Dining Features
Dining
From Russia, With Love
Tverskaya’s authenticity is worth a step outside your comfort zone
April 21st, 2011
Tverskaya takes its name from the main street in Moscow that was known as Gorky during the years of communism. Proprietor Vitali Klochko—once a dancer with the Moiseyev Troupe—insists the chef’s cuisine is exactly the style you get in Moscow. Read more »
Dining
Not (Just) Another Irish Pub
Rí Rá is giving those critical of Irish cuisine some hearty food for thought
April 14th, 2011
Not another Irish pub,” groaned a friend when I informed him we would be eating at the new Rí Rá in the Shoppes at Mandalay Place. I admit, the field is getting crowded. This one, though, happens to be a cut above. Read more »
Dining
Rio By Way of Liguria
Carla Pellegrino adds Bratalian to her restaurant dynasty
April 7th, 2011
Carla Pellegrino is a hot commodity. Apparently she didn’t realize how hot, until a standing-room-only crowd showed up on a recent Saturday night at her new restaurant, Bratalian. The name was chosen to pay homage to the two great loves of her life: Italian cooking and her native Brazil. Read more »
Dining
The Vintastic Five
By the taste, glass and bottle—Vegas’ best wine bars pour it on
March 31st, 2011
A good wine bar should provide three things: a convivial atmosphere, the opportunity to try a wide selection of wine at a reasonable price, and a few nibbles to balance the experience. Read more »
Dining
Wicked Good
Cosmo’s buffet has it going on, and on …
March 24th, 2011
Buffets aren’t my thing. So when I fairly rave about the Wicked Spoon, imagine how much you’ll enjoy it. I’ve had breakfast, lunch and dinner in this vast space, and haven’t had to wait in line once. Ironically, this is the only Strip buffet I’d line up for. Read more »
Dining
Feel the Heat
Due Forni turns up the temperature on Summerlin’s pizza scene
March 17th, 2011
What happens to a neighborhood restaurant venture when an experienced food and beverage director like Alex Taylor, formerly of Wynn-Encore, teams up with a seasoned chef like Carlos Buscaglia of MGM Grand’s Fiamma? Good things, it seems. Read more »
Dining
Vegas’ New No. 1 Gastropub
P.J. Clarke’s rich authenticity and flavor will hopefully overcome its challenging location
March 10th, 2011
We may not yet have gastropubs such as The Breslin in New York or Waterloo & City in L.A., but what we do have are pubs with good food. Move over, Todd English: The new standard-bearer for this genre is a transplanted New York City bar/restaurant, P.J. Clarke’s, in the Forum Shops at Caesars. The only problem is a challenging location—too close to Joe’s Stone Crab, and hard to spot. Read more »
Dining
Tapa Its Class
Forte defies stereotypes, defines variety within the small-plates craze
February 24th, 2011
Add a Bulgarian/Spanish tapas bar to the "Only in Vegas" file. Forte European Tapas Bar & Bistro belongs to European-born, Vegas-reared Nina Manchev, a tall, twentysomething blonde who once worked the front desk at the Hard Rock. Read more »
Dining
Viva la Vegan
Our food critic goes two weeks on a strict diet, and lives to share some fabulous dishes
February 17th, 2011
Veganism—the other other white meat substitute. It’s a little easier when you live in a community with three Whole Foods Markets that have giant salad bars, places like the Go Raw Café where the entire menu is vegan, and have a wife from Nepal, a country where the staple of the diet is dalbaat, rice with spiced lentil gravy. But it’s a lot harder than being just vegetarian. Read more »
Dining
Television That Sizzles
Chef Hubert Keller shares his secrets with a hungry nation
February 17th, 2011
Watching Chef Hubert Keller prepare the kitchen set for filming is delicious torture. The smells are divine, but the food is forbidden; this is a television set and not a restaurant, after all. In case you’ve been living under a pizza stone, Keller is a San Francisco-based French chef who runs multiple restaurants, two of which are in Las Vegas: Fleur (formerly Fleur de Lys) in Mandalay Bay and Burger Bar in the Shoppes at Mandalay Place. He garnered fame beyond the restaurant realm as both a contestant and judge on Bravo’s Top Chef. He’s working on his third cookbook (due out in 2012) and is passionate about his favorite charity, the Make-A-Wish Foundation. But today, his focus is on filming Secrets of a Chef. Read more »
