And speaking of attractive food writers….Las Vegas freelancer Grace (The Filipino Flash) Bascos was interviewed on WOR Radio in New York this week — by Arthur (Mr. Buffet ) Frommer, and his daughter Pauline. He was more interested in asking about the cost of everything, but Bascos, does an admirable job of mentioning our town’s multitude of culinary offerings — from L’Atelier to the Aureole wine tower to the small bites at RAKU to the boring buffets Arthur was obsessing on. Here’s the link to her interview. Scroll down the right side of the page to the “Travel” segments of the program, and listen in.
Way to go Bascos!
I guess hard to expect anything else from the guy who wrote the first guidebook about touring on the cheap – but I’d like to think that he’s a little more in tune with the culinary happenings taking place in Vegas these days. Great job, Grace, on getting in the other restaurants our city should be known for – not the buffets of the past.
Which is a smooth segue to this…remember to come out and listen to John Curtas and a bunch of other award-winning food writers including Alan Richman and Jeffrey Steingarten discuss this shift in the Vegas culinary scene, as part of the JBF Taste America LV weekend. The session is Saturday, Oct 25th, at 10am on the campus of UNLV. Details can be found at http://www.jbftasteamerica.com/festival-events.
I am officially getting “Filipino Flash” tshirts made.
I suppose I should learn more about buffets for future reference… I didn’t think I’d be interrogated that hard on buffet prices and quality.
I figured there was much more interesting food to discuss… but what do I know?
Thanks, John and Ken. It was definitely an interesting experience.
T-shirts, pot-holders, posters…you could create an entire Filipino Flash line!
Thanks for mentioning the show. Yes, Grace did a great job. Actually, the show is heard nationwide (we now broadcast to about 110 stations including Los Angeles, Oahu, and Portland (OR)).
As for the focus on buffets: like it or not, as an outsider, I can tell you that’s still what most Americans think of when they think Las Vegas food. Yes, the word is out that Vegas now has celebrity chefs, but there’s also scuttlebut around about the fact that many of those chefs are over-extended. And that you can get a more affordable foodie experience (fine dining, top name chefs) in such cities as New York and New Orleans. I think in the current economic climate you’re going to have to focus more seriously on affordable cuisine or price yourself out of the tourist market.
Cordially,
Pauline Frommer
PS: I just spent a month in Vegas updating my book on the town and had a wonderful time in your fair city
Thanks for the post Pauline….your comments are very well taken. I couldn’t agree more that a more affordable foodie experience is available in New York, New Orleans, Chicago, et al…. It’ll be interesting to see how this economic downturn affects prices around here!