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A Dinner Date With Guy Savoy

Posted Dec 21st 2006 9:22AM by Robin Leach
Filed under: Dining, Luxe Life, Celebrity Cheffing, Event Finder

Normally chefs from all over America have to make one prized pilgrimage to cook at the prestigious James Beard Foundation house in Manhattan, where the originator of gourmet cuisine worked and lived. But there's an exception for Michelin 3-star chef Guy Savoy and he's being able to host his 7-course fundraising dinner right here in his Caesars Palace gastronomic pleasure-dome.

Note the date: January 6 for a stunning evening of food and wine that is available to the general public for a $600 donation. Culinary delights will include the renowned Artichoke and Black Truffle Soup, served with brioche and truffle butter, in addition to Savoy's acclaimed oysters, which are cooked in their own juices, placed back into their shells atop oyster creme and finished with oyster gelee. Proceeds from the event will fund a scholarship for outstanding students majoring in culinary arts management at the University of Nevada Las Vegas' William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration. Also benefiting will be the James Beard Foundation, the national not-for-profit organization devoted to preserving and nurturing America's culinary heritage Since opening in May, the restaurant has received widespread critical acclaim including Esquire's "Best New Restaurants," Newsweek called it "the best restaurant in Las Vegas, and one of the finest anywhere in the world." "The mentoring process is a very important part of any chef's development, and I'm pleased to support the next generation of culinary talent in Las Vegas," says Savoy. "Being able to work with the James Beard Foundation to create this scholarship has been a great honor."

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The Puck Stops Here: Wolfgang Puck in Vegas

Posted Dec 8th 2006 12:30PM by Vegas Pop Staff
Filed under: Dining, Celebrity Cheffing

Chef Wolfgang Puck has five restaurants in Las Vegas

Vegas has it all. Great shows, great nightlife, great accommodations and great dining. Of course, when you talk about great dining, one name that instantly comes to mind is Wolfgang Puck. And in Vegas, the Puck's presence is prevalent. Depending on your mood, you have five, yes five, Puck restaurants to choose from in Sin City: Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill at MGM Grand, Spago and Chinois at Caesars Palace, Postrio at The Venetian and Trattoria del Lupo at Mandalay Bay. With so many choices, we thought we'd help you with a quick guide to each. Also, be sure to check out this great video of the man himself, then read all about his good life in Vegas.

Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill: In his casual restaurant, Puck reinvents American bar and grill food. His unique interpretation of California cuisine is prepared with a new spirit. And the combination has been described as "beachfront bistro meets classic bar and grill."

Spago: Like it's legendary location in Beverly Hills, Spago at Caesars Palace is considered by many to be the best place for people watching in Las Vegas. Spago serves an eclectic California-style cuisine in a casual cafe setting, as well as a formal dining room.

Postrio: American, Asian and European dishes are on the diverse menu at this Vegas version of Puck's popular San Francisco restaurant. Since it's located at The Venetian, it offers the romantic ambiance of Venice, Italy.

Chinois: Puck goes Asian at Chinois, with a menu full of Chinese, Japanese and Korean flavors, created with a French influence. There is even a sushi bar at this Caesars Palace favorite.

Wolfgang Puck's Trattoria del Lupo in Las Vegas

Trattoria del Lupo: Located at Mandalay Bay, Trattoria del Lupo is Wolfgang Puck's first Italian restaurant and has the look and feel of a traditional Italian trattoria coupled with the a contemporary and traditional Italian menu.

$40,000 Truffles? Wolfgang Puck and Robin Make a Pizza? Andre Agassi Loses $3 Million?

Posted Nov 29th 2006 11:37AM by Robin Leach
Filed under: Dining, Luxe Life, Celebrity Cheffing

The last three weeks of November each year mark the frenzy of white truffle season from Alba, Italy and even I am an unabashed fan and twice helped host the annual TV satellite auction to Europe.

Some truffles fetch up to $40,000. One restaurant last week featured a 6-course truffle tasting for $1,000 per person, minimum of 4 people!! My friend Luciano Pellegrini at Valentino in The Venetian shaved some over my pasta and good pal David Robbins at Spago even made me a tub of truffle ice-cream for my freezer! It's a delicacy beyond all description and most Vegas star chefs created special menus for the occasion. At celebrated Guy Savoy in Caesars, the simply brilliant 4-course truffle menu had artichoke and Black Truffle Soup with black truffle butter, white truffle risotto and ragout of vegetables with a poached egg and white truffles. Even the roasted baby chicken was stuffed with truffles and topped with black truffle potato puree!!! Pure genius at work! However, when Wolfgang Puck came to town he took time out to teach me how to make pizza, and although he's been known to do a truffle pizza this time he ordered I make my all-time favorite of rich and famous pizza: smoked salmon, cream cheese and caviar pizza!! He made it look so easy, but for me it was simply a disaster so I'll be sticking to my day job!

