Category Archives: Dining

What’s All the Fuss About?

Posted on by RedFlair14

This is the 3rd time I have tried to write this blog! Either I am too stupid to remember to hit “save” or my computer is resetting to an earlier location when it services itself and reboots every Thursday morning. That being said…Sorry there was no blog last week. Being sick blows, but since no one pays me to write this, I figured I could take a week off to recuperate. Thanks for sticking with me.

Moment of Truth – sometimes I just have to admit I am a little jealous of Henderson. Counting Town Square (which is MUCH closer to H-son than to me), they have 2 Whole Foods, 3 shopping malls, 2 Trader Joe’s and countless Mom & Pop dining choices that are good, or at least decent. They even have a slew of chains (not that I am advocating eating at “big box” chain restaurants, but even Chili’s closed up by me…I live in a restaurant desert). Yet, I am not sure if it is jealousy or just simple pragmatism, I still won’t drive there just to eat or shop when there are closer options. Do I want to go to Bread & Butter? YES! Did I want to hit up Meat + Three before they shut their doors? YES! But they were in H-son dammit! I need a REASON (party with friends, visit with clients, spend time with my buds from Boulder City, etc.) to drive 45 minutes, and shopping and dining are not good enough reasons. John loves Khoury’s but won’t go there just to go there, he only visits on the days he works in H-son.

So let’s talk about Settebello. On Valentine’s Day I had the occasion to be in H-son. Darling Hubby bought me a gift that I had to pick out – a new Boston Terrorist puppy. Her name is Cannoli BTW, and the white marking on her forehead looks like a Chef’s knife. John suggested since we were going to be down there, we should go to Settebello and see what all the fuss is about.

It’s cute. The pizza was good (not NY style, but Italian style) and the service was great. If, and when, I am in Henderson I will go back there. Will I make a trip JUST to eat there? No. Why? Dollar for dollar and mile for mile, Due Forni makes better pizza. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the pizza at Settebello (oh and it’s a small chain BTW) and maybe I will like them more once the location in Summerlin is open, but I REALLY like the pizza at Due Forni. They both have their fancy schmancy ovens and they both make similar styles of pizza (like I said, not NY style, but authentic Italian style), but as I stated before, driving 45 minutes for a pizza seems ridiculous to me when I think of pizza as fast food. Would I go back to Settebello? Sure! In fact, I would have gone there this past weekend for a friend’s b-day party if John wasn’t exhausted from a cross country business trip, but there again – that’s a REASON to go. The pizza is not enough, for me the salted caramel budino was better than the pie.

So I am left wondering what all the fuss is about. Good pizza, not great pizza, is not enough to create all this stir. Did we get less than exemplary pies? Am I being a jealous bitch because once again H-son has some place decent to eat? Was I just crabby because I was too hungry when I walked in? If I was paid to be a food writer, I would go there at least three separate times before writing anything, but I am not paid. Still, what’s all the fuss about? Folks go on and on about Settebello, but Due Forni has better pizza. Why? Feel free to comment!

Next week, my thoughts on dining with Friend Al Mancini and Gordon Ramsay Burgr.

Melrose Place?

Posted on by RedFlair14

As I have mentioned before, when I visit a city, I like to park the car and walk around. You see and meet the most interesting people (like Michael Voltaggio’s gal Jamie and her little French Bulldog Kimchi) and you see some great things. Last week’s blog was all about our fine dining experience in LA, but that is NOT the only thing we did. If you listen to the Travel Channel or the travel guides you don’t get the whole picture of the cool places and things there are to do in any place. I found this particular post difficult to write because it started to sound more like a travelogue of what we did instead of evoking how those experiences made me feel. I never do ANY research when we travel, I let the spirit move me, whereas John has to make a complete itinerary. This time we had a partial itinerary, but I found myself wishing I had done some research. I had no idea we’d be so close to Ink. I didn’t know we were literally down the street from Charm City Cakes West.
The cinnamon bun at Charm City Cakes

Since we were staying in West Hollywood, conveniently located near everything we wanted to see and do, we took advantage of fantastic weather and walked EVERYWHERE we could. Part of the appeal of walking is soaking up the atmosphere of the area, interacting with locals and seeing what they see every day. A lot of the time I find that if I only go where the tourists go, I miss out on a great deal of the flavor. I miss out on the little things that make a neighborhood unique. When we walked down Melrose we saw graffiti art and even a Banksy tribute piece (we THOUGHT it was a REAL Banksy – but upon some research I found it was not). When you walk down Melrose you can see the neighborhood change from toney, to edgy and back again simply by looking at the shops and people.

