By Mike, on September 3rd, 2010 You might think I don’t know food for shit, and you may break my balls over my lack of grasp of the English language, but one undeniable fact is that I’m an expert when it comes to being an asshole. This is why I’d like to take this time to chastise the dick of a beverage server / bus boy today at The Eiffel Tower Restaurant in the Paris Hotel.
Here’s the story:
So I meet up with the lovely @misstdoe for the Eiffel Tower Restaurant’s Restaurant Week lunch. We are seated at the table, our beverage order is taken to which I ask for a lemonade and Mysty asks for an iced tea. Beverage Server / Water Boy / Bus Boy comes to the table with a bottle of The Republic of Tea something or another, to which Mysty (very politely, I might add) told the soon-to-be-dick, “Oh, I’m sorry, I only want fresh-brewed iced tea, nothing in a bottle. Can I just get a Diet Coke?” It was at this time that Beverage Boy came at a very important crossroads. He could have said:
A.) “Of course, that’s not a problem, I’ll get you one right away.”
or
B.) Make a face like we just raped his dog before his very eyes, pout like a douche, become unnecessarily flustered, and continue to make every bit of body language possible that this was the biggest pain in the ass he has ever come across in his time on Earth. If that’s not enough, then add on to the idiocy by proceeding to go to another server in front of my own eyes and make some obvious snide remark on his way back to the beverage station.
I couldn’t believe it. One of the rudest service experiences I’ve had in recent memory. It completely shit on the rest of the meal, which really wasn’t all that great to begin with (gritty mushrooms & poorly baked gougères), save the extraordinary Creme Brulee at the end. All this guy had to do was smile, nod, take the fucking bottle back to the beverage station and then call her a pain in the ass in whatever language feels most comfortable to him back there.
That’s why the back of the house is in the back of the house.
Douche.
A pretty view though. At least they can’t fuck that up.
 A view of better food across the lake. —–
Eiffel Tower Restaurant
Paris Las Vegas
3655 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 948-6937
http://www.eiffeltowerrestaurant.com/
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Mike Dobranski is a professional musician, amateur blogger, eater of good food, poker junkie, master of the inappropriate comment and bad husband to a wonderful wife.
Follow Mike and Tasting Las Vegas on Twitter at @TastingLasVegas
 Don't Be An Asshole! Vote! (please) You can vote once per day from now through 09/30/10! Thanks!
By Mike, on September 3rd, 2010 Do you remember the look on Ralphie’s face when he woke up on Christmas morning, looked out the window to see the freshly fallen snow, just realizing that Christmas Day had arrived and his Official Red Ryder Carbine Action 200 Shot Range Model Air Rifle may have been waiting for him downstairs? That was the look on my face when the invite came across my Twitter screen to check out the Restaurant Week event at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, “Tease in the Kitchen.” Joël Robuchon quality food, a non-stop pour of bubbles, and hot burlesque dancers shaking their tits and ass right in front of your face. Are you kidding me? Santa Claus ain’t got that in his sack!
One of the appetizers passed was something on L’Atelier’s regular menu, a langoustine wrapped in a (I think) rice paper wrapper that was so impossibly thin that you could see the basil leaf delicately laid atop the crustacean. To say this was perfect is an understatement. People work all their lives and never even come close to executing food at this level of quality. It was truly something special. The only way this plate of food could be marred is if some jackass with an iPhone tried to take a picture while stumbling to the left after about 5 too many flutes of champagne, thus making Le Langoustine from L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon at the MGM Grand this week’s Weekly Bad Picture of Good Food.
 Le Langoustine From L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon —–
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon
MGM Grand Resort & Casino
3799 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 891-7358
http://www.mgmgrand.com/restaurants/atelier-joel-robuchon-french-restaurant.aspx
Follow L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon on Twitter at @RobuchonLV
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Mike Dobranski is a professional musician, amateur blogger, eater of good food, poker junkie, master of the inappropriate comment and bad husband to a wonderful wife.
Follow Mike and Tasting Las Vegas on Twitter at @TastingLasVegas
Everyday You Vote, A Kitten Grows Its Wings. Please vote once a day from now through 09/30/10 so I can be famous. Thanks!
