Not Just a Piece of Meat

Methinks sometimes I have no more wit than a Christian or an ordinary man has; but I am a great eater of beef, and I believe that does harm to my wit.
William Shakespeare (1564–1616), writer. Sir Andrew Aguecheek, in Twelfth Night

It makes one long for the days of the mobsters running Las Vegas. Today, the old mob guard are spinning in their graves thinking about the profit they let slip away in Las Vegas. Their business plan was to provide inexpensive food, drinks and lodging in order to get people to spend money on gambling, which is where the profits were.

Today corporate America runs Las Vegas and everything becomes a profit center. Forget that one can no longer find cheap shrimp cocktails or an inexpensive buffet or even a reasonably priced hotel room. Now, the bigger ritzier hotels not only charge $300 plus for a room, but they are now offering $190 steaks to the big shot who has more money than he/she knows what to do with.

Many of the jaw-dropping prices are the result of more Kobe beef being served. Shintaro, the Japanese eatery at Bellagio, where the 10-ounce Washugyu Kobe tenderloin is going for $190. Shintaro's 12-ounce sirloin commands $170. Over at Bradley Ogden, the high-end restaurant at Caesars Palace, the 8-ounce Kobe steak goes for $175. Also cracking the $100 barrier: Craftsteak at the MGM Grand, with a 10-ounce Kobe filet mignon price at $100. On the cusp: a 14-ounce Kobe ribeye for $98.

If that becomes a regular price for beef, I will have no choice but to become a vegetarian.