Friends Drew & Dena live (and work) in Studio City, so we took a little trip over to Drew’s workplace and headed to a brewery from there. While the beer was good, I was a little put off by a primarily vegetarian menu. I don’t have anything against vegetarians, but I really think my beer should be alongside an ashtray (as if that would happen in Cali) AND MEAT. To make matters worse, I didn’t ask the right questions about the burger I ordered and they put Thousand Island dressing on it (gross). Totally my fault, so I scraped it (and most of the cheese) off and skipped the bun half the offending condiment had soaked into. We continued our Studio City visit with a stop at Laurel Tavern with the Lucases. The Chorizo Fondue was amazing as was the beer and our fellow diners. At the next table over was Channing Tatum, yes really – Magic Mike. He had his back to the room for the better part of the evening, so clearly he was trying to be unnoticed, so I didn’t bother him for a pic. I love the fact that at a real locals’ spot, a real local, who happens to be a celeb, was there hanging with his buds. It just made the whole experience more “Hollywood” for me.

Beer at Laurel Tavern

At Golden Road Brewing

Saturday morning brought us gorgeous weather and a trip to The Hudson – we had to go because of the name (Moment of Truth – I graduated from Hudson High School). There, we experienced one of the most exquisitely crafted cocktails EVER! It was a cousin to a Rye Manhattan. The secret ingredient is small batch bitters containing candy cap mushrooms. Aromatic and breathtakingly delicious. And the food wasn’t bad either and the bar staff was outstanding.

Midwest Monk – that amazing cocktail

Pulled Pork Tacos

Crab cake Benedict

Of course walking around and taking pics makes for thirsty work, with each bar calling out to us, we had no choice but to stop and visit for a while. At The Village Idiot we met “Johnny Walker Red” – that’s not his real name, that’s just what we called him. He’s a local personality and bar denizen. Always wearing a tux and hat, he is intimately involved in the bar and entertainment scene if we could believe everything he said. Very fun and personable. We did so much and visited with so many people, both from my past (Hudson friends Dave T and Scott H) and from our present (the Lucas Family). There just isn’t enough time to do everything justice in this blog, so enjoy the pics. I drank 2 pink cocktails for heaven’s sake!

I find that I could visit LA every single weekend. There is so much to do and see and 3 days is not enough. Maybe renting a place for a month long walk-about…

Life’s a Bazaar

Posted on by RedFlair14

LeAnne-uary continues! As I have mentioned before I don’t think birthday celebrations should be limited to just one day. I celebrate the entire month of January and then celebrate Febu-Laurie and Lillian-uary in February. John has embraced this idea and organized a getaway weekend in LA for me, and it was super special.

One of the things we try really hard to do is shop, eat and stay local whenever we can and John has made it a personal mission to try and find indie hotels and cool Mom & Pop boutique hotels whenever possible. He found amazing places in New Orleans and Palm Springs in the past, but this time he out did himself. The Charlie used to be owned by Charlie Chaplin and the owner has restored the space and tried to keep as much of the original architecture and appointments as possible, while updating the property to make it contemporary. No easy feat, but well done here. There is a cobbled parking area with designated spaces for each of the 14 apartment style units, mullioned leaded windows and lovely gardens. The staff was very helpful and our stay was ultra-relaxing. It’s situated between Melrose and Santa Monica in West Hollywood and was walking distance to almost everything we wanted to do. Perfect! A word of caution – this place is expensive ($500-$750/night) so look for it on Groupon or Living Social for a steal of a deal. For the record, we stayed in the “Ruth” suite complete with a photo of Ruth Gordon getting her Oscar for Rosemary’s Baby.

The door to our “room/suite”.

The gorgeous gardens.

The Master Suite

Accommodations acquired, we set out to walk about the area, take a tour of Paramount Studios with Dave & Gil (thank you again!), and take a Disco Nap* before dinner with Dena & Drew. And what a dinner it was! I have never really been a fan of molecular gastronomy, maybe because I never had it done RIGHT! Jose Andreas completely changed my mind on this and Bazaar in the SLS Hotel is the perfect place to cut your teeth on this type of meal. Everything from the “Liquid Olives” to the “Philly Cheesesteak” to the deconstructed (sort of) Hendrick’s and Tonic was the stuff of dreams for someone who embraces new experiences. Thank you again Drew & Dena – this was a spectacular continuance of LeAnne-uary!

