Pet Peeve time.

When did every upscale Strip restaurant decide it was a good idea to shave raw black truffles on top of things?

Black truffles — the good melanosporum ones from the Perigord region of France — are best when cooked in dishes.

White truffles release their full bouquet when raw. Black when cooked (being less pungent, black needs heat to fully release its aroma).

A shaving of black truffles might impress Mr. and Mrs. Fannypacker from Bumfudge, Utah, but it does nothing for ELV or his staff.

And it doesn’t add much to a dish, except pretension.

And it really didn’t add anything to an otherwise excellent Alsatian tart flambee.

They don’t do this in France, and they shouldn’t do it here. But we swear to god we’ve had the big black truffle shower bestowed upon us at least ten times in the last few months…all to zero effect, except that the restaurant staff(s) (at Jean-George Steakhouse, Sirio, and Sage just to name a few) thought they were impressing us.

But they were only impressing two things upon us: 1) they’re getting inferior truffles cheap; and 2) they think ELV was born yesterday.

Memo to all pretentious restaurants on the Las Vegas Strip: Stop shaving raw black truffles entirely, or learn how to use them for taste, not affectation.

Of course, actually incorporating them into a recipe coming off a kitchen line would be time consuming and very expensive. It’s so much easier to show off by selectively bringing them to certain, anointed tables and making an elaborate presentation of something that, in the end, brings precious little to the party.

Btw: the staff at Spago (whom we otherwise hold in great respect) told us the truffles were from Burgundy(?), which further made us doubt the tuber’s authenticity and functionality. It did smell of truffle, but not enough to make a difference when tasted raw on anything.

Btw #2: The choucroute and the lamb gyro (made with a freshly butchered lamb from Pahrump (Nevada, not France), were both drop dead delicious.

So why is it the No. 1-rated local restaurant on Yelp.com? Because, I surmise, Americans can’t get enough of fried calamari, Caesar salads, chicken wings and pasta in all its guises. And once they’ve had their fill of those, they will still line up for chicken Parmigiana, meatballs and shrimp scampi—not to mention a selection of steaks and chops.

The other reason this cozy (45-seat) joint packs them in: As overfamiliar as this food may be, it is being freshly prepared by people who take real pride in what they’re serving. Those same folks—chef Al Hubbard and owner Tom Goldsbury—seem to sincerely care about their customers, and also seem to know half of them by name. Combine that with being about the only decent restaurant in this neck of the woods (far south on I-15, adjacent to Southern Highlands), and you have a recipe for success that shows no sign of abating.

To many locals, restaurants on the Strip represent cutting-edge (read: small portion/big price) cuisine that isn’t worth the time, the cost or the pretension. In contrast, Off The Strip and its ilk are happy to prepare the same old, generously portioned, sauce-heavy stuff that fits American eating sensibilities like a pair of 48-inch Sansabelt pants. Nowhere is this more evident than in some of the appetizers, which seem conceived with a Todd English-like too much is not enough philosophy in mind.

Order the sweet chili and bacon prawns and you’ll get good, sweet, jumbo shrimp, wrapped in bacon (with a dash of cream cheese!), cooked perfectly, then drenched (and we mean drenched) in about a cup and a half of sweet/hot Thai chili sauce. If a multitude of ingredients and flavors are your bag, you will find it hard to fault any dish that combines seafood, pork, cheese, sauce and Asian spices. But those looking for a little more subtlety with their seafood will be disappointed. Equally odd are mussels oreganata—coated with oregano-scented panko crumbs, baked and served with a cherry-pepper beurre blanc (butter sauce). The bivalves are perfectly cooked (again) but delivered to your table swimming in the sauce, and then topped with yet another, bright, white cheesy emulsion that subtracts, by addition, from the equation.

On the brighter, lighter side, the fried calamari are lightly dredged in seasoned flour, quite tender, and served with a serious fra diavolo (spicy marinara) sauce. Equally good are the grilled artichoke hearts—spectacular in their simplicity. But things return to form with the pork roulade—rolled, pounded pig stuffed with mushrooms, roasted peppers, two cheeses (Parmesian and mozzarella) and served on a bed of spinach with a spicy Marsala wine and pepper sauce. Whew! Tasty? Yup! Filling? You betcha! Out of date by about 20 years? Without a doubt.

Very few Italian restaurants serve food this way any more, but Off The Strip’s clientele seems to lap it up. If you seek something a bit more authentic, the pastas alla vodka and Bolognese are good places to start, as each accents the noodles with sauce, rather than overwhelming them. The Bolognese shows that Hubbard has some real chops, as it is rich with bits of meat cooked with a minimum of liquid, and as good any version you’ll find five miles north. The Caesar salad is serviceable, and the “softball” meatball is of Rao’s quality—which is to say, it is superb.

