2012 Las Vegas Epicurean Affair

To be honest with you I was a little disappointed this year compared to other years. We bought VIP tickets so we could enjoy as much of the good food before the crowds came. I have been Epicurean Affair twice before both times at the Flamingo it was awesome, amazing and exceeded my expectations. It was at a large venue with tons of food booths we ate so much we were in food comas shortly after leaving. We avoided the masses by getting VIP tickets and got some of the best morsels before they were out or overwhelmed. So I guess my expectations were set high this year to match other years.
We walked in to find a beautiful but small venue, right away greated with drinks. Sadly a lot of the amazing restaurants that chose to be there were not set up to serve food until about a half hour into our hour of pre entry to the rest of the crowds coming in. As I mentioned earlier this was a small venue and a little confusing to figure out where to go next. Some of the best booths were hidden in the back beyond two pools and difficult to get to. I know they cannot change how the area is built to have a event there but maybe could have added signs or something, by the end of the night they did have people out in the general area explaining where their booths were and how to get there.
Some of the places we sampled were Aquaknox, B&B Ristorante, Bacio, Beam Global, Bouchon, Canyon Ranch Grill, Carnevino Italian Steakhouse, Craftsteak
CUT Steakhouse, Delmonico Steakhouse, Diego, Double Helix, Hash House A Go Go, Il Mulino, Lagasse’s Stadium, LAVO, Postrio, STK, Southern Wine & Spirits, t
TAO, Valentino, Wirtz Beverage Nevada, The Cupcakery, Mint Indian Bistro, Taqueria Canonita, enoteca OTTO pizzeria and many more I missed sorry guys.
The restaurants were all top notch and running smoothly as the crowds became overwhelming. They had plenty of food to get through the evening and a lot of tasty drinks to sample both alcoholic and non-​alcoholic (I enjoyed the Lavo loung and trying Skinny Girl which I have been wanting to try). I think the restaurants that were there were amazing, the reason 4 stars instead of 5 is
1. The half hour lag in food when paying the extra $ 50 I felt disappointed we didn’t get the time allowed to enjoy it.
2. The fact that the booths were hard to maneuver and find. It was left to the vendors to let people know «Hey there’s more back here!»
I will be trying a few of these places I have not tried in the past and repeating some that I have. I will also be returning to the Epicurean Affair but I do not think we will be spending the extra money on VIP tickets I felt it was a waste of money this year where other years I felt it was worth more then what was spent on it.