The Lobster

Presents

Pier Centennial Celebration

Come Celebrate the

Pier’s 100th Birthday Celebration

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 with the best view in the city!

 22 MINUTE FIREWORKS DISPLAY

Starting at 8:45pm

STAND IN OUR PARKING LOT FOR THE BEST VIEW!

FOUR COURSE PRIX FIXE MENU

$100 per person

 

Also Don’t Miss

The Taste of Santa Monica

Or the Lobster Booth

In Partnership with Kooza Cirque Du Soleil

 Sunday September 13, 2009

Santa Monica Pier

1:00PM - 5:00PM

 With Extended Live Music & Sunset Happy Hour

5:00PM - 7:0PM

Entrance Fee: $10

Children 2-10: $4

Introducing Taste Bucks

Use your taste bucks to enjoy wonderful food,

Beverages, wine booths or the beer garden

www.TasteofSantaMonica.com

1602 Ocean Avenue

Santa Monica, CA 90401

Although you made your way to the desert so that you could hit the tables, the gaming tables aren’t the only tables you’ll be hitting on this trip. That’s because the Vegas dining scene is home to some of the country’s finest fine dining options. Everything from exciting to elegant is available in Sin City. Here are just a few of the high-end restaurants that promise to satiate those special high-roller cravings. To discover some of the Strip’s more unusual dining options, stay tuned for Part 2 in this two-part series. For more information on any of the restaurants here, or on other Vegas culinary hotspots, visit TravelsinTaste.com.

 

Sky Box

The most coveted table in Vegas isn’t in the high roller’s area — it’s atop the kitchen at Charlie Trotter’s Restaurant Charlie at The Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino. Suspended above the kitchen is a stainless steel- and glass-railed circular platform on which is a single table from which one has a view of the action in one of the most beautiful kitchens on the Strip. Las Vegas’ first “kitchen loft” offers views of the cook line, garde mange and pastry station, in addition to the dining room. This spectacular table satisfies a foodie’s craving for the ultimate dining experience.

 

Feeling Nostalgic?

Spend the evening with the rat pack at Sinatra in Steve Wynn’s newest resort: Encore. Sinatra is the ultimate combination of fresh market ingredients, modern Italian cuisine and traditional fine dining, all wrapped up in a package that bears the name of a true Vegas icon. When you pass through the casino you’ll see the distinct tomato red wall of Sinatra, which features framed Frank Sinatra mementos, including gold records, pictures and personal letters from such notables as Sammy Davis Jr. This is just the beginning of your Sinatra experience, the rest of which awaits inside.

 

The Stars’ Scene

There’s one word for where those in the know go to see and be seen: N9NE! Executive Chef Barry Dakake actually has two “celebrity walls” on which he keeps a record of every celebrity who has visited the restaurant. The tradition started in 2006 with Carmelo Anthony, a star basketball player for the Denver Nuggets. A huge sports fan, Chef Dakake had asked Anthony for some memorabilia; instead, he got the beginning of a tradition. That’s because Anthony asked to be taken to Chef Dakake’s office, where he asked for a marker. That momentous moment culminated in Anthony signing the chef’s door, “the people’s champ.”

 

Vegas’ Best View

The view from Alize, located on the 56th floor of the Palms Casino Resort, will take your breath away. The restaurant prides itself on its 280-degree views of the Vegas Strip; through its 16-foot floor-to-ceiling windows, which are angled on the side overlooking the Strip, you can see every major hotel in Vegas. And on New Year’s Eve you can see all those hotels’ fireworks in all their glory. This is the ultimate bird’s eye view of Las Vegas.

 

Awesome Atmosphere

The entire experience at Switch at Encore changes once every 30 minutes. It’s not just a painting or the music that changes, either; it’s the restaurant’s entire interior. The music changes with each transition and actually announces the coming scenery change with a few bars prior to the actual “switch.” There are three changes in all — each one a little more dramatic than the next.

 

Killer Kobe

CUT, Wolfgang Puck’s sixth Las Vegas restaurant, is already one of the hottest restaurants in town thanks to its beautiful design, its extensive wine list and its creative menu, which includes something for everyone, not just steak lovers.

 

Stay tuned for Part 2!

Summer Doldrums ?

Veritas Restaurant, is offering a 25% discount on ALL WINES from their award winning Wine List,

August 12th through August 29th  

 

For our full listing (9 pages and 17 pictures) on Veritas click here!

 

Visit them at 43 East 20th St. NYC , reservations 212-353-3700

If you haven’t been to 3030 Ocean in a while, take note; the ocean view is back.  The Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach Resort and Spa is nearly finished with its renovation of the upper terrace, and the plastic sheeting that covered 3030’s windows for the last few months has finally been removed, letting diners once again enjoy that fabulous panorama.

3030 Ocean is usually a regular stop for me, but I must admit I was not all that loyal during the construction.  And I’ve missed it.  So I was glad to be back this past Saturday night, happily enjoying the latest Modern American creations from Chef Dean James Max.

As it turns out, the time off was good for me, because it got me out of my old rut.  I have been ordering the same dish over and over for a while now, mostly because I love it.  That’s the grilled pork chop, topped with a berry or fruit sauce that changes with the seasons.  This week it was a very tempting kumquat chutney.  Even so, I went with the strip steak, and I was not at all disappointed.  Instead of the typical steak house version, with the usual tab of butter melting across the top, my very delicious and juicy steak was topped with a unique kalamata olive salsa.  And instead of French fries it came with crispy fried yucca.  I sometimes find yucca to be a little bland, but 3030’s version was perfect; a little crunchy, just a touch of salt, and just right.