A final reason for the success of OTS: the prices. Most pastas hover in the $15 range, and only the steaks veer north of the $30 border. The wine and beer lists are short, but reasonable and well-chosen, and two of you will have to be really hungry to run up a bill in excess of a Benjamin.

After a meal here, you will be full and you will be happy, because the owners and staff will have taken good care of you throughout your meal. Whether or not you will be excited about what you ate probably depends upon how often you eat out and how adventuresome you are when you do. Despite its charms—which are many—Off The Strip is old-school, American-Italian mishmash cuisine to the max. Cranky critics—like me—be damned. “Just Real Food” (the restaurant’s slogan) is what its customers want, and what the restaurant delivers.

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…we stop and look at it…

…and it never gets old.

And it makes us think.

About what we can’t rightly say, but it shore is a thought-provoker…

And maybe, that’s what fine art is about.

Making you think.

Which ain’t somethin’ casinos have been known to inspire in the past.

In fact, they make their $$$ doing just the exact opposite.

And the fact that the Aria Hotel and Casino is playing against type, by surrounding itself with loads of interesting art, is something for which it should be applauded.

So we at ELV hereby want to do just that.

With all due respect, those who diss the food at Lotus (with the exception of Jet Tila), don’t know what they’re talking about. And even Jet doesn’t put it down…he simply doesn’t find it as extraordinary as some of us do.

For the record, ELV and his staff have eaten here dozens of times over the years, are known to the management, and have endured service lapses like the rest of you. But we’ve always paid full boat for our meals (with an occasional glass of wine thrown in as a “thank you” by the management). We’ve also eaten in every other Thai restaurant in town, and don’t know where else you can find the variety and the freshness and the vivid flavors put forth by this kitchen on a daily basis. (Those who judge this place by its lunch buffet are missing the whole point of the restaurant.)

That “point” is the northern and Issan specialties (all in English on the menu), done to their full extent (but gringos should avoid asking for them “Bangkok hot”), and paired with the extraordinary rieslings that make the wine list the best German list in the country.

Concerning “Bangkok hot” (or “10″ on a 1-10 scale), be forewarned: ELV (on a personal dare with himself) asked for the squid salad (pictured above) to be seasoned to an “8″ and it took him six big glasses of ice water and two Thai iced teas before he could speak or breathe normally — after only three bites!

In his profile in the New Yorker last November, Jonathon Gold (the Pulitzer Prize-winning author who has called LOS the best Thai restaurant in the country) said that such extreme degrees of heat in Thai food create an almost “hallucinogenic effect” that allow the vibrancy of other flavors to come bursting into your brain.

We at ELV don’t no nuthin’ ’bout know hallucinations — at least not since we dressed like this — but we can tell you that the rush is something to behold…but not something we’d recommend for anyone with a heart condition. When done right (like it was with our squid), the shock and awe of the heat blankets your mouth with chile while creating this massive spike of endorphins that let you appreciate the interplay of flavors and textures even as it threatens to overwhelm them.

Great Thai food takes this can’t stand the heat/must have another bite/attraction/avoidance principle(s) to a level other cuisines never approach. It is one of the great joys of eating Thai food, and it is a joy in Las Vegas to have a restaurant where they know how to play these pain/pleasure pipes with perfect pitch.

LOTUS OF SIAM

953 East Sahara Ave.

Las Vegas, NV 89104-3028

702.735.3033

www.saipinchutima.com

Chef Rick Moonen and Slow Food Las Vegas Chapter are proud to announce that Chef Moonen will present a Super Green Cuisine dinner event featuring seafood selections from the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s “Super Green List”. “Super Green” seafood has been identified to be not only good for nutritious food consumption but also less stressful on oceanic environments when gathered correctly. Guest speakers for the evening are leaders in the sustainable seafood movement including Sheila Bowman, Seafood Watch manager of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Super Green Cuisine Dinner Event
Monday, March 29 at 6:00 p.m.
Seating for this special event is by reservation only.
Contact Rick Moonen’s RM Seafood at 702.632.9300.
$125.00 plus tax and gratuity

Signed copy of Chef Rick Moonen’s cookbook “Fish Without A Doubt” is included

Menu
Kusshi “Oyster Cracker” and Farm Raised Osetra Caviar
Lime and Togarashi Marinated Albacore Tuna
Pineapple Confit, Scallions, Toasted Macadamia Nut
Santa Barbara Spot Prawn on Lavender
Caramelized Onion Chip, Flavors of Onion Soup
Lightly Seared Alaskan Black Cod
Saffron Chorizo Congee, Mussels, Rice Cracker
Bison Short Rib in Red Wine
Salsify Carbonara, Crispy Guanciale , Hazelnut Gremolata
Satsuma Orange Granite
Vanilla, Cilantro, Pickled Kumquat
Variations of Chocolate and Passion Fruit
Chocolate in all Forms, Passion Fruit Crème and Caramel

Beverage Pairing Included
RM Seafood
702-632-9300
3930 S. Las Vegas Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89119

If you have just one dish to order at Bouchon, and don’t feel like tackling the superb chicken or beef, and are tired of salmon, and are over the oysters (all of which are excellent), the truite Grenobloise — pan roasted rainbow trout with lemon, capers, cauliflower, new potatoes and beurre noisette — is just the thing to order.

