Las Vegas Weekly

October 17, 2008 · 1:30 PM

TV shows turn the cameras on the Vegas food scene

By Robin Leach

Respected food critic and guide to the good life, Eating Las Vegas’ connoisseur John Curtas, played judge on the Food Network’s highly rated Iron Chef series. The "secret ingredient" for his debut was one of the ugliest fish in the world: sturgeon. The two competing TV chefs had to produce five different courses with the difficult-to-cook and seafood.

John threw a viewing party that I MC’d at the Marche Bacchus restaurant, where owners Rhonda and Jeff Wyatt had their chef try for four of them! The 50 guests discovered just how difficult sturgeon is, as the TV show demonstrated. Now that the chef has departed we can reveal that Emeril LaGasse’s Jean-Paul Labadie from Table 10 at the Palazzo will be taking the helm.

John’s Food Network episode will be airing all month long -- and he proved you could wear a white suit to dinner and not get one spot on it, even with sturgeon!

Now the Travel Channel is here filming chef episodes for the new Vegas Revolution series -- and Wolfgang Puck, who started the entire fine-dining concept here back in 1991, gets credit in three episodes of the six-part series. Cameras filmed in his new CUT steak restaurant at the Palazzo, in his Asian-themed restaurant Chinois at Caesars Palace and his Mediterranean restaurant Postrio at the Venetian. Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill at Caesars and Paul Bartolotta’s Ristorante di Mare at Wynn Las Vegas are also included along, with our other Iron Chef winner, Kerry Simon at his new Simon restaurant in George Maloof’s Palms Place tower.

Photo: John Curtas

Robin Leach joins the group.

Photo: John Curtas

Robin Leach listens to John Curtas.

Photo: John Curtas

Robin Leach watches the Food Network.

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