I know I ended yesterday’s post with the suggestion to avoid food buffets, but the truth is that when I visit Las Vegas (once a year or so), I do find myself in the buffet line. But I do it with two big caveats:
- I have reached a point were I am immune to the mental pitfalls of thinking “Look at all of this food…I need to try a little of everything!” or “This buffet was kind of spendy…I need to eat my money’s worth!”
- I’ve learned that buffets offer my best chances of getting a huge green salad, a plate of grilled or sauteed veggies with a side of protein, a few nibbles of some good cheese, and a dessert portion that isn’t the size of a dinner plate.
So imagine my horror when Jeff was describing a monstrosity of a corned beef and pastrami sandwich (“The Woody Allen”) he witnessed a few weeks back at the Carnegie Deli at the Mirage. (Sorry, but that is just wrong. I mean, the Carnegie Deli should be at New York, New York…am I right?) At first I thought he meant the price ($20) was monstrous, but then he held his hand up about a foot above the table top. It was this high…and had two pounds of meat!”
That lead to discussions (with lots of gesticulating and fist pounding) of appropriate portion sizes (that sandwich is too much food for even TWO people!) and food waste. He saw a LOT of food go uneaten, just during one lunch in that one restaurant. Can you imagine how much food gets collectively thrown away on the Las Vegas Strip between all the buffets and the monster restaurant portions?
I like corned beef, and I like pastrami (although it’s been at least a few years since I’ve eaten either), but the very thought of serving a sandwich of that size grosses me out on many levels, nutritional and otherwise. Just to torture myself further, I went looking for a photo of the hideous specimen. Check it out for yourself (just don’t say I didn’t warn you).
