Category: Food

Helen’s Birthday

ELV’s friend Helen celebrated a birthday not long ago, and asked him where she should go for a celebratory meal. Her requirements were: great food (but nothing unpronounceable), not too dressy, good service, comfortable but not stuffy surroundings, kick-ass cocktails…and chocolate.

She didn’t want sumpin’ too hi-falutin’, but did want every bite to be memorable; so our staff suggested NOBHILL (not really a) TAVERN, and even though Chef Sven Meade wasn’t in the house, his team made sure every bite was.

For the chocolate, we repaired to L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon next door for a feast of Kamel Guechida’s creations.

And it was good. Actually, everything* was great.

And our friend Helen turned 26 in style.

The End

NOBHILL (not really a) TAVERN

In the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino

3799 Las Vegas Blvd. South

Las Vegas, NV 89109

702.891.7337

www.michaelmina.net

http://www.mgmgrand.com/dining/nobhill-tavern-restaurant.aspx

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* The sustainable paddlefish caviar was so good we hardly miss oscetra anymore; Michael Mina’s signature lobster pot pie, while expensive ($54), is rich, seafood comfort food at its best; the steak-off between American Black Angus and A-5 Kobe from Japan was a meat education in itself; and no one in town does a better free-range chicken than the deep-fried beauty they put forth here.

DISH Delivers Despite Mistral

FLAIR BARTENDERS! CHEFS IN TIGHTS! ….AND OTHER DELICIOUS DISTRACTIONS HIGHLIGHT A WINDBLOWN NIGHT

Such are the vicissitudes of fate that the weather couldn’t have been worse (unless it had been sleeting) for DISH (Three Square’s inaugural event at the Springs Preserve) on Friday night. A more noble charity is hard to find, yet all the good Three Square does in feeding hungry children and needy adults took a backseat to the elements.

But over 500 brave and charitable souls (out of over a thousand tickets sold) braved 40 mph winds and 50 degree temperatures to eat some off-the-hook great food and laugh their asses off.

Clint Holmes and Susan Anton sang, the entire chef corps of Wynn/Encore cooked, and even Oscar Goodman pretended to like solid food for a change for this worthwhile cause.

From a foodie standpoint, those Wynn/Encore top toques stole the show with ten barbecuing/grilling stations ranging from Wes (Boulud Brasserie) Holton’s daikon choucroute with boudin blanc to David (SW Steakhouse) Walzog’s prime sirloin sliders (stuffed with wild mushrooms and Ribollita cheese). As the ever-shrinking Alex (ALEX) Stratta (minus 70+ pounds), patrolled the stations, Rene (Country Club Grill) Lenger and Theo (Sinatra) Schoenegger grilled lamb chops, Marc (Switch) Poidevin dished up whole barbecued pork shoulder with mac ‘n cheese the way only a Frenchman can make it, and Richard (Wing Lei) Chen reminded all of them (with his sweet and savory Galbi short ribs) that the Chinese were grilling meats for public consumption when the French and Italians were living in caves and throwing sticks at each other.

Not to be outdone, Geno (NOVE) Bernardo of blew us away with his proscuitto bread, and he, along with the rest of the N9NE Group laid out a crab and shrimp-fest that put any buffet in town to shame.

As for the entertainment, singers sang, jokes were told and speeches given. But for our dinero the funniest bit of the evening was watching Frederic Robert’s Dream Sequence wherein various Wynn/Encore chefs attempted to trip the light fantastic with the dancers, swimmers and gymnasts of La Reve. Putting Stratta, Holton and Jet (Wazuzu) Tila in whiteface was pure genius.

And who knew the plus-sized-Paul Bartolotta was so light and lithesome on his feet and amidst the waves?

It may not have been a pretty sight, but it was an hysterical one.

Perhaps, that’s why PB does so well with swimmers of all kinds….

Letter Of The Week

Dear Readers: Mary S. is a good friend, avid foodie, world traveler, and uber-wine gal. She and her husband Tony obviously had a different experience at Pips than we did, but in the spirit of encouraging open and reasoned discourse (and disagreement) for which he is known, ELV brings you her dissent from our generally positive review of Pip’s that ran on KNPR this week.

Dear ELV,

Four of us dined at Pip’s in February. We all like wine, but our collective breaths were taken away by the 400+ % mark-up: $8.00 wine at Costco’s selling for $40. Of the four salads ordered, two were excellent, two were so-so.

Of the four entrees ordered, only one could be called excellent (the fish of the day). The other three were pasta dishes and the three diners said they were mediocre and luke warm to boot.

The waiter’s attempt at opening the $40 bottle of wine we ordered showed that he had no training on how to open a bottle at a table. We won’t go back.

Signed,

Mad at Meretriciousness and Mediocrity Mary S.