Palazzo Saves LVS From Michelin Wipeout

The very prestigious 2009 Michelin Guide for Las Vegas comes out this week and the selections are posted online here. The three-star and two-star honorees are the same as 2008, with Joel Robuchon getting three and Alex, Guy Savoy and Picasso getting two.

There's some shake-up in one-star column, though. Remember, just getting one star from these folks means these places are amongst the smallest, most exclusive club of the finest eateries in all the world.

The one-star list includes Alize, Andre's, Aureole, Bradley Ogden, Daniel Boulud Brasserie, DJT, L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, Le Cirque, Michael Mina, MiX, Nobu, Restaurant Charlie and Wing Lei. Dropped from last year's list was the Mesa Grill at Caesars Palace.

Newcomers include DJT and Restaurant Charlie. Both are interesting for different reasons. DJT at Trump International Towers is interesting because The Donald's personal chef, Joseph Isidori, has left and is "pursuing other opportunities," so I wonder if this rating reflects that significant personnel change. Spokeswoman Erin McCleskey told Norm Clarke in August: "Based on guest feedback, we have decided to modify the DJT experience to become more approachable and casual." That hardly sounds like a place striving for culinary masterwork anymore.

And Restaurant Charlie, which is Charlie Trotter's place at Palazzo, means that Las Vegas Sands got one. Last year, the absence of any of the Venetian's restaurants from the star list was conspicuous. I'm a little amazed that Palazzo, with such a huge new food lineup, could only muster one for this list.

Still, that's one more than last year. So now it's Wynn 4, Sheldon 1. Yes, I still count Picasso for Wynn. But hey, who's got two successful Broadway shows and who's got none, huh?

Bitch and Moan, Bitch and Moan

In a piece I wrote for the Agence France Presse about Steve Wynn that went out on the wire this weekend, Las Vegas Advisor publisher Anthony Curtis boasted of the strong showing of Vegas in the inaugural Michelin food guide: "For Vegas in general, this means the international snobbery regarding things like great culinary offerings here almost has to be swept completely out."

Would that it be so. Now comes the Esquire food critic John Mariani, whining in his weekly online newsletter that Vegas got the Michelin treatment before Chicago or Washington and intimating that the star-ratings for Vegas must be based largely on spectacle rather than culinary achievement. And he quotes a particularly sore loser in L.A. Times food editor Leslie Brenner, whose city got just one or two more star-rated restaurants even though Michelin checked out at least double the number of eateries there as in Vegas. "What shocked me wasn't who did and did not get stars; rather, it was that the book that purports to be the bible of fine dining is so poorly researched and lamely written that the ratings have no credibility."

Mariani, whom I fall in and out of love with routinely and often within his articles, follows up with this brilliant line: "Brenner should know about errors: The L.A. Times prints an embarrassing number of egregious corrections of its own food articles." Yowza!

Why did Michelin come to Vegas now? Maybe because they want to sell books and far more Vegas-goers buy guidebooks than those who go to, uh, Chicago? But that doesn't make their assessments invalid. Clearly, though, Curtis' dream of widespread respectability will take at least a few more rounds.

This Week's Column

I've got a busy day ahead, catching up on so much that was placed on hold by the Frontier implosion, O.J. hearings and my niece's fabulous visit. But I did want to note that our chats with Michelin director Jean-Luc Naret and Joy Behar are online now. Click here to download the show or right-click here to save it and listen to the show whenever you wish.

And here's the top of my Las Vegas Weekly column, "The Strip Sense":

Vegas isn’t San Francisco: The foodie stars shine brighter on us

It’s a bit hard to believe now, but a scant two years ago I got into a bit more than a tussle with my editors at Conde Nast Traveler over the Vegas food world. Simply put, I knew it was becoming something extraordinary, and they didn’t quite get it.

As their man on the cuisine scene for the annual Hot Issue, the edition that names the best in new restaurants, hotels and nightclubs from the year that was, I was in a quandary. We were looking at 2005, the year the Wynn Las Vegas opened, and the new joint had at least four restaurants—Alex, Bartolotta di Mare, Wing Lei and Tableau—that deserved recognition. In any other year and in any other city, all would make CNT’s Hot Issue.

But beyond that, it was also the year that Joel Robuchon at the MGM Grand opened, as did Sensi at Bellagio and a few others the names of which I can’t recall at the moment. But my editors insisted that I select just two.

