Christmas in Vegas

Christmas Time at the Bellagio (Las Vegas)

Bellagio Conservatory at Christmas

I love the Bellagio at Christmas. It is very dazzling and colorful. There is a very large real Christmas tree in the Conservatory that is surrounded by trains. The huge polar bears are composed of carnations and there are poinsettias of all colors covering the entire floor. Reindeer fly above a little ginger bread house and there is an arch filled with flying snow that is flanked by Toy Soldiers

Near Reception there is a large Carousel Horse surrounded by wrapped presents. The glass Chihuly ceiling is right above the Horse. Behind reception is an alcove filled with Christmas decorations and flowers.

We went to Circo for dinner, where we were seated at the window overlooking the Lago del Como where the Fountains dance to music every fifteen minutes in the evenings. I had originally wanted to try Michael Mina, near the Conservatory, but it was closed (as are many things in Las Vegas) for the holidays. We were told that Circo had a gluten free menu, so that's where we went. It is one of the few places we have eaten that has a gluten free menu that includes the prices. I've always thought it was a little odd that the gf menu doesn't include prices, but I suppose that the philosophy is that if you need to eat gluten free you can't ask what the price is! Anyway I ordered the most expensive thing on the gf menu, which was a seafood risotto. I ask for risotto wherever I go and am usually told that I can't have it because it is so often made with a non-gf chicken broth, so I was willing to pay the (financial) price when the opportunity finally arose to eat it without paying the gastrointestinal price. The scallops in the risotto were sliced very thin and they were tender and delicious. They must have been added at the very last moment before serving to have been so delicate and fresh.

I added a side dish of spinach for my ongoing Spinach Wars investigation. I'm afraid that Circo does not hold up to either our local Pappadeaux here in Beaumont or to the most excellent Two Rivers Steak House in Canton Mississippi where we stopped during a road trip in the summer of 2012. Basically Circo's version was just a big dish of unadorned spinach. I am not complaining though. I did have risotto and a view from a lovely restaurant of the Fountains at the Bellagio – not a bad trade-off.

Cathy