From Hot Buffets to Haute Cuisine: Defining an American Food City and the Culinary Transformation of Las Vegas

On October 25th, as part of the JBF’s TasteAmerica event in Las Vegas, a panel discussion will take place at UNLV, featuring two of the most notable, honored and cranky food journalists of our time. Be there to watch Alan (The Hitman) Richman trade ego blows with Jeffery (The Man Who Ate Everything) Steingarten, while Elizabeth Blau, ELV and a chef to be named later observe with detached bemusement…and try to get a word in edgewise.

The panel will trace the history and evolution of Las Vegas’s food scene and explore what defines an American food city. How does the growth and evolution of American cuisine affect a city’s food culture? What makes some cities meccas for food and wine, while others are not? Is Las Vegas the quintessential American food city? Is it a microcosm for what is going on in American cuisine today? Inquiring minds want to know. Hell, ELV and the staff at ELV want to know!

It’s gonna be a foodie smackdown you’re not going to want to miss….

Panelists:
o Elizabeth Blau, Founder and CEO, Blau and Associates
o John Curtas, The World’s Greatest Restaurant Critic*
o Jeffrey Steingarten, Culinary Critic/Curmudgeon/Columnist, Gourmet Magazine
o JBF Award Winner Alex Stratta or JBF Award Winner Paul Bartolotta
o JBF Award Winner Alan (The Hitman) Richman – an Official Friend of ELV – Restaurant Critic/Crank/Mensch/Journalist, GQ Magazine, Bon Appetit Magazine, Food and Wine Magazine, etc. etc…

When: Saturday, October 25, 2008
Panel Discussion: 10:00 A.M–11:30 A.M.
Reception and Book Signing: 11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M.

Where: University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Exact Location: TBA
4505 S. Maryland Parkway
Las Vegas, NV 89154

Price: Free

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* Self-Proclaimed, but also endorsed as such by Mrs. Marcella Ruth Schroader Curtas of Athens (Georgia, not Greece) — The Official Mother Of ELV.