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Restaurant Reviews and Culinary Miscellany

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ELV learned something last weekend in Mesquite (Nevada, not France). He learned that the KCBS-sanctioned barbecue contests are taken very seriously by the contestants, the organization, and the multitude of judges that show up to sample and rate the ‘cue. He also learned that a lot of the competitive stuff (at least as it appeared in [...] - [Read more]

When Champion Gourmet closed last April (at about the same time as Paymon’s folded its tent downtown), there was much gnashing of teeth and rending of garments over the latter, but nary a peep about losing the former. Guess which one represented the loss of a true gem on our gastronomic scene? We’re happy to report that [...] - [Read more]

Vodkus Absurdus

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A spiritual spirit

ELV asks: Is there anything more absurd than celebrity vodka?

And who are the fools buying this sh*t anyway?

This spirit has a spiritual history behind it, if you believe the b.s. slung by its marketers.

It also claims it’s “…literally, pure spirit,” because it’s distilled through diamonds(!).

Ignoring the fact that the USDA defines all vodkas as a “…colorless, neutral spirit…” By law, it cannot have a distinctive character, aroma, taste or color.

The whole point of vodka is that it has those characteristics….which are really no characteristics at all….in order to make it easy to mix with non-alcoholic mixers that will mask its true purpose of getting women drunk so they are more likely to have sex with you.

Who doesn’t know this people?

So why do people shell out $50+ for stupid marketing tricks for something that is, by definition, without substance, and by taste, wholly neutral?

Especially when good ole $15 Smirnoff tastes as good or better than all those “premium” brands.

Eating Las Vegas wants to know why people are such fools? And if any of you have the answer, he can be found tonight at some watering hole, coaxing heavily-adulterated Grey Goose down some girl’s throat, so she will be more likely to have sex with him.

Or something like that.

A few days ago, ELV was thinking about his first meal at the original Postrio, eighteen years ago, in San Francisco. He remembered how striking the food was — an amalgam of all that is sacred and holy about the freshness of California produce, sparkling seafood, well chosen meats and inventively presented proteins. He remembers [...] - [Read more]

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North Main Street, about a quarter of a mile north of the Main Street Station Hotel and Casino, is not an area where most gringos often tread….especially after dark.

Truth be told, we’re not sure anyone travels this forlorn strip of road populated by a few flea bag motels, and used auto parts shops. The only time we usually get up this way is when someone we know dies, and we’re forced to find a parking spot somewhere in the vicinity of the Palm Mortuary.

But every so often, we get a hankerin’ for some Salvadorean (or is it Salvadoran?) pupusas — those stuffed, cornmeal pancakes — and when we do, the Salvadoreno is where we head.

It’s a big, open friendly place, where there’s always a soccer match on the telly, and lots of Salvadoran (or is it Salvadorian?) families chowing down on the food of their homeland.

When we walk in, it’s usually like one of those western movie scenes where a gringo walks into the cantina and the whole place comes to a halt while everyone thinks to themselves: “What’s HE doing in here?”

Regardless, the proprietress couldn’t be friendlier, and the pupusas couldn’t be more pulchritudinous. We’re also partial to their slightly sweet and tangy curtido (coleslaw), and that thick-but-still-a-little-runny Salvadorian (or is it Salvadorean?) crema — a whiter and tangier  sour cream than you get in Mexico. ELV ain’t no expert, but he knows that many a difference exists between the sour creams of many a Central American country.

We like the Salvadorean (or is it Salvadorian?) variety for just those reasons, and find ourselves addictive-ly dipping our eggs and papusas in it. We even find it makes the re-fried beans more palatable. In fact we must say that it makes those frijoles so much more tastier here than in any mediocre Mexican joint we can think of.

The above lunch for one, with a couple of huge glass of tamarindo, came to $20 – $16+$4 tip, and is worth every penny of it for this handmade, Central American succulent sustenance.

