People tend to forget that Mandalay Bay began as a rival to the Bellagio and the Venetian. When it opened in 1999, Circus Entertainment (or whatever the corporation was called then) intended it to be as upscale as anyplace in town.

Great designers, chefs and restaurants were brought in to compete with Steve Wynn’s showplace, and it sported its own murderer’s row of eateries: Fleur de Lys, Border Grill, China Grill, Bleu Blanc Rouge,  Lupo, Aureole, miX, and the Foundation Room (or Hooker Central as we used to call it). One of our favorites, from the first time we laid eyes on it, was Shanghai Lilly.

SL was designed by Tony Chi and in a very subtle, feng shui sort of way, was every bit as stunning as any dining room in any hotel. From the moment you walked down the tiled entry along its babbling brook/pool, you felt like you were entering the formal salon of an important Asian potentate, or an inner sanctum of the Forbidden City. The photos of Chinese prostitutes lining one wall invoked a sense of mystery rather than sex — which is what we suspect Chi was gunning for — and the bar was tucked away and impressive (at least to look at). Acoustics and lighting were wonderful in the main dining room, as were the columns of fabric that were evocative of Chinese ceremonial garb.

It also served a kick-ass Peking Duck:

…at a great price, as you can hear from our commentary about it on KNPR in 2007.

Unfortunately, with all of that going for it, it never got its due. When MGM-Mirage bought Mandalay Bay in mid-decade, all those upscale restaurants suddenly were playing second (and third) fiddle to its other properties, and without a stream of Asian high rollers to swell its coffers, Shanghai Lilly slowly became  just another over-priced Chinese restaurant.

Tomorrow it goes tits up for good — consigned to the dust heap of ex-eateries locals barely paid attention to. But we will miss its decor and that tasty duck….and wonder where oh where will the Mandalay Bay hordes now go for the breast of both in town?

PS: Word has it that a very well known Strip chef will be re-locating his digs to the SL space, after extensive renovations. If it were up to us, the naked female statuary would stay.

Dos Caminos Closes

LAS VEGAS (November 15, 2011) After a bitter battle with its partner/landlord, the Venetian Hotel, on November 14, 2011, Two Roads Las Vegas, LLC closed its Dos Caminos Restaurant.

During the Great Recession, in late 2008 the Venetian negotiated and granted to Two Roads a long term cash flow rental agreement. However, in 2010, management reneged on the deal and brought a lawsuit to the Las Vegas courts where the New York based tenant was pitted against Sheldon Adelson.  The outcome was, thus, pre-ordained and Two Roads is now saying goodbye to the Venetian.

R.I.P. Ruth’s Chris: 1989-2011

Even when it was enjoying its greatest success throughout the ’90s and early aughts, Ruth’s Chris (and it’s owner Marcel Taylor) never received enough recognition for being the gastronomic game-changer in bringing national attention to Las Vegas’ restaurant scene. Spago always gets credit for shaking the gourmet ground under us when it opened in late 1992—and thereby starting the culinary tsunami that brought so many high-end eateries to our desert shores—but the little-known fact is, the rumblings really started three years earlier, when Taylor, then a dealer at Caesars, convinced Ruth Fertel (founding owner of Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and one of his regular big players) to let him have a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse franchise on Paradise Road.

“Her board of directors didn’t want to do it,” Taylor told me several years ago. “They thought no one would want to leave the hotels to get something to eat. But Ruth was a big fan of Vegas and convinced them to do it, and within a year they saw how much business we were doing.”

They weren’t the only ones. Taylor said word spread very quickly among the liquor, produce and meat suppliers, and in short order, Morton’s opened an outlet in the Fashion Show Mall, followed by Palm in the newly opened Forum Shops. Their success signaled there was gold in them thar hills to chefs and restaurateurs across the nation, and by 1994, when MGM brought in Emeril Lagasse and others, the stampede had begun.

Over the years, Ruth’s Chris’ star has gradually dimmed as carnivore’s choices have expanded with a plethora of prime from the likes of Prime, Carnevino, Craftsteak, Delmonico, Cut et al. The lines of limos and taxis that once filled the parking lot across from the Hughes Center got shorter with each passing year, and you knew the conventioneers that once packed the place had found other beef emporiums at which to sate their cravings. As business dropped, litigation ensued, and with its closing today, an iconic piece of Las Vegas’ culinary history will be no more.

Sadly, it will be recalled, if at all, solely as another franchise that folded its tent. But it was so much more, and deserves to be remembered as such.

John Curtas thanks for posting this…. this is truly sad but me personally as many, knew it was coming, it was just a matter of time. Its like a family member is passing away and emotions are being brought.

Now that I just finished off a little glass of Chartreuse,  Having had worked at Bradley Ogden that 2004 year, I can tell you, our kitchen was on fire.

The envy of Las Vegas. Bradley Ogden is the reason for Joel Robuchon and Guy Savoy and all other dining programs prior. No one could touch us. If we all got together to open a restaurant now, it would be the best restaurant in the world. The best restaurant to mankind, that’s if we don’t kill each other.

Chef de cuisine, ex sous chef, sous chef, chef tournant, cook – everyone – was bad-ass – even the front of the house.  Being years have past and I’m sure all of “you BOH members” remember the good ol’ days. Hopefully everyone is moving on to dreams and ambitions and absolute in their success.  For Bradley Ogden, you could have been the Robuchon of America.  I am happy to had had that experience and I hope all you feel the same, and I say that with love.

