Letter of the Week – Au Revoir to ALEX and All That

ELV note: The following comes from our Facebook exchange with Eric Gladstone about the whys and wherefores of ALEX‘s closing in the Wynn tomorrow night, and what it means for Las Vegas’ dining scene. Consider it a supplement to Gladstone’s article this week in the Las Vegas Weekly about the demise of this short lived (May 2005-January 2011) grande dame.

Dear ELV,

The patron who would best appreciate Restaurant Alex is not the patron Wynn/Encore is looking to attract anymore. Unless he’s bringing his 20-something son or daughter along, with access to the credit card [Speaking of the credit card, they might want to note that—specials aside–.fine dining price points certainly haven’t gone anywhere—Lakeside Grill’s entrées average in the $50 range. Perhaps linen suppliers are the most endangered species in the equation.] It’s hard to recall any example in modern Las Vegas history of a property changing its customer focus so dramatically.

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This Just In – Frederic Robert has left the Wynn/Encore building

Frederic Robert — pastry chef extradordinaire — co-author of Alain Ducasse Desserts, and the man who was most responsible for putting the Wynn/Encore pastry/bread/chocolate/desserts on the world’s culinary map, had his last day at the patisserie stoves last Friday.

ELV has no idea what’s going on over at Wynn/Encore…but at this point we’ve asked the good p.r. folks over there to give us a list of every great chef who has, or is about to be canned or shoved aside, so as to make all this bad news easier on our tender psyche.

Because this is like being nibbled to death by minnows….

This Just In – ALEX to Close Jan. 15…and Stephen Hopcraft is alive and well at STK!

The Las Vegas Weekly is reporting that ALEX — the Michelin 2-star, grand dame deluxe restaurant helmed by über-chef Alex Stratta at the Wynn — will serve its final foie gras and beatific bites of Stratta’s Franco-Italian delights on January 15.

Continue reading “This Just In – ALEX to Close Jan. 15…and Stephen Hopcraft is alive and well at STK!”