The Neon Mohawk

In the opening segment of this episode,  I had some childish fun mispronouncing the name of the Foo Kien Fried Rice on the Chinglish Wine Bar brunch menu. I also chatted about my visit just hours earlier to Madero Street Tacos on Carson Avenue in Downtown Las Vegas, during which I sampled some items from El Gallo ghost kitchen’s new breakfast menu. Jason and I both shared our thoughts on Gabi’s Gorditas , and we hear an interview with Gabi’s owner Alfredo Delatorre. I crashed a lunch Jason was having at the outstanding off-Strip Greek restaurant Meraki with famed barman Tony Abou Ganim , to have Tony tell me about inventing the Cable Car. I also spoke to Sand Dollar Lounge owner Anthony Jamison about bringing an incarnation of the popular Spring Mountain Road blues bar to The Plaza in Downtown Las Vegas. At this point, we took a break to chat with comedian Tom Papa about his upcoming show at Wynn Las Vegas. In addition to touring the countrydoing standup , Papa also hosts se

Jason, Rich and I kick off the show at Mint Indian Bistro on Durango Drive, where we enjoyed some dishes from their lunch buffet, and spoke with owner Kris Parikh. But before getting to that, Jason and I had our usual rundown of our recent meals. I shared my experiences at the boozy Upside Down Tea Party at The ShagRoom in Virgin Las Vegas. Jason told us about a trip to EDO Tapas , where he interviewed managing partner Roberto Liendo. I told about my experience sabering a bottle of Champagne during March Bacchus’ Bastille Day . I played a bit of my interview with Jing chef Tom Griese, recorded at the debut of the Downtown Summerlin restaurant's Monday Industry Night. We then sampled that Mint buffet, as Rich rolled the “tape” of our pre-recorded second segment. The centerpiece of this show, was a discussion of the past, present and future of the Las Vegas buffet, with chefs Jennifer Murphy of Caesars Palace’s Bacchanal Buffet and Jason Duarte of The Buffet at Wynn .

We open the show on location at Oscar’s in The Plaza (although I'm not sure if we ever mentioned we were there), There’s an interview with the new owners of Artisanal Foods , which has moved to Eastern Avenue, near Tropicana Avenue.  Jason tells us about his visit to the first Las Vegas location for Dave’s Hot Chicken (on Sahara Avenue), and shares an interview with Michael Stamm of Cured & Whey , in which they discuss a slaughter-fest. Rich interviews the owner of a new English Butcher known as Featherblade , on Charleston and Durango. The centerpiece of this show is a discussion of Italian cuisine in Las Vega s, recorded at local landmark Piero’s , with Piero’s chef Chris Conlon and Chef/Partner Gina Marinelli of Summerlin's La Strega . But we open this segment with an interview with Bobby Flay, recorded during a dinner at his new Caesars Palace seafood restaurant, Amalfi . Our discussion with Chris and Gina included talk of the red-sauce cuisine of  Al Solito Post

We opened up the show at Kassi Beach House in the Virgin Resort . During our opening segment, Jason and I spoke about Chef Daniel Ontiveros taking a gig at  CarverSteak , which is coming soon to Resorts World , as well as two other Resorts Word businesses: Marigold and the adult toy store Pepper.   I also mentioned dining at Chinglish Wine Bar , and shared some video of Sammy Hagar talking about the libations that will be served at his upcoming Strat residency  on October 29 & 30 and November 5 & 6. Jason told us about his brunch at The Stove and some bites at Rebellion Pizza (540 Anthem Village Drive, 702-268-8268), both of which are in Henderson. He also spoke about the charcuterie at Cured & Whey .  Rich shared a story about dining at The Palm in The Forum Shops. Also in the opening segment, all played clips of some of the chef interviews he'd done at Virgin's Grand Opening party weekend, including Chef Kris from Night + Market , and Chef Patrick from One

Most of the episode is set in Resorts World on opening night, where Al seemed perhaps a little too excited to have been positioned near at Paris Hilton during the ribbon cutting. During the top of the show, Jason describes a “crazy pie" Chris Decker made him at Metro Pizza . From there, we chatted a bit about the restaurants we'd visited during the Resorts World opening, including Nicole Brisson’s Brezza , Ray Garcia’s Viva , and Wally’s . Our middle segment was a conversation with John Arena and James Trees, held at Metro Pizza’s E. Tropicana location. Arena is the owner of Metro Pizza (see the link above), which has locations on E. Tropicana Avenue, S. Decatur Blvd., inside Ellis Island, on Sky Pointe Drive and on Horizon Ridge Boulevard in Henderson. In addition to having Mozz Bar in Resorts World, James trees is the chef/owner of Esther’s Kitchen in The Arts District and both Ada’s and Al Solito Posto in Tivoli Village .

 Welcome to my blog, The Neon Mohawk. For those of you who don’t know me -- my name is Al Mancini, and I’ve been covering the Las Vegas food and beverage scene for approximately 18 years.  In June of 2021 I resigned my position as a food and beverage reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, frustrated that it rarely allowed me to tell the stories I felt were important in ways they deserved to be told. That, of course, begs the question of what kinds of stories I want to tell. And honestly, my only hard-and-fast rule is that I want to tell stories that put the right diners in the right restaurants, make their meals more enjoyable, and support the local community. But I want to take the time and space required to tell each story correctly, rather than shoehorn it into the space some editor has available. On the flip side -- if I get breaking news that I think needs to be posted ASAP, I want the freedom to make that happen. And I don’t ever again want to write about a topic simply becau