Posted By admin on February 8, 2010

It’s hard to break the mold when you are a chef with more than 15 restaurants, but relentless creator Michael Mina has done that with his new restaurant, American Fish at Aria.

  Mina made his reputation with seafood at Aqua in San Francisco, and later at the Bellagio in the Tony Chi designed Michael Mina, (Originally, that restaurant had the name Aqua as well when the hotel first opened 12 years ago.)

   In the interim, Mina has branched out, with places such as Stonehill Tavern in Laguna Niguel, XIV in West Hollywood, and his now flagship Michael Mina in San Francisco, which has two Michelin stars.

   American Fish is Mina’s fifth Vegas restaurant, to go along with Stripsteak, Nobhill, Seablue and his original Vegas foray. But in many ways, this is his best and most accomplished effort yet. As in most of Mina’s restaurants, the service is slick, and the wines are terrific. The list, as always, is by Mina’s corporate sommelier, Raj Parr, and choices are eclectic and reasonably priced.

  

 

Talented chef Sven Meade, whose cooking shows the influences of his onetime boss, Charlie Trotter, collaborated on this menu with his mentor Mina,

 and the result is some of the most sophisto stuff yet. The only real objection here is that old Vegas chestnut, excess. These men just don’t know when to stop.

   A case in point: Lobster Wellington. Beef Wellington, that ridiculous standby made from a chateaubriand smeared with foie gras and robed in puff pastry. That dish is absurd enough, but substituting lobster for beef is overkill in the first degree. The chefs had the good sense to use duxelle of mushroom in place of the politically incorrect foie gras. That is cold comfort, for my money.

     Japanese A5 Wagyu beef, at a stratospheric $150, can be either salt baked, wood grilled or in shabu shabu. It’s delicious beef, no doubt the best in town. But like Brylcreem, a little dab ‘ll do ‘ya.

  Dodge those rocky shoals, though, and a meal here is clear sailing all the way. Main dishes, almost all seafood, can be done in several ways; poached in ocean water, griddled over cast iron, baked in sea salt, or a killer technique, wood grilled & smoked.

   Before you get to that point, though, there are terrific appetizers that shouldn’t be missed. Geoduck (pronounced “gooey-duck” for heaven’s knows why-it must be some Salish word) is a giant clam here done in a duo, as sashimi, and fried, with belly, New England style.

   Grilled Spanish mackerel, a product many American chefs avoid like the bubonic plague, is especially delicious, flanked by sea bean, radish and fresh ginger, pungent accompaniments that cut the salty tang of the fish like a sushi knife.

   One of the more rustic appetizers, South Carolina style shrimp and grits, is elevated to gourmet status by the additions of jalapenos and tiny shards of Serrano ham. Japan even rises to the surface in a great Kobe beef and abalone shabu-shabu. Now that’s the way to serve this overly rich beef, boys.

   Among main dishes, a few stand out. From the poached section, try North American turbot, firm, clean and penetrating, without a touch of fishiness. The griddled choice is cornmeal crusted Rainbow trout with an inspired apple, fennel and bacon vinaigrette. The skin has a wicked crunch.

   I broke the mold myself when I ordered the salt baked Prime rib, but I will get the branzino next time. I saw it on an adjacent table, and just drooled. From the wood grill, the mustard marinated black cod wins, if you like an oily, sweet fleshed fish as I do.

   Side dishes are again guilty of wretched excess, even if a few bites end up being guilty pleasures. Sweet potato puree comes topped with marshmallows. Really, fellas. You’ll be better served by an order of the malt vinegar coated fries, a great idea.

   Now why didn’t I think of that? If I had, maybe I’d be a chef, too, not a lowly scribe.

American Fish
Aria Resort & Casino
3730 Las Vegas Boulevard
(702) 590-8610
5:30-10:30PM; closed Tuesdays.
http://www.michaelmina.net/americanfish/

editor’s two cents: max is a lowly scribe, not a photographer. these professional photos are so good that I had to add them. enjoy!

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Posted By admin on January 20, 2010

TV’s Emeril has opened a sports bar and restaurant on the lower level at the Palazzo, and it’s already a hit on weekends. Wanna go on Super Sunday? Too bad, The place is totally booked out, pally.

Weekdays, though, when the NBA and NHL play regular season games, the place can be as empty as Gilbert Arenas’ locker. And that’s a pity, because Stadium offers better than average bar chow, and some extremely good dishes. The one caveat is its location, on the lower level at Palazzo. Don’t go upstairs to Table 10. Find Lavo near the Main Lobby, look for the down escalators, and follow the signage.

 I’ve always been a fan of Emeril when he doesn’t gussy up his dishes with too many ingredients. His New Orleans bbq shrimp, four giant prawns in a piquant Worcestershire butter sauce, is as good a shrimp dish as there is between here and Aldebaran. We had two, one as a starter, another order for dessert.

Last Thursday evening, when I was in attendance, I sat next to a bank of around 12 TV screens, while horse racing was televised on small screens behind me. There is a cushy stadium area staring down onto a giant screen, where you’ll sit at tables on leather chairs. We sat in the dining area, and felt forlorn.

That is, until the food came. Stadium serves a menu composed of evolved bar chow, if you look past the burgers. There is a wonderful soup, Virgin Mary tomato, served with great mini-grilled cheese sandwiches, and also the finger food called sausage arancini, crunchy, deep fried rice balls with ground meat centers.