That beurre noisette (clarified brown butter spiked with lemon) makes the dish…along with the tiniest, buttery little croutons you can imagine. These soft-yet-crunchy-cubes dress the top of the fish, and provide a textural counterpoint to the firm, sweet fresh water flesh. A sprinkling of capers lay in wait among those croutons and give tart little explosions of flavor with every bite.

It’s just about the perfect recipe for a perfect little swimmer that seems designed by nature to be married with these ingredients on a plate.

It cost $28.50.

Just thought you’d like to know.

BOUCHON

In the Venetian Hotel and Casino

3355 Las Vegas, Blvd. South

Las Vegas, NV 89109-8941

702.414.6200

www.bouchonbistro.com

Does anyone but ELV remember Nicky Blair’s? Ole Nicky was quite the SoCal restaurateur — known for catering to the celebs and high-rollers in LaLa land — when he brought his cheesy vibe to Paradise Road in the mid-90’s. For a couple of years the place was hopping with every nouveau riche, Gucci-clad developer, conventioneer and big shot wannabe in town.

At the time (and this was around 1995 if memory serves), yours truly commented that NB’s was the second coming of Chateau Vegas — a place known in the ’70’s and ’80’s for being the haunt of semi-reputable swells and middle-managers of all sorts. (Piero’s corners the market on this crowd these days.)

Well, Nicky’s is back (sort of), and Piero’s should be worried. Because Gino and Mimmo Ferraro have moved their operation to Paradise Road, across from the Hard Rock Hotel, and the joint is jumping with ham-fisted bidness guys, expense-account types and lovers of semi-authentic Eye-talian food.

Concessions to modernity have been made: there’s one of those wine dispensers where you put your card in and pay more for a glass than it’s worth. There’s also a bar menu, nice outdoor seating, and several banquet rooms equipped with the mandatory flat screen.

It’s a smart move for the Ferraro’s. They immediately get greater access to the casino/convention crowds, old time regulars can still find it, and their wine and liquor sales should increase geometrically.

What about the food you ask? We’ll leave that for another time…after we’re done playing chess with grappa-filled crystal chess pieces (see above).

Like we said….classy.

FERRARO’S

4480 Paradise Rd.

Las Vegas, NV 89169

702.364.5300

www.ferraroslasvegas.com

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If you follow us on Facebook or Twitter, you may have seen that yesterday we had one of the all time worst corned beef hashes known to man. The particular abomination came to us via Mr. Lucky’s — the 24/7 restaurant in the Hard Rock Hotel that used to be known for some pretty spectacular coffee-shop/diner food.

Years ago, we looked forward to chowing down on everything from club sandwiches to pancakes to a first class reuben here. Unfortunately, if our meal was any indication, the mighty has fallen into serving stale bread and gristly hash that Hormel’s puts to shame. (In texture and appearance, our plate resembled a pile of dog food onto which three, odd, almost yolk-less poached eggs were placed.)

So put off were we by this third rate fare that we hightailed it over to Silk Road this morning — where we knew we wouldn’t be disappointed.

And we weren’t — by either a tasty, house made boudin noir, a unique, deep-fried, square block of apple-stuffed French toast (in a slightly too sweet caramel sauce), or by what we at ELV consider the best coffee in town: Illy fresh ground beans served in a French press.

We swore off coffee years ago, mainly ‘cuz it made us act like this, but this version is so good (and smooth, and amazingly free of acid), that we’d drink a pot every day.

Sure it was a $60 breakfast (for two)…but our shitty one at Mr. Lucky’s cost 23 bucks (for one)…and, unlike yesterday, we left the Vdara Hotel wondering when we could return for more of Martin Heierling’s tasty fare.

The renovations took two months longer than expected, and the wine bar won’t be fully operational for another two weeks, but here is your first look at the new, improved and expanded Lotus of Siam.

It will be, by far, the classiest digs in all of Commercial Center, but Saipin Chutima assures us not a darn thing’s gonna change on the menu…and America’s best German wine list promises to just keep getting better and better.

Expect the wine bar to be packed with industry and non-industry oenophiles from the day it opens.