Category: Reviews

Time Worn and Treasured – ROSEMARY’S on KNPR

Since ELV and News 88.9 FM KNPR-Nevada Public Radio are no longer going steady, our staff thought it time to haul out some time worn and treasured tunes, some golden oldies, some musty, dusty discs if you desire, to give you a taste and some sounds of the way we were in our humble burg, way back in the day.

Here is our script and the audio from our very first review of Rosemary’s, right after it opened in August, 1999. Click on the Real Audio link to listen to the mellifluous tones of ELV – for which he was known — and try not to get a major case of the warm fuzzies.

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ROSEMARY’S

8125 W. Sahara Ave.

Las Vegas, NV 89117

Phone: 869-2251

Fax: 869-2283

Restaurant critics get asked lots of questions such as: How many times a week do you eat out? Or how does one become a restaurant critic? And finally, there’s always: How do you stay so thin? If you’re truly interested, the answers are: six times a week, it’s a long story and I have the metabolism of a hummingbird. But the most asked of all is: What’s your favorite restaurant that’s not on the Strip? For years I’ve had to hedge my bets on that one, but now the answer is easy, if you’re looking for fine dining off the Strip, look no farther than Rosemary’s on West Sahara Avenue.

Rosemary’s gives westsiders something to finally cheer about when it comes to the finer things in life–we’re talking serious gastronomy folks–the only sensual pleasure you can’t live without, and when it comes to pleasing the senses, Michael and Wendy Jordan have created a top-shelf experience that gives every celebrity chef in town a run for their money. That run will save you some in the process because Rosemary’s delivers the goods at prices that won’t have you groaning when the bill arrives. For a hundred bucks, a couple can experience a complex array of tasty dishes that are big on both flavor and lots of ingredients.

Jordan’s grilled eggplant and roasted pepper sandwich on house-made olive bread is better than anything at Olives and is further proof that the best vegetarian food is never found in vegetarian restaurants. Everything from sweetbreads to roasted halibut is given the star treatment here and Jordan does his mentor Emeril Lagasse proud with plenty of homages to southern cooking.

If I have a criticism, it’s only that the elaborate components in each of the recipes don’t always highlight the flavors as they should, a minor flaw to be sure and one that is completely forgiven with one bite of Rosemary’s crispy skin striped bass or grilled quail on risotto. Food this sophisticated has been a long time coming to the neighborhoods of Las Vegas. Lovers of fine food should be glad that Rosemary’s is finally here.


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E-JO KOREAN Kool

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We at ELV have decided Korean is our favorite Asian food.

Of course, they do kimchi you to death, and everything is either a crudely cut stir-fry or a giant bowl with 94 ingredients in it, but the spices always seem right, the heat is always gently warming, and nothing is ever as salty as the Chinese make it. Best of all, they are inordinately fond of placing huge color pictures of everything everywhere so fat white boys can simply point and eat.

Remarkably, no matter what the restaurant, the food always comes out looking exactly like those pictures. Imagine any American restaurant — from a greasy spoon to the Cheesecake Factory to Spago — trying to do that.

Plus, Koreans are friendly, the women are beautiful, they like to take a drink now and then, and they are seriously in love with meat in all its forms.

Our staff has also fallen in love with Korean food because they discovered a good one — called E-Jo — withing walking distance of our office. It is also located within an old Taco Bell, making us feel morally superior every time we give these owners our hard-earned won instead of fattening the coffers of a large, impersonal, multi-national company.

E-Jo is small, impeccably clean, welcoming, reasonable and easy to navigate. The owners/waitrons may look a little shocked when you (a non-Korean) first walk in, but they are all smiles after that. Everything is cooked to order, and the tasty snaps on the wall are so big even David Paterson could read them. What this means is, you can study them while you wait for your food and plan your next Korean foray even as you’re eating. Just as important, English translations come with every picture, saving you the embarrassment of trying to pronounce such tricky Korean phrases as “bulgogi” and “fried chicken.” How cool is that?

ELV’s lunch for two pictured above came to $31 + $7 tip.

E-JO KOREAN RESTAURANT

3429 South Jones Blvd.

Las Vegas, NV 89146

702.368.1004