A clever tomato Caprese is accompanied by deep fried pancetta and fried shrimp, which seems like overkill when you first see it, but somehow works. Entrees run to roast chicken, ribeye steak and barbecued ribs slathered with sauce. Dana D’Anzi, perhaps the only female corporate executive chef on the Strip, oversees it all with her characteristic aplomb.

There are a few missteps. Our waffle fries were soggy, and the bbq sweet salmon was unforgivably fishy, although the manager changed it cheerfully for a second piece of salmon that seemed a lot fresher. We also ate a scandalous amount of the grilled corn on the cob, glistening with a spiced melted butter sauce. A huge plate of desserts rounded things out.

I’d pass on the fried peach pie, and the Kentucky Derby pie isn’t. What you get is a terrific mini-pecan pie with chocolate ice cream served on the side. In fact, the real Derby pie is patented by a bakery called Kern’s in Louisville. It’s a walnut chocolate pie of mysterious cast, and I guess I can forgive the misnomer.

What I really hate is when restaurants call fruit crisps (with those awful oatmeal toppings) cobblers. But a southern boy from Massachusetts of Portuguese origin wouldn’t dare to do that, now would he!

If you’re a sports fan, Emeril’s fan, or fan of interesting bar food, Emeril Lagasse’s Stadium doesn’t seem like a bad option. At the Palazzo, 414-1000.

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Tags: Emeril Lagasse, Palazzo, Stadium

Posted By admin on January 20, 2010

The 35^th Winter Fancy Food Show was held on January 17-19 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, a city that shares top honors with New York as Foodie Central in the United States. In what doesn’t seem like a stunning co-incidence, there is another annual fancy food show at the Javits Center in New York City.

The show is worth visiting for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is just plain gluttony. There are only so many shards of porchetta, robiola cheese and designer chocolates a man can ingest, for instance. I stunned my colleagues with a brave display of capacity, prompting my editor to ask me if I was related to Hoover of the vacuum cleaner company. It’s not by accident I do this for a living. All I have done, really, is follow the advice of Joseph Campbell. People, follow your bliss.

But the show isn’t just for gluttons; it is also compelling for its cultural implications. America, land of privilege and excess, is in a state of flux. The once ubiquitous foie gras and smoked fish purveyors are gradually being squeezed out by producers of gourmet popcorns, gummy bears and pre-made cakes and cookies. A once grown up country is being dominated by adolescents. Just look at the movie industry.

Oh, the shame, the deprivation. There were still, I might note, many delicious things to write about, in an elbow-to-elbow series of halls lined with booths. The doors open at 10 a.m., and with almost a thousand different places to sample, one can easily eat oneself into oblivion by 10:30. Pace yourselves.

By the way, it helps, at these shows, to be six-two, two fifty. Whenever it looked as if some comely, middle aged Korean lady was about to beat me over to the display of black garlic samples, I just used sandlot tactics, lowering my shoulder, and well, you know.

So here is a brief description of a few items that really impressed me, with pictures to illustrate them. Cheeses are everywhere at the show, imported cheeses covered with herbs, washed rind cheeses such as the addictively smelly Red Hawk-perhaps the greatest American-made cheese, and countless cubes of goat, sheep and cow.

There were cured meats from Fra Mani, owned by former Chez Panisse head chef Paul Bertolli, and peerless bacon from Nueske’s of Wisconsin, both of which have Vegas distribution at Valley Cheese and Wine and Whole Foods. And there were literally dozens of ethnic sauces, including a Louisiana style Cajun sauce from the company Slap Yer Mama.

Olive oils and balsamic vinegars have particular cache at these shows. One called Lucero, an olive oil from California’s remote Tehama County, was especially fruity and intense, with a really nice price point and catchy labeling.

And there are a mind numbing variety of confections, chocolates, toffees, petit fours, chocolate bars and hand crafted candies from all over the globe. One could go into a diabetic coma just thinking about it.

I could go on and on, but compassion overcomes me. Suffice it to say that all the things that are great about this country, initiative, creativity and entrepreneurship to name just three, are in residence here. And that our most egregious faults, such as waste and excess, are lurking around every corner here as well.

In spite of consuming what I’ll conservatively estimate as 10,000 calories in seven hours of walking the floor at this show, your intrepid reporter felt that he would have been remiss in hitting San Francisco without visiting a few of her celebrated restaurants. So it was off to dinner at Zuni Café, which you can read about, along with an account of Taylor’s Original Refresher and Slanted Door, in the next post.

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Posted By admin on January 19, 2010

After only four days, I felt at home in Ha Noi, where we had eaten extremely well, and gotten to know the lay of the land rather quickly. But it was time to move on.

On a sticky December afternoon, we boarded a local train for Ninh Binh, a three hour ride to the south. Our tourist class tickets cost less than two dollars each. When we reached our coach, buzzing with the sounds of families, toddlers, and military personnel squeezed into their seats, the locals didn’t seem terribly welcoming.

But that impression was temporary, and in no time flat we were sharing pomelos and meat on skewers with a mother and her young, hungry son seated across from us. It seems like the Vietnamese bring their furniture, wardrobes, and loads of stuff in cardboard boxes when they travel. I’ve had more room in a fraternity phone booth stunt.

