cut. (but mainly, super delicious piggy.)

I've developed an obsession with the piggy lately.

I've been incorporating pork into my order every place I go. I bought uncured back bacon one night at Fresh & Easy, brought it home and cooked some up for no reason. This developing addiction culminated with my recent David Chang-inspired creation of the Chinese Taco. (A five-pound pork shoulder was seared in sesame oil, then slow cooked overnight in Asahi beer, char siu sauce, garlic and onions. The meat was fork shredded and then simmered again in the reduced cooking sauce. I didn't make it this way officially yet, but the taco is a fried flour tortilla stuffed with this super piggy, a generous squirt of sriracha, and a crispy Asian cabbage salad in a sesame dressing. Seriously. Somebody finance me.)

I don't know if this constant porkature is going to have lasting effects, but I'm glad to still be in the throes of swinyness because it helped me to make a delicious decision last night. Having dinner at CUT in Palazzo, knowing I'm obligated to have a steak there, my first course was up in the air. So many amazing options here: bone marrow flan, warm veal tongue with marinated artichokes, crab and lobster cocktail, or oxtail bouillon with bone marrow dumplings (Does Wolfgang Puck love marrow as much as I love piggy?). I sighed and ordered maple glazed pork belly in an orange, Asiany dressing, followed by a bone-in New York sirloin. The wifey started with a butter lettuce salad with avocado, bleu cheese and a subtle champagne vinaigrette, and on the back, Indian-spiced Kobe shortribs.

This piggy was so good. Crispy, salty perfection in one bite, buttery melting fattiness in the next, kissed sweetly by the maple glaze. It was the super food version of getting a little syrup on your bacon at IHOP. A tiny toss of greens in the middle and a slight spice in the orange sauce brought it all together. It could have been dinner by itself.

Overall, dinner at CUT was great. The salad was good, but not better than the crispy parmesan-dusted breadsticks, warm Gruyere mini-biscuits and selection of tasty breads that started us off. Dinner in the bar has its privileges, and here it apparently results in unordered, awesome snacks. The steak was just fine, 20 ounces for $54 described as Illinois corn fed and aged 21 days. Great char on the outside, perfectly cooked medium rare, served with a selection of mustards. Best steak ever? No. But maybe that would be the 8-ounce, $160 of true Japanese Wagyu ribeye on the menu. Maybe when I get my tax return. The shortribs, however, were outstanding, tender and strongly spiced and served atop some smooth puree of spicy pumpkin and gram masala. At any other restaurant, one that hasn't quickly become one of Vegas' most esteemed beef joints, this would be the standout.

But for now, even at one of the best steakhouses on the steak-crazy Strip, the piggy is the star of the show.

red 8. cut. restaurant charlie.

Chinese oxtail soup is kinda strange because most Chinese soups aren't much like a stew; they typically contain chopped vegetables, meats and other ingredients rather than large chunks of floating goodness. Oxtail soup, which is made with beef tails but not necessarily a particular stock, also is made in various ways depending on the region, like most things. I haven't tasted a lot of oxtail soup, but damn, the stuff at Red 8 Asian Bistro at Steve Wynn's joint is very, very good.

As a matter of full disclosure, I will tell you I don't remember the specifics of the soup, i.e. what was in it besides the most salty, satisfying broth I've ever tasted and a huge chunk of fatty, flavorful beef. I think there was a vegetable or two in there. But I can't say for sure. I had some drinks before my meal. And perhaps my judgment was tainted by the cocktail hour(s), but the food at Red 8 was surprisingly great and the soup was the highlight. For a beef broth, it had so many other pointed, clean flavors. It was shockingly good. And I felt like I had superpowers the next day.

My visit to the Wynn restaurant capped an evening of Strip adventuring that included a fun spell at Palazzo. Made my debut at Barney's and just missed a visit from the one and only Pharrell by a couple of hours. Too bad. Guess he was drinking champagne and dropping off a few BBC/Ice Cream hoodies. I would like to do some shopping there. Also visited the fine bars of Wolfgang Puck's CUT steakhouse and Charlie Trotter's Restaurant Charlie seafood house, both wonderful places that I will fantasize about returning to for dinner until my own personal recession lets up. CUT poured us a fine martini with an even better bleu cheese stuffed olive attached, and served up a fun little tray of bar snacks including wasabi peas and tasty seasoned almonds. Charlie's bar, hosted by a former UNLV baseball player who really knows his shit, served a variety of vintage cocktails including a sazerac ("the original American cocktail") and my new favorite drink, the Bugs Bunny. All I can say about the bunny is it's orange, it tastes like a carrot only better, and it wouldn't take many to put me on my ass.

I think the fact that I can critique the quality of a bar's martini olives in the current economy really speaks to how ridiculous I have become and how adjusted I am to living far, far beyond my means. They were fucking good olives.