Diner's Notebook
Diner's Notebook
Impending Irish, impressed by Mina, and notes from Phoenix
March 10th, 2011
St. Patrick’s Day is nearly upon us, and with it comes Rí Rá Irish Pub (see Page 19), opening March 17 in the Shoppes at Mandalay Place. The menu will be creative. Look for culinary delights such as Irish potato cakes, pub wings with homemade Guinness barbecue sauce, whiskey garlic mussels, curried crab claws and baked goat cheese. Irish cuisine is no longer an oxymoron, and the Guinness should flow like an Irish stream. Read more »
Diner's Notebook
Beard winners, Sedona revised and high-tech ice cream
March 3rd, 2011
Kudos to Vegas’ 2011 James Beard Award semifinalists Saipin Chutima of Lotus of Siam and Mitsuo Endo of Raku (both for Best Chef Southwest), Picasso for Outstanding Restaurant, and its sommelier Robert Smith for Outstanding Wine Service, and finally China Poblano for Best New Restaurant. Read more »
Diner’s Notebook
Food trucks park it, Vegas gets L.A. pub envy and Goa sends us a winner
February 24th, 2011
We might be a step behind New York or L.A. when it comes to restaurant trends, but we catch up fast. Roy Choi’s Kogi—the concept that took food trucks viral—inspired a restaurant, A-Frame, which is housed in a converted IHOP A-frame in terminally hip Culver City, Calif. Now, Dylan Taucer, the soul of our mega-successful Slidin’ Thru burger truck has launched Slidin’ Thru HQ, which he describes as a “brick and mortar” restaurant, maybe so we won’t confuse it with a motor vehicle. It’s the first Vegas food truck to make this kind of leap. Read more »
Diner’s Notebook
A great grinder, standout fried things, a closure and a new arrival
February 17th, 2011
If you’ve been jonesin’ for a Cuban sandwich, I think I’ve found the best one in Las Vegas. It’s at Varadero, a mom and pop Cuban eatery hard by Santa Fe Station, 5081 N. Rainbow Blvd. They call it Media Noche, literally “midnight” in Spanish, a sandwich crafted from an egg bread pressed with roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, mayo and a touch of mustard. What makes this sandwich great is the quality of the roast pork. It is fragrant, redolent of orange, garlic and natural juices, as tender as the law allows. Read more »
Diner’s Notebook
Secret dining rooms, Bartolotta steps into the spotlight and a San Francisco treat
February 10th, 2011
Your tax dollars are being put to good use as the federal government has just issued the newest edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans — advising the consumtion of less salt and sugar, and to integrate more seafood and whole grains into your diet. So I wonder what the government wags would have said about the chemically enhanced, intricate, hard-to-define in terms of food groups dinner I ate at José Andrés’ É, the wondrous eight-seat sanctum inside Jaleo at the Cosmopolitan. Read more »
Diner’s Notebook
Ch-ch-ch-changes, sustainability, and Vegas Uncorked
February 3rd, 2011
In what comes as a bit of a surprise, Bill and Saipin Chutima, the owners of Lotus of Siam (953 E. Sahara Ave., Suite A5), have pulled out of their partnership with the entrepreneur who opened a second Lotus in New York City. Citing aesthetic differences and health reasons, the family will resume devoting their full-time energies to their Las Vegas outpost. The Apple, let’s face it, is a tough mistress. Read more »
Diner’s Notebook
Fancy food, five diamonds and jewels of Maine
January 27th, 2011
I recently attended the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center, where, for three days alongside frenzied foodies and desperate vendors, I ate myself into oblivion with samples of cheese, cookies, Kobe-beef hot dogs, artisan chocolates and ready-to-eat ethnic foods. Read more »
Diner’s Notebook
Lutefisk, Jamaica’s best, and a chilling McRib encounter
January 20th, 2011
The first (and last) time I tasted lutefisk, literally “lyefish” in Norwegian, was at a supper in Mount Horeb, Wis. It is one of the world’s great food curiosities, and an acquired taste in the extreme. Read more »
Diner’s Notebook
The food-critic trap, buzz-worthy barbecue and a hot new bakery
January 13th, 2011
Perhaps you saw the tempest stirred up over the so-called “outing” of Los Angeles Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila. If not, what transpired was basically this: Virbila and her party were refused service at a Beverly Hills restaurant, Red Medicine, and summarily kicked out. One of the principals at the restaurant then stuck a camera in her face and snapped her photo. It appeared on Gawker.com and, later, all over the Internet, compromising her closely guarded anonymity. Read more »
Diner’s Notebook
A new Thai place, green chiles on wheels and vegan delights
January 6th, 2011
Two trends we can expect to see continue throughout 2011 are the proliferation of non-Chinese Asian restaurants on the Strip and a spate of new food trucks. Read more »