By Mike, on September 2nd, 2010 For the last four years or so, Stephen Hopcraft has served as the Executive Chef of Michael Mina’s Seablue in the MGM Grand. It’s been quite the journey for him, growing up in Ohio, then onto Santa Cruz where he first got into cooking, then up to San Francisco where he honed his craft and eventually made his way to Our Little Twinkle in the Desert. Along the way he picked up a wife, a couple of kids and a little bit of reality show celebrity. Not bad for a kid from Shaker Heights, Ohio.
 Executive Chef of Michael Mina's Seablue, Stephen Hopcraft From Ohio, Hopcraft went to Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz, CA where he was going to be a Sculpture major.(just when I thought there wasn’t anything more useless than my Music degree) Like many college kids, he got a job starting off as a dishwasher at a local restaurant, and like so many in The Life of the culinary industry, life in the kitchen became much more attractive than life in the “real” world. It was at The Dolphin on Santa Cruz’ Municipal Wharf where Stephen first cut his teeth in the kitchen, working his way up from Dishwasher to practically running the restaurant. As The Dolphin was basically a “fish n’ chips” joint, Stephen sought out cooking that was a little more involved, wanting to learn the craft. He looked around town and found Café Bittersweet and Chef Thomas Vinolus.
Hopcraft credits Vinolus with really teaching him how to cook. How to make sauces, how to make soups and the fundamentals of cooking that every chef lives or dies by. After Chef Vinolus felt he taught Hopcraft all he could, he suggested to Stephen to enroll in culinary school and that’s exactly what he did. Stephen enrolled in the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco which not only rounded out Stephen’s education, but placed him in the area where he met the people he needed to meet to get to the place where he is today. While at CCA, Stephen did his externship with Charlie Trotter. When his time there was done, he asked Trotter where to go from there, to which Trotter suggested Aqua. Thus the relationship of Stephen Hopcraft and Michael Mina was born.
Before Michael Mina became the incredibly successful restaurateur we know him to be today, Mina was Executive Chef at Aqua in San Francisco. Starting off as garde-manger (French for Salad Bitch), Hopcraft eventually worked his way up to a Line Cook in his first of what would be several working relationships with Mina. When Mina left Aqua to begin an empire of his own, Hopcraft bounced around a few other restaurants in the San Francisco area until he joined up with Mina once again at Arcadia.
It was at Arcadia where he fancied the Pastry Chef, Catherine, and love blossomed. Catherine wanted to further her career in Las Vegas, so Stephen and Catherine did the long distance thing for a bit until Stephen couldn’t stand being away from his honey so much. Stephen decided to take the Vegas plunge as well and eventually married the baker of his dreams. Stephen started off at Bouchon in the Venetian as Mina had yet to take over Las Vegas. He worked at Bouchon for about 8 or 9 months until he got the call from Michael Mina’s friend and now business partner, Andre Agassi, that he was getting into the restaurant biz and was opening Sedona in Summerlin (a neighborhood of Vegas filled to the brim with the entitled, for those not familiar).
Sedona was Hopcraft’s first real role as Executive Chef, designing the menu and doing all of the fun things that Executive Chefs do. When Sedona was about to change hands, Stephen left to help open Mina’s Stripsteak at Mandalay Bay for about 8 months until the position opened up at Seablue where Hopcraft has been doing his thing as Executive Chef for the last 4 years.
 Table setting at Seablue Across the hall from Seablue in the MGM Grand stands Tom Colicchio’s Craftsteak. The geography of this is important because Colicchio and the fine folks at Bravo were holding open auditions for Top Chef at his place. Seeing the sign on his way walking into work, Hopcraft made one of those defining at-the-whim kind of decisions and gave the audition a shot. The producers loved him so it was off to Washington D.C. to tape this latest season of Top Chef.
As fans of the show (although you might not be a fan of this season. Woof.) have seen, Stephen couldn’t quite get in a rhythm on the show. Like Reggie Bush, he spent a lot of time on the bottom. (get it?) Like the good man he is, Stephen owns up to it. Stephen told me about a lot of the Monday Morning Quarterbacking he’s done since the taping and his episodes have aired. He should have studied the show more, he should have gone with the competition more…these are all things he understands should have been done.
One of the big disadvantages Stephen felt he had is that his catering chops weren’t up to snuff. As you may notice, many of the Elimination Challenges up front are buffet-style steam table events. Cooking a la minute and restaurant-style plate the food, send it to the table kind of format is a completely different set of chops than cooking food that will do well under the conditions of a chafing dish. Stephen kicks himself for not studying the show more to realize the more restaurant style challenges don’t come until later in the season, you know…the week after Stephen got eliminated. So close, yet so far.