Soon after we pulled out of the station, something terrible happened. An old woman was struck by our train as she attempted to cross the tracks in the outskirts of the city, leaving her with a gash on her head.

A huge crowd gathered as officials came to confer solemnly before carrying her away. It was difficult to for me determine if she survived or not but judging from the lack of urgency on the part of the officials, it seemed like the result was grim.

Then, we departed again, the chaos of the city gradually giving way to the countryside most of us imagine when we think of this country, rice paddies, women in conical hats leading water buffalo, lush greenery in every direction.

Ninh Binh is worth visiting only as a gateway to Tam Coc, known here as Halong Bay on the rice paddies, and Cuc Phuong National Park, one of the most beautiful in Southeast Asia. Our guest house, Thanhtuay’s, cost$12, for a clean, spacious and modestly appointed room.

Many Europeans stay at this place, and they are keen to compare travel notes. What’s more, food here is better than in local restaurants. There is delicious chicken rice porridge for breakfast, and goat meat in the evenings, eaten with fresh herbs, rolled up in rice paper. A meal in the guest house will set you back a princely $3.

After a bucolic two-day visit, which included hiking, boating and visits to local temples, we departed on an overnight train to Da Nang, a city in central Vietnam. A “soft sleeper” is $20, four to a compartment. The dining car is one option, but rolling carts with food and drink pass by constantly. If you’re not queasy, a meal will set you back around $2.

Da Nang is no more for tourists than Wilkes-Barre would be for Asians visiting this country, and our next stop was beautiful Hoi An. Even the breakfast buffet at our hotel, called Ha-an, was magnificent. There was tropical fruit, dim sum, buttery croissants, made-to-order pho, and very good filter coffee, as well as around a dozen other dishes.

This city is famous for cao lau, a chewy noodle made with well water and topped with croutons, bean sprouts and sliced pork. It is addictive, but not as much as the local chicken rice, best eaten at a restaurant on a side street emblazoned with the words com ga, or chicken rice. They have several.

For $1.50, you get a plate of rice cooked in a rich chicken broth, slices of meat, skin on, scallions, cracklings, and two sauces. On the table are various chili sauces, condiments and fresh herbs. I can honestly say the dish is one I could eat five or six times a week. It’s that good.

Later in the evening, we went to the seaside, to eat a live crab at one of the many huts by the water. Picking over the crab was fun, but the price, around $15, didn’t seem worth it, in context.

The next evening we dined at Morning Glory, (106 Nguyen Tai Hoc), named for a green vegetable also known as water spinach. Like many restaurants in Vietnam, there is also a cooking school here, and during the mornings, cooking classes are held.

Our dinner, which included a fish stew, pork with bamboo shoots in a clay pot, sautéed morning glory and fish cooked in a banana leaf, was tremendous, and so was the price. With drinks, the check came to $21.

Hue, the ancient capital, was next, and since the rain never ceased for the three days we were there, we spent the bulk of our time eating. In Central Vietnam, the food tends to be spicy.

The famous bun bo Hue, a pork and noodle soup served with jellied cubes of pork blood, is one of the local specialties, but so is Imperial Cuisine, created for the royal court that once resided here. And there is only one real choice for it, Y Thao Garden, 39 Thach Han.

Even though the Lonely Planet guidebook advertised this dinner at $8, the real cost was closer to $11. But this is a spectacular dinner, and the setting, a revamped mansion, is equally so.

The first course was spring rolls on skewers stuck in a pineapple, and then came what appeared to be pork galantine, arranged artfully on a platter.  Peel and eat shrimp, fig salad with shrimp chips, lotus rice and grilled beef were just a few of the courses that followed. It might have been the most unusual meal we ate in this country.

After two weeks here, my wife decided she wanted a change of pace, so I suggested that we try an Indian restaurant near the hotel with the less than promising name Omar Khayyam, (named for a Persian writer and polymath), at 10 B Nguyen To Phuong.

When we entered, the only customers, we were greeted by a lovely Vietnamese woman who spoke some English. My wife asked directly is the chef was Indian, and was told yes. “But he’s gone out”, she told us. So we decided to return later.

After an hour, we saw him pull up on his motorbike. My wife, a Nepali, greeted him in Hindi, but upon hearing his reply, looked at me saying, “Christ, he’s Nepali.”

Shocked and delighted to receive a landsman, he told us to wait, while he went to market to get chicken and fish. When he returned he made tandoori chicken and Goan style fish vindaloo, both amazing.

Does anything beat an unexpected travel experience? Next year, I’d like to visit Saigon, the Mekong Delta and Laos. Stay tuned.

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Posted By admin on January 10, 2010

I find that City Center’s vast canyons of steel and glass are far more intimidating from inside than from the 15 Freeway, but driving in is only one option.

One could walk, for instance, as does chef Martin Heierling, who says it takes him two minutes to hustle between Sensi, his Bellagio restaurant, and Silk Road, a new three-meal restaurant at Vdara. Silk Road serves some of the most unusual food in town. Is it a gamble, given that this is the hotel’s only restaurant? You bet.

Obviously, the big brass at MGM/Mirage, President Bobby Baldwin and CEO Jim Murren, have an almost religious faith in Heierling’s talent. Why else would they have let him consult on Silk Road’s design, build it close enough to Sensi to allow him to run both, and made him Vdara’s Executive Chef?

