Category: Chefs

Baby Eels at DANIEL

Eels

Also known as piballes, these squirmy little critters come from a river in Maine, where the Browne Trading Company gets them from whomever goes fishing for such things.

Then, they find their way to Daniel (and a select few other multi-starred temples of gastronomy in NYC) where the James Beard  Restaurant of the Year 2010 and uber-chef Daniel Boulud springs them on special customers as a little amuse bouche…a small, lively little something to stimulate and titillate your gueule.

We were surprised to say the least, when they showed up at our table a night before the Beard awards. Having had them once before (at DJT) we remembered the powerful punch of their briny mouth-feel, and the light tomato and caper broth they came in let the taste of  these subtle-y fishy, salty and rich little elvers come through. They’re not for everyone (in more ways than one) but the taste is one of the rarest in the world of gourmet delicacies, and we were honored to have a porti0n bestowed upon us.

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We’re Baaaack….

….but still swamped with bizy bidness days and gourmet nights until next week.

Sorry about all the spam comments, but both ELV and his staff:

have been out of their respective towns, and too preoccupied to monitor the site .

Will try to get some tasty snaps from our New York trip (and the Beard awards) up today.

Congratulations to Claude Le Tohic for his winning Best Chef Southwest at the Beards — the second winner in a row from Las Vegas (Paul Bartolotta won last year). Nominees Rick Moonen and Saipin Chutima were also in The Big Apple for the ceremony, were beaming with delight the whole time, and couldn’t have been more gracious about the result.

Also present: Kamel Guechida, who lost out for Best Pastry Chef to Nicole Plue of Redd in Yountville in a severe miscarriage of justice. (In case you’re wondering, ELV has eaten at Redd, had Plue’s desserts and considers them not in the same league as Guechida’s creations at Joel Robuchon and L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon.) Adam Sobel and Gerald Chin from RM Upstairs were also in da house, as was Eric Klein of Spago, Bill Chutima of Lotus of Siam, Paul Bartolotta, Cosmopolitan President John Unwin, Greg Waldron, Amy Rosetti, Katie Conway and others ELV is probably forgetting due to his hangover.

Geez Louise…we’re starting to sound like Norm!

All in all, Las Vegas was well-represented.

Highlights of the night for yours truly: chatting up Jean-Georges Vongerichten, having our picture taken with Jacques Pepin — the man who taught us to cook, kibbitzing with Daniel Boulud, catching Thomas Keller all alone munching on a taco, chewing the fat with Bruce Seidel of the Food Network, slumming in the Press Room, and watching Daniel get sprayed with champagne at his Bar Boulud after-party.

And splitting some great Jewish food with The Great Dolinsky at 1:00 am at the Carnegie Deli — including a sandwich that was as big as both of our sizable noggins: The image “http://api.ning.com/files/g6HA401kyLus99gd6o1JyANV-c*9SJxqNwyy5xSZy248RGxREqyCt6iLT-GNMNv-GVl2QldBS9aIlNR3Zi71ssCuiw7jVhU3/CarnagieNY.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

In case you missed it, here are the winners:

  • Best New Restaurant: Marea, New York City, NY
  • Outstanding Chef: Tom Colicchio, Craft, New York City, NY
  • Outstanding Pastry Chef: Nicole Plue, Redd, Yountville, CA
  • Outstanding Restaurant: Daniel, New York City, NY
  • Outstanding Restaurateur: Keith McNally, New York City, NY
  • Outstanding Service: Alinea, Chicago, IL
  • Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional: John Shafer and Doug Shafer, Napa, CA
  • Outstanding Wine Service: Bernard Sun, Jean Georges, New York City, NY
  • Rising Star Chef of the Year: Timothy Hollingsworth, The French Laundry, Yountville, CA
  • Best Chef – Great Lakes: Koren Grieveson, Avec, Chicago, IL
  • Best Chef – Mid-Atlantic: Jeff Michaud, Osteria, Philadelphia, PA
  • Best Chef – Midwest: Alexander Roberts, Restaurant Alma, Minneapolis, MN
  • Best Chef – New York City: Daniel Humm, Eleven Madison Park, New York City, NY
  • Best Chef – Northeast: Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier, Arrows, Ogunquit, ME
  • Best Chef – Northwest: Jason Wilson, Crush, Seattle, WA
  • Best Chef – Pacific: David Kinch, Manresa, Los Gatos, CA
  • Best Chef – South: Michael Schwartz, Michael’s Genuine Food and Drink, Miami, FL
  • Best Chef – Southeast: Sean Brock, McCrady’s, Charleston, SC
  • Best Chef – Southwest: Claude Le Tohic, Joël Robuchon at MGM Grand, Las Vegas, FL

BAR + BISTRO – First Bites

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Ordinarily we’d say Las Vegas needs another Eye-talian restaurant like ELV needs another ex-wife.

But Downtown is desperate, and starving, for a non-hotel eatery that gains traction with locals and tourists alike. And if spaghetti and meatballs will do the trick, more power to Chef Franco Spinelli.

The menu is unchallenging to a fault, but will fit many a Las Vegan’s dining sensibilities like a well-worn, pomodoro-stained t-shirt.

And we found ourselves taken with the spinach salad — using good greens, lightly dressed, and adorned with strips of smoky duck breast. Mad Man Mancini liked (but didn’t love) his crab cakes — and a single bite confirmed his opinion. He found his linguine with clams a bit dry, and it could have been clammier, but on the whole was a decent rendition.

The worst thing about the meal: Black Angus meatballs that were seasoning-free. The best: a moist, dense, sinfully rich chocolate “souffle” that straddled a delicious line between being molten and cake-y within. Made in-house, it was so criminally good that we made Spinelli take it away from us, lest we finish the whole thing and lick the plate.

This place is finding its sea legs, so we’ll give it time. As you can see, owner Wes Myles has big plans (designed by Jawa Studios) to open the restaurant to the street and finally implement the “bar” portion of the joint. (The liquor license was just approved yesterday.)

Once the place is finished (in about three months), it should be eye-popping.

We hope the food follows suit.

Our lunch for two, of all the food you see above and no booze, came to $56 + $13 tip.

BAR + BISTRO @ The Arts Factory

107 East Charleston Blvd.

Las Vegas, NV 89104

702.202.6060