 As Seen On TV: Stephen Hopcraft Stephen will be the first to tell you that the whole point of Top Chef is to get chefs out of their comfort zone. Stephen told me, “The whole thing is take you out of your comfort zone, put you on your heels and now go cook. That’s the show. Some people adapt to it better than others. For sure.” I was surprised when I asked him about his preparations for the show if he called up any buddies that were previous contestants to get the inside track and he said no that he thought that was cheating. It speaks volumes to the guy’s character, but even I, who I like to think is a fairly stand-up, honest fellow is scratching his head with that one.
Speaking of his character, I asked Stephen if he liked the way he was portrayed on the show, as the editing room can often be a cold-hearted bitch. He seemed pleased and thought he came across as the easy going, fun loving guy that he thinks he is. I definitely agree with that, both that he is and that’s how he came across on the show. While Stephen can stand up tall with how he was as a human being on the show, he obviously has a few regrets with some of the cooking choices he made.
One that stands out in his mind is, of course, the dish he got eliminated on. For those that need a refresher or haven’t seen the show, the challenge was to cook a dish for a bunch of international dignitaries that used the flavor profile of a particular country. Stephen got Brazil, a country whose cuisine he was not particularly familiar with. I can see that. When I think of Brazil I think of two things; nether region waxing and women with tremendously fabulous asses. Stephen opted to use products from Brazil and come up with something on his own; a marinated skirt steak over rice. The flavors were well received, but it was the rice destroyed by yet another chafing dish that cut his Top Chef run short. You don’t cook buffet rice like you do when you plate it in the kitchen and send it out to the table to be served. Oops.
Another tough thing for Stephen to wrap his head around were the difficulties of shopping. “You’ve got $200 to make 150 portions of food. You do the math on that one,” said Stephen. Also what was difficult for him was shopping at the same place, Whole Foods, all of the time. On this Hopcraft says, “They have great products, but shopping at the same place for every challenge made it tough for me to come up with something in a new direction.” Sometimes all you need is a change of scenery to have a change of mindset, something Stephen would be the first to tell you he desperately needed for the competition.
Hopcraft’s advice to future contestants on Top Chef is that, “the person that will always do best on that show is the person that is able to change and grow and really respond to what the judges are looking for and open up. I think there were some contestants, me being one of them, obviously I got eliminated, that kind of just got stuck on their own thing on what they want to do and really just kept on plugging away at that.” He then added, ”I kept on trying to do something that wasn’t there, try to make something that was out of something it wasn’t. I kept trying to do that and make it happen when I should have backed off and let the challenge and the ingredients speak for themselves and do it in that way.”
While Stephen feels that he might have done a few things differently, he has no regrets doing Top Chef. In fact, he has a few moments of pride, his Quickfire Toothpick Challenge entry being one of them, which he thinks he should have won. He said, “I think that a lot of people got to see what I’m all about personality wise. I don’t think it highlighted my cooking abilities, again, just because that’s not the way that I process things and cook.”
 Chef Stephen Hopcraft In Front of HIs Home Turf, Seablue If you want to see how Stephen Hopcraft really cooks, there is no better time than right now as there are still a few days of Restaurant Week remaining (it goes through September 5th). Hopcraft is proud of his Restaurant Week menu by picking some of the more “foodie type things” on Seablue’s menu, one of which is a first course choice of Tandoori Octopus. Also on the menu are choices between Scallop Ceviche and Chicken & Chorizo Empanadas for the first course, Paella, Angus Ribeye and Arctic Char for the main and Bananas Foster Creme Brulee for dessert. The three course meal goes for $50.10 with $6 of that directly benefiting Three Square. That’s 18 meals for some people in need here in Southern Nevada.
While Stephen’s time on Top Chef has come to an end, there’s still a chance for him to bring home a W for the 702, and that is for Fan Favorite. The polls are open now and close on September 8th for us to vote for Stephen as our Fan Favorite. A direct link to vote for Stephen Hopcraft as your Fan Favorite on Top Chef is here http://www.bravotv.com/livevote/top-chef/fan-favorite. Wouldn’t it be nice for his two lovely, fresh out of the oven, twin daughters, Chloe and Madison, to have a Daddy that’s a Fan Favorite? 10 G’s buys a lot of toys for them, so get out the vote and let’s bring one home for the 702! (Oh yeah, and while you’re in the voting spirit, there’s another guy I know looking for votes)
Thanks to Chef Stephen for taking the time out of his day to chat with me for a bit. It was nice getting to meet him and I look forward to testing out his wares in the near future. Don’t forget his Restaurant Week selections, it’s one of the better looking menus of the lot.
