Better late than never, right? To show you gratuitous photos of the food we ate in Vegas? I didn’t think so.

When you’ve collected your winnings from all of the blackjack games you’ve played at the Venetian, stroll through the casino to Otto Pizzeria, formerly known as Enoteca San Marco. We visit this place every year for the cheese plate. OH MY GOD, the cheese plate. Choose three, five, or seven cheese – or get them all! Ask for the chef’s recommendation for the best mix of sharp and mild, creamy, and aged cheeses.

For meeting up with friends discovered on the internet, casinos like the Venetian and Paris are killer spots for great dining. But what about places not inside casinos? Serendpity 3, while on the same property as Caesar’s Palace, is a free-standing restaurant with a patio right along the strip. The best part? MAC AND CHEESE. I think we all know how I feel about mac and cheese. Serendipity’s known for their frozen hot chocolate, but before you splurge on that decadent dessert – get your cheese on.

For other Vegas food suggestions, check out Joanna Haugen’s guest post from a couple of weeks back. She’s got some great suggestions about famous chef places, amazing desserts, and the best views in Vegas.

doniree

Doniree Walker is the Nomadic Foodie. She loves the exploration and community of food, and currently lives in Portland, Oregon, and loves the region's focus on local and seasonal food, daily farmers' markets and food carts at seemingly every turn. She's on twitter as @doniree and @nomadicfoodie, and blogs her adventures and life in general at doniree.com.

Grace is a friend and fellow blogger, and a kindred spirit in the manner of all things food and travel.  She’s scouted many of the cheese plates here in Boulder and offers up what she considers cheese plate musts, great information about cheeses and some delicious photos of the local fromage.  You can find our Gracie Boyle on Twitter @gracekboyle, and peep her own personal blog, Small Hands Big Ideas.

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I adore cheese – stinky, soft, sharp, aged, goat, crumbly, yes please.

Last week, in my regular outings of some favorite Boulder restaurants, I had three cheese plates total (in a week!) This is how serious I am about cheese. I know how much I adore the taste, but know less about the process, how it’s made and regions with spectacular cheese. I’m going to meld my love for cheese, with some basic information and of course, sample some of the delicious local restaurants with my favorite cheese plates here on Doni’s beautiful, Nomadic Foodie.

What Makes a Delicious Cheese Plate?

Cheese expert, Laura Werlin of Food & Wine states that the perfect cheese plate should include: “a mix of fresh, aged, soft and hard cheeses, arranged in the order in which they should be tasted: from the lightest and freshest to the ripest and most intense.”

My scrupulous research and foodie taste buds declare (American Cheese Society backs me up too) that for cheese boards/plates, limit your selection to no more than 5 cheeses.

A variety of sizes, shapes, flavor and texture are desirable especially to create diversity to the palate. For example, if there’s a strong and pungent cheese it shouldn’t be next to a lighter, more delicate cheese. Furthermore, I can tell when the cheese board arrives and there are a few different knives for each cheese, the restaurant knows their cheese plates.

We shouldn’t forget that delicious cheese must not only be coupled by cheese itself, but with pairings such as fruit, jams or nuts. I prefer and have delighted in: apples, grapes, strawberries and pears in terms of fruit. Additional items I suggest are: nuts, honey, jelly or jam or even a type of mustard. Finally, bread, crostini, or crackers for eating your cheese with. I prefer grilled or toasted that is still soft enough to lap up the cheese, versus crostini, but both will do. It is important that whatever cracker, bread or crostini you use, they are not flavored as to not take away the taste of the cheese.

Before serving the cheese, experts suggest that setting the cheese out about a half hour before eating brings them to room temperature (but this isn’t necessary).

I will finalize this by saying, the display is very important for mouth watering quality. Pay attention to how the cheese is served – is it on a board, a large enough platter or plate so the cheese do not touch and how is it plated (by which cheese is next to each other)? It is also suggested (if applicable) to leave the rind on.

Some Favorite Cheese Plates:

Mateo a favorite local Boulder restaurant has a delicious cheese plate (that Doni has covered before in a restaurant review). Most recently, you can find: cypress grove humboldt fog (from California), petit basque (from France), petit frére [wi, usa], bleu d’auvergne [france], confiture, spiced nuts, fruit (local and in season) and country toast.

Another local favorite of mine is The Kitchen. Their cheese board is delightful, served on a long, wooden board and includes my favorite pairing, honey! Their cheese board consists of: Fourme D’Ambert & local honey, Chevrot & olive tapenade, Roncal & candied almonds with udi’s bread.

For final tips on cheese plates, entertaining and how to create your own, check out the following links:

Fork and Bottle outlines how to make an interesting cheese platter for a dinner or holiday party.

American Cheese Society has a great link on tips for cheese consumers.

Madame Fromage (http://madamefromage.blogspot.com/) talks all thing cheese. It’s a beautiful blog.

A Cup Of Joe features United States Cheese Boards, they’re so fun and beautifully plated.