Wolfgang Puck and Robin Leach in the kitchen

Wolfgang Puck and Robin Leach in the kitchen

Robin Leach and superstar chef Wolfgang Puck in Vegas

Speaking of tasting menus, star chef Michael Mina (right) has added a series of month-long tasting menus of different foods at his exquisite 98-seat Nobhill restaurant in MGM Grand. The latest was a tribute to lobster: five courses of the ultimate tastes with lobster carpaccio on heirloom tomatoes and roasted eggplant; olive oil poached lobster in sweet corn soup; Maine lobster Pot Pie in tiny vegetables of brandy cream plus a roasted lobster with seared foie-Gras, shallot potato cakes in a pinot noir reduction. Talk about perfection. My friend Michael, who admits he wanted to be a chef after watching my old 'Lifestyles' TV shows, said Nobhill was designed to recreate both the atmosphere and cuisine of San Francisco neighborhood restaurants. "The main idea behind Nobhill was to create a restaurant that would reflect the type of dining opportunities found throughout San Francisco in one comfortable, neighborhood-style location," he said. "The menu features a diverse selection of the type of food and fresh products most closely associated with dining in San Francisco. At least 80 percent of the product comes from growers and producers located in the Bay Area. It is the first time some of the items have been available outside of Northern California."

In addition to organic produce and poultry, select farm-raised meat and fresh seafood, Nobhill features several

Continue reading $40,000 Truffles? Wolfgang Puck and Robin Make a Pizza? Andre Agassi Loses $3 Million?

Postrio Vegas Thanksgiving Menu

Posted Nov 20th 2006 4:51PM by Vegas Pop Staff
Filed under: Dining, Celebrity Cheffing

Postrio Thanksgiving Menu
November 23, 2006
Executive Chef John LaGrone

First Course
Oysters on the Half Shell
half dozen - kumamoto, ca
two mignonettes
18

Shellfish Platter
iced maine lobster, florida stone crab claws,
pacific oysters, poached shrimp, four sauces
65

Pumpkin Soup
sauteed apples, pumpkinseed oil, crisp sage
10

Fuji Apple and Walnut Salad
maytag blue cheese, watercress, frisee, balsamic vinaigrette, candied walnuts
12

Organic Baby Beet Salad
mixed baby lettuces, candied walnuts, sonoma goat cheese, citrus vinaigrette
15

Parmesan-Potato Gnocchi
golden chanterelle mushrooms, brussels sprout leaves, rosemary
15

Prosciutto Wrapped Maine Scallops
wilted winter green salad, truffled white bean nage
17

Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras
toasted pumpkin bread, d'anjou pears, cider gastrique
24

Main Course
Traditional Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner
free-range california turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, sweet potato puree
sourdough stuffing, cranberry, house made gravy
30

Organic Chinook Salmon en Papillote
caramelized vegetables, fingerling potatoes, shallot-herb butter
39

Pan Roasted John Dory
roasted fingerling potatoes, trumpet royale mushrooms, arugula, champagne sauce
37

Pan Roasted Free Range Chicken Breast
pumpkin risotto, toasted hazelnut mascarpone, apple-brandy glaze
29

Grilled Prime Beef Tenderloin
parmesan-potato gratin, pearl onion, green asparagus, balsamic onions
49

Mesquite Grilled Cote de Boeuf
rosemary infused yukon potato puree, caramelized vegetables, green peppercorn sauce
58

Open Daily in The Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian
Café:
11:30 a.m. – 10 p.m., Sunday – Thursday
11:30 a.m. – 11 p.m., Friday & Saturday

Dining Room:
5:30 p.m. – 10 p.m., Sunday – Thursday
5:30 p.m. – 11 p.m., Friday & Saturday

Reservations (702) 796-1110 or 1-877-4-WOLFGANG

Chinois Thanksgiving Menu in Vegas

Posted Nov 20th 2006 4:30PM by Vegas Pop Staff
Filed under: Dining, Celebrity Cheffing, Locals Only