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Seablue
MGM Grand Hotel & Casino
3799 Las Vegas Blvd. S
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 891-3486
http://www.mgmgrand.com/restaurants/seablue-mediterranean-restaurant.aspx
Follow Seablue on Twitter at @SeablueLV
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Mike Dobranski is a professional musician, amateur blogger, eater of good food, poker junkie, master of the inappropriate comment and bad husband to a wonderful wife.
Follow Mike and Tasting Las Vegas on Twitter at @TastingLasVegas
Want To Be At The Greatest Party Ever Thrown On Earth? Then Vote Everyday From Now Through 09/30/10! Thanks!
By Mike, on August 31st, 2010 Wait staff in barely there bikinis, mermaids swimming in the pool, dancers shaking what their mama (with a little help from their surgeon) gave them, Restaurant Week may be benefiting Three Square, but the Wet Your Appetite At Wet Republic kickoff event last night benefited my Spank Bank. Yowza!
 Buy a Key. For Charity. If nothing else, it made me happy. Not in the “Ooh look at that ass shake with each step” kind of happy, but in the sense that I see it as another step in the merciful dying of fine dining as we know it. In case you were wondering, fine dining is dead. It died a few years ago, but a couple places keep it on life support to appease the few remaining gourmands out there. Finally food is getting down to the most important part of eating; the food. The ivory tower holding the pomp and circumstance of which fine dining sits upon is finally being dismantled and instead of having a different glass for every year and every shade of wine, you can finally relax and enjoy your meal. Eating food is so much more pleasurable when you don’t have a stick up your ass.
But notice I said the “dying of fine dining as we know it.” There will always be “fine dining,” it will just be done in a more casual atmosphere. The food will always be “fine.” That concept will probably never be accepted by the old stodgy gourmands out there, as they’ll yearn for the days of tableside preparation, white tablecloths and a different sized fork for every bite, but who gives a shit. The casualization of fine dining makes good business sense and it makes good cultural sense. We are a people that are rapidly getting the ceremonious bullshit out of our lives, so why should restaurants go against the stream?
Ok…I’ll get off my soapbox now and get on with the event.
 It's a party, so dance! For charity.  The Wife With A Tasty Watermelon Mojito. Think Watermelon Jolly Rancher That Makes You Drunk. The Wet Your Appetite At Wet Republic event was a true celebration. Think of it as a miniature version of the Vegas Uncork’d Grand Tasting with a whole lot more boobs. It was great to see such a big turnout to enjoy the good times and to raise some dough for Three Square. The restaurants represented at this event were a bunch of Restaurant Week participating restaurants that are housed in MGM properties; Olives, Sensi, Circo, Fleur de Lys, Burger Bar, Sage, Jean Georges Steakhouse, Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill, Fiamma, Joël Robuchon and Craftsteak.
 Sensi: Makers of Tasty Foods  Pork Belly Steamed Buns from Sensi. Amazing. Not even I am that much of an asshole to rag on any of the dishes presented. It’s an outdoor catering event and it’s for charity for shit’s sake. Mostly everything there was quite good, but the Pork Belly Steamed Buns offered from Sensi moved all of the aforementioned chicks down a spot in the Spank Bank and took over as CEO. I’ve professed my love for Chef Martin Heierling and his crew’s food many times, and I will continue to do so many times. A perfect choice for the event.
 I make a motion to have these as the new uniforms in Burger Bar. Made a motion. Get it? The Wife’s pick of the evening came via Burger Bar in the Mandalay Bay resort. It was a mini-dessert burger with a donut bun, some kind of chocolatey / Nutella-y thing for a patty, I think passion fruit to look like cheese, maybe kiwi to look like lettuce and a strawberry to look like a tomato. I could be completely wrong about all of that, but that’s what I remember tasting. It was served with a Strawberry Beer which The Wife enjoyed quite a bit. Obviously, I have failed as both a food writer and a husband in my attempts to make her understand that you don’t fruit the beer.
 From Sage: Tasty Beer in the Foreground, Delicious Chilled Corn Soup in the Background Another top choice for me was a Chilled Corn and Saffron Soup with Dungeness Crab from the fine folks at Sage in the Aria resort. You can’t go wrong with good corn and crab, and doing a chilled soup in a plastic shot glass is a smart move for an outdoor mingling event such as this.