Cheese plates can be enjoyed many different ways, whether you’re sampling a cheese plate at your favorite restaurant (great to order as an appetizer with a group, preferably paired with a wine) or preparing a cheese plate for a potluck, party or entertaining (great idea, finger food and who doesn’t like cheese?) e-mail me, if you’re disatsified. Seriously. I believe in the cheese!

So what cheese plates have you loved the most? Pictures, stories, restaurants? Share with us!

gracekboyle

Grace is the Director of Marketing and Sales for the online startup, Kapost. She runs her food blog that celebrates traveling, dining out, cooking and how food fuels us at (http://gracefullplate.com/) and her own personal blog uncovering the 20-something journey and inspirations (http://smallhandsbigideas.com). She loves traveling, red wine, new media, reading, artisan cheese, laughter and her current home in Boulder, Colorado. Her favorite quote? "Buy the ticket, take the ride," from Hunter S. Thompson. You can find her tweeting as @gracekboyle and talking about food @gracefullplate

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I hadn’t been to Zeno Wine Cafe since a date a few years ago.

Or was it a date?  I never really knew with that guy until the fourth “date” or so and I finally attacked his face kissed him in his car at the end of the night.  We made out all high school style for a few minutes, I went home, and that was essentially it.

But this post isn’t about him, it’s about food and wine and my girlfriend Melissa.

Melissa and I met in college, through mutual friends, and bonded instantly and closely.  We were both lovers of psychology (different realms, but still), house parties, jam band music, and sharing dating stories because we always had the good amusing ones.

Anyway, she and I have the beautiful kind of friendship that continues to grow and flourish into adulthood after college despite different directions and lives and jobs and whatnot.  We catch up every couple of months, giggle like schoolgirls, polish off a decent amount of wine, and typically find some of the Twin Cities’ most interesting places to eat.

Our last two catch-ups?  Town Talk Diner, and then before that the French Meadow Bakery.

We have good, quirky, local hipster taste, I know.

Last night, we hopped into Zeno Cafe at Lake & Hennepin in Uptown.  They advertise all kinds of happy hour deals that GO UNTIL SEVEN PM (which sometimes is unheard of, or at least hard to find, and those of us that can’t leave work at 3PM on a MONDAY really appreciate that extra hour or two!).

What we chose?

wine: $10 bottomless glass of [house] wine (I chose the white (a Pinot Grigio/Chardonnay blend) and Melissa had the Cab Sauv).

food: Apps are BOGO, so we split the Cheese Plate and the Mediterranean Plate.

According to their menu, these are the food deets:

Mediterranean Plate

Goat cheese, black olive tapenade, hummus, and Italian sun-dried tomato relish with fresh baked rosemary focaccia.

Cheese Plate

A selection of artisan cheeses served with fresh fruit, turkish figs and almonds.

To be honest?

I wasn’t all that impressed with the cheese plate.  Then again, I’ve been spoiled this year in that my cheese plate devirginization happened at Mario Batali’s Enoteca San Marco in Las Vegas.  Then I found Cafe Maude’s cheese plate.  Twice.  Two weeks ago, I sampled the cheese stylings at Bar Baresco in NYC’s Chelsea neighborhood.

So, I’m not a cheese plate SNOB, by any means (let’s be honest, I can’t ID anything really besides bleu, gouda, brie, and parmesan), but I do know what’s impressive and what’s notsomuch.

So Zeno’s was decent, just not… amazing.  There was a gouda that was nice and creamy and smooth, but I bought a chunk of gouda at Lund’s last week that was as good if not better.  There were no turkish figs as advertised, but there were grapes and apples.  The almonds were nice.  I should’ve taken a picture.  Wow, foodie blogger FAIL.

The Med plate though was GREAT.  I love goat cheese and tapenade and hummus and sun-dried tomato ANYTHING.  And the focaccia was tasty.

But for $20 each that got us all kinds of wine and the right kind of noshing in between telling stories of going back to school, boys, travels, and just all-around catching up in general?  Total win.  I’d go back and do it again and probably sample more of their apps menu, but keep in mind you get what you pay for.  If I want a cheese plate to blow me away, I’ll go back to Cafe Maude and pay the extra $ (though really, it’s not that much extra).

What will bring me back?

This deal.  I’m intrigued by this.  $30 date night includes wine, apps, dessert and a movie at the Landmark theater next door:

Recap:

Wine: $10 bottomless glass of a decent house wine.  We like bottomless.  No.  WE LOVE bottomless.
Food: Cheese plate: mediocre; Med plate: Good
Price: Since wine was cheap and apps were BOGO, total bill was less than $40 (after taxes, before tip)
Do it again?  Sure, why not.

doniree

Doniree Walker is the Nomadic Foodie. She loves the exploration and community of food, and currently lives in Portland, Oregon, and loves the region's focus on local and seasonal food, daily farmers' markets and food carts at seemingly every turn. She's on twitter as @doniree and @nomadicfoodie, and blogs her adventures and life in general at doniree.com.