[Show as slideshow]

December is turning out to be a busy food month in our depressed city. Dom DeMarco’s has only been open a week and is going great guns. (There was a 40 min. wait for tables on Sunday night.) New York’s Old Homestead is slated to open in Caesars on December 23rd (and bringing the original steer sculpture from 9th Avenue and Pat La Frieda’s beef with it), and Public House follows a few days later in the old David Burke space along restaurant row in the Venetian.

We got a quick glimpse of Public House’s construction design yesterday and thought we’d share it with you. The powers that be promise a beer list and menu soon, and our staff couldn’t be happier. Corporate Executive Chef Anthony Meidenbauer promises a moderately-price gastro-pub menu (only two burgers), that should give Pinot Brasserie and the Grand Luxe Cafe some serious competition.

We’re looking forward to it’s groovy-cool decor, and 24 beers on tap, and whatever gourmet goods Meidenbauer and chef Hugo Capistran have up their sleeves.

BTW: the G.M.’s name is Hugo Moreno…causing ELV to dub the launch of this joint A Tale of Two Hugos….as in: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….”*

Yep….that pretty much sums up Las Vegas in December, 2011.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

* It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only. – Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, English novelist (1812-1870)