And yes, why I’d like to paint this event as nothing more than eating good food amongst the backdrop of finely tanned titties, there was, of course, something much more important going on, and that was raising money for a great cause, Three Square.
 Chef Matt Seeber (2nd from Right) with the Craftsteak Crew I got to chat a bit with Matt Seeber, Executive Chef of Tom Colicchio’s Craftsteak at the MGM Grand. I asked him about Craftsteak’s relationship with Three Square outside of Restaurant Week and he said, “we work quite a bit with Three Square both in-house and with the hotel.” He went on talking about different seminars the hotel puts on getting the employees involved with the Las Vegas community. Seeber added about Three Square, “they do great work here in Las Vegas.”
 Chef Robert Moore of Jean Georges Steakhouse Also at the event was Executive Chef of Jean Georges Steakhouse at the Aria resort, Robert Moore. While Jean Georges Steakhouse is a relatively new joint on the scene, Robert recently celebrated his sixth year in Vegas, three of which was spent at Prime in the Bellagio before he got tapped for his current position. Through the time he’s been here he has also developed a good relationship with the charity of the evening. Moore told me, ”Three Square is an amazing charity, everything they do is to help people. How can you not want to help these people out?”
 From the Pages of GQ to the Floor of Fleur de Lys, Owen Deignan While his boss, Chef Hubert Keller, was spinning discs up in the DJ booth, General Manager of Fleur de Lys at the Mandalay Bay resort, Owen Deignan, was on hand looking his GQ self and handing out some lovely Sashimi of Hiramasa with tasty foam. Owen told me that, “Restaurant Week is a great way to celebrate, getting together with other restaurateurs in the valley, but most importantly to help out the community in the passionate way that we find ourselves working in the day-to-day. It’s a nice way to give back.” I couldn’t agree more.
Restaurant Week is indeed a great way to celebrate. Our restaurants in this valley should be a source of pride for our community. These people, our neighbors, work their asses off day in and day out and present some of the best food that’s found on this planet. How lucky are we to live among such talent and be able to sample the things they do? Most importantly, how great is it that we have an organization like Three Square to get behind? Their dedication to helping the less fortunate is inspiring. To be able to help out in some small way makes you feel good inside.
I’d like to thank the good folks at MGM for inviting me and The Wife to come to this event. I’m sure there will be something of this nature every year for Restaurant Week, so if you missed it this year, make sure you go next year. You can’t beat a night out like this for the price of admission. And it’s for charity.
For more information about Restaurant Week, check out my recent post; Restaurant Week In Las Vegas Approaches, Happy Dance Ensues.
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Mike Dobranski is a professional musician, amateur blogger, eater of good food, poker junkie, master of the inappropriate comment and bad husband to a wonderful wife.
Follow Mike and Tasting Las Vegas on Twitter at @TastingLasVegas
If Not For Me, Vote For The Hang That Will Be Thrown Should I Win! You Can Vote Once Per Day From Now Through 09/30/10! Thanks!
By Mike, on August 30th, 2010  Las Vegas Restaurant Week Benefiting Three Square (image courtesy: threesquare.org) We’ve already mentioned Restaurant Week a few times, and we’ll keep on mentioning it because it’s such an amazing week and benefits such an amazing cause. Unfortunately, you won’t find much in the shit rag known as the Las Vegas Review-Journal, as they seem to think the importance of Restaurant Week is on par with some 3-course special being done at Viva Mercado. I urge you, TLV Army, to not only support Restaurant Week and the good folks at Three Square, but to also let the R-J know how shitty their food and beverage coverage is. It’s an embarrassment and a stain on our fine city. Let them know it’s about time to get their head out of Sharron Angle’s twat and start covering some stories that actually make our Little Twinkle in the Desert a better place.
Now that I got that off my chest, I look forward to hanging with all who make it out to the Restaurant Week kickoff event at Wet Republic in the MGM Grand tonight (August 30) from 8pm – midnight! There are still tickets available for the low low cost of $30.10 and it would be great to see you! To find out more about the Wet Your Appetite At Wet Republic Event as well links to Restaurant Week menus and such, check out our recent post; Restaurant Week in Las Vegas Approaches, Happy Dance Ensues
 Hussong's Cantina Logo Another week goes by and another special launches at Hussong’s Cantina at Mandalay Bay. This time it’s a combo deal for locals that has $3 get you a taco, a Dos Equis and a Tres Agaves margarita or shot. This will be a weekly special held every Thursday from 7pm-9pm. It’s launching this week on September 2nd and it looks like Carrot Top will be on hand. A hang just isn’t a hang until Carrot Top shows up.
