Author: John Curtas

ARIA Hotel Announces Celebrity Chef Lineup

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST……

Undaunted by the latest….er…uh… economic downturn, CityCenter, the joint venture between MGM-Mirage and a bunch of really rich dudes from Dubai, has announced the first lineup of chefs and restaurants to go into ARIA — the largest of the uber-swanky hotels being constructed there. ARIA will have over 4,000 rooms on 61 floors, and plans to have the following lineup of super swanky chefs and restaurants in its environs (these are, for the most part, as interesting a lineup as we could hope for in our already celebrity-drenched food scene):

Making his Las Vegas debut, Chef Masayoshi Takayama, Chef/owner of Masa and Bar Masa in New York, and a chef who has set the standard for greatness in Japanese cuisine (at least in America), will open Bar Masa, a restaurant divided into two different spaces offering different styles of service and cuisine. In the more casual space, guests will be invited to order from an a la carte menu featuring Chef Masa’s style of modern Japanese cuisine, much like Bar Masa in the Time Warner Center in New York — the only Masa that ELV and mere mortals can afford. The second space, Shaboo, will provide guests with an exclusive (read: much more expensive) dining experience. In spite of the expense, and in spite of the fact that Chef Masa is now franchising himself, ELV is most excited about his coming to the High Mojave Desert.

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LOS TACOS

There is more than one Mexican restaurant in town named Los Tacos, but this one (on East Charleston near Eastern Ave.) is the real enchilada. The menu is short — basically just a list of the meats they lay into the double-layered, soft corn tortillas, a few seafood cocktails (at $7.50 the mixed cocteles de mariscos of oysters, octopus and shrimp is a steal) and a few other items. You order at the register, take a number, and wait for it to be called out in Spanish and (sometimes) English. Since the only double digit number ELV knows in Spanish is ocho cinco, we can usually be spotted standing in the middle of the room with a stupid expression on our face as we wait to have pity taken upon us by the genial staff. One of these days, when our number is 85, maybe we won’t feel like such a gringo. Until that happens, we’ll have to content ourselves with eating the best tacos in town….bar none.

LOS TACOS

1710 East Charleston Blvd.

Las Vegas, NV 89119

702.471.7447

FOOD EXPRESS CHINESE CUISINE

Food Express Chinese Cuisine (yes, that’s its real name) has been around since the early 90’s. The decor and lighting are so stark the place resembles the inside of a refrigerator. The things to order are the abalone, whole crabs and lobsters (all available at market prices and changing seasonally.*) It is very popular with natives of the Chinese persuasion, and fellow travelers who know a good thing at a good price.

If you’re looking for the real deal in Cantonese cooking, this is probably as cheap as it gets off the Strip. The staff at ELV finds some of its recipes too flat, funky and gummy for its taste (a criticism that could apply to Southern Chinese food in general), but there’s no denying the beauty of the fried squid or a whole, chopped up Dungeness in garlic and black bean sauce (and the beef with pineapple is pretty darn good too.) When in doubt as to what to order, just look at what one of the large, round tables of Asians are having, grab a waiter (figuratively not literally), point and ask. The Chinese don’t stand on a lot of ceremony in these matters so no one will be offended.

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* Lobster season is almost over. Dungeness crab season starts in mid-November.

FOOD EXPRESS CHINESE CUISINE

2003 South Decatur Blvd.

Las Vegas, NV 89102

702.870.1595