Food and Loathing Restaurant Guide -- Ep. 14: Celebrities, Chefs & Life is Beautiful

I kicked off this week’s episode with guest co-host Justin Kingsley Hall, and his business partner Kim Owens. They are, of course, the creators of Main St. Provisions in The Arts District, which (as I mention) is where I’ve had one of my three favorite meals of 2021.

We recorded the first segment at Peyote – a new spot coming to Ferguson’s Downtown on Fremont Street.

During Justin’s intro, I run down some of the places he’s worked in the past. They include:

Comme Ca (no longer open in Las Vegas)

The parking lot of Dino’s Lounge (an awesome dive bar and karaoke spot on Las Vegas Boulevard between The Strip and Downtown)

Sparrow + Wolf (also one of my top three meals of 2021)

The Kitchen at Atomic on Fremont Street (where Hubert Keller and I joined him on an episode of PBS’ Secrets of aChef)

The Whiskey in the Wilderness festival

I also pointed out that Kim is a veteran of the national steakhouse chain Del Frisco’s.

Since I was mentioning that Main St. Provisions and Sparrow + Wolf have served me two of my top-three meals of 2021, I figured I should come up with a third. So I sent a shout-out to Delilah – the gorgeous Art Deco supper club at Wynn Las Vegas.

Moving on to things I’ve done this week, I mentioned Negroni Week, and the kickoff party I attended at Al Solito Posto in Tivoli Village.

When I asked Justin about some of the best places he’s been recently he mentioned the Arts District craft beer bar Servehzah (he recommends the micheladas) and the recently re-launched West Side Spanish spot Valencian Gold.

Kim told us about her love for the relatively new Arts District watering hole The Silver Stamp.

For this episode’s second segment, Jason, Rich and I were joined at the award-winning seafood restaurant Other Mama by its chef/owner Dan Krohmer. Summit Club chef Geno Bernardo joined us via Zoom from the uber-exclusive Gozzer Ranch in Northern Idaho.

Unfortunately, the majority of places we discussed during our segment on cooking for the rich and famous are either no longer open, or not publicly accessible businesses. But I suppose we should send a shout-out to the New Orleans strip club Dan was in the night he was drugged and robbed: BarelyLegal.

Heading back to Peyote, Justin and I were joined for the episode’s third segment by the creator of the Vegas Test Kitchen, Jolene Mannina.

We spoke a bit about the dining options at this year’s Life is Beautiful festival:

Jolene is hosting a series of intimate dinners called Omakase Cantina, in the old Hatsumi space in Ferguson’s Downtown. The three ticketed meals will be created by Brain Howard of Sparrow + Wolf (see the link above), La Strega’s Gina Marinelli, and Restaurant Guy Savoy’s executive chef Nico Costagliola.

Justin will be curating the open-fire dining area at Life is Beautiful this year. It will feature a rotating assortment of chefs that changes daily, including:

Sam Marvin of the Tivoli Village steakhouse/butcher Echo & Rig, Crystina Nguyen of This Mama’s House and District One, and chefs representing David Chang’s Majordomo Meat & Fish in The Palazzo, Jose Andres’ China Poblano and Jaleo in The Cosmopolitan, Christina Tosi’s Milk Bar in the Cosmopolitan, the off-Strip Mexican spot Milpa and the heirloom corn tortilla company Masazul.

Justin also mentioned that his area will be located close to Life is Beautiful’s vegan dining enclave, The Farm Stand, which is curated by Vegans, Baby creator Diana Edelman.

The pair also pointed out that there would be a Mardi Gras party at Vegas Test Kitchen during the festival, and Peyote will be serving tri-tip sandwiches, burgers, fried chicken sandwiches and vegan tacos.

Out cannabis edible review for this episode was an EGO Brands Fruit Cereal Treat.