 The Man, The Myth, The Legend - Robin Leach (photo: Robin's Twitter Page) In honor of Robin Leach’s (you can follow Sir Robin on Twitter at @Robin_Leach) birthday yesterday, I’m going to steal a play out of his playbook and let you in on a little Wicked Whisper and Racy Rumor! Is it true that an award winning songwriter is in advanced talks to bring a cuisine that would be totally unique to Las Vegas, further putting us on the map as a premier destination for world cuisine? Alright…so it’s not so wicked and it’s not so racy….and I already know it’s true….but I don’t know if I can spill the beans on it yet and thought I’d give it a shot. Guess I’ll leave things of this nature to the master. More on this groundbreaking restaurant once I see that things are more solidified.
Thanks so much to everyone for your support! You can vote once each day from now through 09/30/10! Things are going great on the ‘Medium Raw’ Challenge entry front, although I think I need a minor miracle to make it into the Top 10. Thank you so much to all that have voted and continue to vote once each day, as well as put up links on Facebook and Twitter. If anybody happens to know Oprah and think she could put out a wee bit of a shout out, that would be groovy. There’s only one month left that you’ll hearing me beg for votes as voting ends on 09/30/10. Remember, if I win this thing, the celebration hang will be so epic that even P Diddy would say, “Damn, that was one hell of a hang!” Keep up those votes! Thanks!
A direct link to read ‘Cooking Well Is First’ and to cast your vote is – http://bourdainmediumraw.com/essays/view/1409
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Mike Dobranski is a professional musician, amateur blogger, eater of good food, poker junkie, master of the inappropriate comment and bad husband to a wonderful wife.
Follow Mike and Tasting Las Vegas on Twitter at @TastingLasVegas
By Mike, on August 27th, 2010 When a restaurant first opens up, many times they don’t know quite who they are and will tweak through trial and error until they become the being they were intended to be. It’s especially the dishes that go through this metamorphosis. Maybe it’s a simple thing like the burger needs to be constructed in a different way so the bottom toast round isn’t a hot and soggy mess while the top remains dry and the whole thing needs more salt (ahem, did you hear that good people of Republic?). But then there are the times where items are exactly where they need to be right out of the gate, and it’s our perception needs that needs to be changed to truly see the beauty of what lies before us. This is especially prevalent when a man takes such a horrible photograph, with a light-challenged iPhone, of delicious chicken breast, carrot and Buffalo sauce wrapped in a perfectly fried wonton wrapper all dotted with some creamy Maytag; thus making the Buffalo Chicken Bites from the brand spanking new Republic Kitchen & Bar this week’s Weekly Bad Picture of Good Food.
 Buffalo Chicken Bites from Republic Kitchen & Bar —–
Republic Kitchen & Bar
9470 S. Eastern Ave.
Henderson, NV 89074
(702) 463-3500
http://www.republickitchenandbar.com
Follow Republic Kitchen & Bar on Twitter at @republickitchen
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Mike Dobranski is a professional musician, amateur blogger, eater of good food, poker junkie, master of the inappropriate comment and bad husband to a wonderful wife.
Follow Mike and Tasting Las Vegas on Twitter at @TastingLasVegas
We're climbing the charts but still WAY behind! Your vote is needed! You can vote once per day from now through 09/30/10! Thanks!
By Mike, on August 25th, 2010 One of the greatest weeks of the year we have in Las Vegas will be taking place between August 30 through September 5; Restaurant Week! I think only behind the week the Porn Convention is in town, Restaurant Week features over 80 of the finest restaurants our Little Twinkle in the Desert offers, each preparing a special three-course meal with a portion of the proceeds benefiting our favorite charity, Three Square. Learn more about Three Square by checking out our post back when Vegas Uncork’d was rolling along.
 Message Above Entrance Way to Three Square Facilities There are three different price levels for the three course meals, $20.10, $30.10 and $50.10, with each restaurant donating $4, $5 and $6 of that price, respectively, to Three Square. Three Square says only $1 in donation pays for three meals for people in need, so think about the impact we can all have by eating some magnificent food while supporting an outstanding charity!
