One of the coolest things yours truly gets to do every year is vote for the BEST RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD, for RESTAURANT magazine (a British publication). Only 32 voters come from North America, and they must have eaten at every restaurant voted for within the past eighteen months. And you must vote for at least two restaurants that are NOT in your geographical comfort zone. Which is why The Food Gal and I are always hopping planes to Europe and Asia.

The winner this year (for the third year in a row) is El Bulli (The Bulldog), in Roses, Spain. I haven’t made it there (yet), but have eaten at 15 of the top 50, and 29 out of the top 100. Not bad for a sharecropper’s son, eh? ;-}

Click here for full list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

FYI: This year I voted for Pierre Gagnaire (Hong Kong), Dal Pescatore (Cannetto sul’ Oglio, Italy) and Troisgros (Roanne, France), worldwide, and Daniel, Joel Robuchon, and Guy Savoy (in North America).

Click here to read my latest article for The Virtual Gourmet, found at JohnMariani.com, about where the locals dine in Las Vegas. It features 3 top spots that not only offer great value, but are also open for lunch.

As of April 30, 2008 Bryan Ogden will no longer be top toque at Bradley Ogden. As justifiably renowned as pere Bradley is, it is son Bryan who has put and kept this restaurant at or near the top of must try Vegas restaurants for the past five years. His ever changing menus of intricate, but accessible American food has never failed to astonish even the most jaded gourmand, and no matter what spin Caesars Palace tries to put on his leaving, this place will never be quite the same. Now he heads for SoCal to the land of swimming pools, movie stars, big egos and bad manners. We wish him well, and we will miss him.

Click to hear my final tribute to Bryan on KNPR Nevada Public Radio

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No salad in the history of civilization is more bastardized than the the mighty Caesar-whose true name is a Caesar’s Salad. For a serious taste of this salad’s history, and to taste some serious salad, click on this link to my recent article in Desert Companion about what made (and makes) the original recipe so great.

Read Article Here (pdf)

DJT The Restaurant opens Monday, April 7, 2008 right off the lobby of the Trump International Hotel and right across the street from Nordstrom’s (how con-VEEN-ient!) It’s a small, dark, 65 seat, club-like space-lilliputian by Vegas standards-with a bar that opens onto a good, old fashioned, no-gambling, hotel lobby loaded with enough glitz and “quality babes” to keep Trump knee-deep in apprentices for seasons to come.

Taking no cues from the owner’s hairstyle, menu is simplicity itself, with 10 starters and mains that are mercifully light on introductory prose (chilled sweet pea soup, duck confit, sous vide halibut, et al…), but we’re confident Executive Chef Joe Isidori and Chef d’Cuisine David Varley (late of the ill-fated Company experiment in the Luxor), will make it dazzle if allowed to follow their muse. Having Lucas Riemens (late of Guy Savoy) man the front of the house is a plus as well. No doubt gourmands will line up to taste slices of true pata negra jamon Iberico, but we’re more interested in Mr. Trump’s bibb wedge salad-that has to be more interesting than it sounds.

It’s now April 12, 2008, and I’m still swooning from the fabulous food Chefs Isidori and Varley laid before me and The Food Gal last night. A full article and review will be forthcoming, but in the meantime feast your eyes on some tasty snaps….

We don’t know what’s more offensive about this ode to the Sopranos in the Rio: the glare, the stare, the unappetizing tats, or the $23 meatball on the menu.

The egotistical entreaty: “Don’t break my balls.” printed on the menu is a lame, preemptive strike against any Paulie Walnuts wannabe who might complain about the excessive prices, and the highly mediocre Southern Italian food. Single diners aren’t allowed at tables (even when the place is empty, and likely to remain that way for hours), and no one is allowed to drink cocktails in the dining room for fear of corrupting such innovative recipes as chicken parmagiana and veal marsala.

That $23 meatball, is no joke either, and whether you are a meatball, or just love them, you’ll find better ones at Rao’s just down the street.

Bouchon has come in for more than a little criticism from yours truly over the years. It’s a copy of a copy and has exactly the soul of one. But there’s no denying that it consistently has the best oysters in Las Vegas (RM and Morel’s are a close second and third), and the moules frites are just as memorable. The menu as a whole doesn’t push any envelopes, and the wine list is booooring-(whassup with that Thomas?)-but there’s no denying the beauty of those Kumamotos, Dabobs or Fanny Bays.

IS EVERYTHING OKAY? (listen at KNPR)
Well no, it’s not, but I’m going to keep my pie hole shut about it.

It’s the biggest lie told in restaurants, right down there with “homemade”-which never is; and “fresh” – which almost always isn’t.

No we’re talking about your response to the age-old question: “And how is everything sir” or “Is everything prepared to your liking” or “How is it?” usually asked anywhere from 5 to 10 seconds after the food shows up. The lie we all tell is anything from: “Fine, thank you” to “Everything’s great” even when it’s not.

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