And for the rest of Vegas, you never had what we had. We fucking broke the rules everyday.  And if you douches don’t know who this is yet, “that shits got made flave yo”. i’ll see you when I’m dining at your restaurants.  I guess it’s an end to a chapter.  To the Ogden family, the best wishes.  Gordon Ramsay, go fuck yourself. Your Hells Kitchen jail inmate style cooks will never live up to the success that came out of the B.O. kitchen – minus Trees (a.k.a Denny’s Extraordinaire) j/k. Douche face.  I don’t give two shits how tough you think you are – fucking lets see how you do in Vegas. Fucking desert will eat you up in a heart beat.

Peace out.

(ELV update: It was announced to staff at the restaurant last night — 8.26.11 — that Jan. 2, 2012 will be the last day of operation for Bradley Ogden. We have also heard (unconfirmed) rumors that the menu will become more steak and burger friendly for the last several months of operation. Stay tuned).

It may be re-opening tonight for dinner service, but sources close to the situation have informed Eating Las Vegas® that Bradley Ogden — the only Las Vegas restaurant ever to win a James Beard national “Best New Restaurant of the Year Award” (in 2004) — will be serving its last supper sometime in mid-October.

The space will be re-configured as a gastro-pub in conjunction with Gordon Ramsay.

Unlike many closings — which often happen quietly and without fanfare — expect this one to be quite a savory send-off, as plans are underway to bring many well-known young chefs (who cut their teeth here) back to appear for a big bash before the doors are closed for good and the logo retired.

Jet Tila’s Iron Chef America viewing party at Insert Coins Sunday night provided a nice, if poignant piece of punctuation to the ending of his praiseworthy pursuits and presence in these parts.

It demonstrated the skills that brought him to his post at Wazuzu three years ago, and highlighted why we mourn his leaving. True, we always found the food at Wazuzu to be over-priced, but there was no doubting the passion behind it….just as there was never any doubting his personable-ness and perspicacity in perceiving  the pristine and the pungent…in Asian food anyway.

In other words, Tila was one of the good ones. Between his personality, his cooking and his writing, he created a persona and quite a following during his short tenure here, and our food scene will be an emptier, slightly sadder place without him.

BTW: He lost Battle Seaweed to Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, by a scant two points, in front of a large and boisterous crowd of well-wishers. Impossible as it is to say how anything tasted, Jet’s dishes clearly looked better on the plate…yet he and the Iron Chef’s scores were identical for presentation. Regardless, he acquitted himself well, provided another welcomed piece of publicity for Las Vegas and proved he knows how to throw one hell of a party.

ลาก่อน สวัสดี (“la-kawn sawatdee”= farewell) Jet Tilakamonkul.

Las Vegas will miss you.

This just in: Jet Tila, one of the brightest lights in Vegas gastronomy, a passionate, committed chef who, we hoped, would stick around once he broke from the shackles of the Wynn/Encore’s hypocrisy, will be leaving his post at Wazuzu very soon, almost exactly three years since he came to Vegas.

As another good one bites the dust…ELV’s prediction in January — that Wynn/Encore was abandoning its chef-focused, top-flight food and wine program* — has been further validated.

So sad to see you go Jet!

Las Vegas, and ELV, will miss you.

PS: You can see and visit with Jet one last time this Sunday night at Insert Coins for his screening party of his Iron Chef America episode. Come one and all. Our staff is predicting he’ll kick Morimoto’s ass.

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* Wynn/Encore’s SEC report, for the quarter ending June 30, stated F&B earnings of $126 mil, with $80 mil of that coming from the Encore Beach Club. Congratulations Wynn/Encore! We hereby dub thee the HotChickswithDouchebags hotels! Your mothers must be very proud.

It is a very sad day for lovers this venerable place, and for everyone who values locally-owned purveyors of fine food and drink.

Beyond that, ELV can say no more until he recovers from news.

Despite rumors to the contrary, Chef Masa Takayama is still completely engaged with the operation, and discussions of his Vegas demise  (by ELV and others) have been greatly exaggerated and are untrue…according to folks-in-the-know at Aria.

In other news, Nora’s Wine Bar in Summerlin has closed.

As recently as two years ago, this two-story mall, slightly west of Decatur on Spring Mountain Road (right across the street from Raku), was ELV’s go-to spot for a panoply of pulchritudinous pan-Asian eats. Now:

Noodle Palace – gone

Penang Malaysian – gone

Ay-Chung Cafe – gone

Provence Korean Bakery – gone

Taiwan Deli – relocated

Shuseki – looking seedier every day.

Each one was one of the best restaurants of its type in town. Noodle Palace’s pot stickers and won ton soup were legendary. Penang’s bright, friendly interior, and colorful menu was a joy to peruse (and to learn from), and Slapsie Maxie swore by the authenticity of Ay-Chung’s Taiwanese treats.

Just as disturbing: The entire center, once the nicest in Chinatown (which, as you know, is neither Chinese, nor a town), has become graffiti-filled and gross.

ELV smells a foreclosure…or bankruptcy…but that hardly matters. Whatever stupidity, greed or financial machinations led to this demise and degradation is not our concern. Like Charlie Chan said: “Business conversation at table very bad for digestion.” (Shadows Over Chinatown – 1946), so we won’t belabor the point.

All we know is, in less than ten years, the best looking, best designed, most interesting restaurant center on Spring Mountain Road has hit the skids. Sad but true.