“Two?” I cried. “Are you crazy? This is Las Vegas! How many is San Francisco getting?”

Four, I was told. But San Francisco is San Francisco. Las Vegas isn’t San Francisco.

In the end, since I had to count Robuchon in, I ended up throwing my bouquets at Alex at Wynn.

I tell the story because this week, as if I needed any more backup to my view, the vaunted Michelin Guide’s much-awaited assessment of Las Vegas came out and, lo and behold, it seems that Las Vegas is San Francisco after all.

The Vegas results in the food world’s most respected critical publication were astounding. For this first-ever examination, they awarded 16 of the 127 restaurants they wrote about with their sought-after stars. In Michelin world, just one star denotes an exceptional experience; the three-star honorees are out of this world. Not getting a star does not mean they don’t like it; it just doesn’t hit the exacting threshold.

Read the rest here

The Strip is LIVE at 7:15 pm PT!

We're doing things a little out of order because Miles has to stay at work till 7 but our interview with Michelin director Jean-Luc Naret cannot be moved from 7:15 pm. SO... I'll do that interview, then we'll start the show properly at 7:30.

Come on down to LVROCKS.Com and join the chat! Or listen to the podcast in its proper order when it's posted on Thursday. The celebrity guest is a somewhat crabby Joy Behar of "The View."

Next week: Ellen DeGeneres and Wolf Blitzer.

Venetian SHUT OUT on Michelin Stars

NOTE: MICHELIN GUIDE DIRECTOR JEAN-LUC NARET JOINS US LIVE ON TUESDAY@ 7:15 pm PT ON "THE STRIP" TO DISCUSS.

As I predicted, Michelin completely snubbed the Venetian in terms of handing out stars in its first-ever Las Vegas dining guide. The guide was supposed to hit today at noon, but the evidently leaked it on their website by accident and then went all the way with a press release.

The guide includes 127 restaurants in Vegas and just 16 of which received any stars. Still, that's a lot more than I thought they'd give out.

The big winner was not a surprise: Joel Robuchon (MGM Grand) got three stars, the highest rating. Alex (Wynn), Guy Savoy (Caesars) and Picasso (Bellagio) landed two stars, all excellent choices. You can go back and hear "The Strip" podcast's interview with Robuchon from earlier this year by clicking here or right-clicking here.

One-starrers were: Alize (Palms), Andre's (downtown), Aureole (Mandalay Bay), Bradley Ogden (Caesars), DB Brasserie (Wynn), L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon (MGM), Le Cirque (Bellagio), Mesa Grill (Caesars), Michael Mina (Bellagio), Mix (Mandalay Bay), Nobu (Hard Rock) and Wing Lei (Wynn.)

Steve Wynn, 4. Adelson, 0. (I'm giving Wynn credit for Picasso, too, since he created the place. Not giving Wynn credit for Le Cirque as it was an established NYC institution.)

Anyhow, Adelson's gotta feel the pain there. Adelson gets Thomas Keller, Wolfgang Puck and Mario Batali and can't buy a star. Painful. But equally painful for Wynn might be that Bartalotta di Mare got shut out. That's interesting because it was Paul Bartalotta and not Alessandra Stratta who was nominated for a James Beard Award the year the hotel opened.

A few thoughts:

* They were awful generous with the one-stars and yet left off some really amazing places including Craftsteak and Nob Hill (both MGM Grand), Charlie Palmer Steak (Four Seasons), Tableau (Wynn) and Hugo's Cellar (Four Queens).
* We've eaten at Alize at least three times and always found it below average for the price.
* Bradley Ogden and L'Atelier are in the "don't go" section of "Gay Vegas." Miles has famously referred to the decor of L'Atelier as having "the look of an upscale Chilis" and we were so disappointed we left it out of Conde Nast Traveler's Hot List that year.
* We're fans of Mix and Mesa Grill, but I can't say it meets the level of technical excellence I believed the Michelin stars required.

A couple of other interesting details: They only checked out 13 restaurants that would cost $25 or less per person. That gives quite a bit of insight. By contrast, for their first-ever Los Angeles guide, which also is out this week, they reviewed 263 restaurants and gave out just 18 star-ratings -- and not a single three-starrer.

Wow. Vegas food has really, really arrived.

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.