Max Jacobson
Contributing Editor, Food
Contact: Email
Vegas Seven’s food critic started his career as a food journalist in Japan in the early ’80s. Since then, he has been a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and has written for a variety of national publications, such as Saveur and Gourmet. He's best known as an authority on Asian food, but he has rarely met a cuisine he doesn't like. He has covered the Vegas culinary scene since 2000.
Recent Articles
Diner's Notebook
Colicchio makes his move, Fu moves in, and Milos has wine for you
November 22nd, 2012
There are usually interesting rumblings on the local food scene, and this week is no exception. Tom Colicchio, one chef who moves smoothly between the kitchen and your television is planning a new restaurant at The Mirage.
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Spago at 20
Our food critic happily goes back to the ’90s to sample Puck’s special throwback menu
November 22nd, 2012
Say what you like about Wolfgang Puck, but the über-celebrity chef—whom I have known since he first came west 36 years ago—is a game-changer. Twenty years ago, on Dec. 11, 1992, Puck made a bold move, opening a branch of his successful Hollywood restaurant, Spago, in the Forum Shops at Caesars. I came later that month, and the restaurant was empty.
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How Sweet It Is
A dynamic power-foodie couple revives a beloved corner of Las Vegas neighborhood dining with Honey Salt
November 15th, 2012
The past decade has brought Las Vegas a flood of ethnic dining, and wonderful high-end restaurants where the check average soars to well above $100. Fine dining for less than $50 per person remains a challenge, though, a niche begging to be filled.
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Diner's Notebook
Pizza meets Asian fusion, a foodie Thanksgiving and the Musical Chef era
November 15th, 2012
Mark DiMartino’s new restaurant concept, Pizza Buddha, opened recently in Henderson (2520 Horizon Ridge Parkway, 558-5039). DiMartino, who comes from a restaurant family, has previously been associated with such places as the Tillerman, the Slanted Clam and the Tilted Kilt, the latter now a franchise with more than 80 locations.
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Unreasonably Expensive, Stunningly Mediocre
Javier’s serves up delicious eye candy, but can you live on that alone?
November 8th, 2012
Gazing at the sweeping white-brick Moorish archways and 3,000 pounds of chainsaw art, with panels depicting the Mayan creation story and figures in the style of El Dia de los Muertos (Mexico’s Day of the Dead), one cannot be less than impressed with Javier’s, the newest member of the restaurant family at Aria. If you stay to eat, though, you’ll likely leave with a very different impression.
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Diner's Notebook
What’s new at Forte and Trevi, two new pop-ups and Lillet Rosé has its day
November 8th, 2012
Nina Manchev’s Bulgarian/Spanish tapas bar never ceases to amaze. Forte (4180 S. Rainbow Blvd., 220-3876) has long been one of the most original, innovative restaurants in town, and now the gracious Ms. Manchev is doing a spate of new dishes.
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Diner's Notebook
Our Public Houses, General faux chicken, and the Olympics of Hunger Games
November 1st, 2012
If you’re still a bit confused by the fact that there is a restaurant called Public House at Luxor, it’s understandable. After all, there is another restaurant by the same name at the Venetian, and there is no relationship between the two.
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Three Cheers!
Chris Herrin goes beyond Bread & Butter to answer the age-old question of what’s for dinner. (Hint: It’s not just beef.)
November 1st, 2012
Chris Herrin is a serious baker and restaurant owner, but if you ask him, he’ll tell you he mostly just wants to have fun. This ruddy, cheerful man, who looks as if he stepped right off a Pillsbury box, has already secured a coterie of friends who assemble almost daily at Bread & Butter, his Henderson bakery and informal breakfast/lunch stop.
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Diner's Notebook
Damn fine bean dip, neighborhood openings, and more Big Wong to love
October 25th, 2012
I don’t venture often enough out to the extreme north side. Sometimes, I’m sorry to say, I let one or two really interesting places slip through the cracks. For a little while, anyway.
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Breakaway Thai
In his first solo act, Bank Atcharawan takes us home to southern Thailand
October 25th, 2012
Could that be Florence & The Machine playing in the background here at Chada Thai & Wine, the new small-plates Thai restaurant in the Jones Boulevard mall already home to HK Star, China MaMa and Asian BBQ & Noodle? Yes. That’s just the first sign that this isn’t your typical Thai restaurant.
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