Four top chefs — Charlie Trotter, Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck and Mario Batali — cooked up a treat at the New York Wine Experience in 2007. Each created a unique dish and paired it with two wines, one white and one red. From the Wine Spectator.
S. Irene Virbila, Restaurant Critic for the LA Times, just did a really nice piece where she reviewed the state of restaurants in Vegas (patrons paying lots of money everywhere) and reviews the new star restaurants, particularly those at “thee” new casino in town, that are causing a lot of fuss.
Beginning with “At $160 for two, it’s easily the most expensive steak I’ve ever eaten, if not the most expensive piece of aged meat in the country.” to how “in a private dining room floating above a state-of-the-art kitchen, six businessmen spend a minimum of $350 each to work their way through the tasting menu at Restaurant Charlie” the article goes on to say:
Though everybody may be pinching pennies at home, Las Vegas seems untouched by the prevailing winds of economic downturn, operating by its own rules and logic. The economy may be contracting elsewhere, but here the casinos are still building. And building [….]
[Where people can] indulge in an opulent multi-course meal from a French chef with three Michelin stars — actually, there are three three-star chefs here — what could possibly be next? Less flash, less gimmickry — and less invention. This time around, menus are more traditional, the design sometimes so conservative you can’t believe you’re in Vegas. They’re luring in crowds with no more than good food, high comfort and great service. And for that, they’re charging enough to give even high rollers indigestion.
The review goes on to highlight the new restaurants at the Palazzo: Mario Batali’s and Joe Bastianich’s Carnevino, Wolfgang Puck’s Cut — whose opening night grabbed even our attention — Charlie Trotter’s Restaurant Charlie, Emeril Lagasse’s Table 10 and — not in a casino and so far off the beaten path as to be difficult to find — maverick chef Louis Osteen’s eaterie called Louis’s Las Vegas.
While they’re having busy restaurants full of foodies tossing the money their way, they’re not — Robin Leach chastises — getting the respect they deserve from this year’s James Beard Awards. Or at least not as much as Leach thinks they should be getting specifically for their Vegas-centered restaurants:
It’s hard to believe but totally true that in the newest list of nominees in 52 different categories for the James Beard Foundation Awards not one Vegas celebrity chef or resort restaurant gets a tip of the toque for food!
Cooling down briefly he says: “In interests of fairness I will point out that some East Coast and West Coast ‘name’ chefs who have restaurants here were recognized for their ‘outstanding talents’ ranging from best cookbook, to best TV show to best new restaurant—but none of their Vegas based operations won any praise whatsoever.”
But then, making some good points, he says back:
So where were our superstars: Michael Mina, Paul Bartolotta, Bradley Ogden, Martin Heirling, David Robins, Julian Serrano, Barry Dakake, Andre Rochat, Alex Stratta, Michael Jordan, Kerry Simon, Steve Martorano — let alone the big VIP names of Joel Robuchon, Guy Savoy, Daniel Boulud, Charlie Palmer, Charlie Trotter, Emeril Lagasse, Thomas Keller, Nobu Matsuhisa, David Burke? I apologize if I’ve omitted any of my chef friends but the smoke is steaming out of my ears and I’m thumping my keyboard way too hard!
Robin’s heated tirade ends with “We are ahead in every respect of so many eateries in Paris, New York and Los Angeles. It’s totally unfair and a case purely of effete New York City foodie snobbism” — and a call for a boycott of the Beards ceremony.
Remind me never to get Mr. Leach annoyed. And I mean that!
You recall my first mention here of the Pebble Beach Food and Wine Festival roughly a dozen days ago. Well, with six more days left before it starts, there’s even more “big names” showing up for what has become (in just it’s first time ever) one of the biggest events ever.
Along with the previously mentioned names of Jacques Pepin, Mark Miller, Thomas Keller, Gary Danko, Charlie Trotter, Tom Colicchio, Ted Allen, Michel Richard, Susan Spicer, Josiah Citrin, Walter Manzke, Todd English, Hubert Keller, and Michael Mina coming to the event …
… Now also add: Cat Cora, Mark Miller, Ming Tsai, Masaharu Morimoto, Alain Passard, Claudine Pepin, and still several dozen more top chefs. Show starts this Thursday, March 27th through Sunday, March 30th. More details at the site.
The first ever annual Pebble Beach Food and Wine Festival boasts over 50 award-winning chefs, over 200 major wineries and many other gradiose claims, thing is, grandiose but apparently true. In short, this has become one super-sized event.
According to LA Eater:
The weekend is chock-full of wine tasting sessions, cooking demos (Jacques Pepin, Mark Miller, Thomas Keller, Gary Danko, Charlie Trotter, Tom Colicchio, Ted Allen, Michel Richard), lunches with the chefs (Susan Spicer, Josiah Citrin, Walter Manzke, Todd English, Hubert Keller, Michael Mina and many more), a walk-around tasting event each afternoon, plus some serious dinners and rare wine auctions. At least one must-do is the opening night reception on Thursday, March 27; if we golfed, we’d try to get there for the Celebrity Chef Golf Tourny that morning because we want to see Colicchio putt. And one thing has changed: Some proceeds will go to charity.
The whole shebang runs March 27-30, most events are priced individually ($100-$500; $165 for the walk-around event), some are only available with packages, and some are already sold out.
In exactly 30 days it will be exactly 30 years since the start of The Inn at Little Washington began, which means on April 9th there will be a gala 30th Anniversary Party for the restaurant and it’s unique proprieter Patrick O’Connell.
O’Connell describes the restaurant, located in Washington, Virginia, rougly 65 miles out from Washington DC as a concept that simple was “just a hideaway in the country owned by two people who like to entertain a lot”. He also started ths little restaurant in this little hamlet (at the time of populaton 300) with a simple little idea: “We try to convey a sense of place at The Inn by making use of the abundance of wonderful products from our region, which the French call a “cuisine de terroir.” We try to elevate these fine, earthy ingredients and use them in unique and interesting new ways while still preserving the soulful flavors and memories we associate with them. Most of my favorite dishes are the simplest and depend on a few ingredients of the finest quality.”
So as he quietly pursued his own thing, it was way ahead of the artisan and organic movement. Among the restaurant’s many awards (honestly this go on for ages, so here’s but one) The Inn was the first establishment in the Mobil Travel Guide’s history ever to receive 5 stars for its restaurant and 5 stars for its accommodation. And it’s now had that 14 years in a row.
About the party, the Anniversary celebration will take place on April 9th with a gala dinner for 500 guests at the Mellon Auditorium in Washington D.C. It will be a gala and a charity event with proceeds going to Five and Alive, a program dedicated to improving the health of children five and under in more than 30 countries. Tickets begin at $575 for the cheapie plan and a corporate sponsorship for a table is $25 grand. An original film will premiere highlighting the unique and remarkable history of America’s culinary rebirth via culinary pioneers.
Among those who will be attending are Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, Robert Mondavi, Jacques Pepin, Paul Prudhomme, Wolfgang Puck, Martha Stewart, Charlie Trotter, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Tim and Nina Zagat. Yes … this may be one of those rare events where a list of who is not attending would be shorter!
