Betting on Michelin Stars: Bradley Ogden, Simply the Best

(You can find this and more of my reviews at my Urbanspoon page.)

OK, I must admit I was a little afraid of trying this place. I backed out of a reservation for my dad's birthday over a bad review. I was second-guessing myself when I was thinking of the reservation for my birthday (well, the day after, but I celebrated) tonight.

However, all my doubts were thrown out the window once a friend and I went into Bradley Ogden and began to take in the casually elegant ambience. This place is so luxurious, yet so comfortable! And yes, the same goes for the food.

The breads were fresh and interesting. The sourdough tasted like the best I could find in San Francisco. The blue corn muffin was perfectly soft and sweet and delectable. The butter complemented both breads quite well.
We were then served an amuse bouche of shrimp ceviche. Since I'm a vegetarian I couldn't really dig into it, what I could taste seemed refreshing. My friend really seemed to enjoy the small bite of it.

And now for the appetizer. The Maytag Blue Cheese (Mini) Souffles were simply divine! The cranberries, raisins, and candied pecans complemented the souffles quite well. The savory, the tart, and the sweet were brought together beautifully and made for fantastic flavors in this dish.

So what about the entree? I ordered the gnocchi, since it looked interesting. It was a potato gnocchi dish with shaved parmesan, shiitake mushrooms, broccolini, and parmesan foam. And yes, all these ingredients came together exquisitely! Not only did the dish look beautiful, but all the ingredients meshed perfectly. The gnocchi were tender, the veggies were cooked well, and the parmesan added some good tang.

After that great dish, I was ready for something sweet again. And when perusing the dessert menu, the bananas foster cake really stood out. So I ordered it. And I really enjoyed it! The cake was moist and tasty, while the vanilla ice cream was a refreshing complement and the bananas added a lovely fruity touch.

And finally, we were served a complimentary post-dessert sweet bite of butterscotch pudding. This really hit the high note for me, as it was sweet but still satisfying and a fabulous way to end a perfectly fabulous dinner.

The food was fabulous. The service was superb. The wine list was wonderful. And the atmosphere was so charming and cozy and comfortable and still elegant that it was easy for me to forget that I was in the middle of one of The Strip's biggest and baddest (as in badass good!) casinos! What's not to love about Bradley Ogden?

Oh, and by the way, there's no need to feel guilty about eating here. Nearly everything on the menu is "farm-to-table" and organic. And better yet, Caesars Palace and other Harrah's casinos participate in Harrah's Code Green program to shrink their (admittedly large in the not-so-distant past) carbon footprint and do better for Mother Earth.

Bradley Ogden
at Caesars Palace
3570 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 731-7731
http://www.caesarspalace.com/casinos/caesars-palace/restaurants-dining/bradley-ogden-detail.html

Lake Las Vegas: Elusive Mirage or Delusional FAIL?

Today's Sun has a blistering story on the disasters now plaguing the once grand and luxurious Lake Las Vegas. It's hard to imagine that anyone was imagining this for the synthetic "lakeside village".



I guess one can find a little "dark humor" in the end of the video when they flashed this disclaimer:

NOTE TO VIEWER

Please remember that some of the concepts described in this show are, at this stage, just that: ideas and possibilities that will be tested and explored as the vision for Lake Las Vegas Resort continues to evolve.

I have a feeling Ron Boeddeker and California-based Transcontinental Corporation did not consider foreclosure (even of their development, and only then for Atalon Group, the company that took over in 2007, to file for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in 2008!), an abandoned hotel, a shuttered casino, three closed golf courses, and a nearly empty shopping center as great "ideas and possibilities"... But nonetheless, that's what testing everyone in Lake Las Vegas today.

Marianne Freeman, who owns Tesoro, a home furnishings and accessories store, blames the slowdown in the village on the bankruptcy buzz.

“When the news of the bankruptcy information hit last year, the perception by the local clients was that Lake Las Vegas is closed,” she said. “People stopped coming out.”

Some residents shrug off the depressing scene.

“I don’t think what’s going on in our community is any different from what is going on in the rest of Las Vegas,” SouthShore Homeowners Association President Vicki Hafen Scott said.

Her custom-home neighborhood is one of 19 in Lake Las Vegas, where home prices range from $365,000 to $3.3 million, according to SalesTraq.

