Odds, Ends and Reflections – 2014

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This picture, though 123 years old, pretty much sums up our view of the past twelve months. It was a kidney stone of a year, and we couldn’t pass it fast enough. And since this will be our last post of 2014, we thought we’d feature a few random thoughts and observations about it, and point our loyal readers to what they can look forward to in the time it takes our blue marble to rotate around good old Sol one more time.

2014 in Review

What exactly happened on our food scene this past year?

Answer: not much if you looked on the Strip; quite a lot if you looked off it.

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Letter of the Week – Where Has All The Quality Gone?

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An obvious avid foodie, professional cook and thinker of deep thoughts writes in this week with some cogent observations, cogitations and ruminations about what has happened to our local (and national) food scene. Taken in its entirety, it summarizes much about the state of our restaurants.  ELV’s response will follow after the LOTW:

Dear ELV,

I’m curious what you think about Michael Mina opening all these eateries all over America? What do you think about all these talented chefs from days ago assimilating under his brand? Such as Adam Sobel, Gary LaMorte, Gerald Chin, Dave Varley? I mean the list goes on.

I’m also wondering if the Mina brand has somewhat standardized and factory-o-ized fine dining, upscale dining, gentrified dining? I say all this because I watch some of my friends post pics of the new Giants Stadium location and this Locale Market thing in Florida, and all I see is his consumption houses. I am seeing a crossbreed between culinary and media…. For example at the locale Market place in Florida there was talk about an alligator wrapped in bacon? For me all imagine is upscale dining dumbing itself down to cater to the reality TV obese couch sitters that patriotically support the idea of ‘Murica.

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Eating Crow at DAVID CLAWSON

David Clawson opened the David Clawson Restaurant on October 1, 2014 and I’ve been avoiding it like the plague ever since. The reason for my evasion is simple: I have loathed the Henderson/Anthem area of Clark County with every fiber of my body for twenty years. So unpleasant do I consider the entirety of the Southeast quadrant of our humble burg that I would rather be sentenced to a lifetime of eating Slim Jims and Hostess Twinkies than endure the mind-numbing, soul-killing drive up or down Eastern Avenue to expose my sensibilities to the commercial wasteland it celebrates.

Henderson/Anthem is so generic, pre-fabbed, cynical and craven it makes the Strip look venerable and historic by comparison.

It is a collection of monochromatic developments centered around franchised businesses with nary a place to walk or ride; an amalgam of residences and businesses with all the charm of a Subway sandwich shop. There is no place to walk; there is no place to drive. It is a community without any sense of one,  formed for one and only one reason: to make housing and strip mall developers rich.

Get the point? I hate the place. I only go to  Henderson/Anthem at the point of a gun. (Or to go to Valley Cheese & Wine)

Until now.

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