Thursday, November 1, 2007

Boy, is Wynn cocky or what?

The vaunted Michelin Guide is about to debut a Vegas edition. This is a very important, exclusive dining guide and truly proves that Vegas has arrived in the highest echelon of food scenes. Read the Wikipedia entry for more.

The guide is due out by Friday, Nov. 16. But on Monday Nov. 12, they will announce via press release which restaurants receive "stars." That is, even one star from Michelin is a very, very big deal. Most don't get any, and that doesn't mean they dislike you.

What's funny is that on Thursday, Nov. 15, there's "an exclusive reception at Blush Boutique Nightclub at Wynn Las Vegas" to "celebrate star-recipient chefs and publicly unveil the 2008 Los Las Vegas [sic] Guide." (They're also doing their first Los Angeles guide this month, but at least they didn't write Las Angeles!)

Can you imagine if none of Wynn's chefs get stars? He must be very, very confident there that Alex and/or Bartalotta are in line. And, on a side note, I feel for whoever from Wynn catering has to assemble the food for this particular crowd.

Here's my predictions for star-rated restaurants in Vegas: Picasso, Alex, Bartalotta, Robuchon at the Mansion, maybe Guy Savoy and, of course, Cravings at Mirage. HAHAHA. Just kidding there. But I do suspect Caesars and the Venetian will be shut out of the stars -- if they give one to Bouchon they've lost all credibility. Poor Sheldon. How Wynn will gloat.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Actually, it's possible Wynn has already been informed of any ratings. I've been involved in other industry ratings (think like JD Power) and it is customary to inform the companies of the ratings (at least the senior management) ahead of the public press release. Usually that's done as a courtesy but the real benefit is that a company rated really well will likely develop an ad or PR campaign promoting their great rating launched along with the press release but also prominently mentioning the company that does the ratings. Quid pro quo.

THE STRIP PODCAST said...

I'm told by the Michelin folks this is definitely not the case. In related news, the director of Michelin will be on The Strip live on Nov. 13 to discuss the outcome once it's unveiled.

Anonymous said...

That could be for Michelin. And now that I read the notice about the party it appears it may be sponsored by Michelin not Steve Wynn. I guess they'd have to have the party somewhere but it would be strange to be at Wynn if Wynn gets no recognition. If Michelin does not give advance info to award recipients it would be an interesting question to ask how they keep the results confidential. Not easy as I am sure many people are involved.