Food and Loathing Restaurant Guide -- Ep. 17: Jamie Tran Talks Top Chef

We recorded this entire episode at The Black Sheep, Jamie Tran’s amazing Vietnamese/American/fusion/comfort-food restaurant in the Rhodes Ranch neighborhood.


Our guest co-host for this episode is Mercy Baron, creator of the Las Vegas Food Fanatics Facebook page, host of the All Forked Up podcast, and creator of BaronsBBQBeat.com.

During our discussion of her move to Las Vegas, Mercy singles out Joe Muscaglione of the Shanghai Taste restaurant in Spring Mountain Road's Shanghai Plaza as one of the first local restaurateurs who reached out to her to our community.

To kick off our discussion of places we’ve recently visited, Mercy told us about her recent visit to the Downtown Las Vegas Pizza Rock, which is the only valley location that offers the purple potato pizza.

I mention my visit to Nightmare on Spring Mountain, the new Halloween pop-up at The Sand Dollar Lounge on Spring Mountain and Polaris

Rich and I chat a bit about the media dinner we attended at Hakkasan in MGM Grand, with Rich singling out the spare rib as the most memorable dish.

I also discuss my visit to Todd English’s Olives, in the new Virgin resort, noting their amazing complimentary bread service. 

This leads to a discussion about restaurants that charge for bread, with Mercy saying she’s more than happy to pay for the great bread at Esther’s Kitchen in The Arts District.

After running down a few of the concessions I visited at T-Mobile Arena, Mercy notes her love for Marc Marrone’s Graffiti Bao, which also has a location on Warm Springs and Buffalo.

During our centerpiece segment, Rich and I chat with Chef Jamie Tran, discussing her appearance on Top Chef, her plans for the future, potential collaborations with her fellow contestants, and other topics. 

Mercy returns for our final segment, which kicks off with the news. First up this week is word that Rao's is closing its Caesars Palace location, with final service on November 28.  

I also share the news that Travis Schultz has been named executive chef at Sparrow + Wolf, talking about a dish he brought me during my last visit there.


I play an interview with Barry Dakake and Yassine Lyoubi of Barry’s Downtown Prime in Circa, discussing their new partnership with The Vegas Golden Knights.

I make a brief mention of Chef Carla Pellegrino’s new restaurant, The Dough House, which is set to open on Rainblow Boulevard near the 215 on October 28. 

I also mention the fact that the Philadelphia chain Chickie’s and Pete’s has opened a location in The Sahara. This prompts Mercy to remind me that I need to try the cheesesteaks at Lucino’s on East Tropicana Avenue – a place that many people have recommended, which I still haven’t visited.

My final interview clip of the day is with Eric Gladstone, discussing the details and location of this year’s Vegas Unstripped food festival.

For Rich’s weekly “junk food report,” he tells us about a new fried chicken place he likes: Trask’s Chicken and Fish (651 N. Rainbow Boulevard, just north of Route 95).

We wrap things up, as usual, with our cannabis edibles review. This week, it’s Peanut Budda Buddha bars by Incredibles.


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