Kicking off Restaurant Week will be “Wet Your Appetite At Wet Republic”. From 8pm to midnight on August 30th in Wet Republic at the MGM Grand there will be a blowout party kicking off Restaurant Week that will feature Chef Hubert Keller manning the DJ booth for a bit and a whole slew of entertainment that spans from synchronized swimmers to Recycled Percussion. There will also be complimentary food and drink provided until 10pm from several of the MGM Resorts restaurants participating in Restaurant Week such as; Joël Robuchon, Craftsteak, Fiamma, Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill, Jean Georges Steakhouse, Sage, Burger Bar, Fleur de Lys, Sensi, Osteria del Circo and Todd English’s Olives. Tickets for the Wet Republic event can be purchased for $30.10.
To find out what restaurants are participating in Restaurant Week and to check out their special three-course menus, check out: http://www.threesquare.org/events/event-calendar/restaurant-week/. I’d love to hear where you go for Restaurant Week, so be sure to let me know! Enjoy!
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Mike Dobranski is a professional musician, amateur blogger, eater of good food, poker junkie, master of the inappropriate comment and bad husband to a wonderful wife.
Follow Mike and Tasting Las Vegas on Twitter at @TastingLasVegas
We're Getting Closer Each Day Thanks To You! Remember, you can vote once per day from now through 09/30/10!
By Mike, on August 23rd, 2010 You Can Vote Once Per Day from Now Through 09/30/10! Thanks so much for helping this happen! Thanks to all of you that are supporting my little venture with Anthony Bourdain’s ‘Medium Raw’ Challenge! It’s because of your votes that my entry is now in the Top 100 and climbing! There is still a little over a month to go, but the biggest part of the mountain is still left to climb. I’m currently about 1,100 votes behind to break into the Top 10, so every vote is desperately needed!
I know many of you are squeamish about registering to vote on these websites, but the Connect Through Facebook thing they use is easy and all I can tell you is that The Wife has been voting everyday (ain’t she great?) and has had no problems with spam or otherwise. If not voting for the quality of the essay, then vote for the epic hang that will be thrown in magnificent fashion should I actually win this pig!
Thank you to all for your incredible support and your dedication to voting once each day. Here’s a direct link to the essay – http://bourdainmediumraw.com/essays/view/1409
 Republic Kitchen and Bar Logo Opening to the public today is Republic Kitchen and Bar, located in the space vacated by Fadó Irish Pub at 9470 S. Eastern Avenue in Henderson. Headed up by Chef Josh Green, who has an impressive resume that spans from Aureole to the late Daniel Boulud Brasserie, Republic appears to be offering mostly traditional American bar fare with a few twists here and there. They are rolling with some late night hours with a reverse happy hour that happens from midnight to 2am each night, so that makes me happy to have another place for the late night gorge closer to the homestead. Also things to note they are having a Saturday and Sunday Brunch that ranges from $8 – $17 and a decent looking cocktail and beer menu. Best wishes to the folks at Republic Kitchen and Bar, I hope ye doesn’t suck! Republic Kitchen and Bar’s website is at http://republickitchenandbar.com.
 JaiHo Fusion Restaurant Logo Also near the new Republic Kitchen and Bar comes an Indo-Chinese Fusion restaurant called JaiHo at 9530 S Eastern Avenue in Henderson. I know absolutely nothing about this place other than they say they opened on August 16th. Oooh….a mystery! Full website advertised as coming soon at http://www.JaiHoFusion.com. Also best wishes to the crew at JaiHo, I hope ye doesn’t suck either!
 R.I.P. - Naked City Sandwich Shop It’s not all good news though, and I have the unfortunate duty of informing you that the Naked City Sandwich Shop is no more. Apparently this happened while The Wife and I was on vacation, but I was just perusing through some Facebook pages today, and saw the news on the Naked City Sandwich Shop page. All hope is not lost, however, it looks like they will gradually add in the Sandwich Shop menu to the new Naked City Pizza Shop location, so the best sandwiches in Las Vegas will still happen in Las Vegas, but we’ll just have to wait a minute to get them again. I’ll let you know if there are any further updates.
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Mike Dobranski is a professional musician, amateur blogger, eater of good food, poker junkie, master of the inappropriate comment and bad husband to a wonderful wife.
Follow Mike and Tasting Las Vegas on Twitter at @TastingLasVegas
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