We made it out the door by 7am and were in Denver at the airport by 9:30. 3 hours later we were in Las Vegas. After a short cab ride in a smokey Prius we were at the MGM. We walked into the hotel and proceeded to a special check in desk as we were directed in an email from the General Manager who emailed me the day before. As soon as I said my name a lady came out of the back saying she was waiting for us. She introduced herself as Robin, Head of VIP Services. They said they were not to ask me for a credit card when I tried to give them my American Express. I insisted on them taking it for incidentals.
Then this lady escorted us up to the top floor to our room. Our room, or suite is huge with a seating area with a large couch and a bathroom that’s as big as our bedroom back home. She said it was one of their Spa Suites which explained the jacuzzi tub in the bathroom. After settling in, Lori and I went downstairs to the Spa where we had hydra facials and manicures. Now Lori has had this before but it was a first for me, but I must say, it was rather enjoyable.
Then it was back to our suite for a couple hours of relaxing before dinner. Around 6pm we headed downstairs to meet up with Brian, who we just hired, and his wife Shelly. They live in Phoenix and landed a few hours after we did. Biran is the fella we hired away from the top Italian importer in the Country to help us get to the next level. We jumped in a cab and headed down the strip to the Cosmopolitan which we can see from our suite. On the third floor was a number of restaurants including the top restaurant in Vegas, and a great account of ours, Scarpetta. We soon were introduced to Allan who I’ve been working with by phone for 6 months but never met in person. He and his wife and a number of other people were waiting to meet me and we spent a few minutes getting to know all the people who work here in Las Vegas selling our wine. Then Allan, his wife Ali, Brian, Shelly, Lori and I, were escorted to our table. A young lady said to follow her and that we were going to the Chefs Table through the kitchen. As the doors swung open to the kitchen, she began loudly shouting “Chef’s table” which was echoed by numerous chef’s and workers also shouting “Chef’s table”, as we walked right through the kitchen. We then reach a glass door to a small room with a table for six off the kitchen. The wall to the kitchen was glass so we could see all that was going on.The other wall was also glass and overlooked the Bellagio and Caesar’s Palace. All the lights were on and the fountains going at the Bellagio. In a larger room next to ours, was a group who were the new owners of the San Francisco 49’rs. The GM and other head of the restaurant took care of us personally the whole evening. They are both joining us tonight at the concert. The food by the way, was amazing. I don’t know how to describe how good it was. My favorite was the creamy polenta and the duck and the octopus. About 3 hours later we were done and thanked our host Allan (who picked up the entire tab) and headed back to our hotel. Allan and I have a lot of similar interests and really hit it off. Brian, who knew Allan from when he was at our competitor, said he thought we had to have known each other previously. Apparently if you need anything, and I mean anything, all you need to do is ask Allan and somehow in a few hours, you’ll have it. Anyhow they were very nice and treated Lori and I like VIP guests, and I’m sure we’ll continue to do lots of business together as we have been doing since we first decided to work with each other in May. Oh, there’s a special event here next May that I can’t mention until Monday as it hasn’t been announced yet, but you all reading this should really come! More on that next week.
Today we have our two big events, the concert and a tasting before. Before that I’ll have a couple of meeting. So, lots of fun, click on the p
ictures to enlarge them.
The fountains are from our private dining room, pretty fun! Â God Bless.