GABRIEL'S GREEN LIPS

2871 N. Green Valley Pkwy.

Henderson, NV

450-3104

If you live in Henderson or Green Valley (excuse me, but aren't they the same place?), anyway if you live anywhere on the southeast side of town and haven't eaten at Gabriel's Green Lips Café, then you're making a big mistake.

For over two years now, Gabriel Gregoriescu has served some of our town's tastiest and best priced food in a teeny-tiny space full of warmth and personality. Seating only around 50, he fills up quickly with those few souls who appreciate his fresh and personal cuisine, which you might guess, is chock full of recipes for shellfish (like mussels five different ways), lemony crab cakes and pan roasted salmon that compete with anything at Buzios at half the price. As much as Gabriel likes to cook seafood, he also sparkles with his pasta and chicken dishes, and no one can top his original and huge apple strudel for dessert. Even his small wine list is unique for its eclectic choices at rock bottom prices.

The Green Lips Café is tucked away, and I mean really tucked way in a shopping center at Green Valley Parkway and Sunset. It is a gem among zircons in this confusingly overdeveloped and shamefully undernourished part of town. What passes for a restaurant culture in Monochrome Valley's franchise land is the lowest common denominator of fast frozen food from Red Lobster, to Joe's Crab Shack or Taco Bell or Wendy's on almost every corner. All of them seem to keep an un-demanding public satisfied, and only Samueli's, Panini's, Ferraro's and the Green Lips Café have dared to buck this deplorable trend. These are gallant warriors in the war against bad taste and they've had an uphill fight on their hands. None of them are dancing in the end zone, but they're still in the game and that's something the dining-out public should be thankful for.

This is John Curtas.

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