What Could Be Better…

Last fall Rod Stewart said he was winding up his residency at Caesar’s in Vegas. So I told the web gal to book his last show as I thought it’d be fun to attend his final gig. But wouldn’t you know while reading online on the day of the concert Stewart announced he was signing on for some more Vegas dates in 2025 and then two hours later, his final concert got cancelled due to his Covid problems.. D’oh!!! Oh well, let’s shoot for a 2025 show next spring!!

One admirable thing about the Stones, they’ve never milked it and joke about it when they get asked if it’s their last tour. When asked why they keep touring, Keith Richards had a great answer, “why quit something you love to do?” Exactly. It’s why I’ll keep writing about food and wine until I kick it.. because I love it.

As for eating wise, we had a fine lunch at Eataly marketplace located in front of the Park MGM. At La Rosticceria we had some tasty meatballs, calamari and nice rotisserie chicken combined with some undercooked roast potatoes and nicely roasted vegetables. A gelato from Il Gelato for the web gal and an IPA from Gran Caffè Milano for the Insider made it a great mid-day meal, in a break from the brutal heat shimmering off the Strip.

Next day we stuck to the air conditioned comfort of the Venetian complex and had an Italian lunch at Trattoria Reggiano where we left stuffed after scrumptious courses of house made garlic knots bread, calamari, meatballs and frutti de mare pasta. Fine food, but what really impressed was the great service we got as our ebullient waiter kept returning to our table to make sure we were happy and made the dining experience fun. For dinner, I emailed my buddy, Vegas food critic, John Curtas, if we should go to Picasso? He replied that it was highly overrated and spend my money elsewhere. Thanks. Good to know.

Before we set off on our Vegas sojourn we caught a fine double bill of Collective Soul and Hootie and the Blowfish in Ridgefield, WA at a nice amphitheatre. Collective Soul played all the hits and got the crowd on its feet when he played their biggest hit Shine. Front man Ed Roland gave an entertaining account of how he always wanted to be a rock star since the age of 10 and was trying on his mother’s clothes. Perhaps that explained the rather odd robe he wore throughout their set that had him kind of looking like the Ghost of Christmas Present from a Christmas Carol. Oh well, it made him happy.

And Hootie’s original lineup had the crowd roaring when they played their hits. Darrius Rucker revealed  that the band wasn’t that thrilled with their drummer Jim Sonefeld until he played Hold My Hand, a song he had written that they knew was a hit. Fun night and great that we found our car relatively easily in the field behind the stage after the show.

Next up on the concert calendar was a terrific double bill of bluesman Colin James and ex-Guess Who front man, Burton Cummings at Vancouver’s PNE. Kept teasing the web gal as we walked past all the booths of junk food if she wanted any but we settled on some excellent BBQ from a truck stand that had a bunch of kids kicking out some fine, brisket, ribs and beans. Into the concert was surprised how much  the web gal dug Colin James set as she’s way more into 80s synth than blues. But good music is good music. And when James wound up his set with Keep on Loving Me she was groovin with everyone else. And Cummings did his customary stellar set, alternating songs between his solo career and Guess Who songs. Loved every tune, but my fav is always the last one, Share The Land, where Cummings tells his audience, always remember how lucky you are to live in a country like this.

And finally our last concert was John Fogerty’s gig at Victoria’s Save on Foods Arena. Man, the guy is pushing 80, but you would never know it, cranking  out one great song after another. Playing with such joy as he gets to play with his sons and his songs that his wife got back for him. Same thing again, loved every song, but my fav was the closer before the encore, Fortunate Son… 

And as far as wine goes for this month, dropped by to say hello to Andrew Lincoln at Robert Biale Vineyards who was happy to see us on short notice, saying he dug the Insider because it was like a guy having a cool conversation with people about food and wine, without forcing their opinion on someone. Exactly, what I try to do mate. Andrew, knowing my taste, poured me the Biale’s 2022 Petite Sirah and paired the wine with delicious truffles. Andrew poured a 2019 Petite Sirah Dessert Wine for the web gal that she loved and promptly purchased.

Up the 29, we stopped in for a tasting at an old Napa winery, Trefethen Family Vineyard, to visit their fine grounds and tasting room. Trefethen host Michael Baldini did a fine job pouring really nice, well-aged full bodied cabs. Michael kept us entertained with stories about growing up in Napa, what a great time he has working for Trefethen and serving guests and celebrities. After sipping and slurping , the web gal bought me Trefethen’s 2021 Dragon’s Tooth wine, a full bodied wine with an excellent finish. Cheers!!