe that butter is so good. – [Tyler] You can’t believe butter’s good? I can’t believe it’s butter. They’re just endlessly edible. We also got Lorena’s arepa basket, which were also quite good, though they were kind of the opposite of the buñuelo doughnuts as they were dense, warm, and pretty filling with a hearty corn flour vibe. – It feels like post night out Vegas. These are just gonna soak up all the booze. – [Safiya] Yes. Or if you’re at a bottomless mimosa brunch. – [Tyler] Exactly. – For our our mains, I ordered the chilaquiles rojos because I just really wanted eggs. Ah, my brethren, eggs. But there was a lot of flavor in there. Whoa, those greens or zesty. And then Tyler got the Wagyu quesa-birria tacos. Oh, oh dripping. – I was afraid it was too big of a bite because then I determined it was the right size. – [Safiya] The tacos had a crunchy tortilla shell, but the insides were gooey and cheesy with some tender shredded meat. And then there’s the savory beef broth you dip it in. – This is one of the best I’ve ever had. I think I just like things you can dip. – [Safiya] It’s fun. And then even though it was brunch, we had to try the flaming skull dessert. – [Tyler] Oh that’s crazy. – [Safiya] Oh my god. Which is a chocolate skull that they set on fire at your table until it’s pretty melted. How do I approach this? – [Tyler] Stab. – Underneath the skull there’s a chocolate lava cake with horchata ice cream and corn marshmallows. That is warm, melty, extremely chocolatey. Which was pretty good, but you do occasionally get a surprise mouthful of rum. But when something is lit on fire, you’re probably gonna get rum. – [Tyler] You’re gonna get rum. – You’re gonna get rum. – [Tyler] You’re gonna get rum. – Overall I really liked Chica. It marries some really tasty dishes with a bombastic ambiance that feels really Vegas-y and fun. And though I certainly am gonna be coming back for the buñuelo doughnuts, maybe we should also come back to party with Lorena. Okay, it’s 10:00 PM now and it’s popping off in there. Because she goes hard. So for our penultimate restaurant, we headed back to the MGM Grand to hit up Ayesha Curry and Michael Mina’s International Smoke. – [Ayesha] Hey, I’m Ayesha Curry. – And I’m Michael Mina. – And welcome to International Smoke at MGM Grand. – [Safiya] Now Ayesha Curry is well known for being married to NBA star, Steph Curry. I mean, to be fair, he’s one of the most famous basketball players ever. – This is my darling husband, Stephen, also known as Esteban, sometimes goes by Steph. But in our house, he’s dadda. – [Safiya] And this is not a fact she shies away from as her husband and family are a big part of her content and brand. – I’m Ayesha Curry, wife, mother, and super foodie. – [Safiya] But she is certainly accomplished in her own right as an entrepreneur and a chef. – [Ayesha] Yeah, that’s the sound you like to hear. – [Safiya] She started her culinary career posting cooking tutorials and vlogs on her own YouTube channel, and then went into hosting her own show on the Food Network, "Ayesha’s Homemade." – Got the whisk in my hand in a bowl full of custard. – What? – [Safiya] She’s also written cookbooks. She’s launched HomeGoods lines. She has her own wine label, and she and Steph also seem to have some kind of overcooked style mobile game together. – [Stephan] Welcome to Chef Curry. – [Ayesha] We’re going to be busy today. Please don’t cry, sweetie. Business is booming. – [Safiya] Now though Michael Mina has not ever starred in his own show or other long form content, he’s a very accomplished chef known for modern American cuisine, seafood, and Mediterranean fare. And he’s also a prolific restaurateur owning over 30 restaurants worldwide. – San Francisco’s superman of surf and turf, the legendary Michael Mina. (audience cheering) – And notably, he’s also based in San Francisco, which could be how the Ayesha-Michael Mina super team was formed. Ayesha says, "Let’s get saucy," okay? Have you heard her? – [Tyler] Yeah. – Let’s do it. – [Tyler] Yeah. – [Safiya] International Smoke is a collaboration between the two focusing specifically on wood-fired, grilled and smoked dishes from around the world. The decor is also a little fiery with some neon signs and a lot of emphasis on heat. And there are also some sports bar vibes as there were many TVs lining the walls. – There is a lot of sports going on here. – [Safiya] Yeah, there’s a lot of basketball. – [Tyler] I’m enjoying it. – [Safiya] We ordered a handful of appetizers here and the peking pork belly bao buns came in a puff of smoke, which was fun. Wow. That one is smoking. – International Smoke, Saf. – [Safiya] I literally smell smoke. – [Tyler] It’s all in the front of the building. – Which did infuse kind of like a smoky flavor in there. I would say the taste of the bao is smoky. The taste of the sauce is sweet. Though we did like it a bit better without the barbecue hoisin sauce. We also got an order of Ayesha’s fresh baked cornbread, which after the smoking entrance of