Category: Chefs

San Pellegrino’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2009

Published by RESTAURANT MAGAZINE in London, this yearly list provides a pretty good snapshot of where the top toques are worldwide — although we’re more than a bit steamed that Joel Robuchon at the MGM didn’t crack the Top 100 this year. But he did receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from San Pellegrino and the magazine, so we suppose that’s something of a consolation prize for both him and our humble burg.

ELV is on the (very exclusive if we do say so ourselves) voting panel for these honors, and have heard all of the criticisms over the years, but do our level best to follow the rules (even if others don’t), and only vote for places we’ve visited.

The asterisks “*” denote restaurants ELV has dined in (11 in the top 50, and 19 out of the top 100).

The inclusion of Momofuku Ssam Bar at #31 is either someone’s idea of a joke, or a recognition of David Chang’s cutting-edge cuisine (served amidst extremely modest surroundings)…You Make The Call!
The San Pellegrino World’s

50 Best Restaurants 2009

1 El Bulli Spain (=) www.elbulli.com

2 The Fat Duck UK (=) www.fatduck.co.uk

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EPICUREAN AFFAIR (upcoming this Thursday) on KLAS TV Channel 8’s Dishing and Dining (last Friday)

The Epicurean Affair is this Thursday night, April 23, 2009, at 6:00 PM at the Flamingo Hotel pool. There you will find me hanging around the Giorgio Ristorante booth — being copiously fed by uber-chef Nico Chessa whilst communing with the ghost of Bugsy Siegel.

For what it’s worth, ELV also intends to Twitter his way around the food booths, and keep his camera ready for signs of Denise Valdez swooning over the food like she did at the end of this video…

Click here for ticket and other information.

Lunch At BAR JAMON

Bar Jamon (ham bar) is a tiny tapas bar near Union Square. Vegas has nothing like it. 20 tapas, 3 Spanish hams + a 24 page list of Spanish wines. ELV has just been told Molto Mario doesn’t want pictures taken in his restaurant(!?). Apparently he thinks he’s Paul f*cking Bocuse — who, by the way, doesn’t mind photos of all kinds being taken in his eateries.
That being said, his Manteca w/ bouquerones (toasted baguette with pork fat, sundried tomatoes and pickled sardines) is a religious experience.
And caramelized pumpkin with Mahon cheese? Who knew?