Author: John Curtas

James Beard Awards Finalists Announced

This morning at the Frontera Grill in Chicago, the James Beard Awards Finalists were announced. Las Vegas scored four nominations as follows:

Paul Bartolotta (Bartolatta Ristorante di Mare) in the Best Chef Southwest Category

Claude LeTohic (Joel Robuchon) in the Best Chef Southwest Category

Kamel Guechida (Joel Robuchon and L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon) in the Best Pastry Chef (National) Category

Picasso (Robert Smith: Wine Director) in the Outstanding Wine Service Category.

For Picasso and Smith, this is their third nomination in a row. Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare was nominated two years ago for Best New Restaurant, and Paul Bartolotta previously won a Best Restaurant Midwest (in 1994) for Spiaggia in Chicago.

Eating Las Vegas offers its congratulations to all of these worthy nominees, and looks forward to the Award Ceremony on May 4th. We predict at least two of these nominees will garner the big prize. FYI: We correctly predicted that Bartolotta, Guechida and Smith would again make it to these finals, but whiffed on Saipain Chutima of Lotus of Siam making it to the last round (even though she was a finalist last year for Best Chef Southwest).

The complete list of JBF Nominees continues after the jump:

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BBQ Blues

ELV’s been goin’ a little ‘cue crazy lately. Which is frustrating because, next to Bangor, Maine, Las Vegas might be the worst barbecue town in America. What we get here are either franchises, or mom and pop joints doing things on the cheap. There’s no cult of ribs, sauces or brisket; precious little outdoor smoking; no pitmasters; no zealotry and no soul to the barbecued meats being sold to our chain-loving populace.

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HACHI Is Absolutely Amazing!

Hachi, the uber-cool Japanese-fusion restaurant inside the Red Rock Hotel, is absolutely amazing. And by that I mean, when people ask me if it’s amazing….I say: “absolutely.”

But before I get into why it is so, permit me a digression.

To hear ELV speak these words in the monotonic, sometimes somnambulate baritone for which he is known, click here, or continue reading after the jump.

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