Chinois Thanksgiving Menu

CHEF TERENCE FONG and WOLFGANG PUCK

Appetizers
Blue Fin Tuna (Toro)
Sashimi 21. Nigiri 17. Negi Toro Roll 13

Tataki Toro
Serrano Chili, Daikon Salad, Garlic Ponzu 28

Curry Five Spiced Kabocha "Japanese Pumpkin" Soup
Dungeness Blue Crab and Chives 8

Entrees
Wok Fried Black Tiger Prawns
Asian Blackbean Sauce, Fried Green Beans over Lo Mien Noodles 33

Pan Seared Wagyu "Miyazaki" Kobe Beef
Roasted Garlic Puree, Fried Green Beans and Spicy Hoisin Barbeque Sauce 90

Dessert
Spiced and Sweet Bread Pudding
Macadamia Nuts, White Chocolate Chips, Caramel Sauce and Coconut Ice Cream 8

Open Daily in the Forum Shops at Caesars
Lunch: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., seven days-a-week
Dinner: 5 p.m. – 10 p.m., Sunday – Thursday 5 p.m. – 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday Reservations (702) 737-9700 or 1-877-4-WOLFGANG

Cooking With Superchef Joel Robuchon

Posted Nov 8th 2006 6:18PM by Robin Leach
Filed under: Dining, Luxe Life, Celebrity Cheffing

The world's #1 chef, Joel Robuchon, is so highly regarded by other kitchen kings and queens that they affectionately call him the Pope of the culinary and gastronomic worlds. He has not one, but two award-winning royal restaurants at MGM: The Mansion and L'Atelier, which is the French for "The Workshop," where he bravely makes extraordinary and unique dishes in full view of the diners. On one of the precious few visits from his Paris HQ's, I was fortunate to join the super chef to break bread and bang pots and pans on the stove for an exclusive, privileged and rare Luxe Life interview conducted and translated in broken Franglais!

RL: The very first time that you heard about Vegas and the opportunity to come here and open this restaurant, did you think "they are crazy in Vegas they do not know good food," or did you say this is a fantastic town?

JR: The first time I heard about it from TV and movies, so I had no idea what Las Vegas was really all about. I didn't even know it was in the middle of the desert, just that it was a big city and that was it. However, I did hear about the food and beverage and the culinary scene here in Las Vegas, I knew about chefs that had opened restaurants here and that it was definitely becoming a culinary location.

RL: Please talk about your philosophy of cooking. I don't know anybody else in the world that cooks like this. It is almost not cooking, it is like a great artist at the Louvre Museum and the presentation is almost as important as the taste to the palate. We can all cook, but I don't know anybody who has taken such a completely different approach to food.

JR: First of all, cooking is a privilege and it involves all 5 senses. The very first thing that people are going to experience is the look of it, amongst the taste and everything. I started to cook when I was younger and it was very sophisticated food but evolved into more joys. Being able to do more simple things and being able to have very high quality of a product to cook something that will be enjoyable. I hate nothing more than to eat something and not understand what it is. I also have a respect for food. You have to respect what you cook. If I am cooking fish, it gets killed and all of those values come into play when I cook.

RL: There was a time when you retired and then came back and opened two restaurants. Having said that, when you produce such a genius meal how do you keep making yourself better when you are already at the top?

JR: I took my retirement at 50 because I had started working as early as 15 years old. And at 50 I had never seen the mountains. I did not know the concept of snow in the mountains. I wanted to retire permanently but fortunately the MGM executives came to me, and here are the two restaurants. I can keep reinventing myself because I don't have the pressure that I used to have. I am doing this for pure pleasure. Since I did retire, I got the chance to take a break and travel and observe. Through those observations my creations were refueled. But I don't feel the pressure that I used to feel from all those years working. I can now be free to create and not feel the pressure of it. I did serve large amountsof clients like 5,000 people when I worked in a big hotel. Then I had small restaurant where I served a few people at the same time. That way you can focus on those few clients and give them the quality and the satisfaction they expect. Instead of having a huge restaurant where everyone comes at once and you have to serve everyone in a timely manner where you don't really provide the satisfaction level where you should.

RL: Can you put in order your love for Vegas and the food here versus Paris, perhaps where you're thought of as a regular neighbor versus here where you are looked up to as the worlds best?

JR: I opened these two restaurants in Vegas because people have a passion for food, surprisingly the Vegas diners are seasoned, and they are food oriented. That is what seduced me tremendously to come to Las Vegas. My feelings about Las Vegas and Paris are equal. But there is a difference between the Americans and the French people. French people have more pre-conceived ideas generally. If they do not like a type of food, they are not going to try it. The Americans are more willing to experiment, open minded, and adventurous. They are going to try and discover and be much more open to new food. It is more a part of the French culture to have preconceived notions and be a lot more judgmental from the very beginning, even before trying something. That is a huge difference about the American clientele.

