The staff at ELV is always begging us not to post too many things in one day. But this article in today’s SLATE by Mike Steinberger (one of our favorite wine columnists) makes the argument (or more accurately, the forecast), that the recession will cause restaurants to lower their outrageous markups on wine. So it was too timely and (hopefully) prescient to pass up.

And guess where he mentions as having some of the greatest gouges? Yup, our humble hamlet.

Presaging this article, we spent last week tooling around LV restaurants with Alan Richman (the ex-husband of Lettie Teague quoted in the article), and all we heard from The Hitman was how unfair and crazy the pricing on our lists were. To quote him directly: “Something’s gotta give with the outrageous prices all these restaurants charge for wine.” To be fair, he was referring not just to our top shelf spots, but those across the country who think they can continue to get away with 300% markups on a non-perishable product.

But let’s face it: The high-end restaurants of Las Vegas are the worst offenders; and the GQ columnist, and his ex-wife the Food and Wine wine columnist, and every wine pro in America knows they are.

Here’s a link to Lettie’s article….and let’s hope they’re all correct in their predictions…and that the recession restores some sanity to this system.

If you shopped at Whole Foods in the past two months, and let’s face it who hasn’t?, you probably grabbed a Desert Companion magazine as you were leaving. Behind the hot chile pepper cover was an article by you-know-who, on where to find some of our town’s best ethnic (and inexpensive) eats. Here is the PDF of that article for your perusing pleasure.

FYI: You may be hearing big things about RAKU in the coming months…..the national food press has taken notice of our little Japanese gem (thanks to someone who needs no introduction), and universal recognition of its excellence may soon be forthcoming.

Before we leave the Michelin Guides for good (or at least for another year), we thought you might like Jonathon Gold’s not-so-kind take on the Los Angeles Guide and how wrong-headed he thinks some of the ratings are.

The difference between Los Angeles and Vegas is that L.A. has ten million people, has been a thriving metropolis for 150 years, and only twenty-one starred establishments, whereas Vegas has two million people, a culinary scene for less than ten years, and seventeen of the little gems. We’re happy just to have the attention, and L.A. (food writers) want to fuss and fume over such things.

Here is his article, thanks to Lesley Balla and all the good folks at www.eaterla.com.

If you’re reading this, it means you are among 42.9 million Americans who visited a food-related Web site in the past month. And if you’re a big fan of Everyday with Rachel Ray — and let’s face it who isn’t — you are part of a 6.2% jump in her magazine sales recently. Jumping into the thick of this cornucopia of food ‘zines comes Food Network Magazine, a joint venture between Scripps Network Interactive and Hearst Publishing. It becomes the latest among 336(!) food magazines currently available in Amerika. With an initial publication run of just two(?) issues, ELV thinks its chances for success are about as great as his are of ever doing this.

Read all about this plethora of palate-pleasing periodicals here.

In keeping with the keen reportorial skills, investigative journalistic integrity and relentless news breaking reputation for which he is known, ELV hereby features the four covers of the 2009 Michelin Guides that will be unveiled on October 22nd at a gala, exclusive, no-hoi-polloi-allowed reception* at the Wynn Hotel. As fascinating as these are(?), it’s what’s inside that we are keenly interested in. If RM Seafood, Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare, Restaurant Charlie and CUT don’t gain at least a star, a minor crime will have been committed. If a couple of notable underperforming places (notable primarily for their underperformance) don’t lose theirs, another one will be.

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* With this post, ELV hopes to avoid said designation.

This month’s DESERT COMPANION magazine hit the shelves Friday. The cover story (by a certain food writer we all know and love) explores the world of bargain-priced, authentic cuisines available all over the Las Vegas Valley. Here is a reprint of the article for those of you who aren’t members of Nevada Public Radio (shame on you), or haven’t yet cruised by Whole Foods for your copy. Click here to see a PDF of the article in its original format (available later this month), or continue reading for a (slightly revised) version of the same text.

Great Food for Less

Over half of our food dollars go to eating out in restaurants, and you may have noticed lately that those dollars aren’t stretching quite as far as they used to. Along with the explosion of top chefs, high-end design, Michelin-starred fabulousness, and world-class food, have come prices that will curdle your cream and curl your hair. So this might be the perfect time to explore the vast array of serious ethnic eats all over the Las Vegas Valley, that deliver serious bang for the buck, and give an educational peek into some of the world’s great ethnic eats.

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Faster than a speeding paella! More powerful than a locavore! Able to leap small frog legs in a single bound! (Look, up in the Las Vegas Business Press –  in an article in the current issue by Valerie Miller –  It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s ELV!)

 http://www.lvbusinesspress.com/articles/2008/08/26/business_life/iq_23419153.txt

…Yes it’s ELV … strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal carnivores!  ELV … who can change the course of mighty rivers (of good wine by drinking it), bend steak in his bare hands, and who, disguised as John Curtas, mild-mannered attorney for a great international law firm (Armstrong Teasdale), fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and a great Caesar’s Salad!

Actually, we were interviewed for the article about the top power-lunching/deal making restaurants in town. And lest you think ELV endorses Starbuck’s, please be advised (ELV loves sounding like a lawyer) that my occasional morning meeting there should not, under any circumstances, be interpreted as me actually liking the pathetic pastries and bitter brews of those franchises….

And BTW: that handsome devil in the picture with me is my partner, uber-attorney Bruce Leslie. Truth be told, he really was doing a deal during the photo shoot, whilst yours truly was working on a KNPR script.

We at ELV are omnivores in the purest sense of the word. But our time as beef eaters may be coming to an end, if the soothsayers at Esquire Magazine (among them our pal John Mariani) are to be believed.

And no matter what your opinion of meat eating — this article by Tom Junod (in the current issue) will make you reconsider what you think about consuming beef cattle — especially the super premium ones.* In it, Junod compares the funkiness of an aged, American Wagyu porterhouse to a French whore’s armpit.

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