Archive for the ‘Travel’
Where to Eat in SoCal – GOLDEN SPOON
Who knew the city of Rowland Heights, CA was another bastion of incredible Asian eats? Apparently, it’s known as Little Taipei in the San Gabriel Valley, and from the looks of things, Chinese restaurants are as plentiful as automobiles in this part of the world.
John Arena’s Roman Holiday
ELV note: We’ve been to Rome twice in our life and enjoyed every second and every morsel. Unfortunately, due to the depression (and the depressed dollar), a trip to Europe has been out of the question for the past few years. Thankfully, we have foodie friends like John Arena with the palate and writing skills to capture the sweet and savory essence of the Eternal City for us, and make us hungry for another trip there (although from his conclusions, maybe it’s just as well we stay home for awhile and appreciate the buon gusto! we have at our doorstep).
Rome still stands… but Las Vegas may be gaining on it.
by John Arena
There is a famous quote that links the fate of civilization to the continued existence of the “Eternal City”. This idea may be an exaggeration, but Rome is certainly an international center of art, religion, culture, and of course food. After a 3 year hiatus I felt that a return to Rome was long overdue. Considering all that has happened on the local food scene I was curious to see how Las Vegas is measuring up to one of the world’s great culinary capitols.
Restaurant City U.S.A. – in VEGAS INC
Monday
15 August 2011
3 a.m.
Las Vegas does food better than any place on Earth.
From a simple shrimp cocktail to a banquet for thousands, our hospitality industry is legendary. That legend has grown during the past two decades to include scores of the world’s greatest restaurants. An argument can be made that because of the breadth and depth of our culinary offerings, we are, alongside New York, the greatest restaurant city on the planet. If any other city in the world had our concentration of great restaurants and chefs, everyone from the captains of industry to ordinary citizens would be shouting about it from rooftops. As it is, despite all of this world-class quality, much of the known food-centric universe who could and should be beating a path to our delicious door never hear about it. They don’t hear about it because, in a classic case of the tail wagging the dog, Las Vegas’ marketing machines have failed to keep pace with the extraordinary changes that have occurred ever since Wolfgang Puck took the bold step of opening Spago in the Forum Shops in December 1992. But the fact is, no place in the world has such a unique food and beverage product to sell, and nowhere sells so much of it against such a stunning backdrop.
You name it, we’ve got it: More master sommeliers than New York, more great steakhouses anywhere but the Big Apple and more extraordinary French chefs anywhere but Paris. Do London, Chicago, San Francisco, New York or Los Angeles have two Joël Robuchon restaurants plus a Guy Savoy plus Alain Ducasse plus a Pierre Gagnaire outlet? Nope. Does anywhere but here have a concentration of 50—50!—world-class eateries along a two-mile stretch of road? Not even close. How many cities can boast the best of Wolfgang Puck, Mario Batali, Bobby Flay and Emeril Lagasse? None. But outside of food professionals, writers and intrepid foodies, precious few seem to know the depth and scope of what’s going on along Las Vegas Boulevard. Even the hotels, both individually and collectively, seem behind the croissant curve when it comes to crowing about the phenomenon that has taken the food world by storm.
As cataclysmic as Spago’s opening proved to be, it took a few years for its seismic effects to be felt. Shortly thereafter, in 1994, the MGM Grand moved our epicurean needle forward, when it brought Mark Miller (Coyote Café), Emeril Lagasse and Charlie Trotter on board. But it was only when Steve Wynn opened the Bellagio in 1998 that the gastronomic ground shook under the High Mojave Desert and the whole world felt the shudder. (more…)
EATALY is Awesome…and other New York Stories
The trouble with traveling to New York is, you’re usually with people who are under the impression there are things to do there other than eat and drink. – ELV
New York is the greatest restaurant city in the world. – Daniel Boulud
Everyone knows ELV hearts New York City. He’s from Connecticut, lived an hour’s drive from mid-town for five years back in the 80s, and knows the restaurant territory there almost as well as he does Las Vegas’. Amazingly, after at least a hundred trips there, he still gets a tingle whenever he’s awakened from his red-eye slumber to see the sun rising over Manhattan (“Ah, civilization!” are the words and thoughts that immediately spring to his mind.):
After checking in to the Gansevoort Hotel, smack dab in the middle of the meat-packing district, we considered polishing off our hunger at Pastis (right out our window):
Paul Liebrandt at CORTON
Paul Liebrandt, the enfant terrible of New York’s haute cuisine scene got his close-up on an HBO special earlier this summer. If you’re a fan of high-flying French food, molecular gastronomy, or great restaurant cooking (and restaurant gossip in general), you owe it to yourself to watch this documentary — filmed over an eight year span of his (still young) career.
Having eaten Liebrandt’s food several times in a couple of venues over that time span, we were fascinated by what makes him tick. Liebrandt is arguably, one of the most artistic/creative chefs in the world (chocolate covered scallops anyone?). We at ELV enjoyed the documentary and really enjoyed dinner at Corton last month.
(Why wouldn’t we? He’s an acolyte of Pierre Gagnaire, and Gagnaire-ean touches abounded on the menu.)
What’s Hot Now! Eater.com Vegas Heat Map
What’s hot in our humble burg? Besides the sidewalks? See the list of muy caliente eateries below — all compiled by the mega-foodie-website www.Eater.com and a certain critic we all know and love. (You’ll have to click on the Eater site to see the actual map.)
One caveat and one apology: The map quotes an outdated review of Bar + Bistro of ours (when it was doing a spaghetti and meatball menu). As readers of this website know, the nuevo/Latino/tapas food being done by Beni Velazquez has been a vast improvement. Also, Due Forni should also have been on the list. ELV regrets the error.
ELV’s Thought for the Day
Though regarded with disdain by the chic, and horror by the alfalfa-sprout crowd, hot dogs are flat-out wonderful. And versatile. Dripping with onions and ball-park and mustard from a Sabrett man, they taste like New York; served in little cardboard doo-hickeys and called frankfurters, they taste like America. They also make no unreasonable demands on the home cook. – Vladimr Estragon
PS: For a beautiful short elegy for the last Howard Johnson’s in New York City (by our friend John Mariani) click here (and scroll down towards the end of the page).
The Hungry Hound Hits Town
Steve Dolinsky — Chicago’s Hungry Hound — is in town for a couple of days, and Eating Las Vegas caught up with him last night at The Cosmo for some spectacular sushi at Blue Ribbon (along with their famous fried chicken) and a tapas or ten at Jaleo.
Las Vegas in Legos!
How cool is this?
ELV thinks it’s pretty cool.
Restaurant reviews, quips, picks and pans-with some seriously salivating history-from the man who eats his way through Sin City every day.