Enjoy these lovely photos and be prepared for part 2 of my LA weekend next week. Some places, like Seattle and LA clearly need more than one week.

That amazing Gin & Tonic, and yes, I ate the nasturtium

Liquid Olives

Left to Right, Jamon Serrano, Jamon Iberico, Acorn fed Jamon Iberico -SUBLIME!!! Charcuterie Whore HEAVEN!

Stuffed Piquillo Peppers

Stuffed ‘Shrooms – which were better at room temp than they were hot.

Paper thin jicama purses filled with guacamole

The legendary Philly Cheesesteaks – the little baguettes were filled with melted cheese and topped with capaccio…yes, really!

Food Memories this past week include a lunch with Erica T at Nosh & Swig, LA bites and food and drinks with friends old and new. Until next week, go out and make your OWN Food Memories!

*Disco Nap – for those of you not old enough to remember…it’s a late afternoon nap that allows you to keep looking and feeling great until the wee hours of the morning.

The Intentional Tourist

Posted on by RedFlair14

When we go on vacation each of us makes an itinerary. Some people have very detailed ones, while others have loosely scheduled events or a list of things to do or places to see. John and I learned years ago that I am more of a “fly by the seat of my pants” kind of tourist and he needs a day by day itinerary. When we go on vacation, once the destination is chosen, I will give him a list of things/places I’d like to experience, and he takes care of the rest. It works out great for us. He feels like he is in control and I feel like I am going with the flow.

When you live in a tourist city, like Vegas, San Francisco, New York, New Orleans, what do you do? Do you ever really take time to be a tourist in your own city, or do you eschew all of that unless friends or family come into town? Have you ever acted like a tourist in your own city for more than an afternoon? When Jack was younger, if he had the day off from school, he and I would go play tourist in Vegas for the day. See the Lions at MGM (gone now), drink all the different Coke products from around the world (gone now), visit the Bellagio and check out the conservatory’s seasonal floral display, and all the other free and cheap things we could fit into one day. But until recently I have never had the opportunity to really play tourist in my own town.

A couple of weeks ago, John’s pro org came to town for their fall conference. Because he is the President, he was required to be on premises for the whole thing and consequently we had a suite for the duration. We stayed at Caesar’s Palace, and while we didn’t have the Hangover Suite, the one we had was pretty sweet (no pun intended). We “moved in” and as he did all the official stuff he HAD to do, I took a more relaxed approach and walked my city’s main thoroughfare at odd times, acted like a tourist and showed a friend a good time. They also gave us access to the Diamond Level stuff, including free snacks (they sucked, except for the cheese straws) and cocktails in the Diamond Lounge, which I was happy to take advantage of as often as possible. In the evenings we had scheduled events to attend together, but the days were mine to enjoy as I wished, so enjoy them I did.

Did you know walking on The Strip early in the morning in search of breakfast is really nice? There is almost no one around; no crowds and the city looks freshly scrubbed (except for the call service flyers on the ground). I had always believed my favorite time on the strip was dusk when it is dark enough to enjoy all the neon, but light enough to see everything else. I think I have a new favorite – early morning (before 10 a.m.).

I also learned that finding a simple, cheap breakfast (Moment of Truth – breakfast is EASY – it should be cheap) in the heart of The Strip is damn near impossible, but I did eat a few good things and I had some tasty Bloody Marys (love the one at Michel Richard’s Central and the one at Serendipity). While the choices for lunch are vast and impressive, I found while acting as a tourist I didn’t really want lunch, I was more content to wait for happy hour or dinner time. Because neither Friend Dena nor I gamble much, we relegated ourselves to shopping, drinking, chatting and eating. Days consisted of looking for shoes and snacking our way up the strip.

Here’s a partial list of tasty things I ate and drank:
• The Bloody Marys mentioned above
• Gougeres or Cheese Puffs at Michel Richard Central
• Excellent Cask Beer & good charcuterie (Sierra Nevada Torpedo) at Public House
• Creamy, delicious oysters at PJ Clarke’s during Happy Hour (great deal!)
• A fried poached egg (yes, really) on a nontraditional Benedict at Serendipity
• Delicious sushi at Sushi Roku with friends – I think the camaraderie at the table made the meal even more enjoyable!

I encourage you to make a tourist out of yourself in YOUR city, however humble, and check out what visitors see.

Food memories this past week consist of a fun Election Night Soup Buffet with friends, and plenty of fresh fruits and veggies (trying to lose some tonnage).