My dining companion stayed stuck in his rut, and ordered the free range chicken for what I think was about the 30^th time in a row.  And he seemed to enjoy it just as much as ever.  Right now it is being served with yellow corn polenta, topped with pine nuts and currants.  He did manage to break out a little bit and order a different appetizer this time around; fresh shrimp.  They were absolutely huge!  Yes, I know, jumbo shrimp, the original oxymoron.  It’s true.  The cliché over the name notwithstanding, they were excellent.  And a nice change of pace from his usual smoked ham with melon (which is also quite good).

After dinner we took a walk outside to check out the new terrace.  It’s the same gorgeous view, but other than that everything is different.  The refurbished seating areas are all very beachy and inviting now, perfect for enjoying the evening sunset, or in our case the full moon.  Marriott probably jumped the gun a bit lighting up the fire pits in Florida in August, with the nighttime temperature hovering in the mid 80’s.  Oh well; come winter I have no doubt they will morph from hot and oppressive to warm and romantic, and probably they will become a very popular spot to order that after dinner drink.  Certainly it will be worth coming back to find out.

 Bon Appétit,

Rob Lubin

Famed Chef Brings New Game Day Destination to the Las Vegas Strip

Chef Emeril Lagasse and The Palazzo announced Lagasse’s Stadium - a ground-breaking new place to dine, watch and play - opening this fall at The Palazzo Resort-Hotel-Casino. Sports fans will be in the center of the action while enjoying Chef Emeril’s world-famous cuisine and warm hospitality in this new state-of-the-art venue. 

Inspired by two of Chef Emeril’s lifelong passions - cooking and sports - Lagasse’s Stadium marks a new dining standard for a sports and entertainment venue. Custom sports viewing walls consisting of nearly 100 high definition screens will provide unprecedented access to nearly every major college and professional sporting event, including must-see bowl games, track races, tournaments, and championship match-ups.

Lagasse’s Stadium will be Lagasse’s third project with The Palazzo and adjoining Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino. The other two endeavors include the acclaimed Delmonico Steakhouse at The Venetian and Table 10 at The Palazzo.

“As a long-time season ticket holder, on big game days you’ll find me tailgating with friends and supporting my favorite teams,” says Emeril Lagasse. “I’m happy to team up again with our friends at The Palazzo to create the ultimate sports establishment. At Stadium, we’ll be serving serious food for serious fans.” 

There will be plenty of culinary action to keep fans engaged, even on non-game days, redefining how guests eat, drink and root for their favorite teams. The menu will feature Lagasse’s play on game-day favorites; a few of Emeril’s “New Orleans” style dishes, plus some surprising re-inventions of American classics.

“Lagasse’s Stadium will be the ultimate sports bar and restaurant on The Strip,” said Rob Goldstein, president and COO of The Palazzo and The Venetian. “With its accessible location and unique design it will provide sports enthusiasts a great location to kick- back, relax, and enjoy great food and beverages while watching their favorite sporting games and highlights on the big screens.”

Renovation of the 24,000-square-foot space, formerly occupied by The Sportsbook Bar & Grill, began in June. The club also features premier access to a street level outdoor space bordering Las Vegas Boulevard. Spectators can enjoy impressive views of The Palazzo and the Las Vegas Strip while dining in a unique open-air setting. The location will feature lounge and stadium-style seating, and luxury boxes for exclusive private events.

Saturday marked the official start of Miami Spice 2009, and lovers of fine dining should take note.  This year promises to be better than ever, with over 80 restaurants taking part in this much awaited annual event. 

August and September are typically a slow time in the local restaurant scene.  Tourists are scarce, and locals are off on their vacations in cooler climes.  But those who stay in town to brave the summer heat are amply rewarded, with value priced menus at some of Miami and Miami Beach’s finest dining hot spots. 

Participating Miami Spice restaurants offer fixed price menus for lunch and dinner, featuring many of their signature dishes at value prices.  Three-course fixed price lunches are $22, and dinners are $35.  The promotion runs from August 1^st through September 30^th.

This is a great opportunity to get to know some of the star players in the greater Miami fine dining scene, or even to return to a few old favorites.  At The Restaurant at the Setai in South Beach, Chef Jonathan Wright’s Miami Spice menu offers diners a selection of dishes from his outstanding Asian influenced cuisine, like Blue Fin Tuna Skewers with Asian Pear and Kaffir Lime Salsa, Cinnamon Glazed Salmon, and for dessert a Passion Fruit Souffle that sounds to die for.  Across town at Chef Allen’s, chef Allen Susser’s perennial favorite in Aventura, the Caribbean inspired fixed price menu features choices like Blue Crab Cake with Tropical Fruit Chutney, Pistachio Crusted Mahi-Mahi with Rock Shrimp and Mango, and Tropical Fruit Cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream.

 

With over 80 restaurants joining in for Miami Spice, it’s hard to know where to begin.  Emeril’s Miami Beach is on the list, not to mention Meat Market, and all three restaurants at the Fontainebleau - Blade, Hakkasan and Vida. In round one, I’ll be making my first pilgrimage to Au Pied de Cochon, to see what Chef Didier Lailheugue is cooking up to try to do justice to this restaurant’s famous Parisian namesake.  Then for round two perhaps Asia de Cuba at Mondrian, mostly because I am fascinated by what I’m hearing about the Marcel Wanders designed dining room. 

To make your own personal list go to ILoveMiamiSpice.com, where you can view a complete list of participating restaurants and find links to their special Miami Spice menus.

 

Bon Appétit

Rob Lubin