SALVADORENO RESTAURANT

720 North Main Street

Las Vegas, NV 89101-1914

702.385.3600

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Did you know there are 9, count ‘em NINE steps to properly pouring a Stella Artois? ELV didn’t, but we got a quick lesson in the finer points as we prepared to judge the Stella Artois Draught Masters Contest held at the Hard Rock Hotel last week.

Here are those nine steps….

…which are not as easy to execute as you might think….especially with a crowd cheering and pesky, nitpicking judges looking over your every move.

FYI: the regional competition was won by Scott Ast of Henderson, with a wild card entry: Sarah Arnold coming in second. Both will be traveling to Boston (Massachusetts, not Indiana), for the US Nationals on Sept. 17th.

In ‘o8, Las Vegas’ own Anthony Alba won the National competition and represented the U.S.of A. in the international finals held in Leuven, Belgium.

Alba helped ELV with the judging duties, and taught us all there is sooo much more to pouring a brewski, than making sure there isn’t a lipstick mark on the glass.

Good luck to Scott and Sarah…we at ELV hope to be there in Boston cheering them on!

ELV regrets the libelous language aimed towards persons not connected to this website. Other than editing out the name of that person, Eating Las Vegas now posts this letter in its unedited entirety — for your delectation and evisceration. ELV’s response follows at the end of the ….um….er…correspondence. To Whom It May Concern. Folks, [...] - [Read more]

Memphis Championship Barbecue

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ELV is on his way up to Mesquite (Nevada, not France) this afternoon to judge the Smokin’ In Mesquite championship barbecue cook-off being held there this weekend.

Barbecue, as you know, is one of the four essential food groups — along with French, Chinese and Italian food — so an event of this magnitude cannot go unnoticed, or partaken in, by Eating Las Vegas.

But before we leave, our staff thought they’d share some tasty snaps of some pretty good restaurant ribs they had earlier this week at Memphis Championship Barbecue.

We expect the competition ribs to be smokier. spicier and more hand-crafted than these commercial ribs…but still, these baby backs and Saint Louis fatbacks were darn tasty…and as good as you’re gonna get in our humble burg.

Barbecue has had a tough time of it here in the last two years. Salt Lick, R.U.B. and CJ’s on west Sahara have all folded, confirming what ELV has maintained for years: that Vegas ain’t a ‘cue town and never will be one. Why this is so is beyond our feeble brain, but if it means we have to drive north for an hour or so to get the good stuff, we are off like a prom dress.

And since nothing goes with good ‘cue like a little bluegrass music, here is a little Zac Brown Band to take us home with one of our favorites:

MEMPHIS CHAMPIONSHIP BARBECUE

1401 South Rainbow Blvd.

Las Vegas, NV 89146

702.254.0520

www.memphis-bbq.com/

Capital Grille cheeseburger

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This Capital Grille cheeseburger wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t that good either.

We ordered it medium rare, and it appeared on the far side of medium.

It possessed neither the rich, roasted beef flavor of a great burger, nor the fatty, fulfilling mouth feel of one.

The fries that came with it were so doused in truffle oil that our clothes were permeated with the musty-earthy-dirty-socks scent long after we left the restaurant.

It cost $18 and wasn’t worth it…nor is it in the same league with numerous burgers in town costing the same or less.

Just thought you’d like to know.

CAPITAL GRILLE

In the Fashion Show Mall

3200 Las Vegas Blvd. South

Las Vegas, NV 89109

702.932.6631

thecapitalgrille.com

We love Eric Klein. Don’t get all nervous on us now. We speak not of the love that dare not speak its name…but more about a chef/customer bromance of the highest order. Besides having the strongest handshake in the business, this top toque at the Spago stoves can cook just about anything — from pintxos to [...] - [Read more]

The point of this post is not to review the food of a recent over-the-top meal at ALEX. The reason behind the posting of these tasty snaps has nothing to do with recipe or technique analysis. There will be no vivisection of the vittles, nor any probing of the food/wine pairings. No, the point of this [...] - [Read more]

