buffetology

Last Sunday, we drove down to the shore and didn't catch a glimpse of the ocean. Nope, we were in Atlantic City to shop, gamble and sample the Borgata buffet. The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is the most Vegas-like resort in AC. There's plenty of high-end gourmet food but we walked past all of those establishments to hit the buffet.

In my college days I used to frequent buffets - chinese buffets, old country buffets and all sorts of questionable buffets. It served a purpose when running on an empty stomach and an empty wallet. I used to stack an impressive pile of empty plates in one sitting. However my affinity for buffets evaporated when a number of events alerted my germaphobic sensibilities. I witnessed an unsupervised kid putting his mouth on the ice cream machine nozzle at a shady joint. Then he proceeded to stick his grubby little hands into one of the food trays. I put myself on official hiatus.

But during my last trip to Vegas, I rediscovered buffets. Of course we were more selective and sampled only the best gourmet buffets with an international spread. At Bellagio, my cousin and I went around the world several times until our stomachs quit.

So here we are at the Borgata. I put in a very disappointing performance! I could only put away one entree plate and one dessert plate! Sure, my 2 plates were stacked with steak, bacon, fried chicken, scrambled eggs, eggs benedict and pasta...plus 3 cakes and a gelato...but it was not up to my usual standards. My wife told me that my first plate was too heavy and that I needed to pace myself with a sensible progression of food. That was never a problem in my youth! Maybe its age. I'm a veteran past my buffet eating prime. Or maybe my tummy's been trained by my wife to eat lighter and healthier foods and it can't stomach such a greasy onslaught. Of course she smiled at my disappointment while pecking away at her smoked salmon and salad.