Category: Reviews

THE V THAI CUISINE

The first time the staff at ELV tried to find The V Thai Cuisine, it couldn’t. The address did them no good because 4750 W. Sahara is a gargantuan shopping center occupying the entire northeast corner of Sahara and Decatur. The V Thai Cuisine (odd name that) is deep within its bowels, and not easily spotted from the road or the parking lot. If the good folks who recommended it had just told us it occupies the space of the old Mayflower, finding it would’ve been a snap.

So they gave up and went to Food Express Chinese Cuisine aka Chinese Food Express just down the street. Obviously, eventually, (insert additional adverbs here) we found it. The good news is, because V Thai inherited Mayflower’s upscale space, it’s now one of the snappier looking Siamese places in town. Even better, ELV was pleasantly surprised to discover the food (so far) is doing the decor justice.

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GIORGIO RISTORANTE…and Piero Selvaggio

When Piero Selvaggio first opened Valentino in Santa Monica in 1972, he will tell you he knew very little about Italian food and absolutely nothing about Italian wine. By the time he and Chef Luciano Pellegrini opened Valentino in The Venetian nine years ago, ELV (and many others) will tell you he was widely considered the best Italian restaurateur in America, and that probably no one, outside of Italy, knows more about Italian wine.

Selvaggio’s personal and professional pilgrimage began on the southeastern coast of Sicily. He and his family moved to Brooklyn in 1963, and six years later, he was a very young man with a lot of ambition and no prospects. So where did he head? Well, to Las Vegas of course! Yes, even in 1969 it seems Vegas was the land of plenty for expatriates and nomads looking to make their mark on the world. As the French would say: plus la change, plus la meme chose (the more things change, the more they stay the same).

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ROBERTA’S CAFE

Photos by Sheri Ann Forbes

The prime rib was overcooked, and served with mint jelly(?), but the crab cakes were appropriately crabby, the lamb chops were fine, and the chopped salad mighty tasty (even if it wasn’t that chopped and was too cold). Nothing was wrong with the huge portion of trout almandine either, and the cranberry walnut bread…addictive to the point of embarrassment. Best of all — this being downtown — you can get a bottle of big, bold and chewy Whitehall Lane merlot for fifty bucks, or a large pour of Ferrari-Carano cab for twelve. And when available, the walleyed pike they fly in from the midwest is a steal at $16.95.

At those prices, who cares if you’re sitting next to folks who remove their teeth at night?

ROBERTA’S CAFE

El Cortez Hotel and Casino

600 East Fremont Street

Las Vegas, NV 89101

702.385.5200

www.elcortezhotelcasino.com