the pork buns had kind of a plain presentation. But the main standout here was the Tokyo fried chicken, which was awesome. – That is very popcorn-y, popcorn chickeny. – [Safiya] Very pop in your mouth-able. There was some kind of soy umami flavor in the breading itself, so it had some good flavor and crunch on its own. But the creamy sriracha aioli kind of put it over the top. Not too spicy. I would say a very good level, a very friendly level of spice. I wanna keep eating this and I don’t care if you film me or not. For our entrees, I got the sweet and plantain-y Caribbean spice chicken and Tyler got some ribs from the smoker, which is definitely one of their signature dishes. – [Tyler] All right, well Ayesha has eaten these all over the MGM. – [Safiya] Our server recommended the American barbecue style and Tyler loved it. I’m talking about BBQ, baby. – I am, I am. – The sauce was vinegar-y, the meat was just flying off the bone. These were very good. – Oh wow. Tangy. – [Safiya] Tangy. – Maybe North Carolinian? – [Safiya] Oh. – Bringing me home. – [Safiya] Country roads? – Country roads. – [Safiya] And finally for dessert, we got the International Smoke s’more, which did also come in a puff of smoke. – [Tyler] Ooh. – [Safiya] This one was a chocolate molten cake with toasted marshmallow ice cream on top. – Kind of incredible, honestly. Whoa. – [Safiya] And you didn’t want to get it? – I did not. – And it was also kind of infused with like a campfire taste. I’m emerging from the chimney. I’m a puff of smoke. All in all, we enjoyed our time at International Smoke. I did like whenever any actual smoke got introduced into the presentation of the dishes, and I do have to say I feel like Ayesha is onto something. Give your husband a rib, put him in front of the TV, and boom, he’s quiet for hours. All right. Tyler’s fallen silent. He’s just eating. – Yeah, I usually never shut up. – [Safiya] So I think the verdict is positive. So for our final restaurant, we headed to Wolfgang Puck’s Spago at the Bellagio. – [Tyler] It’s windy. – It’s Wolfgang’s ire from being left out of the last video. He’s buffeting us with a cold wind. It’s a very icy reception here tonight at the Bellagio. Now Wolfgang Puck is kind of like the original celebrity chef being famous for running high-end restaurants in LA since the 1970s. And popularizing Californian, modern French and fusion cuisines in the US. Caterer and chef to the stars, he’s done a ton of guest appearances over the years. – Now that’s what I call fusion, to the Puck Mobile. – [Safiya] He also notably cooked for Kim Kardashian’s ill-fated first wedding. – Let’s go see if Wolfgang in the kitchen. – [Safiya] And has catered for the Oscars for the last 30 years. – You know where Barbara Streisand sits? No, pot pie for Barbara Streisand extra truffles. – [Safiya] And we did (beep) up last time by leaving Wolfgang off our list. Obviously we knew who he was and that he was an uber famous chef, but we couldn’t figure out if he ever had his own show or not. – What did you say? – [Safiya] Turns out he did have a show on the Food Network in the 2000s called "Wolfgang’s Cooking Class", and also recently had a series on HBO following his catering company as they prepare food for huge events. And after watching a bunch of his content, I also just think he’s hilarious. – What the (beep) does it say on the back? I can’t read on my back. Don’t get too crazy. If you do, call me. – [Safiya] And I think it’s cool that after all this time, he’s still cooking with gas. – My job is just being here. Being Wolfgang. – Wolfgang has four other restaurants on the Strip, but we chose Spago because it’s an offshoot of his original Spago restaurant he opened in LA in the 80s, which is what really put him on the map. And it’s still really popular to this day. It is popping right now at Spago. – Yeah. They’re Spa-goin’ to Spago. – [Safiya] As it was the hardest restaurant on our list to get a reservation at. – You’re (beep) lucky. – [Safiya] One of the big draws of Spago besides the food is the fact that the restaurant is right next to the Bellagio fountain. And it’s warm. – [Tyler] Yeah, look at that. Plenty of heat lamp. – So you have a killer vantage point from which to view the fountain show. And luckily for us, the wind did die down about halfway through our meal. So we did get to witness some serious fountaining. Whoa. Okay. This is awesome. – [Tyler] We are definitely in the splash zone. – [Safiya] Now Spago does mean string in Italian, which I think is supposed to imply some noodle based dishes. But their official cuisine is a mix of Puck signature California fare paired with modern techniques and inspiration. And one of Wolfgang’s signature dishes is extremely fancy pizzas. He offers a smoked salmon and caviar pizza as well as a truffle pizza, which is the one we got. Yeah, don’t lose a truffle. – [Tyler] No, no, no. – [Safiya] Don’t you dare. – [Tyler] That’s precious commodity right there. – [Safiya] Besides the truffle, there was a little