Considering this is the only restaurant at Vdara, a hotel and condo complex with no gaming facilities, it’s understandable that the restaurant is open at seven a.m. That way, guests can take coffee with their quail eggs, boudin noir or Turkish eggs with free range turkey hash, three exotic choices on Heierling’s breakfast menu.

Still, this is an ambitious undertaking given the scope of the menu. If you’ve eaten at Sensi, the chef’s eclecticism won’t come as a surprise. He’s a native of Germany who made his bones in the kitchens of New Zealand, and later worked with the alchemic chef Gray Kunz, at Lespinasse in New York City.

The futuristic design was done by industrial designer Karim Rashid, green enough to have received a LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. It’s also quite gold in here, like a gilded gift box. I was hypnotized by one wall, ochre and burnt orange waves, depicting the Silk Road’s ever changing landscapes.

Heierling, a native Germany who speaks English with an odd Kiwi/German lilt, has traveled the real Silk Road, so his cooking has Turkish and Central Asian influences running through many dishes. If the term silk road suggests China to you, forget it and take it like a man. Heierling has the Western Silk Road in mind here.

His food is also Mediterranean, mostly southern, spun though exotica like the Moroccan spice blend harissa, and lukhum, a gummy candy sold as Turkish Delight in this country. There are also touches of Iran, such as the cotton candy-like sweet called pashmak, which dessert chef Frederic Larre uses to top many of his desserts.

The ebullient chef, a longtime friend of mine, came to the table himself to inform me that he couldn’t serve me an order of his signature grilled sardines, garnished with feta, dill and mint. “I put them on the menu as an afterthought”, he said, “and everyone orders them.” So I had to return for lunch to eat them.

There was consolation. Heierling is relentlessly creative; no chef in Vegas has a more extensive understanding of food’s endless diversity. Katafi crusted shrimp, a Lebanese specialty, cloaks the shrimp in a shredded wheat batter, alongside a watermelon and spiced cucumber salad. Basturma, the Turkish version of what one might loosely call pastrami, comes wrapped around a crisp cheese “Twinkie” on a spoonful of sesame seeds laced with wild thyme.

Out of curiosity, I ordered my companion Bintje potato gnocchi, and got perfect pillows of potato flour pasta, scorched golden brown, laced with curry spice and Gruyere cheese. The faint scent of truffles lingered on the finish. My fork seemed to have a life of its own when I tried to leave room for entrees.

Asia surfaces briefly with crispy Thai red snapper, but the sautéed baby artichokes and green olive butter rocket you back to the Levant. Morocco is represented with a lamb tagine, served under the traditional cone shaped lid. But it’s more Heierling than Hassan, fork tender pieces of slow cooked lamb mingling with garam masala, an Indian spice mixture, charred tomato and Persian eggplant.

As extraordinary as this food is, desserts are even more so. Credit for that goes to Frenchman Frederic Larre, who obviously has taken some cues from his boss, Mad Martin.

That’s why pashmak, pink colored, subtly rosewater scented Persian cotton candy, shows up as a garnish on many of the dessert plates, and lukhum is flanked by the most deliciously original complimentary petit fours in the city. A parfait made with minced hazelnuts and thick whipped cream set me on my heels. And the raspberry anise cheesecake, served in a tiny rectangle, almost makes me like cheesecake.

Come for lunch, and there are mezze (small plates) such as organic lamb kofte with smoked paprika, shaved Serrano ham with chorizo stuffed piquillo peppers, and something called yufta, a sheet-like Turkish pastry filled with basturma and goat cheese. Or Silk Road burgers, two mini char-grilled Black Angus sliders served with French fries.

Heierling has included them for the true culinary thrill seeker, I suspect.

 In Vdara at City Center. 590-7111.

Breakfast 7-10 a.m.; lunch 11:a.m.-2:30 p.m.; dinner, 5:30-10:30 p.m.

Some notes from designer Karim Rashid:

What was your inspiration for the design?

 Silk Road is an elaborate multi-cultural vision where Mediterranean Spice & Trade Market encounters the plush & intimate opulence of the Merchant Route. Silk Road’s seductive bar invites one to lounge in its sculptural fiberglass seating that flows into the street. The seating separates the relaxed yet elegant bistro style seating, intended to create the atmosphere of a Merchant Meeting House, from the private booths of the intimate dining room.  During the day, natural light will illuminate the vibrant & vivid colors of the room; while at night, subtle candle light and chandeliers encourage an intimate yet vivacious ambiance. Silk Road invites guests to find themselves immersed in a seductive experience that invites to socialize freely in its sensuous surroundings from breakfast to diner. There is a curvy wall in 3 different layers that creates a dynamic effect from day to night.

What is the experience you are trying to create? What is the feeling guests/residents will have in the space as a result of the interior design? Please describe each important area/element including colors, textures, fabrics, furnishings, etc.  What materials were used in the interiors? What’s unique about them?

 Before anyone walks into the Vdara restaurant one can immediately sense the rich history of the Silk Road re-envisioned today.  Delicate metal patterns remind one of Asian tapestries viewed as never before.  Walking into the ocular entrance fiberglass swags turn into furniture like a spice traders tent set up for a four star meal.  The colors are white, pink and mirrored gold in glass, metal, light wood ceilings and fiberglass for an understated opulence. 

