How Ike Barinholtz of 'The Mindy Project' Ate His Way Through Las Vegas in One Big Fat Weekend
When we challenged Ike Barinholtz to spend a weekend in Las Vegas binge-eating like a food critic (read: nonstop), you bet we brought a camera. Here's how the weekend went down (learn even more on the Bon Appétit Foodcast!).
Alex Lau1/20First stop: Carson Kitchen. "Carson Kitchen has a swear jar. It was our first stop in Vegas, and by the time I had left the restaurant, I was already down something like two grand."
Alex Lau2/20The wild mushroom flatbread with asparagus pesto and blue cheese at Carson Kitchen, which Barinholtz downed along with gyro tacos and a plate of deviled eggs.
Alex Lau3/20Confession: Barinholtz didn't make it through all of these O Face Doughnuts treats, although he did manage a Cinnamon Toast Crunch dougnut with cereal milk custard.
Alex Lau4/20Barinholtz and his wife Erica Hanson made an afternoon pitstop at Petrossian in the Bellagio for Beluga vodka, roe, and finger sandwiches. Little did they know what lay ahead.
Alex Lau5/20And the night officially begins. For dinner: José Andrés' dry-aged meat palace Bazaar Meat.
Alex Lau6/20Bazaar Meat's massive chicharrón with Greek yogurt and za'atar came with its own party trick: a server who cracked the fried pork rind into smaller pieces with a hammer at the table.
Alex Lau7/20"I ate so many fish eggs this weekend that I am now pregnant with a six-pound salmon," Barinholtz says of the fistfuls of roe he downed at Carson Kitchen, Petrossian, and Bazaar Meat, among other places.
Alex Lau8/20In which Barinholtz discovers a sea urchin shell doubles nicely as a beard.
Alex Lau9/20When eating at Bazaar Meat, there's only one way to go: eat more meat (like the beef tartare.)
Alex Lau10/20Barinholtz rounded out dinner with a tray of Bazaar Meat's pretty little desserts.
Alex Lau11/20After dinner, it's onto the next at Yusho, where cold cans of sake are in order.
Alex Lau12/20Pregaming second dinner with raw tuna tacos on crispy salmon skin "tortillas."
Alex Lau13/20Hanson had to call it quits after she passed out on banquette at Yusho. Not from booze—from a food coma stupor.
Alex Lau14/20For dinner #2, Barinholtz got a cauldron-sized bowl of Yusho's "Monster Ramen" with shrimp, maitake mushrooms, crispy pork, and the biggest meatball he'd ever seen.
Alex Lau15/20After dinner, a stop at the Lobby Bar at Caesars Palace, where famed bartender Tony Abou-Ganim made negronis.
Alex Lau16/20Barinholtz calls this look "acute liver failure."
Alex Lau17/20The great thing about Vegas is you always run into someone you know. Like Barinholtz's cousin (left), who was in town for a bachelor party. Selfies were snapped.
Alex Lau18/20Day 2: Running on the Strip is impossible, so Barinholtz does the next best thing: 100 push-ups in his hotel room.
Alex Lau19/20Italian breakfast hash wasn't the only thing on the breakfast menu at Giada De Laurentiis' new spot, Giada. Barinholtz hopes the breakfast carbonara pizza will soon be available for delivery—in L.A.
Alex Lau20/20What monster-binging session would be complete without a little Guy? The plan was to stop by Guy Fieri's Vegas Kitchen & Bar for a lemon sorbet palate cleanser before flying home—that didn't exactly go as planned. "They gave me a crazy burger and an avalanche of fries instead. I ate it."
