USA Today Wine & Food Experience in Las Vegas

October 16, 2018

Last weekend, I appeared at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds, an open-air venue owned and operated by MGM Resorts International on the famous Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. I lead a cooking demo and Facebook LIVE to promote my newest book, “Martha Stewart’s Pressure Cooker: 100+ Fabulous New Recipes for the Pressure Cooker, Multicooker, and Instant Pot”, participated in media interviews, and hosted an exclusive and informative discussion with my friend, Nathan Myhrvold, co-founder of Intellectual Ventures and the principal author of Modernist Cuisine and its successor books. We had such a wonderful time talking about the art and science of food. These events are a great way to visit various cities and to see, first hand, how area chefs, mixologists and entrepreneurs are changing the food scene and inspiring others to appreciate local, organic dishes. Hundreds of visitors enjoyed stepping into our Martha Stewart Experience Pavilion, seeing samples from all my retail collections, and joining in on the Martha Stewart Crafts project at the Michaels table. If I didn’t see you there, I hope you join me at the next stop - Chicago, Illinois, on November 17th!

Enjoy these photos.

: Lined with upscale casino hotels, the famous Strip is quintessential Las Vegas. This photo was taken on our way to the Festival Grounds.

: Here is a wide view of the Festival Grounds. The entire space is 26-acres and has the capacity to hold 85-thousand people. (Photo by Brenton Ho for MGM Resorts International)

: At all our USA Today Wine & Food events, visitors can step into this Martha Stewart Experience Pavilion to see all our partnering brands, ask questions about my products and join in on a crafts projects.

: At the entrance to the Pavilion is the Wall of Martha featuring our partners, including Macy’s, Michael’s, The Home Depot, QVC, Martha Stewart Wine Co., Martha & Marley Spoon, and more. (Photo by Brenton Ho for MGM Resorts International)

: Are you ready for Halloween? Be sure to go to Michaels to check out all my great Halloween decorations and products. Here are pieces from my Celebrations Halloween decor including a mask, hats, and iron-ons made on the Martha Stewart Cricut Explore Air 2.

: Here are samples of my office supplies available at Staples. https://www.staples.com/deals/Martha-Stewart/BI1446552

: There was also a display featuring items from my collections at QVC – my popular faux bois planters and decorative lanterns, as well as samples from my apparel and pets lines. Be sure to see more of my QVC collections on the web site. https://www.qvc.com/martha-stewart/_/N-1z140z9/c.html

: In the center of the Pavilion is a table dressed with pieces from my “Sepia” and “Harvest” Collections exclusively at Macy’s – my Sepia dinnerware and turkey platter, my leaf plates and Harvest serveware. Order these great pieces for the holidays – they’ll be here before you know it. https://www.macys.com/shop/dining-entertaining/martha-stewart-dining?id=30213

: In another section of the Pavilion, guests lined up to join in on craft projects at the Michael’s table. Lots of volunteers were on-hand to help visitors make personalized aprons using Martha Stewart Craft Paints.

: Once visitors were done designing and embellishing their aprons, the aprons were hung out on a line to dry.

: Here is the Martha Stewart Wine Co. station, where volunteers poured glasses for guests to sample and enjoy. Go to our web site to see all our wines, including some of my personal favorites. https://marthastewartwine.com/

: Everyone flocked to the Five50 Pizza Bar tent to try out the delicious pizza. James Beard Award-winning chef, Shawn McClain, and his team personally served up slices for guests. https://www.aria.com/en/restaurants/five50.html (Photo by Brenton Ho for MGM Resorts International)

: Here are samples from Otoro Robata Grill & Sushi – black tiger shrimp served with tamarind glaze, pickled fresno chiles and rakkyo. https://www.mirage.com/en/restaurants/otoro.html

: Estiatorio Milos is another popular area eatery offering Greek and Mediterranean-style dishes. http://milos.ca/restaurants/las-vegas

: Primrose is a charming, French-inspired bistro serving organic and all-natural specialties for breakfast, lunch and dinner. https://www.mgmresorts.com/en/restaurants/park-mgm/primrose.html

: Visitors lined up to sample some of the “Rums of Puerto Rico” such as Bacardi, Don Q, Ron del Barrilito, Ron Llave and Palo Viejo. (Photo by Brenton Ho for MGM Resorts International)

: Here I am with restaurateur, and cookbook author, Chef Michael Mina. He is also the founder of the Mina Group, a restaurant management company operating more than 40-restaurants worldwide. (Photo by Brenton Ho for MGM Resorts International)

: Our own director of food development, Thomas Joseph, joined me in making several dishes from my new book, “Pressure Cooker”. We made Spanish Rice, Pressure-Cooked Black Beans, Cuban Pork Shoulder, and Espresso Crème Brulee.

: If you don’t already have my new book – be sure to get your copy today. It’s available at bookstores and online. You will love all the delicious recipes.

: Here is a photo of the tender Cuban Pork Shoulder from the book. You’ll love it. And, if you order from my friend, Pat LaFrieda, you’ll get a 10-percent discount on any of the Martha Stewart offerings. Just use promo code MARTHA10 when ordering from his web site. http://shop.lafrieda.com/martha-stewart-products.html

: One of the highlights of this Las Vegas trip was planned for our special ticket holders – an in-depth discussion about the art and science of wine and food with myself and Nathan Myhrvold. Nathan and I have known each other for years – he’s been on my television and radio shows to talk about his Modernist Cuisine book series.

: He and I looked at some of his amazing books – “The Photography of Modernist Cuisine”, “Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science”, “Modernist Cuisine at Home”, Modernist Bread, and the forthcoming “Modernist Pizza”. (Photo by Brenton Ho for MGM Resorts International)

: And he showed various images. His food photography is on sale at Modernist Cuisine Gallery in Las Vegas and New Orleans. As you may know, Nathan was the first chief technology officer at Microsoft and is currently the cofounder and CEO of Intellectual Ventures. He holds a doctorate in theoretical and mathematical physics, two master’s degrees and earned a culinary diploma in France. We always have so much fun whenever we are together. http://www.nathanmyhrvold.com/ (Photo by Brenton Ho for MGM Resorts International)

: We also discussed how to take food photos. We hung up two different samples – one from Nathan’s new Modernist Cuisine Gallery in the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace, and photos from Season 10 of “Martha Bakes” to illustrate different points about food photography. One of Nathan’s tips – focus on the closet, most interesting part of the food. One of mine – keep the background simple, so the food can be highlighted.