Ricotta Donuts at Public House

Truth on a beer glass

Dena & I at PJ Clarke’s

Those lovely oysters mentioned above

Until next time, go out and make your OWN Food Memories.

Drink Around

Posted on by RedFlair14

This past week friend Al Mancini wrote a piece about the “dine around” culture here in Vegas. He interviewed me and quoted me for it. Needless to say I was flattered. Just as that hit the web, I realized we were getting ready to attend a similar but different kind of event. This one involved beer. Instead of DINING around, you DRINK around.

Twice a year, here in Vegas, Motley Brews hosts a beer drinkers’ heaven event. The spring event was in Tivoli Village and the fall event was at the Government Center and boy did we have a good time! The idea is to introduce beer lovers to new, hard to find, or up and coming breweries and/or beers. Of course there are perennial favorites mixed in along with the unknown. All told there were over 100 different beers and if you had VIP tix like we did, there was a selection of mead and a couple of distinctive beers available in the VIP tent.

All the food in the VIP tent was from Todd English and was basically good, but not outstanding. I think the biggest problem is that they sell too many VIP tix (they are only $10 more) so there is always a queue for anything in that area and the staff managing the food was unprepared for the onslaught. Still, I was glad it was there. You simply CANNOT enjoy that much beer with no food. Also on site were Haulin’ Balls (one of my faves – Moment of Truth – I managed to sneak in one of their lamb meatball sandwiches while John was gallivanting with friends) and a couple of other food vendors offering freshly fried potato curls, pretzels, BBQ, dogs and burgers for an additional fee. While I always enjoy this type of event, I think my snobbery got the best of me on Saturday. What exactly is the point of offering a VIP ticket and selling so many of them? We did receive early admission to the venue, we did have snacks, but to my point of view, there should have been fewer tickets sold at a higher dollar value. I hate to line up for ANYTHING, especially food and drinks, and because there were so many VIP’s I waited for everything in the VIP tent. Also, there were no goodie bags. Charge me more, give me a goodie bag and have me not wait in line…that would make me happy. But, if I had to be perfectly honest about it, the extra ten bucks was well spent. I’d still have been happier to pay more and have less people crowded into the VIP area, but that’s just me.

But let’s get back to the beer…when you arrive at these events you are given a little 3 oz. plastic cup that you take to the various stations and they partially fill it for you. At first you are thinking to yourself, “Gee, I am a grown ass woman, I need a bigger cup, or they need to fill this puppy up!” After several samples, you understand the small cup size and the partial fill. Like a wine tasting, there are rinsing stations to clean out your cup so as not to mingle flavors. That’s especially important when moving from a stout to an IPA or a cider.

New favorite that I tried that day? Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer. Absolutely refreshing and I can’t wait to try it in a Moscow Mule! Ya hear that Ma? I should have it ready when you get here! Also loved Moylan’s Hopsickle Imperial IPA and I think I may have to visit their brewery restaurant if I can find Larkspur, CA – Thanks Tracy! I was so busy having a good time that I didn’t take too many pics…

Food Memories this week include John and Friend Dani getting into a little water fight while waiting to be seated at a sushi joint (I thought they would toss us out), working on a food map of the Fremont Street area, and dining on leftovers.

Until next week, go out and make your OWN Food Memories!

I Left My Heart in San Francisco (that would be lamb’s heart)

Posted on by RedFlair14

Sorry I didn’t post last week. This is the time of year that I start to get a little scattered. I get a project in my head and it takes over everything else. Last week it was the transformation of my dining room, hot on the heels of returning from San Francisco. The weird thing is I usually just go with the flow about most things, but when I get an idea in my head…look out! Apologies, and I hope this one makes up for the absence of last week.

My sister in law, Bonnie and her wife, Gretchen, live in San Francisco and each year we travel up there and they reciprocate by coming to visit us here. Gretchen and I are cut from the same cloth and both of us love to cook AND EAT! And we enjoy cooking together, so whenever we get together there is plenty of cooking, eating and drinking. The last trip involved oyster shucking, whiskey drinking and discovery of wine that didn’t give me a headache. We always have a great time. This trip was made even better than usual by Top Chef Masters Winner Chef Chris Cosentino.

Chef Chris’ restaurant is Incanto and it is nearly impossible to get reservations on a Friday. I was really disappointed that I couldn’t snag a table at one of the places on my “Places to Visit” Pinterest board. I was, however, delighted to learn they had open seating at the bar. If you know me at all, you know I love to sit and eat at the bar and I love a chatty barkeep. So on a chilly Friday night we trekked to Incanto, hoping to find seats at the bar where I could dine and add to my collection (more on that later).

