Food and Loathing Restaurant Guide -- Eps. 19 & 20: Vegas Unstripped & Unstripped Leftovers

We had so much Vegas Unstripped coverage, that we decided to spread it out over two episodes released simultaneously. 

Episode 19 kicks off with Al, Rich and Rick Moonen coming to you once again from Rick’s backyard.

After a brief discussion of Rick’s glamping adventure in Utah, and his visit to Bryce Canyon, Rich shared his recent culinary adventures visiting two places that recently hosted this podcast: Every Grain and SoulBellyBBQ. We were momentarily proud of him. The he told us about the junk food he ate in Oregon.

We were briefly sidetracked into a conversation about our love (and the love of several past guests) of JSX Air – which offers nice option for flying into Las Vegas from certain markets.

Rich spoke about attending the wedding of magician MurraySawchuck – which took place at The Plaza.

I discussed two takeout meals I’ve had recently. I got a burger from Fukuburger. And I picked up several great dishes, including foie gras Rice Krispies Treats, from Valencian Gold.

Next up, Rick and I told you about our first look at La Cocina Exclusiva – the high-end, Mexican-influenced restaurant in Tivoli Village. (It’s a sister restaurant of the El Dorado Cantina chain.)

While La Cocina Exclusiva is supposed to be a tough reservation to score, requiring some inside info to get a table, I managed to track down some info on how to get in. If you’re looking for a reservation, you can call 702-447-0502 or email reservations@lacocinaexclusiva.com.

While it isn’t food related, I told people about the new documentary Parkway of Broken Dreams, which tells the story of the UNLV-area arts scene of the 1990s.

From there, we moved on to our reporting from Vegas Unstripped 2021.

While the best place to take in our full coverage of Unstripped is over at the Food and Loathing Facebook page, where we livestreamed throughout the food festival, Episodes 19 and 20 have excerpts from several interviews. If you heard someone chatting with us, and want some more info on them or there food, here’s a roundup of the people who made it onto this episode.

The opening montage has pre-opening interviews with:

Johnny Church of Johnny C’s Diner, who was making country-fried foie gras with waffles.

Honest Hospitality’s Gary LaMorte was preparing bacon-aged steelhead trout with fermented chili moonshine.

Justin Kingsley Hall, whose food can be found at Main St.Provisions in The Arts District and Peyote in Ferguson’s Downtown, was preparing some barbecued Australian kingfish with smoked shellfish XO sauce.

Metro Pizza’s John Arena told us about his American artisan pizza with smoked pork shoulder, crema and onions-cherry-jalapeno jam, finished with green onion.

Monzu Italain Oven + Bar’s Gio Mauro told us about his beef spleen sandwiches.

Angela Sweetser of Henderson's Queen of Hearts tea room told us about some white rabbit cream puffs stuffed with lemon curd, her checkerboard shortbread and playing card cookies.

We then shared a few more interviews. They included:                                                     

Good For Spooning’s LeAnne Notabartolo.

Chef Daniel Ontriveros told us about what he’s planning at CarverSteak in Resorts World.

Brain Howard of Sparrow + Wolf telling us about his new concept, Half Bird.

Marc Marrone of Graffiti Bao, SkinnyFats and Gemma Gemma Pizza told us about all the things he has going on, including a few new concepts.

Floriana Pastore told us about where we can find her Signora Pizza truck, which you can follow at @signorapizza on Instagram.

Keris Kuawana brought me and LeAnne some delicious dessert, and teased the possibility of her own brick-and-mortar. For now, however, if you want to try her dishes you’ll have to go to local Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. You may also be able to find a dessert of hers on the menu at La Strega in Summerlin, or certain other Lev Group restaurants -- but you’ll need to ask.

After teasing Episode 20, we return to Rick’s backyard.

Kicking off our news, is word on a new executive chef at LeCirque in Bellagio.

I mention the death of EDO Tapas’ Roberto Alejandro Manzares, and the GoFundMe page to benefit his wife and children.

Rich mentions two locations of Bobby’s Burgers by Bobby Flay that are coming to Harrah’s and Paris Las Vegas.

Rich then discusses a new vegan fast-food concept in the northern valley called Plant Power Fast Food.

Our edibles review this week is HaHa brand gummies.

That’s about it for Episode 19.

In Episode 20, we offer three in-depth interviews from Vegas Unstripped – which we like to refer to as our leftovers.

James Trees is the chef/owner of three of Las Vegas’ most popular restaurants. Esther’s Kitchen is his Arts District flagship. Al Solito Posto is his Italian red-sauce spot at Tivoli Village. But the chef he brought with his to this interview was Jackson Stamper, who runs the kitchen of Trees’ Wine Bar, Ada’s, in Tivoli Village.

Barman Adam Rains has worked at countless Las Vegas bars and restaurants. Right now, however, you can find him at The Golden Tiki.

Chef Jean-Paul Labadie spoke to us about his new company, Apron Tie.