During 2005-06, 10 custom homes were selling a month, SalesTraq President Larry Murphy said.

In 2009, custom-home sales slowed to fewer than one a month.

Home Builders Research President Dennis Smith said the difference between Lake Las Vegas and Summerlin, whose developer is also in bankruptcy, is Summerlin’s varied offerings.

“Historically, Lake Las Vegas has targeted one small segment of the spectrum and that is your luxury buyer or investor. When the market went bad and you don’t have that diversity, it’s going to affect you more,” Smith said.

So what's to blame for Lake Las Vegas' many troubles today? Is it simply the bad economy, or was it a bad plan from the get-go? Are all the naysayers who told Ron Boeddeker in the 1980s that his dream of a grand lake in the middle of an uninhabited desert proving to be postmodern Cassandras?

Or should we just pay more attention to my favorite philosopher... LADY GAGA!!!!



OK, so I use whatever excuse I can to slip one of her awesomely fabulous vids in my diaries. But really, are we plagued by the monster again? You know, the monster of unsustainable exurban sprawl and overall environmental waste. Now yes, real efforts are being made to make Southern Nevada a more sustainable place to live, work, and play...

But how the hell does a synthetic lake in the middle of an otherwise uninhabited stretch of desert fit into the "sustainable development, smart growth" equation? Lake Las Vegas stakeholders, including the City of Henderson and SNWA, really need to think about real, workable answers to this tough question.

And hey, since we're talking about sustainability, what about the economic sustainability of this place. The Vegas Gang discussed the (lack of) tourist appeal in staying in a remote "village" some 17 miles away from the endless party on The Strip, and Steve Friess has chronicled the hot mess of this place for some time. And when one thinks about it, it just becomes even more difficult to understand: What's the appeal to tourists coming to Las Vegas? Why would they fly into Las Vegas just to get away from Las Vegas?

Going back to Dennis Smith's comments, it's really difficult for me to see a way out for Lake Las Vegas since it mostly appeals to uber-high-end vacationers and part-time "residents". And unless they're really attracted to that lake, they can already either find comfortable suburban luxury in the more convenient gated communities of Red Rock Country Club and MacDonald Highlands, or make the ultimate "status statement" by buying one of the (bargain priced!) penthouse condos on or near The Strip at CityCenter or one of the Turnberry communities.

So what is the future of Lake Las Vegas? Honestly, I keep trying to find an answer myself. All I know right now is that residents and shop owners there have some tough questions to consider, and our government and local developers will have to think long and hard on how to avoid any more environmental and economic catastrophes of this proportion.

City Center: The Extended Metaphor for Las Vegas

So The Sun has a big story today on City Center's grand opening. Jim Murren's putting on his confident face for the grand occasion. MGM Mirage continues to reassure us that Dubai World's debt crisis won't send Las Vegas' newest attraction crashing to the ground. So City Center starts opening this week and all of Vegas holds its breath.

I really think Jim Murren's heart was in the right place with City Center. Despite what all the critics are saying, it is exactly what Las Vegas needs. Until very recently Las Vegas has lacked an urban center, an artistic edge, and forward-thinking design. But now with City Center, we finally have something to call our own... Not just another carbon copy of yet another world landmark, but a stunning collection of postmodern architecture that we can really call our own.

It just seems like this was cursed with bad timing and bad financing. MGM Mirage has relied on Dubai World to help complete this project, but now Dubai is collapsing on its own debt load. MGM Mirage has also taken on more debt than it could handle in trying to monopolize almost all the west side of The Strip. In many ways, the tale of City Center so far is a reflection of the George W. Bush era of unbridled corporate greed let loose to cannabalize our economy.

I guess in many ways, City Center is a reflection of Jim Murren himself. We see his beautiful artistic side with the whimsical design of the buildings, the public art adorned all over, and the "green" defining this entire project. However we also see Murren's darker corporate side with the construction death scandals, the now hot mess with the Dubai World financing, and the constant reminder that the era of "New Vegas", started 20 years ago when Steve Wynn opened The Mirage and brought the "Wall Street Raiders" to conquer Las Vegas, has come to a brutal end here as we contemplate how to move forward in a "New New Vegas" with a more sustainable, both environmentally sustainable AND economically sustainable, future.