I wasn’t disappointed! The bar had seating and the full menu was offered, but the COOLEST thing about eating at the bar instead of a table was that Chef Chris himself spent the night chatting at the bar with all of the guests, touching base in his Garde Manger station and checking progress on the line in the kitchen. I am sure that he made the obligatory tour of the dining room, but it must have been pretty brief because it seemed to me he was at the bar the entire evening. The staff was attentive and offered suggestions to us first timers and a good time was had by all. For me the star of the evening was the Lamb Heart Tartare. Of course it was so good and I was so excited that I forgot to take a pic, even though we ordered it twice!

John and Chef Chris at the bar

Five Shades of Hay – John’s lamb dinner. He asked Chef Chris what he was most excited about on the menu and promptly ordered it!

The beautiful Charcuterie Plate – Charcuterie Slut strikes again!

Of course I HAD to have my photo taken with Chef. While taking the pic, John tells Chef, “She collects you guys like trading cards.” At first I was mildly embarrassed, but then just sucked it up. It wouldn’t be so funny if it weren’t partially true. I am a Chef Junkie. I like to meet them, talk to them, find out what makes them excited about food and listen to their stories. John thinks I should find a way to market Chef Trading Cards. They could be sold like baseball cards (Go Yankees!) with a photo of the Chef and a couple of his/her recipes in each pack. Of course they would have to be in oversized 3×5 format to fit into traditional recipe card boxes…hmm. Check out my FB page “Good for Spooning” and see “The Collection” so far.

In addition to a fab dinner at Incanto, we had all sorts of adventures. My first trip to the Ferry Building (where oysters were eaten and salumi was purchased), a visit to John’s Aunt Cathy and her urban apiary, and family dinners of pizza and slow cooked brisket. (Moment of Truth – the brisket and potatoes were so good, I fell into a food coma at around 8:30 in the recliner.)

Charcuterie at Monk’s Kettle

Cathy’s urban apiary – she has several hives. That’s me in the yellow bee keeper hat.

Deviled Eggs at Hogs & Rocks, and yes, those are fried oysters on top!

Clams and oysters on the half shell at the Ferry Building. For the record I only had 1 cherry stone clam for breakfast.

The curing cabinet at Boccalone

We always create Food Memories with Bonnie & Gretchen, and this trip was no exception. In addition to everything above I loved watching nephew Colin chatting in fluent French with the wine purveyor at a wine tasting event.

This past week’s Food Memories included eating at my new dining room table (Another Moment of Truth – this is my first REAL dining room table – all my other tables have been “kitchen” tables), finding an eggplant recipe that I actually loved, Caesar’s Buffet (don’t judge) with High School Friend Suanne, and a surprise visit from my son including Ren Faire Food and Brazilian BBQ.

Until next week, go out and make your OWN Food Memories!

Dining Like a Rock Star

Posted on by RedFlair14

Two weeks ago I had the great good fortune of dining with food writer Al Mancini at B & B Ristorante and it was outstanding. Al’s lovely wife Sue was unable to join him for dinner that night, so darling Hubby loaned me to Al for the evening. Needless to say I was flattered and delighted to be able to join him.

For those of you who don’t know, B & B stands for Batali and Bastianich. While admittedly I would love to meet either, or both gents, Joe Bastianich scares the crap out of me. Have you seen Master Chef?! I know everyone is afraid of Gordon Ramsay and his yelling, but the cooler than a cucumber exterior of Chef Bastianich makes me quake. I saw him spit out someone’s food on that show! (Moment of truth – I would cry big wet girly tear drops if I saw someone spit my food out. Even Rick Moonen didn’t spit my food out!)

Back to the dinner…remember a while back I wrote about Secret Food Writers? Al and I discussed that (and lots of other stuff) over dinner. He says those days are long gone. As writers with followings, they are expected to go out on the town AS THEMSELVES to get publicity and a following for the paper with which they are associated. Makes sense from a publisher’s point of view. I have to say that while I understand it, I still KNOW that I don’t get treated the same way when I am out to dinner with John as I did at B & B with Al.

