Food Adventures in Las Vegas; or How I Found a Lotus in the Desert
I wasn’t looking for it, but it found me. After I arrived in Las Vegas, my cousin took a long way home to show me some of the city. It was a beautiful day, and I saw the Hofbrauhaus and part of the Strip. We had an incredible lunch at Oceans One. As we headed south towards her home, I saw it: Lotus of Siam. During quarantine, I watched Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi on Hulu. She visits cities across the United States and details the immigrant tradition and how it has influenced American foodways. In Episode 9: "The Pad Thai Gamble", she travels to Las Vegas and explores its large Thai community. The last place she went to was the James Beard Award-winning Lotus of Siam. It is praised as the best Thai restaurant in the country specializing in Northern Thai cuisine. After some begging, my cousin agreed to take me there for lunch as one of our last adventures. As the location nearest to the place I was staying was closed due to COVID restrictions, we went to the original