In kase you haven’t noticed, the American cheese revolution is in full swing, an established fact, and now as much a part of our culinary landscape as heirloom tomatoes and California cabernets. In less than three decades — roughly the time since ELV grad-jee-ATED from learnin’ legal stuff gooder in law school, the selections of [...] - [Read more]

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ELV, accompanied by his staff, dropped into Aureole the other night to check out its snazzy new wine lounge/patio (and to make sure Master Sommelier/Wine Director William (call me Willi) Scherer stills knows his albarinos from his amontillados.

He does, of course, but what we ended up talking about the most was cheese. Seastack/Cirrus/Ford Farmhouse/Ubriaco/Marieke gouda/Iceberg Blue, to be specific — the six farmstead cheeses featured on the lounge menu, along with sixteen wines, hand-picked by Scherer expressly for their affinage affinity for exquisitely curdled milk.

Most of the wines are gently priced (by Strip standards anyway) at far less than $20/glass (most are in the $15 range), and in keeping with his reputation as a wine educator par excellence, Scherer includes brief-but-to-the-point tasting notes for each wine on the menu.

Somewhat surprising to us, he got just as excited about describing the sea saltiness of Seattle’s Seasmoke cheese, as he did bragging about the brininess of his Iberian albarino, which btw, complimented each other completely.

Willi Scherer – sommelier, wine maker, cheese cutter…the man can do it all.

AUREOLE

In the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino

3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South

Las Vegas, NV 89109

702.632.7401

http://www.aureolelv.com/

ELV note: The following was published this past Saturday in John Mariani’s The Virtual Gourmet online ‘zine. In satirical form, it pretty much captures the illiterate idiocy that permeates the way most guys under 40 think (or think they should think) about food and restaurants — which has created a deadly dull cycle of negative [...] - [Read more]

ELV note: Here is the link to the following article as it appears (with pictures!) in the current issue of VEGAS magazine, or you can continue reading for the entire text below. ELV suggests savoring the musical, dramatic and delicious text of this article whilst watching Ole Blue Eyes in Guys and Dolls (1955) or [...] - [Read more]

Look, up in a shopping mall! It’s a hookah lounge! It’s a bar! It’s Nu Sanctuary! Yes, it’s Nu Sanctuary, a restaurant that came to Town Square with powers and kitchen abilities far beyond those of mortal mall eateries. Nu Sanctuary! That can change the course of mall wine bars with a good list, bend burgers into [...] - [Read more]

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Take a  tiny space, formerly occupied by a failed “continental” restaurant, add an outdoor patio and some nice furnishings, spice it up with a wine bar, mix in some high falutin’ Thai food, and whaddya got? Nittaya’s Secret Kitchen.

Open just a couple of weeks, Nittaya’s might be the best new restaurant to open in Summerlin since Nora’s started pouring wine.

For our first meal, we stuck to basics — todd munn (whitefish cakes), stuffed chicken wings, new coconut fish curry and a simple beef/green bean stir fry, and were blown away by the snap of flavors, and freshness of everything.

Those fish cakes are a litmus test for any Thai restaurant. They usually range from slightly spongy to the consistency of an extremely well-done hamburger. These were small, soft, pillows of non-greasy fish cake — delicious and addictive.

Likewise the angel wings — stuffed chicken wings — were fried to a crispy fare-thee-well in fresh, hot oil, and were just what fried food aspires to: crunchy giving way to moist savoriness.

Every dish followed this pattern of being the best of its type we’ve had in quite awhile. The “World Famous Spinach Salad” consisted of lightly battered spinach leaves (again fried perfectly), surrounding a bowl of minced chicken lard for them to be dipped in. Another addictive hit.

As was the rich, fresh coconut curry — a whole coconut roasted and containing a thick, seafood stew, and the simple beef and bean spicy stir fry — again, nothing fancy but all of it done perfectly, and with a brightness of flavor you won’t find in the numerous by-the-numbers Thai restaurants around town.