The service at better restos is always good, and you should expect that, and I do. We had a fab server. Knowledgeable and really friendly. We were tossed up on a few things and magically those items arrived on our table without us having ordered them, including the charcuterie selection (Have I mentioned I am a bit of a charcuterie slut?) and really amazing bone marrow ravioli that burst flavor all through your mouth when bitten. Afterward we were given a quick look at the charcuterie aging room. The smell alone was enough to cause my eyes to glaze over and for me to swoon. I can promise you that even with my growing readership, I am not even a blip on the radar of the management of most of the high end restos in town, and I know the little extras and perks were due to Al’s cache, not my sparkling personality. It was a treat to be pampered by the staff and to eat with Al. I would never have gotten a glimpse of the charcuterie room otherwise!

A few words about Al, the first few times I met him (mostly at fundraisers for Three Square), I was more than a little intimidated (I know, shocking that I am ever intimidated). I had read his stuff and liked it, and that made me want to like him and vice versa. If you don’t know him, he has a fantastic Mohawk, funky beard and doesn’t LOOK like what you expect when you think of FOOD WRITER. He looks more like a punk rocker. Thankfully my Mom told me “don’t judge a book by its cover” and I didn’t. After striking up conversations with Al, I found him to be incredibly smart, really funny, and not at all intimidating. Oddly enough, I wasn’t in the least intimidated to meet other food writers in town.

Dominic Scali (The Vegas Foodie), me and Al Mancini from last fall

Here’s to hoping that I soon will have my OWN cache to draw upon…

Until then, enjoy the pics from that meal and you can read Al’s comments here. Now, to be sure, I am not certain if Al’s opinion on the evening was as high as mine, but it’s not JUST the food that makes a great dining experience for me. The ambiance, people and conversation surrounding the meal are what make a good dinner and great dinner.

The Salumi/charcuterie plate. Those lovely little savory beignets in the center cone were perfect for the fatty lardo.

Octopus

Lamb’s Tongue with chanterelles and a poached egg (my fave dish of the night, next to the charcuterie).

Bone Marrow Ravioli

Crab Ravioli with Seppie (squid ink) sauce

Rabbit Porchetta

And a sneak peek into the salumi aging room…

Food Memories THIS week include a recipe tasting event, late night pizza with my main squeeze after seeing Wicked and of course the DISH fundraiser for Three Square (I didn’t take a single pic – I swear).

Next week? San Francisco treats! Go out and make your OWN Food Memories!

I Have a Dirty Little Secret

Posted on by RedFlair14

I hope you all had a Happy Labor Day weekend! Ours was spent with family and friends and the photos are below.

I have a crushingly embarrassing secret. I am a junk food junkie – don’t judge me! I can’t help it, but all the crappy food calls my name just as loudly, if not louder on some days, as fine food from great restaurants. If it is fried, greasy, loaded with chemicals and other crap, I WANT IT! Just think on this for a minute: Twinkies stay fresh for a long time because of all the preservatives and chemicals in them. Imagine how long I can remain fresh by consuming them…jk.

For me it is ridiculously difficult to drive by Popeye’s Chicken and NOT stop. It’s excruciating for me to order the side salad instead of the fries and the smell of tortilla chips frying will send me into a swoon. Fried foods – French Fries especially – are my particular personal demon. Dip almost anything in batter or breading and fry it and you have won me over (Moment of Truth – I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, so things like fried Oreos, fried Twinkies, and the like are easy for me to pass up.).

It is a rare occasion to find an open bag of potato chips in my house. A closed one? Sure! But once that puppy is open, all bets are off. Those crispy little darlings sing to me with a siren’s song and I can’t stop until the bag is empty. The only sure fire way to make sure I don’t eat the chips is to buy BBQ flavor or something equally disgusting, but I can promise you that if they are Salt & Vinegar or any regular salted chip , you’d better keep an eye on them or they will be mine. Most of the time I don’t even realize I am hogging all the chips. It is just mindless eating to silence the siren’s song. Once they are gone, the song stops.

As an exercise in self control I have challenged myself to NOT eat anything fried for the entire month of September. Of course I forgot it was September this past Saturday and before I knew it, there was a piece of fried calamari in my mouth! It just jumped in there, right off the plate! And again on Sunday! I forgot it was already September and had to try Brother JJ’s fried quail. Honestly, I only had one bite because I remembered it was September as I broke through the crispy crunchy shell to get to the delicious meat, but I passed on the poutine with great difficulty. Yesterday at a friend’s house (just so you know, I am having a hard time typing FRIEND instead of FRIED) I immediately went for the chips and dip and I grabbed a chip. It never made it to my mouth because I FINALLY remembered it was September.

I am like an addict trying to wean myself off fried foods. With any luck I will succeed! And if the Waistline Goddess is kind, maybe I’ll drop a few pounds too? Please?