Please discuss, in detail, the sustainable elements you’ve incorporated into the interior design, if any (materials, energy, water, etc.)

 The ceiling is plyboo veneer, a non-VOC material and one of the most rapidly renewable resources available.  Low energy consuming LED lights are used whenever possible to give a consistent energy efficient and low maintenance glow for years.  Daylighting is used along the corridor while shades are brought in to cut down on the solar heat gain for a more efficient conditioning of the space.  

 What are the key elements of the interior design that you feel should be highlighted? The most unique features?

 The smooth curved surfaces in the most contemporary materials still evoke the history of the Silk Road.  All the furniture either custom designed for the space or designed by Karim.  This ensures an aesthetic consistency that is true to the space, the idea, the food and the designer.

 Describe the cutting-edge, innovative technologies and techniques that have been incorporated into the interior design?

 Bead blasted curved metal walls, gold reflective glass floors, fiberglass seating designed by Karim Rashid for added flair, innovative lighting at the perimeter for surprising but subtle elements throughout create a space that is both contemporary and soft.

 Please walk us through the space, describing each important area/element including colors, textures, fabrics, furnishings, etc. What materials are used in the interiors?  What’s unique about them?

The exterior has the metal pattern on gold mirror with pink windows and an amorphous opening to signal to the dinner that something incredible is ahead.  Upon passing through there is fiberglass blobject furniture designed by Karim over a reflective gold glass floor.  To the other side is an innovative bar set below a dimensional representation of the Silk Road itself. 

The hostess will set you in one of several dinning experiences, from intimate and cradling custom fiberglass banquettes to soft tables that seem to glow with a warm orange light, reflecting the sand dune layered wall and the southern Nevada sunsets. 

 How did you create a space that is unique to its own character, but yet responds to the overall vernacular and identity of the building?

 The materials, the shapes, the colors are all unique to idea, function and space as a whole.  Still, because of its position in the building, at the precipice of the entry it must act as a beacon for entry and as a window and a mirror to the surrounding exterior.  It is precisely this collection of materials shapes and colors that create this beacon to the outside and mirror for the interior.

Are any fine art pieces intended for your space? Please discuss your approach.  Are there any other art features of interest?

There are two pieces in particular.  One is the dimensional interpretation of the Silk Road that hangs above the bar near the entrance.  Lacquered in milky white and illuminated from within there are criss-crossing  paths leading to all destinations.  Further into the space is a light twirl sculpture standing at eight feet high.  This glowing piece is a fluid post reminiscent of whirling dervishes and acts as a center point of the dinning area.

 What is your design team’s background?

 Camila Tariki received her architecture degree from the Universidade Presbiteriana in Sao Palo, and a second degree in Interior Design from Parsons School of design in New York in 2002.  Camila has been with the Karim Rashid studio since 2002 and the Director of the space department since 2006.

 Kamala Hutauruk received her Bachelors of Architecture from the University of Indonesia in 2003 and her Masters of Fine arts from the New York School of Interior design in 2003.  Kamala has worked as an interior architect and architectural visualization specialist in Indonesia and New York since 2003.

 Cece Stelljes earned her Masters of Science degree in interior design from Pratt Institute in 2005.  She began working in design in 2002, focusing on hospitality projects including W Hotel Midtown Atlanta, STK Restaurants in New York and Los Angeles, and The Bank nightclub in Las Vegas.   

 Evan Padruig McCullough graduated with a Bachelors of Science in architectural studies in 2002 with a minor in Anthropology and a master’s degree in Architecture from the University of Utah in 2005.  He has worked in engineering, architecture and design offices for the past 6 years and has been at the Karim Rashid Studio since 2007.

What are the key projects in your portfolio that you would like for us to highlight?

 To date Karim has had some 2500 objects put into production. Successes such as the Dirt Devil Kone, Umbra Garbo, and Method Home designs illustrate Karim’s ethos of affordable, democratic design for the masses. Karim’s award winning interior work includes the Morimoto restaurant in Philadelphia and Semiramis hotel in Athens as well as many retail stores and restaurants world wide. 

 What recognition/awards have you received?

A perennial winner of the Chicago Athenaeum Good Design award, I.D. Magazine Annual Design Review and Red Dot Award, Karim was also honored early in his career with the prestigious Daimler Chrysler Design Award, and the Brooklyn Museum Young Designer of the Year Award. Recently he received the International Furnishings and Design Association Circle of Excellence Award for Industrial Design and Pratt Legend Award. Karim’s interior work have garnered accolades from the Boutique Design Awards and Seep European Hotel Design Award for Best Interior Design Public Spaces for Semiramis Hotel and National Association of Store Fixture Manufacturers: Grand Prize: Retail Store of the Year, Nambe Flagship store. His work is in the permanent collections of 15 Museums worldwide including MoMA, SFMoMA and Centre Pompidou, Paris.

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Posted By admin on January 10, 2010

Kerry Clasby, the mater familias to the Molto Vegas Farmer’s Market, describes herself as an “intuitive forager.” She’s also a passionate advocate for eating better, the Slow Food Movement, and her own company, California Family Farms, which provides a backbone for the best local Farmer’s Market, called Molto Vegas.