Many thanks to uber-foodie-and-pointless-wines-guy Evan Powell for giving us the heads up on this potential jewel in our Thai restaurant crown.

If Evan keeps suggesting such tasty finds to ELV, sometime in the future, we might just let him cavort with our staff.

Our meal for two with no booze came to $68.

NITTAYA’S SECRET KITCHEN

2110 North Rampart Blvd. Suite # 110

Las Vegas, NV 89128

702.360.8885

http://www.nittayassecretkitchen.com/

Steak-stuffed sopaipilla

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Smothered in New Mexican red chile

This seared steak stuffed smothered sopaipilla was satisfyingly substantial sufficient to send this sage of a scribacious sadogue singing praises to its salubriousness.

That, and we really liked it.

Deep rich, smoky and peppery, it is a pure evocation of the New Mexican Anaheim red chile pepper, in an envelope of thick Navajo fry bread that is addictive in its own right — especially when smothered in red.

It costs 7 bucks.

Just thought you’d like to know.

CARLITO’S BURRITOS

3345 East Patrick Lane Suite 105

Las Vegas, NV 89120

702.547.3592

http://www.carlitosburritos.com/

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Shuseki — almost directly across the street from Raku, and just a mile west of Ichiza on Spring Mountain Road, is never as busy as either of them. So it makes and good alternative when these two are packed to the rafters with Far East hipsters and lovers of small, pristine plates of Japanese food.

Shuseki has a large, all over the map menu, that isn’t as focused as Raku’s nor as quirky as Ichiza’s, but in the dozen or so times we’ve eaten here, we’ve been captivated by everything that’s been served.

So a week ago, on a Monday night no less, that’s just where we ambled for some grub when are first two choices were full. FYI: Raku told us we couldn’t get seated until 10:30 — this was around 7…on a friggin’ Monday night!

The bee in our bonnet at the time was sushi/sashimi on Spring Mountain Road. For all of the exceptional Asian eats available on this alimentary avenue, raw fish is in short supply. Raku usually features a special or two of raw fish, but that’s it, and Ichiza’s menu is more extensive, but rarely as carefully chosen or cut.

Shuseki offers an extensive menu more grounded in Nippon naturals like ajihiraki (grilled horse mackeral) yaki soba (stir fried noodles) to katsu don (pork cutlet and egg bowl), with the added bonus that everything on it comes with a picture — greatly lessening the anxiety of many a round eye. (Even the take out menu has pretty color pictures of everything they offer!)

All of this makes it the perfect place for gaijin to get an Japanese (food) education. The hokke (grilled atka mackeral) might not be the equal of Raku’s, and the salmon skin roll not in the same league as Sen’s, but in a pinch, and even when not in one, the 179 item menu fills a nice Nipponese niche among our eateries.

The meal above of chirashi (mixed) sashimi on sushi rice-$13, spinach with sesame dressing-$3, and takokimchi (raw octopus in kimchi sauce)-$4, and assorted Japanese pickles-$4, was just what the doctor ordered.

SHUSEKI

5115 West Spring Mountain Road # 117

Las Vegas, NV 90146

702.222.2321

And the correct answer is: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”

It is the motto of the United States Postal Service, and appears on the edifice of the main Post Office Building in Manhattan (New York, not Kansas).

It is also featured as a lyric towards the mid-point of this hypnotic/bizarre music video of “O Superman” by performance artist/musician/all around weirdo/Laurie Anderson:

What’s a non-food trivia contest and odd-ball ’80’s electro/techno video doing on a website entitled Eating Las Vegas, you ask?

Hey! We’re ELV! By now you should know to expect the unexpected!

Besides, we now get to chow down to uber-foodie Fred Keiserman, who may bear little resemblance to the person we hoped would win, but will no doubt prove to be a stellar dining companion.