Las Vegas Weekly

September 4, 2008 · 3:04 PM

Carnival of Cuisine showcases top chef restaurants, and a first look at new Coca-Cola bottles

By Robin Leach

How do you get excited over a bottle of Coca-Cola? Well, if it’s the first-ever sneak preview of the never-before-seen aluminum replicas of the famous decades-old bottle! Vegas was selected as the first spot to unveil the surprising new lightweight recyclable bottles -- and they were discreetly on display at the "Carnival o Cuisine" hosted by over 30 restaurants and eight James Beard award winning chefs at the Venetian and Palazzo.

Photo: TVT

New Coca-Cola bottle

Everybody from Valentino’s chef Luciano Pelligrini, Tao’s star chef Mark Andelbradt and Morel’s executive chef Eric Bauer were on hand for cooking demos and tasting treats in the main Venetian ballroom while other chefs along with fan dancers and mariachi bands entertained at the Palazzo’s main waterfall. Chef Eric had a large fan turnout when he prepared hand-harvested East Coast scallops with summer fava beans, English peas and heirloom tomatoes for the TV cameras -- and then served it up to eating enthusiasts. Eric told me the delightful dish is on the menu at Morels.

Photo: TVT

Chef's demo

Photo: TVT

Fan dancers

Photo: TVT

Mariachi band

Photo: TVT

Morels chef

Among the celebrity chef restaurants represented were Wolfgang Puck’s Postrio and Cut restaurants, Emeril Lagasse’s Delmonico’s Steakhouse, multo Mario Batali’s B&B and Enoteca San Marco restaurants, Thomas Keller’s Bouchon and Charlie Palmer’s restaurant and bar. Our photos show the food was fantastic, the menus were mouth-watering and mind-blowing -- and when guests weren’t stuffing with Sushi Samba’s sashimi or Bouchon’s bakery breads, everybody settled for the new Coke bottles -- and snatched-up samples to show-off to their friends.

Photo: TVT

Ship of butter

Photo: TVT

Valentino's Team Luciano Pellegrini

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