Clasby’s company is located in Santa Paula, Calif., in the heart of agricultural Ventura County, west of Los Angeles. But she scours the state in search of the best produce, tasting her way through orchards, farms and small family producers. She brings her products to market the old fashioned way, by truck. This week’s market list contains more than two hundred items.

Clasby is the first to admit that without the support of Molto Mario, superstar TV chef Mario Batali, this market would never have gotten off the ground. That’s the Executive Chef for his three Vegas restaurants, Zack Allen, watching things work,

But it has, and at long last, word is disseminating, and the market is increasingly becoming more popular. The hours have just been increased, and the color and variety of the inventory is simply staggering. Many local chefs such as Michael and Wendy Jordan of Rosemary’s are getting produce here. The bar for Las Vegas food is being nudged ever higher.

There are literally hundreds of things to buy here, in all colors, shapes and sizes. A farmer from nearby Sandy Valley sells huge grapefruits and watermelons. Flowers, date cookies and boutique goat cheese are just a few of the specialty items.

All produce is organic, which means it is grown naturally, without pesticides or hormones. On my last visit, I bought gorgeous Blue Lake green beans, baby purple artichokes, a pile of un-pickled Anaheim peppers and various Heirloom tomatoes. I asked Clasby to define the term “heirloom”, and she gave me an elegant response.

“Some seeds are several generations old,” she said, “and produce unique varieties. They are saved and replanted, producing varieties that are literally handed down from generation to generation.” In the same way, it is possible to have heirlooms from other fruits and vegetables. One example is mixed heirloom potatoes, which are sold here. Heirloom potatoes, who knew?

These tomatoes come in every color of the rainbow, sometimes oddly shaped, but invariably delicious and here, unfailingly ripe and intense. Green Zebras and Early Girls, the latter dry farmed, will make you wonder why you ever bothered with the so-called Roma or Beefsteak ripened with ethylene gas that you foraged at Vons.

For those who grouse about things not being grown locally, one needs to look no further than Gilcrease Orchards, in North Las Vegas, and their superb apples. Herb choices are amazing, and indispensable to the passionate home cook. There are so many things unavailable at local supermarkets, too, such as Bull’s Blood beet tops, wild fennel on skewers and flowering thyme. And many of the herbs are local.

Pumpkins and cabbages, quince and Shinseki Japanese pears, the list is endless. If you like greens, there are 45 to choose from. What, you don’t put stinging nettles or purslane in your daily iceberg mix? That’s about to change.

And if I can’t convince you, Clasby will. She’s ready to tell you about how fast food consumption parallels the rise of heart disease, cancer and obesity in this country. She’s ready to suggest ways to cook her products, and she’s convinced that no one can afford not to eat well, even if it comes at a higher price.

Which isn’t the situation here.

Molto Vegas Farmer’s Market is held Thursdays, at 7485 Dean Martin Dr. #106, just south of Warm Springs Road (across from Unicahome’s old location).

Hours: 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

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Posted By admin on January 7, 2010

Vietnam will forever hold a place in the collective consciousness of my generation. As a high school senior in 1967, I saw several friends off to that faraway country of conical hats, paddies and karsts jutting up from the South China Sea, friends who lost their lives there, along with well over a million Vietnamese.

But today, Vietnam is a peaceful country, and if there is any lingering resentment towards the West, or any negative animus toward Americans in particular, I didn’t experience it. McNamara has gone to meet his maker and Ho Chi Minh lies entombed in a giant mausoleum fronted by a leafy park in Hanoi, a gorgeous city of art galleries, lakes and endless motorbikes. As to the evil Dr. Kissinger, even Satan may someday be re-admitted into the Kingdom of Heaven.

My wife and I landed in Hanoi on December 8^th, after a stopover in Seoul and a magnificent twenty course, twenty dollar lunch at Sanchon, Insa-Dong, Seoul, Tel. 02-735-0315), one of the world premier vegetarian restaurants.

After a one-hour trek from the airport to the city, we arrived at our hotel, Church Hotel in the Old Quarter, ravenously hungry. Even at 10 p.m., there were street vendors selling nem- deep fried spring rolls stuffed with pork, noodles and crab, banh can-grilled rice squares with crusty surfaces and a fluffy egg filling, and bowls of rice, meat and fish. Diving in, we discovered that one dollar total easily afforded us one of each.

For a foodie like me, or an Asian food lover like my Nepal-born wife, Vietnam is foodie nirvana. Imagine a country where first-class hotels are fifty dollars and under, breakfast is included, and a typical breakfast is pho, fresh mangoes and French press coffee. What’s pho? Vietnam’s national dish, rice noodle soup with a rich broth topped with sliced beef, eaten with a pile of fresh herbs. I couldn’t stop smiling all day.

Incidentally, thanks to the French, you can get a proper croissant and a cup of hot chocolate almost anywhere in the country, and there are even Starbucks outposts. (Stalin did say that after he was gone that “the Capitalists will drown us like blind kittens.”)

Open any Vietnam guidebook, and go to the Food and Drink section. Somewhere, in boldface, it will say “DON’T EAT STREET FOOD.” Oh really. So are they telling us that the locals jammed up on kiddie stools in countless alleys are all going home with typhoid and dysentery. I think not. I’m here to tell you that my wife and I ate on the street for 16 days, and returned home with a full package of Immodium. We never got sick once. We did have some of the best food of our lives.