September is Hunger Action Month and last week was Restaurant Week here in Vegas to kick it off. Tons of restos pulled out all the stops to help raise money for our Three Square Food Bank. Of course I am a terrible food writer since I didn’t take pics of all my food (bad girl!!), but in my defense, it was so delicious I didn’t want to waste the time!

Girls’ Night Out at Comme Ca with Chef Brian Howard

Grilled Squid in ink sauce

Panna Cotta at Due Forni

Jenna’s salmon at RM Seafood

The gang at Public House

Jenna and Brother JJ

Food Memories this week include dining with Brother JJ and wife Jenna (a Happy Anniversary trip for them) for the first time in almost 2 years, Girls Night Out for Restaurant Week and dinner, and drinks and conversation with the folks at Marche Bacchus and the Mancinis.

Until next week, go out and make your OWN Food Memories!

All Access Passes

Posted on by RedFlair14

One of the things about living in a “food” town is that you have great food. EVERYWHERE! Each NYC neighborhood and borough has amazing ethnic cuisine and the same is true for LA and Chicago. What makes Vegas so different? Access to the Chefs of course!

As often as I have been to San Francisco, NYC, LA, and Chicago I have never seen any of the resident celeb chefs. And believe me, I look. (Moment of Truth – Some people are Rock Star Groupies, I am kinda a Chef Groupie. It’s a little embarrassing to admit it and it almost makes me sound stalkerish…but I really admire them and what they do.) I have even gone so far as to ask a few of them if I can cook in the kitchen with them and film it for this blog. More on that if it happens!

I know for a fact that it is common to see Emeril Lagasse enter Emeril’s in New Orleans. When we were visiting that city we saw him arrive to work and casually chat with folks walking by and even pose for a pic or two. That is not the case everywhere you go. Mostly you don’t see the celebrity Chefs in big food cities, unless you are in their resto when they are there and they tour the floor. Here in Vegas the Chefs are just regular people, with a fat dash of celebrity to be sure, but they are just regular people. Don’t get me wrong, I am sure that Chefs are just regular people in other cities too, but I don’t see it. Here the Chefs are out and about. Smiling and posing for pics and making themselves available to their fans. And not just at the BIG Foodie events.

One of the coolest things for me is to go to an event, no matter when or where it is and see local celeb (or soon to be celeb) Chefs just hanging out and being part of the scene. They chat up everyone, and not just about food and not just industry workers. For example, The Saturday Night truck Stop. And before you start in, I know I have written about this before. If you are ever in Vegas on a Saturday night, and it is late (after 11:30 pm), I encourage you to get your butt over to Tommy Rocker’s if you are a foodie. Especially if they are having a Back of the House Brawl (BOH Brawl). There you will find several fab food trucks circled up like wagons on a bygone wagon trail, ready to serve you some awesome food. On a BOH Brawl night, a couple of Strip Chefs will face off, Chopped style, and vie to win a PBR Trophy and raise money for Three Square Food Bank, my fave charity. What could be better? A bar to get frosty adult bevs, great food, fun people and fun people watching. PLUS, the chance to get to meet and talk with some really cool Chefs doing some amazing things here in Vegas.

To prove how much of a Chef Groupie I am, here are a few pics of some locals and not so locals that truly were fun to meet. I am hoping to add Chris Cosentino to this collection in late September when I go to San Francisco.
Goofing off in the kitchen with Rick Moonen for Friend Sam’s Bday party a couple of years ago.

With Kerry Simon at KGB at Harrah’s

Hubert Keller at Vegas Uncork’d last year.

This week’s Food Memories are cooking soft food for son Jack who had his wisdom teeth pulled, hanging out in bars with friends and further planning on my 25th Anniversary Party (can you believe someone quoted me $2000 for dessert?!)

And here is the Winner from this week’s BOH Brawl, with the coveted PBR Trophy, Chris Starkus!

Until next time, go out and make your OWN Food Memories!

Hair of the Dog

Posted on by RedFlair14

It was suggested to me that I write about Bloody Marys so here you go.

All of us (over 21), at one time or another, have been in the need for some “hair of the dog”. A little worse for wear after a night on the town and for me the magical cure is a Bloody Mary. There is something alchemical about the tomato, spices and booze that just straightens me right out. (Moment of Truth – it probably has more to do with the tomato juice than the booze.)

There is some debate as to how, where and when the Mary was invented, and even some debate on whether the original spirit of choice is actually vodka. Some sources say the original spirit is gin – and the cocktail is good both ways. Here is what I DO know from research, the drink can be as individual as you are.

