(Las Vegas - August 16, 2007)

Good Morning Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea. This is John Curtas reporting to you from the studios of Nevada Public Radio with Food News You Can Use.

Item: It has been announced that Mathew Silverman, Executive Chef at Summerlin's Vintner Grill will appear at the James Beard House in New York on November 29th cooking a very special Wintering in the Mediterranean menu that will feature food and wine pairings from France, Italy, Spain Greece and Israel. Kudos to Silverman and the whole crew at Vintner Grill for gaining national recognition for a restaurant that has single-handedly raised the bar for neighborhood eats in Sin City.

Item: Guy Savoy both the man and the restaurant is in town this week to kick off a new Bites and Bubbles menu at our best (at let's face it), our 2nd most expensive restaurant. Franck-ly speaking this Savoy Faire move will result in more folks tasting some of the best food on the planet at prices that won't Guy-o-tine their wallet.

Item: After several lam-bastings in the press-including one from this reporter-that befits a turkey of a menu, David Burke in the Venetian has canned its head chef. This place laid an egg from the start, but you can't blame the poor cook, who was only executing his master's orders. Since nothing Burke's-well here, DB's overstuffed reputation is a fowl deed in need of a good plucking.

Item: There's lots being cooked up on the horizon - as in ridge - as restaurant-challenged Green Valley may soon get a serious wine bar with the anticipated opening of VOX, in the space once occupied by the absolutely atrocious Chicago's Own-A Taste Of Class. Well that place never had any, but Chef Marcus Ritz (late of Marc's in Summerlin) and Wine Director Patrick Pretz (late of the SW Steakhouse in the Wynn), will make sure their new venture has plenty.

Item: What's this? Two new worthwhile openings in a formerly-restaurant challenged community? Sacre Bleu as that guy named Guy would say. Yes some 8 months ago, STEAK carved itself into a hillside in new-old Henderson and immediately beefed up the restaurant choices around there. Owner David Droz was also sharp enough to take a cue from Marche Bacchus and Bleu Gourmet and feature a wine store next door with only $10 markups on all wine.

And speaking of wine this just in: Danielle Price, Kevin Vogt, Bryan Ogden and Paolo Barbieri, all top shelf, grand cru, big cheeses in our food and wine world, have cultivated their own wines for public purchase. Yet another reason to gallop to Valley Cheese and Wine (that's also located in these formerly food fallow fields) to go gulp great grape juice.

Is this a great time to be living in the southeast part of town or what? Assuming you didn't buy 5 houses during our last real estate boom, take some of your spare change and start eating right.

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