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…and the crumbs…touched my palate….(and) a shudder ran through my whole body, as I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary changes that were taking place….at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me…

– Remembrance of Things Past, Vol. 1: Swann’s Way

Proust got it right; sometimes the taste or smell of food can create an out of body experience.

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If you follow ELV on Facebook, you know that a week ago he reported that Hubert Keller’s Fleur de Lys in Mandalay Bay will close in August, to re-open before the end of the year as a casual, small plates, world tapas bar concept.

The good news is: Hubert Keller (and his chefs and crew) will still be running the new restaurant, and are actively working on said concept and menu as we write this.

The further good news is: Hubert has personally promised Eating Las Vegas that there will be a tarte flambee on the menu, so at least all is not lost, and we have something to look forward to…..(sigh).

The bad news is: This closing is yet another step in the dumbing down of Vegas restaurants — to fit a clientele who doesn’t want to pay for anything more elaborate than burgers, sliders, pizzas, and (god help us) more mediocre sushi. The creeping California casualization of American dining continues, and we fear this relentless trend towards small plates and grazing platters, represents a step away from quality and bodes ill for the future of good restaurants in our humble burg.

But if anyone can make us a fan of another tapas concept, it’s Keller. So an open mind we shall keep.

Actually, news of both closings is over a week old. It’s just that ELV and his staff have been kinda busy lately, and didn’t post this news immediately upon hearing it.

We suppose all that great Mediterranean food of Paymon’s just didn’t catch on with the downtown crowd…

What happened to Champion Gourmet is anyone’s guess, but we are saddened by the news. It had some of the tastiest soups, dumplings and Taiwanese fare in town at prices that were too good to be true. Maybe that was the problem. (sigh)

Word is that Paymon’s space (the former Tinoco’s space) will continue to operate as a restaurant with the landlord running things. We drove by last night and a new banner above the space read: “Italian Continental Gourmet Restaurant.” The continent being referred to was not specified.

We have bananas that will probably have a longer shelf life.

Robin Leach reported yesterday that Pip’s — Rino Armeni’s upscale Italian restaurant and wine bar in the Aliante Hotel and Casino — is closing, effective this Sunday.

Like many restaurants that opened at the beginning of the Great Recession, Pip’s was hamstrung by a lousy economic climate.

Its location — in the middle of Vegas’s economic implosion epicenter (North Las Vegas) — didn’t help matters either.

We feel bad for uber-wine-guy-and-super-good-guy Armeni, and will miss his smiling face and gracious presence on our restaurant scene.

As ELV tweeted and Facebook’d last night, and hinted at yesterday, Restaurant Charlie officially closed last night, and David Burke and eBrands are no longer associated with each other — effectively closing David Burke in the Venetian.

For lovers of good food in good restaurants, we at ELV are sad (as we are for the staffs of these places).

For yet another ignominious defeat of Charlie Notter, we are saddened not at all.

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Hello Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea.

A raft of information has made its way to ELV’s desk in the past week about the following places (and persons) who are either foundering, adrift, or ready to launch:

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Eating Las Vegas has confirmed that the Daniel Boulud Brasserie at Wynn will close when its five year operating agreement is up in April, 2010.

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When ELV was but a mere sprout, his father would take his family (four siblings plus Marcella Ruth Schroader Curtas — D.O.B. 8.10.24 — The Official Mother Of ELV) to a restaurant in Orlando, Florida (as opposed to Orlando, New Hampshire) called Ronnie’s.

Ronnie’s represented a genre of restaurant that has gone the way of the Greek diner and the mom and pop soda fountain — the huge, Florida Jewish deli.

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