Donutique, obviously

No Doubt residency, the Sphere - I have not seen them since Glastonbury 2002 and I have since developed better coping mechanisms than the gentleman in row G

I am back on the east coast after a few days in Las Vegas. I didn’t partake in much gambling other than ordering matcha lattes from places that seemed highly unlikely to have good matcha. I guess lady luck was on my side because the matcha at Donutique in the Venetian was very good!

Donutique became a daily ritual for us on this trip because it was a word we all greatly enjoyed saying. “Where are you going?” … “DONUTIQUE of course!” … “Meet me at Donutique” etc…

L-R: A terrible matcha from the LavAzza coffee shop at the Regal in Union Square; a disarmingly good matcha latte from Donutique in Las Vegas; A perfect poolside Coke after multiple “Is Pepsi OK?”s in a row

Peppermill straight off the plane

We landed and went straight to Peppermill whose vibes are impossible to capture on film. Imagine getting off a 5 hour, 7am, flight, walking 20 mins in the dry Vegas heat and entering the air conditioned sunken lounge. Everything is velvet, neon, and chrome. There are fire pits with blue flames. You are surrounded by 100 TVs and they’re all playing XTC music videos. It RULES!

I mentioned last week that the last time I went to Peppermill they served us an absurdly large omelette - well I was not prepared for the size of the pancakes. People were stopping as they passed our table to point at them. They just DID NOT NEED TO BE THAT LARGE!

We ate very well in Vegas, and only one of the restaurants mentioned in this post gave only one of our group food poisoning (!) Maybe it wasn’t the food… perhaps it was handling the dirty coins at Slots-a-fun, the last coin operated slots place on the strip, and smoking Capris with said dirty coin hands. I am not a germaphobe, but my fingers were black after handling about 10 quarters and then getting bored because I wasn’t winning anything.

L-R: Gorgeous Pastel de Merengue con Fresas cake at Cantina Contramar; some New Yorkers whose first time at Carbone was in Las Vegas

We had dinner at Cantina Contramar, an outpost of the famous CDMX resto which famously moved one of my sisters to tears because she found the Tuna Tostada to be so delicious.

Their strawberry meringue cake is now up there on my favourite desserts of all time list. I will be attempting to make this so please wish me luck because I dabbled with making meringues during COVID lockdown and it did not turn out so well.

L-R: Dinner and a show, pre No Doubt concert; perfectly balanced Flan at Cantina Contramar

We also got the flan, a dish I definitely learned about from this 1997 episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch . I have to report that the line “There’s no better way to celebrate than with a wobbly jobbly flan!” is in fact… true!

The reason we were in Vegas was to see No Doubt’s residency at the Sphere. I have not seen No Doubt play live since 2002 at Glastonbury. Being inside the Sphere felt like visiting the Millennium Dome in the 2000s. There are math equations and formulas everywhere as decor because… it’s a sphere! I paid $32 for a single shot of tequila in a commemorative No Doubt plastic cup, and then I went and did that a second time.

We were unfortunately seated next to the only man in the Sphere who truly understood No Doubt. He was irate that people weren’t standing up during the ballads. He really needed everyone to know that he was from Orange County and was the only person there that knew about real music.

While I’m usually pretty good at ignoring the sound of a drunk man rambling, it became too difficult to ignore when he turned down to face our row and started shouting, “You’re all fucking idiots!” over and over and over. I told him to “Chill” and this pushed our sensitive diva over the edge. He stared me and my sisters down and went, “You weren’t even born.” (little did he know I’m such a fan of third wave ska that I had a literal 2-tone prom dress) … he continued, “You’ve never heard good music, and you’ve never been fucked”… he paused to search for the words, “…by a cowboy!”

So what I’m getting from this interaction was that he thought I’m really ~ young ~ and that unfortunately men quite often have to ruin things because they get so emotional. We couldn’t get away from him because he was blocking the only exit to our row and flipping us off repeatedly.

Drama queen from the OC aside the show was great and made me rather emotional too but because I am a woman I’m able to control my emotions really well and just sang along and danced with my sisters as an expression of joy.

L-R: Antique Alley and Main Street Peddlers finds that I’m shocked I didn’t purchase: Pam Anderson and Dan Aykroyd Coneheads Playboy, Sandra Bernhard Playboy, a cute little Eire swizzle stick

On our last day we went to the arts district to hit up the antique shops. I am alarmed at the level of self restraint I demonstrated by not buying anything. The arts district is a nice way to get a break from the strip and dig through glassware and ashtrays from the older casinos which make far better gifts than the slop in the gift shops of today. I like my slop to be from the 80s! In the arts district the buildings are low, the pavements are empty, and it’s full of vintage shops and breweries. You feel a bit like you are in Austin - I imagine… I have never been to Austin. My sister found a Luella (RIP - the brand, not the person) handbag for $30 at the Buffalo Exchange.

We capped off the trip by seeing Backrooms because I simply have to make use of my Regal Unlimited™️ subscription as often as possible.

We couldn’t fit in a trip to the Neon Museum - maybe next time!

Things to look forward to

🎥 Low Cinema is screening Cool World on Friday night. If, like myself, you enjoy watching films rated 4% on Rotten Tomatoes in a dark room with your friends and neighbours, you might enjoy!

🛍️ The Cou Cou summer pop up is open til June 20th - 262 Mott Street - in case ya need to restock your undies.

Cool Facts™️

No Doubt came out to this song by The Specials which I hadn’t heard in ages. Here’s the Dance Dance Revolution version.

… and here’s a little video of Alan Cumming playing “Mick Jagged” in The Flinstones in Viva Rock Vegas which subconsciously influenced me to want a tiger print bikini.

I’ll be at Donutique if anyone needs me.