Chocolate Wasted

I used to be a huge “sweets” person. Dessert with every meal, cookies, candy, ice cream, basically whatever I could get my hands on. When I realized I had indulged too much, I decided to cut sweets out of my diet all together. It’s been a few years, but lately it seems sugar has crept back into my daily consumption. Not as bad as it was before, but I could see myself falling off the wagon with the new treats popping up in the Las Vegas area.

Last Thursday at Boulevard Social Club presented by SpyOnVegas.com, The Cosmopolitan had a soft opening of its newest addition, The Neapolitan of Las Vegas. Located at the Boulevard Pool in the back corner next to the stage, The Neapolitan is an alcohol-infused ice cream shop. This place is the best thing I’ve seen in the city. It is not the typical ice cream drinks you can get most of the pools. The sorbets are made from scratch, blended with liquid nitrogen, the ingredients in the shakes and smoothies are unique, and the popsicles are handmade. There are around twenty different items on the menu, and my friend and I sampled each and every one. I was feeling very tipsy after downing a couple shakes. One of my favorites was “W.W.E.D ?” (What Would Elvis Do?) It was a chocolate shake mixed with Maker’s Mark, peanut butter, banana, and walnut liqueur topped with whipped cream and maple bacon bits. It was very rich, but delicious. I don’t know if I could drink it on a hot day. I would probably opt for one of the sorbets. All of the sorbets had Pop Rocks as one of the ingredients. When is the last time you had those? My favorite was the “Miss Mimosa.” It had mandarin orange sorbet mixed with Moet Ice and ginger. Anything that features champagne moves top of my list. Prices range from $12 to $18 depending on selection. If you decide to try this amazing place, make sure to tip the staff. They work hard to whip up the tasty treats, and it can be dangerous working with liquid nitrogen.

Bacon seems to making its way into a lot of desserts lately. Born and Raised, located at Warm Springs and Buffalo, has changed its dessert menu adding some unique items. My friends and I sampled quite a few of them… okay, maybe all of them. The favorite among the group was the “Maple Bacon Chocolate Sundae.” A large portion of a moist chocolate brownie sits on the bottom of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and sweet bacon bits. As long as you don’t get too much bacon in one bite, it is a nice combination of sweet and salty. Another item I enjoyed was the “S’mores.” It was a Rice Krispy type bar made with graham crackers and marshmallows with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and mini marshmallows on top. It tasted almost exactly like a typical S’mores. My only complaint would be the bar is a little hard and tough to eat with a spoon or fork. We had to break it apart with our hands, which was a bit messy.

Another restaurant in The Cosmopolitan that uses an alcohol infused ice cream concept is Holsteins. Shakes are the only options on the menu and are pretty tasty. The best one is Birthday Cake featuring 3 Olives Cake Vodka, real birthday cake crumble, vanilla ice cream, and sprinkles to top it off. I also enjoy the Raspberry-Lemon Cheesecake, but then again I like anything that says “cheesecake.” The shakes are pretty large, enough to split between two, and priced at only $11.

The summer is the worst timing to bring back my sweet tooth. It means I’ll be spending more time in the gym to balance the two. I try to keep sweets out of my home to avoid too much consumption. Maybe I’ll just indulge once a week… or maybe twice a week.

Speaking of birthday cake…

Join in on the celebration of my birthday at Haze Nightclub, Friday July 20 and Liquid Pool Lounge, Saturday, July 21 with free entry when you get on the list. Open bar for ladies at Haze Nightclub from 10:30-11:30 p.m. and Liquid from 11 a.m. to noon.
RSVP for Haze Nightclub on Friday, July 20
RSVP for Liquid Pool Lounge on Saturday, July 21