08/12/17
If you're hungry and walking through The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, it's easy to miss Beauty & Essex, since the interior of this speakeasy-style restaurant/lounge is hidden by a pawn shop store front. But do not be fooled! Behind the eclectic collection of art, wall of electric guitars and used Rolex watches, there is a secret door which leads to a surprisingly huge space that seems to be inspired by The Great Gatsby. Now that I've set the table, let me get to the inspiration for this scouting report: Grilled Cheese, Smoked Bacon & Tomato Soup Dumplings. These things are literally a bigtime bite...each spoonful instantly brought me back to childhood, being someone that was basically raised on grilled cheese and tomato soup. Every bite brought some serious flavor and nostalgia. Although it's such a simple dish, it is done very well - not too cheesy, awesome texture, good soup-to-dumpling ratio, and the smoked bacon capped it all off quite nicely. This dish was so bigtime that I ate here twice on my last trip to Vegas. If you don't want to take my word for it, ask LeBron James what he thinks about it - he rented out the private dining room for dinner while I was there for round two.