For the previous decade the city had been distancing itself from the adult pleasures on which it had been founded, marketing itself instead as a family destination, with casinos shaped like cartoon castles, Egyptian pyramids, and bizarro New York skylines topped by rollercoasters-more Mickey Mouse than Rat Pack. I first tasted this almond croissant in 1998, not long after the Bellagio opened. There is one exception: I tell them to go to the Bellagio Hotel and Casino and eat an almond croissant. Still, when people ask me for Vegas recommendations, I draw a blank-all the shiny casino restaurants imported from New York and California blurring into one long perfectly fine meal I wish I had enjoyed somewhere else. I’ve visited semi-regularly over the years-like a penny tumbling toward the bottom of a sofa, every American finds themself in Las Vegas a certain number of times in their life-and I know that I have managed to feed myself and even to write about doing so.
Somehow I can never remember any of them. There are a lot of good things to eat in Las Vegas.
