Zooming and Fooding

 What do fast cars and slow dining have in common? In Las Vegas, a lot. Last weekend good food and good cars came together in a marriage of fun and delicousness.

New contributor and regular New York Times  arts and style contributor worry about this in Wednesday's New York Times Food section.Formula One racing has recently arrived in Las Vegas, coming there in 2023. MGM which handles the pop up dining experience sees this as a chance to cash in on those ultra rich visitors to the country's gambling capital. This is happening during a quiet time between holidays in the city and boosts interest in both racing and the Bellagio where the event is held.It's an interesting construction of using the giant fountain  and man made lake in front of the hotel and using it as the base for the eatery. An event team had to build a sturdy foundational infrastructure at the bottom of the lake and then perform rigourous stress  testing.This ensures that it could support a three (!!!) story building including a full scale working restaurant and a lower level that functions as an industrial kitchen,. It can also hold a whopping one thousand guests.

However eating here is not cheap. Diners have to pay an extravagant $7,750 a head.  The food is also extravagant with people eating  such small plates as soy cured eggs and caviar, Wagyu beef carpaccio and Hokkaido snow crab. Diners can also enjoy pit stop pizza from Bellagio's famed Lago along with a expensive osso buco and branzino plates. Peking duck is also served for those craving Chinese. Famous chefs mills about and cook, Guests and drivers can see such famous chefs as Jose Andres and Michael Mina along with Tom Collichio and Alex Guarnaschell, all friends. there's a fraternal vibe there which adds to the fun of the racing.Other famed chefs like Mario Carobne and David Change also cook there, bringing back their days at the famed New York eatery Boulud.The team at MGM turned out these chefs' best dishes, usually one thousand a night. However the most mind boggling of all of this is the trash disposal.It'  happens underneath the lake, discreetly away from guests.Its' floated to where to can be disposed.

Racing and good food may not  go together at first. Yet when put together it's a dazzling array of speed and taste. It works perfectly.