In an effort to learn as much as possible about this manna from heaven, I did a little research and invited some friends over to do a sampling and have a “round table” discussion about what makes a good cocktail, where to find it and what are the perfect garnishes. We did a blind (for them) tasting of Mr. & Mrs. T’s, Zing Zang, and Demitri’s Bloody Mary Seasoning, along with the classic Mr. Boston Bartender’s Guide version (although I DID add horseradish to the original). We tasted each base in its “virgin” state for comparison and then added vodka to our favorite. For all of the cocktails we used Ketel One Vodka. Here is what we learned:
• No one liked the “original”; it was too bland
• No one liked the smell of the Mr. & Mrs. T’s, although we did like the deep rich color
• Everyone liked Zing Zang, although I can’t drink it. It has MSG in it and I am allergic. It was, as advertised, zingy with a citrusy pucker to it.
• Demetri’s was the hands down winner; although we had to increase the ratio from 2 oz to 1 qt to 3 oz to 1 qt. (Demitri’s comes in a liquid form that you add to tomato juice.) We found the suggested blend too bland for us, but once it was increased we all agreed that was the winner and that was the only pitcher empty at the end of brunch.

Friend Dani suggested that the reason we didn’t like the original was that our tastes are more extreme than when the drink was first created. We enjoy more spice and seasoning now than we did in the early part of the 20th century, so what may have been a spicy sensation THEN is just boring now.

As for garnishes, the classic is a celery stalk, but we all agreed (except friend Lynn) that more is better! Friend Laurie loves olives with hers, and I tend to agree. Other options are large caper berries (my personal fave), pickled string beans, pickled okra, cornichons, pickled asparagus, pearl onions…basically make a salad out of it! While horseradish is NOT one of the original ingredients we all agreed that it is a requirement when mixing your own. Friend Lynn added it to all of the bases for consistency’s sake! The one thing I forgot on our “research” day was to rim the glasses – typically you use celery salt, but spicy salt or herb and spice blends are really popular and add a bit extra punch. Oh, and I also found pepperoni straws online – yes, really! They are like Slim Jims with a hole thru the center. Super good fun!

Once our drinks were assembled, we sat for brunch (a hash brown crusted scrambled egg pizza) and chatted about where to get a good Mary. Any good bartender or mixologist in Vegas can make you a decent Mary, but I was more interested in the off the wall places to get one. Friend Lill’s comments were added in abstentia since she couldn’t be there to aid in the research and she loves a good Mary.
• Rumor has it The Double Down makes them with bacon flavored vodka – no I am not kidding
• The Bunkhouse (one of the oldest free standing bars in Vegas) makes a respectable one on the cheap!
• While none of us like the food at Hash House A Go-Go, we all agreed the Mary there is a winner, and almost reason enough to go there just for that.
• Both Mon Ami Gabi and Simon at Palms Place have Bloody Mary Bars on Sunday brunch. They mix vodka and tomato juice for you and you season and garnish as you please. I prefer Simon’s because their variety of hot sauces is a vast array from mild to volcanic. The fact that it is all you can drink is a bonus. The only way Simon’s could be better is if they had caper berries in addition to the other garnishes.
• According to Seven Magazine (see page 36), the best Mary in Vegas is at Bar + Bistro (headed by friend Beni Velazquez). I can’t comment since I haven’t had it, but theirs is more of a Bloody Caesar. A Caesar is mixed with Clamato instead of tomato juice and apparently Beni’s has minced clams in it! (Tip from Sister Nancy – when making a Bloody Caesar rim the glass with Old Bay Seasoning.) More research? A resounding YES!
A Bloody Mary on board the Victoria Clipper – a traveling companion suggested this topic

Bloody Caesar and beer at Canoe brewing in Victoria

My esteemed panel – L- R Friends Lynn, Dani and Laurie (Dani is not a double fisted drinker – she is holding mine!)

Enjoy your week and remember to mix up a batch of these for your weekend. The web abounds with plenty of recipes, but if you find a premix you like, go with that. Feel free to leave comments with your fave ideas on Bloody Marys – where to get a good one, what you like to garnish with, etc. There may be more research needed 😉

Food Memories this week include recreating the fab fig and goat cheese flatbread pizza I enjoyed in Seattle, Friday brunch with friends for research, ripening peaches from my back yard and digging in the herb garden.
The fig and goat cheese pizza with prosciutto – delish!

Until next week, go out and make your OWN Food Memories!