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Continue reading Cooking With Superchef Joel Robuchon

Compliments of the Chef

Posted Oct 26th 2006 9:30AM by Vegas Pop Staff
Filed under: Celebrity Cheffing, Locals Only

Celebrity Chef Wolfgang Puck is celebrating Vegas locals with a "Compliments of the Chef" program giving priority reservations and preferred seating at any his Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group's five restaurants: Spago, Chinois, Trattoria del Lupo, Postrio and Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill.

Locals are also in line for a complimentary dessert.

So to summarize, good tables, less wait and free sugar. Yum.

Michael Mina's Stripsteak; A Taste Treat Temple

Posted Oct 18th 2006 9:17AM by Robin Leach
Filed under: Dining, Luxe Life, Celebrity Cheffing

Michael Mina's new, and first steak restaurant, Stripsteak at Mandalay Bay is a $7-million visual stunner and a temple of top-taste treats. It's his 4th Vegas restaurant and the first combination restaurant and ultra-lounge in town! Staffed by some of our city's most beautiful mini-skirted female servers, his menu also contains some stunning attractions: one of the only two bottles of scotch in the world; 200-years-old and costing $25,000! Individual shots of the 1805 Scotch are a mere $700 a glass!!! He has 118 different single malts, chilled with 2-by-2 inch ice cubes, for diners to choose from but the highlight is the 121-proof Johnny Walker blue label! His own steak favorite is the 8 oz. Ribcap for just $62. But, if your wallet bulges bigger, then try the ribeye kobe priced at $170 or bust-out and go for the $195 Filet Mignon kobe.

At the VIP opening party, hometown hero and tennis champion Andre Agassi, his good friend and financial business partner; fellow celebrity chef Todd English, Mandalay president Bill Hornbuckle joined Michael's high school friends he'd flown in for the Cristal champagne celebration! Said Bill: "Michael is a brilliant chef and we're thrilled to have him. His understanding of exceptional cuisine and his versatility make him a star attraction for our resort." A Japanese design firm, SuperPotato, created the unique restaurant with four projectors that throw images of flowing water onto large ceiling panels, a 3-sided glass bar plus a large picture window so diners can peek into the kitchen with its two imposing mesquite wood-fired grills. With go-go-dancers, hammock-swinging bikini beauties and body-painting models on hand for the opening, the restaurant and lounge had the stamp of success firmly imprinted on the world's most unique nightspot.

As the debut wound down, my old friend Michael took time out for the one exclusive interview of the night:

RL: Why did you finally decide to do a steak restaurant?

MM: I have always enjoyed cooking meat and being involved with meat. I grew up in the center of Washington State and it was very much farm country. I have always enjoyed doing plays on classic American dishes and just American cooking. A steakhouse is an extension of one of the forms of American cooking. I think the demographic of people that come through Las Vegas, probably a fair majority of them enjoy steak and so almost every casino has a steakhouse in it.

RL: This is somewhat top of the line. On the menu you have $170 for a rib eye cut. $195 for a filet mignon cut, is this what people want when they come to Vegas?

MM: Well, those are just items that are imported from Japan. The border just opened up again so it is Kobe. Looking at the menu as a whole, the direction that we wanted to go was more of it being somewhat familiar items and then when they receive the items. It is about quality and the product and how it is treated and that to me the biggest thing is how you treat the steaks and work with the meat. We have our own dry age process where we dry-age all of our meats and then we have the wood-burning grills where week cook everything over mesquite, which is not very common in Las Vegas. There are barely any places here that I can name that actually cook over wood. We slow cook a lot of our meats in butters and oils before we grill them on the grill.

RL: How fascinating it is to see the flames coming up from the kitchen because the fire dept. had to come in here and give you special instructions on how to cook like this?

MM: It is the hoods. In Las Vegas you have to have hoods that have water flowing through them and the water scrubs the hoods and the flames coming up. So it is just a special kind of hood and there is a cost associated with it,but to me it is worth it. To me the most important thing about a steakhouse is how the meat is cooked.

RL: How do you make certain that people walk away saying that was the best steak I ever ate?

MM: Well, once again, that is the goal and you start with ...

Continue reading Michael Mina's Stripsteak; A Taste Treat Temple

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