Wine Prices Receding? Read Here.

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.

 

Desert Companion (‘zine) – Best Cheap Eats

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.

Michelin Guide L.A. Given The Gold(en) Raspberry

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.