Wandering around Cosmo in Vegas? Go up to the third floor, there are a couple secret restaurants.
One of them is Beauty & Essex. On the onset, it looks like a fancy pawn shop. It does have some guitars, jewelry, and some records.
As you check-in, you have to go to the secret door to do that.
Not a very good picture, but here's a Garnet Gimlet - which is strawberry, basil, lime and ginger ale. Very good mocktail for Dry January.
For starter, this is Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup. I have to say, whoever invented this dish, bravo! It's something we all know and love. They have it with light toast, good cheese and some bacon on top, soaked in the tomato soup. The entire bite, and yes, each spoonful is just one bite, is full, flavorful, and delectable. Whoever put this on the menu, they are geniuses. They know theVegas types likes to be bougie, but also brought some homey to the mix.
Next up! We were saying that we're lacking some veggie, so in come a salad. Didn't expect it to be this huge pile of greens and what-nots but it was a very nice surprise. It has pancetta, pecan, goat cheese, kale, slices of apple, cranberries. It was like a circus act trying to grab a mini pile without this big pile falling over. But once we do, it was yummy. Highly recommend.
Then, we got the scallop in brown butter sauce, apple slaw on top, the scallop, butternut squash puree as base, little mushrooms. The idea was to take entire thing in one bite to take in all the flavors. But I'd say this one fell short compares to the other dishes.
In the spirit of having more veggies, we got some broccolini. It has some chili crisp on top, which makes it spicier than my liking.
Now, the truffle Mac & Cheese is a whole different story. It is so good that I want to marry it. Not necessary because of the truffle oil that they used, which by the way, for extra $25 they can shave real truffle on anything you want. But the noodles, truffle butter, and 3 kinds of cheeses. So yes, it's all nice, ooey and gooey. That's a MUST GET!
As all good Vegas' places goes, reservation is key. Since we are 2 hours behind, that makes our dinner time a tad earlier than the locals. That's to our advantage because getting an early reservation is very easy to do. We had an excellent server, very aware of our party size, the dishes best serve for how many people, how many bites. On top of that, she was great at keeping the energy. That made our night super fun.
Beauty & Essex
inside Cosmopolitan Hotel
3708 Las Vegas Blvd S.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
702-737-0707