The Astronomer and I shared our first ShackBurger® in the spring of 2007. If memory serves me right, he was a newly-minted college grad, while I was attempting to cross off as many items on my East Coast to-eat list as possible before moving to Vietnam. We had taken the Chinatown bus from Philly to New York City for a Memorial Day weekend getaway, crashing at my brother’s Lower East Side apartment. Ah, those were the days…
Fast forward to the spring of 2016. The Astronomer and I are back at Shake Shack for the first time in nearly a decade. This time we’re at its first West Coast location at The Park, Las Vegas’s first community green space.
Even before checking into our room at Aria, The Astronomer and I high-tailed it to Shake Shack for a very late lunch. Four hours of driving can really work up an appetite.
While in the neighborhood for an appointment, The Astronomer and I tucked into Desano Pizza Bakery for a bite to eat, avoiding rush hour traffic and getting in some quality face time. As a bonus, we ate some damn good pizza too.
I have heard nothing but positive things about DeSano ever since it opened early last year. Here, pizzas are made the old school Italian way, following the strict guidelines of the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN). Ingredients, ovens, and quite possibly even some of the pizza makers are imported from Italy.
After placing our orders at the front counter, we grabbed a table in the spacious dining room. The Astronomer watched MLS and La Liga on the flat screens, while I watched the pizzaiolos making our pies in the open kitchen.