I still hope for success with City Center. We need some success in Las Vegas for a change. I guess I'm now also hoping that this become a wake-up call to all of us that Las Vegas needs to change. "Old Vegas" left the building long ago with its mafia history and Old Hollywood glory, and "New Vegas" didn't quite work out as planned, fueled as it was by unsustainable real estate speculation and "construction begetting construction" that was long doomed to fail. Now the cynics and skeptics that always predict the fall and demise of Las Vegas have somehow always been proven wrong, as we somehow always adapt for survival and undergo a metamorphosis to ultimately thrive. But that's just it, we succeed when we change what's wrong and do what's right.

Las Vegas could have died when the luster of the new railroad wore off, but instead we legalized gambling and made marriage (and divorce) so damned easy that almosr anyone could do it. Las Vegas could have died when World War II ended and the military build-up eased off, but instead The Strip was born and Hollywood glamour transformed our once sleepy outpost in the Mojave Desert into the cutting edge of "cool". Las Vegas could have died when the mob was driven out of town by the feds and the gaming regulators, but instead Howard Hughes ushered in a new era of "corporate casinos" that led Kirk Kerkorian to build bigger and inspired Steve Wynn to build better. Las Vegas could have died with the post-9/11 tourist slump, but instead this town became the "it destination" that's now made us the most visited place on earth.

I really think Las Vegas is at another turning point today. And interestingly enough, City Center may lead us to our future. We will be reminded of Wall Street greed gone wrong, but also inspired by eco-friendly design done right. We will be horrified by the massive corporate debt loads and shady "wheelin-dealin'" enabled by the corporate right and conservative wet dreams of hyper-deregulation, but we will also be awestruck by the moving public art that will encourage us to let our imagination run wild and free.

City Center now embodies Las Vegas. It tells the story of our past, warts and "beauty marks" and liposuctions and facelifts and triple bypass operations and all. It reflects our present, a jarring contrast of celebrity panache and inglorious economic collapse. It shows the way to our future, hopefully one that includes living in concert with Mother Nature and building a stronger community with a sound economy.

So let City Center open and start a new chapter in the great Las Vegas story.

Home Cookin': It Isn't Just for Housewives Any More!

What is it about Mr. ELV's blog that always gets me thinking? Today, he talked about how he hasn't gone out for dinner in five days. I can see how this is shocking news for a restaurant critic, but this is pretty much my ordinary life. And worse yet, I know people who haven't gone out to eat in months!

Sometimes, it really sucks when I plan weeks ahead for a glorious night out with someone special... Only for it to be taken away when the someone special is hurt and in a wheelchair and/or a friend calls to borrow money from me because the bank screwed with his account. It really sucks that I can't eat out that often these days because I may be only one broken leg or one broken window away from financial ruin. And yes, it really sucks when my next great vacation full of culinary bliss is always at risk of vanishing away if I ever lose the roommate at the house or my dad needs money to pay for my grandmother's next trip to the hospital.

Let's face it, this rotten economy is ruining a good night out for all of us. So what do we do?

Fortunately, I still enjoy the privilege of eating out at restaurants about once or twice a week. The rest of the time, I've been eating in. Yes, I'm learning to cook more and more... And I don't feel sad or frustrated about it.

Last weekend, my dad was pretty wowed when I turned his beloved “eggs & potatoes” (yes, he really isn’t into “fancy food” like I am) into a breakfast frittata that had his taste buds singing. Let’s see, I also think my “Mexitalianese” stir fry with extra firm tofu strips, shredded carrots, sundried tomatoes, and Parmigiano Reggiano for dinner recently was another winner. I just can’t wait until tomorrow when I’ll have time to make my signature gnocchi dish (with crimini mushrooms, shittake mushrooms, and Manchego cream sauce) for dinner!

Maybe I’m weird, but I feel most comfortable when I’m in my home kitchen. Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoy eating out. I guess I just feel like I’ve accomplished something truly meaningful when I eat something that I cooked myself from scratch or near-scratch.

Perhaps this is looking on the bright side of the recession, but I feel glad in a way that I do more of my own cooking these days. And maybe by cutting out so much driving and by using "local" (or as close as we can get to it in Vegas) and organic ingredients in my own home cooking, I'm doing my part to reduce my carbon footprint and help save the planet. Ironically, living green also saves serious "green".

Yes, I guess I have channeled my inner "no really, she's for real housewife!" and I don't feel bad about it at all. ;-)