Eating Las Vegas has confirmed that Mainland in the Palazzo has closed.
Lovers of hackneyed Japanese-Peruvian-Cal-Ital-Argentine-Brazilian mashed up mediocrity — set to a samba beat! (and you know who you are…) — will be heartened to know that Sushi Samba remains open.
Other high-profile, calamitous closings are being calculated (in The Palazzo and elsewhere) as we’re caterwauling. ELV will keep you informed of such things as news develops.
When Charlie Trotter is in town and offers to hand-make a few creations at Bar Charlie, it doesn’t take much coaxing to get ELV there. As good as his tidbits were….we thought sticking around for The Full Monty was in order — especially since sommelier Des and bartender Jeremy were insistent, adamant, and wouldn’t-take-no-for-an-answer that we stay and taste some of their food and booze matches — not to mention Vannessa Garcia’s always-tempting desserts, a 1988 St. Emilion, and various insundry other wonderful things to eat and drink.
In other words, it was just another day at the office for ELV…..
ELV Readers: Almost on cue, this e-mail popped up in our mailbox this morning (11.17.08). It perfectly illustrates the phenomenon we commented on last week (and offers some tasty bargains at the MGM — if you, as a local, are willing to go there).
If you haven’t heard or seen for yourself, the restaurants of Las Vegas are hurtin’ critters. Click here to hear ELV expound upon this unfortunate fact in the indelible intonations for which he is known, or continue reading if that’s how you prefer to educate yourself on this weighty matter:
Belt-Tightening Time
Louis Osteen threw in the towel for good two weeks ago, Andre’s downtown is history as of New Year’s Day, and Joseph Keller’s Bistro Zinc quietly shuttered last month.
Expect more of the same in the coming months (including some high profile closings in The Palazzo) as the boom-boom restaurant years die a slow and noisy death.