The Neon Mohawk

Brian Newman After Dark Before getting into the glitz and glamor of Las Vegas (such as Brian Newman, pictured above), we kicked off this week’s episode at Las Vegas’ longest-running cheese shop, Valley Cheese and Wine on Horizon Ridge Parkway in Henderson. The shop’s owner, Diana Brier, was kind enough to serve as this week’s guest co-host. As I ran down Diana’s amazing resume, I noted her cheesy positions at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, and at Oregon’s famed Rogue Creamery . We then got into our discussion of places we’ve recently visited, and Diana told us about her staycation at The M Resort . She loved the oysters Rockefeller, filet and crustaceans Louie at Anthony’s Prime Steak & Seafood . (I chimed in to note my love of the oysters Rockefeller at The Broiler in Boulder Station .) Rich shared some excerpts from his Oscar Goodman dinner series at Oscar’s in The Plaza. If you want to hear more of that, tune into The Plaza’s in-house podcast, produced by Rich, On The Corne...

A second Nobu is coming to the Las Vegas Strip – inside Paris Las Vegas. Plans for a Nobu restaurant in the Paris hotel and casino were revealed Tuesday, in a joint press release from Caesars Entertainment and Nobu Hospitality announcing new collaborations in three cities. In addition to launching a new Nobu restaurant in Paris Las Vegas (which is owned by Caesars), the two companies are also planning new Nobu Hotel experiences within Caesars Atlantic City and the Caesars-owned Harrah’s New Orleans, as well as “a refresh of the first Nobu Hotel at Caesars Palace Las Vegas.” Artist rendering of Nobu Restaurant and Lounge at Paris Las Vegas (STUDIO PCH, Inc.) “We are excited to take this next step in our growing partnership with Caesars,” Nobu founders Nobu Matsuhisa, Robert De Niro and Meir Teper are quoted as saying in the release. When the new restaurant debuts in early 2022, it will be one of three Las Vegas Nobu restaurants – although it will be the fourth ever to open in our va...

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. Provision...

Casa Playa begins seating customers this weekend at Encore, utilizing the space that briefly housed Chef Enrique Olvera’s short-lived Elio. I had the chance to sample several dishes and take in the remodeled dining room during one of the pre-opening “play dates” the team held this week. Like its predecessor, which was in operation for just five months in the second half of 2020, Casa Playa offers a contemporary style of high-end Mexican cuisine that’s a step above what many Americans are used to seeing. (Olvera’s Pujol, in Mexico City, was ranked as one of the world’s top-25 restaurants every year from 2013 through 2019.) To continue that level of quality and creativity, the new restaurant is helmed by Elio’s executive chef, Sarah Thompson. The Culinary Institute of America graduate worked in several top New York City kitchens, including the Michelin-starred Marea and Wylie Dufrense's Alder, before she was recruited by Olvera and Chef Daniela Soto-Innes for their New York restaur...

If you’re one of those wonderful people who subscribes to our podcast, you may have noticed that Episode 14 arrived a little early. What can we tell you? Rich and I were excitedly chatting via emails and texts, and at some point we just couldn’t contain ourselves!  (I mean, we’ve all been there, right?) Rather than try to cover it up, clean it up, or pretend it didn’t happen, we are embracing the premature release. The truth is, we chat quite a bit about Life is Beautiful in this week’s episode, so having some info a day or two early might come in handy for concertgoers. That’s probably all I’m going to say about it for now. I’ll start doing my usual promotion on Friday. But feel free to take a listen. HOWEVER, if you haven’t heard Episode 13 yet, please don’t overlook it. We’re very proud of both of them. Remember, you can stream all of the episodes on t he Podcast page , right here at The Neon Mohawk.