cracked black pepper and the cheese had a nice freshness and saltiness to it that actually held own. – So it’s not really a truffle. I’m getting cheese in there too. – I like the potato. But I’m not sure I can philosophically get behind super expensive pizza. – I mean, I really like that. I don’t know if I can recommend it. But I really like it. – [Safiya] We did also get the pear and arugula laden prosciutto and mozzarella balls, which were kind of a giant bite. – [Tyler] You don’t need to rush. – It’s like a giant garnished cheese ball. And in and out of reverence to the spag in Spago, I did get the hand cut fettuccine pasta. – [Tyler] Wow. – I see a pile of mushrooms. I’m happy. I really liked a lot of elements of the dish. They gave me a ton of mushrooms and you could really tell the pasta was fresh. The only issue was that it was unfortunately a little overly oniony with all of these shallots. I would say it’s more of an onion experience. Onion-y is the vibe. And then they hit me with the garlic. – [Tyler] That’s a clove and a half right there. – Well, any interest in making out later? – [Tyler] maybe less now. – [Safiya] Tyler’s lamb chopped dish though was super good. It was kind of like smokily grilled, with slightly spicy Mediterranean inspired flavors. – I really like that. – [Safiya] Any za’atar? – It’s za’atar-y. – [Safiya] And it was nicely paired with this cool herby cucumber mint salad. This was a top dish from our trip for sure. It’s not even my kind of dish, but even I liked it. That’s how good it is. – I feel like this is the reward to eating lamb chops. Eat with your fork and your knife so you can do this. – [Safiya] But we may have saved the best for last. – It’s Kaiserschmarrn time. – The Kaiserschmarrn is a traditional Austrian dessert that is basically a fluffy scrambled sweet pancake. This rendition is apparently Wolfgang’s mom’s recipe. And we did have to wait for 30 minutes for them to make this thing. But honestly, it was worth it. The pancake itself disintegrated, dissolved, flew away. It literally flew away as it entered my mouth. And you’re left with a vaguely eggy flavor with a hit of rum raisin, apple, and berry. That’s my kind of dessert. Super light, heavy on the eggs. So compliments to Mama Puck. Eat all your Kaiserschmarrn, Wolfgang. – [Tyler] Wolfgang, if you want to grow up and be big and strong… – You have to eat your Kaiserschmarrn. Wolfgang, no dessert until you eat your Kaiserschmarrn. – [Tyler] It is dessert. – [Safiya] Now, overall, Spago does feel like a fancy restaurant and a lot of the dishes are kind of bougie. And objectively, the ambiance did start off a little stuffy, but once the fountains turned on, everyone loosened up, and it became actually a lot of fun. And honestly, if we can get a reservation, I would come back here at least for the Kaiserschmarrn, which I strongly recommend. – You should try it. You will get Austrian citizenship. You will like it so much. – [Safiya] So in terms of an outro here, we figured the best thing to do would be to list our top threes of our favorites in different categories. These are not ranked in any particular order, they’re just sort of the best ones of each category in our opinion. First up, for best overall experience, our favorites were Martha Stewart’s The Bedford for the vibes and the herbs, Bobby Flay’s Amalfi for his tender tentacles, and Lorena Garcia’s Chica, which kind of did it all from bombastic flavors to a tableside fire show. Vegas-y through and through. For best dishes, our picks were once again, Bobby Flay’s tentacle, I mean the charred octopus at Amalfi, the buñuelo doughnuts at Chica, and sign me up for Austrian citizenship, Wolfgang, because I am a Kaiserschmarrn lady. Though we did have a hard time choosing this one, so honorable mention to the Tokyo Fried chicken at International Smoke and The Chef Truck’s medianoche cubano. I feel like if you’re stumbling through the Park MGM, consider face planting into one of these. And then for best ambiance/decor, our favorites were Bobby (beep) Flay again with Amalfi, The Chef Truck at the Park MGM, because I am a sucker for a good installation, and Martha Stewart’s The Bedford. I would happily wear an ankle bracelet in here any day. Overall I will say I was happy with the dramatically lessened amount of sprouts I encountered this time around, maybe that trend has finally faded. And I am a little angry that Bobby Flay finessed us into liking his restaurant. I was hoping somebody would beat Bobby Flay to a pulp, but the man’s got skills. However, we do have about six more Gordon Ramsey restaurants to go to, so we’ll see if we can dethrone him. – Come on. And on the bottom, Bobby (beep) Flay. (audience laughter) – Thank you guys so much for watching. If you like that video, make sure to smash that like button. And if you wanna see more videos like this, make sure to smash that subscribe button. Here are short form/social media handles. There’s hair in my mouth. And with that, I will see you guys next time.