One caveat: the Vietnamese do eat dog, but they won’t sneak it into any of your dishes. First of all, they regard it as a delicacy. Secondly, it’s generally served at specialty restaurants. Look for the sign that reads “thit cho”. That’s Vietnamese for dog meat. Now cross the street.

Now the Opera House, Hoan Kiem Lake and the mausoleum are all fine, in fact, I recommend a walk around the lake to stimulate the appetite. But I went to Ha Noi to eat (that’s the way the city name is written here, since the Vietnamese language is monosyllabic), so stop number one had to be Quan An Ngon, a tent like establishment filled with long wooden tables and stocked with over a dozen kitchens. (18 Phau Boi Chau, Quan Hoan Kiem, Ha Noi Tel: (04) 3942 8162).

The menu here is encyclopedic, and one read through will tell you how pitiful the representation of this cuisine is in America. (Bosa 1 on Jones is my favorite Vietnamese restaurant in Vegas.) I ordered around seven dishes on our first visit, and the check, with beer, came to $23. We started with beef salad with green papaya, fresh shrimp rolls and deep fried black pudding, and then we plowed our way through plates of roasted quail, grilled pork and fresh mackerel. For dessert, the lotus seeds and passion fruit in coconut cream is divine.

The next evening, after being pulled around in a pedicab for two hours ($3), we joined our friend Suzanne, a gallery owner, at La Verticale, 19 Ngo Van So, Hoan Kiem Tel (04) 3944 6317) a big deal French restaurant housed in a charming villa.

 La Verticale features the fusing cooking of chef Didier Corlou, who does wonderful things with local clams and imported lamb. Unfortunately, prices are obscene (for Ha Noi). We spent $158. I can’t say it wasn’t good, but let me frame it this way. The meal at Quan An Ngon was far better.

So the next day we went back to Quan An Ngon for lunch, and had crab cakes, rice noodles with chicken, chao tom, (shrimp grilled on pieces of sugar cane), cha ca, a rice and fish porridge, and banh goi, Vietnamese turnovers filled with pork and shrimp. On the side, you always get a pile of fresh herbs, sauces like nuoc mam, Vietmamese fish sauce, and fresh chopped red chilies. On our third and final visit, we had roasted sparrows with spiced salt, heads and all.

Using Ha Noi as a base, we decided to take a two-day cruise of Halong Bay, on a small ship that housed around twenty guests. Meals were spectacular, mostly seafood, served family style. Tours to Halong Bay can be arranged through your hotels, or at any of the bazillion travel agents on the street. Prices range from around sixty to one-hundred fifty dollars per person per day, including a three-hour van ride to and from the harbor. It’s an unforgettable experience.

Returning to Ha Noi, we plotted our next ten days in Vietnam, deciding to visit Tam Coc, one of the most scenic spots in Asia, the ancient capital of Hue, and the beautifully preserved village of Hoi An, untouched by the “American War”, and a highlight of any trip to Vietnam.

Before our 14 hour sleeper train to Da Nang, though, we stopped for lunch at the legendary Cha Ca La Vong, (14 Pho Cha Ca.)  The restaurant only serves one dish, fish which you grill over a charcoal brazier, with a mountain of dill, rau ram, basil and heaven knows what else. When the fish is cooked, you wrap it up in rice flour crepes, and smear it with purple shrimp sauce. Mmm.

The next post will describe the amazing, and quite regional, dishes and restaurants found in the far flung destinations outside Ha Noi.

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Posted By admin on December 29, 2009

December 31st is celebrated the world over as New Year’s Eve and the birthday of one Max Jacobson, food critic, world traveler, and linguist extraordinaire. Recently our spies located rare photos, thought to have been expunged when Max went serious with the food critic idea. We will publish more photos if he doesn’t have a happy birthday.

Happy Birthday, Max from your #1 fans here at Unicahome. We wish you many more.

editor’s note: in the interest of common decency we decided to crop the image on the left. we are debating selling the original as a full size poster.

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Posted By admin on December 29, 2009

“Ring in the old, ring in the new. Ring out, wild bells, and let them die.”

Alfred Lord Tennyson was referring, of course, to the New Year, that festive time of resolutions, college football, and above all, champagne.

It is said that the monk Dom Perignon discovered this sparkling beverage, upon accidentally discovering bubbles in his fermenting wine. In the late seventeenth century, when he first stumbled upon, and later improved, the Methode Champenoise, by using actual bottles to store it and corks to seal them, the wines acquired immediate cache as the ultimate luxury drink, a status it has not relinquished up to the present.

Today, however, despite the claim of being the first region in the world to produce sparkling wine, only eight percent of them come from Champagne, a region of eastern France. The name is actually derived from the Latin word Campania, which means “countryside.” In the past, there were many varieties of grapes planted in the region, but today, order to be champagne, the wines, blends of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier, have to be made a specific way, and be from the region specifically designated as Champagne.

Champagnes come in many categories, and at the top of the pyramid, the so-called tete de cuvees rule, wonderful wines such as Dom Perignon from Moet et Chandon in Epernay. Near the top are wines like Krug Grand Cuvee, from the smaller, exclusive house of Krug, also in Reims.

