Just rediscovered this piece I wrote on sushi knives with Master Sushi Chef Osamu “Fuji” Fujita Executive Chef of Loews Resorts (his home base is Marssa restaurant at Loews Lake Las Vegas). Click to enlarge:

It’s not often I get to announce big food world news, but a right place-right time conversation with Scott Conant this morning about his wine program brought this bombshell. Master Sommelier Paolo Barbieri, late of the recently shuttered Restaurant Alex in the Wynn resort, has joined Conant’s team as Wine Director of both Scarpetta and D.O.C.G. in The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

Just teasing… one of the many outlets I’m proud to write for is the EscapeHatchDallas blog of my friend and colleague Mike Hiller…
Here are a few of the posts I’ve done for EHD…

•How’s Your Drink: An Interview with Cocktail Expert Charlotte Voisey

•Eating the Road: Aureole Las Vegas’ Wine Weekend

•Sneak Peak: New Vegas Resort, Cosmopolitan

•“Tequila Certification”: [...]

The Smithereens were one of the first of several bands coming out of New Jersey that I was fortunate enough to write about in the early years of my career as they emerged to national attention (others included Monster Magnet and Ween). It is an incredible feeling to see a band who played your local [...]

Since Yellowtail, the modern Japanese restaurant at Bellagio, is already well established, I don’t need to write a full review to explain it. However, a recent meal of Chef Akira Back’s specialties reassured me that even with the introduction of Blue Ribbon at Cosmopolitan, Yellowtail remains easily one of the Ten Best Japanese restaurants on the Las Vegas Strip… and possibly even Top Five (but don’t force me to make that difficult choice right now). And if the hostesses don’t convince you that it’s a sexy room all by themselves, the Rockwell Group interior design will. The patio is also one of the best places to watch the Bellagio fountains while dining.

After staying away for a few years, it was remarkable to return to the Indio valley and note the cultural changes in Palm Springs, a once-sleepy, retirement-centered town which has now re-embraced its Hollywood connections and surviving midcentury modern architecture. Several boutique hotels have been restored to create some of the hippest resorts anywhere. Take a look at my feature article for Dallas/FtWorth’s 360 West magazine, or just enjoy some of my candid pics…

One of the most unforgettable travel experiences of my career was visiting Mexico’s incredibly exclusive Las Alamandas resort, south of Puerto Vallarta. Dreaming of simple luxury, prompt service and unspoiled nature in one spot? This is it. Take a look at my story for Fort Worth/Dallas’ 360 West magazine, or just enjoy some of my [...]

First of all, Spice Market is something of a cornerstone in the “new” Meatpacking District, an area I used to frequent about 10 years ago when it was still fairly woolly. It’s now an almost-homogenized restaurant row with an impressive number of choices (Scarpetta and Dos Caminos being just two no-brainers). If you’re in Manhattan and can’t think of where to eat/meet, this is your failsafe.

Steven Siegel is Las Vegas Businessman of the Year–at least, if you ask me. I can’t think of any other entrepreneur who has made more dynamic, adventurous, and smart business moves in a challenging economy than the owner of the ever-expanding Siegel Suites as well as the Artisan, Rumor, Lodge at Mount Charleston, Gold Spike [...]

Few restaurant closings are truly happy occasions for anyone, but there might be no sadder news in the Vegas restaurants world than the announcement yesterday of the imminent shuttering of Wynn’s Restaurant Alex. Chef Alessandro Stratta’s Michelin-starred spot was not just inventive, not merely gorgeous and transportive, not solely decadent and delicious. It was all of these things at once–and certainly more. If anything, the restaurant’s greatest sin was how it made such a delicate balance look simple.

With all the talk of the new cuisine in Cosmopolitan, a few other smaller restaurant openings on the Las Vegas Strip this season have been largely overlooked. One is so hidden, you can hardly blame anyone for missing it: SEA Thai, in Bally’s–a resort that’s long suffered without any significant food updates.
Nestled next to the [...]

Although it already has some 400 Yelp reviews, curiosity about Eataly remains high outside of New York City. I got the chance to visit—on opening weekend actually—and finally have a moment to share some impressions.
First a couple of facts: Eataly wasn’t Mario Batali’s idea. In fact, it was created by Italian electronics retailer Oscar Farinetti, [...]

For New Yorkers, Scott Conant is already a well-known name. The chef has been opening one hot restaurant after the other—all Alto Italiano—for nearly the past ten years, It’s only in the past two that Conant has expanded from the naked city. After opening his own Scarpetta in the Meat Packing district, he’s cloned it in Miami, Toronto, Beverly Hills and now Las Vegas, while getting his face on the Food Network (he’s far less of a TV ham than many other chefs).