The first bite is the banquet. – Chinese proverb
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Enough negativity already!
We at ELV are tired of pondering the craven meretriciousness that brings life-threatening food microbes into our digestive systems.
Instead, we should be focusing on the kind of cooking that got us into this gig in the first place.
Food like Pierre Gagnaire’s new Spring menu — containing ingredients so delicious you will think you are eating them for the first time.
Things are improving, food-wise anyway, in our humble burg.
As young Wilburn points out in the previous post, our chefs and restaurants seem to be lifting themselves out of the doldrums. Menus (and cooking) seem more invigorated with passion this year, especially as compared to the last four. The molecular and the avant-garde seem to be fading (although foams are dying a slow, slow death, not fast enough for us) and fifteen course tasting extravaganzas (does anyone call them “degustations” anymore?) appear to be going the way of tasseled menus and tastevins.
One thing that will never go out of style is the well-crafted cocktail…and the list at Herbs & Rye is one of Las Vegas’s treasure troves of luscious libations:
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We at ELV consider a Bucks Fizz or Hemingway daiquiri to be the perfect way to launch (or end) an evening, and owner Nectaly Mendoza deserves major props for finally bringing the steakhouse fare up to something worthy of the cocktails.
After drinking at H&R, it’s an easy jaunt south on Valley View to Flamingo, where all sorts of modern, seasonal Japanese delights await at Yonaka, like this ethereal tempura of shiso leaf:
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It’s that time of the year food fans. The time when yours truly begins researching in earnest for the next edition of EATING LAS VEGAS – The 50 Essential Restaurants. Truth be told, our research (read: eating) never stops, but things heat up quickly once the weather warms, and we now start cruising old haunts and new faces (sometimes 3-4 in a day) to see who’s in and who’s out.
When it comes to those old haunts, usually a few swings at the menu is enough to tell us if the chefs have lost their fastball. One who still has a major league heater is JULIAN SERRANO.