Champagnes are generally an assemblage, French for an assembly of premium wines from only the best vintages, and because of that, top champagne houses generally limit their releases to two or three a decade. These wines are also aged a minimum of seven years in the bottle before release, and live incomparably long lives are a result.

Here in descending order according to price, are five terrific champagnes with which to ring in the New Year, all in the classic 750 ml size bottles. My one resolution this year will be to drink more champagne.

Around $150.

 No city of comparable size sells more top cuvee champagnes than Vegas, a city where the revelry is non-stop.

 

The current release of Dom Perignon is the 2000, a lush wine with a fine spray of bubbles, (known as the mousse in French), and the flavors of nectarines and cream. A vibrant minerality comes through as well, and the wine should continue to mature in the bottle for several years. The Wine Enthusiast gave it a lofty 95 points in a recent posting.

 

 

Krug Grand Cuvee isn’t as expensive as Vintage Krug, nor was the wine held back for an amazing 14 years, as was their last vintage bottling. It is, however, expressive of the house philosophy, which is that every Krug wine, “tastes like a Krug, and brings a surprise in each sip.”

The House of Krug was founded in 1843 in the city of Reims, where it still resides. The wine is composed of up to 50 different components, from 8 to 10 vintages. If one were to characterize it, one might say that it is more extracted (more concentrated grape flavors) than the competition, or more complex. All at once creamy, toasty and buttery, I’d call it my favorite non-vintage wine of them all.

Around $50

Ruinart is the oldest champagne house in the world, founded by Nicholas Ruinart in 1729. They make a delicious rose, and the prestige cuvee Dom Ruinart, but the wine recommended here is a delicious example of champagne made from 100% Chardonnay grapes.

The wine uses only Grand and Premier Cru grapes, and comes, unlike most others, in a clear glass bottle, so you can see its pale straw yellow color. The first sip unveils a hit of lime and citrus, giving way to hints of coffee and vanilla. Pricey but not prohibitive, this is easily the class of its price category.

 

 

The house of Veuve Clicquot, actually Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, made its first vintage in 1810, spearheaded by a young widow (veuve) who was a pioneer in her time. This house devotes itself exclusively to the production of champagne.

Their Yellow Label Brut is their mainstay, dominated by Pinot Noir, one-third Chardonnay with a touch of Pinot Meunier. (Unlike their expensive tete de cuvee, La Grande Dame, composed of  64% Pinot Noir and 36% Chardonnay, all Grand Cru, no Pinot Meunier whatsoever.)

This wine is both round and structured, with notes of stone fruit and minerals, remarkable with food. It is dry, crisp, yeasty and firm, just terrific champagne.

Under $50

Moet et Chandon Brut Imperial is for those who like a really dry champagne. No sweetened liqueur in the dosage (basically, the final topping all champagnes get in bottle to determine the degree of sweetness) leads to a residual sugar level of less than 1.5 percent. Still and all, this one has a flowering lime nose and a nice, nutty feel in your mouth.

It’s again mostly Pinot Noir, and because it is made by the same people who produce Dom, you know that the reserve wines in this baby are top notch.

 

 

Happy New Year!

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Posted By admin on December 20, 2009

In the less than 30 years since 1981, when a Korean immigrant named Lee launched his first store, Mr. Hae Eun Lee and his offspring have turned the business into a 50 million dollar a year retail empire. High volume and careful buying make it possible for the many Vegas stores to offer premium wines at low prices. Sometimes, there are unbeatable deals here. These are three.

Louis Latour ’06 Puligny-Montrachet

The negociant Louis Latour is the largest single house in France’s Burgundy region, where prices of legendary price and stature dominate the landscape. The house has 125 acres, more than 71 in the Grand Cru classification. This lush wine was once sold at $57, but here, it is almost twenty dollars less.

This is a village wine, not a single vineyard designate, but delicious nonetheless, with vibrant but not harsh acidity, a long finish, and hints of hazelnuts and white flowers.  Drink now. It’s a great holiday wine. At Lee’s Discount, $39.99.

Angels Landing Stag’s Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon ’07.

Most of us jaded wine writers have had it with California Cabs, They are usually overoaked, overpriced and overexposed. But not this one. Stag’s Leap District is the place that put California wines on the world map, and occasionally, they still come up with a real value.

This wine has loads of chocolate, dark cherries and toasty oak, sort of like a cross between cherry pie and your grandmother’s armoire. Robust and powerful, but a reasonably cool wine on the back palate, this is a wine you can drink alone, even if the winemakers insist you have it with food. At Lee’s Discount, $19.99.

 

 

 

Michel-Schlumberger Dry Creek Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, ’03.

Surprise, more Cab. Frankly, I’m surprised myself.

I wonder how Lee’s can offer this perfectly good Claret, a rather classic example of the genre, at such a low price. The winery is located off the beaten track on a hilly Sonoma County back road, and makes a number of recherché varietals like Malbec and Pinot Blanc.

This wine is deeply flavored, nicely structured, with enough age to make the tannins soft and approachable. Bushels of dark berries smother all but real stand up foods like grilled meats or game, even, perhaps ripe cheeses. Don’t lay this one down for too long. At Lee’s Discount, $15.99.

Lee’s Discount Liquors
15 convenient Southern Nevada Locations

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