In case you haven’t noticed, it’s been over a week since ELV has posted anything about any Las Vegas restaurant.
In fact, he hasn’t eaten dinner in a restaurant since he dined solo at ALEX last Friday night.
Five straight nights without dining out (along with only a couple of restaurant lunches in that time period), is the least amount of restaurant-going he’s done since 2001. This is either a personal best or worst for him — depending on your perspective.
The reason for this is (multiple choice):
A) He’s eaten in every damn worthwhile one in town so many times he’s just bored with them. All of them;
B) He’s suffering palate fatigue;
C) He is under orders from The Food Gal to pinch a few pennies in hopes of one day giving her a livable space in his charming-yet-dilapidated old Vegas home that is falling down around him as we speak;
D) What he’s actually doing (under the clever guise of Food Gal mollification) is saving his rupees for a trip to France in a couple of months;
E) He has put on a few pounds over the past year and needs to do something about it;
F) All of the above.
In addition, in case you haven’t noticed, these be lean times for the hash-slinging business, and rather than report on all the downsizing (which is like watching your favorite actor doing dinner theatre), he prefers to let the same old, same old sleeping dogs lie amidst their well-trodden flights of faded glory, rather than strain to sing the praises of another early-bird special.
Vegas ain’t about downsizing. As Al Gore said: “A leopard can’t change its stripes,” and as we consider the road that unfolds before us, all we can say is we’re as proud as pea soup of the operators who are hanging in there, and even though we’re not good at reading the handwriting on the wind, if you follow where we’re coming from, everywhere you turn around, fewer and fewer in between are falling behind, and even in this sewer of an economy, the cream will rise to the top.*
Or something like that.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
* Let’s just hope the cows don’t come home to roost.**
** ‘Cuz if they do, Vegas will have to wake up and smell the music.
Welcome to our world, Mr. ELV. I actually feel fortunate that I can still go out once or twice a week. My dad’s still visiting, and he recently told me about some of his friends back in Cali who can’t afford to eat out at all. Hell, some of my friends back in Cali are now in that situation as well!
Unfortunately, we’ve all been forced by the recession to downsize. But hopefully once we know for sure that the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t an oncoming train, the strong restaurants that will have survived this recession will grow even stronger and the casino industry will have learned the important lesson of not taking one’s customers for granted (by charging them an arm & a leg for mediocre or outright craptastic food).
And btw, may I ask what interesting dishes have been cooked up at home? Last weekend, my dad was pretty wowed when I turned his beloved “eggs & potatoes” (yes, he really isn’t into “fancy food” like I am) into a breakfast frittata that had his taste buds singing. Let’s see, I also think my “Mexitalianese” stir fry with extra firm tofu strips, shredded carrots, sundried tomatoes, and Parmigiano Reggiano for dinner recently was another winner. I just can’t wait until tomorrow when I’ll have time to make my signature gnocchi dish (with crimini mushrooms, shittake mushrooms, and Manchego cream sauce) for dinner!
Maybe I’m weird, but I feel most comfortable when I’m in my home kitchen. Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoy eating out. I guess I just feel like I’ve accomplished something truly meaningful when I eat something that I cooked myself from scratch or near-scratch.
Perhaps this is looking on the bright side of the recession, but I feel glad in a way that I do more of my own cooking these days.
Mr Curtas please add the review for ALEX that would be fun!
now now, the answer is clearly you were psyching yourself up for the Palace Station! Twitter followers let him have it!