Category: Reviews

THE COUNTRY CLUB GRILL at Wynn

If you want to read a bad review of a good restaurant, look no further than last Friday’s R-J piece on The Country Club Grill at the Wynn. By “bad” ELV means poorly written…in that the piece fails to mention the chef: Rene Lenger; the designer: Todd Avery; the sommelier who provided such good service to the reviewer: John Paddon; or the fact that the bread is soooo good at all of the restaurants at Wynn because of master baker Boris Villat (something our town’s main newspaper restaurant critic should know).

Other than that, she got most things right. Lenger’s food is wonderful and the steaks are very good (although expensive, and the “prime” designation has been severely cheapened over the past decade, and the Wynn doesn’t dry-age its beef as it should.)

To hear ELV’s review of The Country Club Grill, with pictures of the fabulous design, and written when David Walzog was chef (he’s top toque at SW Steakhouse these days), but still valid today – click here.

The Country Club Grill

At the Wynn Hotel and Casino

3131 Las Vegas Blvd. South

Las Vegas, NV 89109

702.770.3317

www.wynnlasvegas.com

CUT STEAKHOUSE on News 88.9 FM – Nevada Public Radio’s Food For Thought

If I told you there is a restaurant (not French or seafood-y) that does wild French turbot as well as any French or seafood restaurant, you’d be intrigued wouldn’t you? What if I then mentioned that this same place – not vegetarian by any means – also did some of the most sophisticated vegetable dishes around? And what if I further rhapsodized about a superlative glazed Asian pork belly – not made by Asians – or Indian short ribs with curried pumpkin not cooked by any Indians (dots or feathers?) You’d be dying to know where I was talking about wouldn’t you?

Click here to hear this script spoken in the mellifluous tones for which ELV is known. Continue reading “CUT STEAKHOUSE on News 88.9 FM – Nevada Public Radio’s Food For Thought”

A little culinary history, and some hope

Tell me what you eat and I shall tell you what you are. — Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin – French gastronome, author and lawyer(?!)

Every famous food town is identified with certain raw materials or recipes. San Francisco has its Dungeness crab; Seattle its oysters and salmon. Chicago-style deep-dish pizza (something we loathe), and Baltimore crab cakes (something we love – especially from Faidley’s) are part of everyone’s vocabulary. And who hasn’t heard of the Cajun/Creole delights of New Orleans? Even that bastion of culinary excellence(?) known as Denver has its Rocky Mountain oysters, for gosh sakes. Unfortunately, all we have ever been known for in Vegas is The Buffet, which is, no matter how fancy they make them, more of a culinary joke than something to be proud of. With a heritage like that, it is ironic that now we’ve achieved worldwide gastronomic fame for something exactly the opposite of cheap eats, and lots of it. For if there’s one thing Vegas is now known for, it’s the $300 dinner for two.

Will we ever have decent, locally-owned eateries in the neighborhoods that don’t cost an arm and a leg? Well, here’s some history, and some hope.

Continue reading “A little culinary history, and some hope”