Las Vegas Weekly

January 14, 2010 · 3:24 PM

Counter Intelligence: NATPE to feature Las Vegas celebrity chefs

By Robin Leach

Alex Stratta and Jet Tila at the Top Chef Las Vegas viewing party at Daniel Boulud Brasserie in the Wynn on Nov. 18, 2009.

Photo: Don Chareunsy

Hot off the grill! A celebrity chef kitchen is being set up for the first time at the annual National Association of Television Program Executives convention when it arrives at Mandalay Bay on Jan. 25. Among our Las Vegas-based kitchen kings participating will be Paul Bartolotta and Carlos Guia from the Wynn, Charlie Palmer and Sean DiCicco from Mandalay Bay, Kerry Simon from Palms Place and Jet Tila from Encore, who is considering trying to beat his own Guinness World Record for the world’s largest stir fry. NATPE will mix reality food TV for a contest marrying the best elements of Top Chef’s Quickfire Challenge with The Food Network’s Iron Chef America.

Star chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who owns his self-named restaurant in Aria at CityCenter and Prime at the Bellagio, will next open a unique market and restaurant called The ABC Kitchen with the emphasis on organic. The store will sell everything from soaps to cleaning products to wine and spirits, and all will be organic. The restaurant will be farm-to-table or homegrown. Jean-Georges has converted the ABC Carpet & Home store on lower Broadway in New York for his concept, and if successful might well try it here as his next Las Vegas venture.

Chef Mark Purdy of Alize at the top of the Palms has been using locally grown products available from the farmer’s market to create a lower-priced menu for diners. It’s available seven days a week for $45 per person. The menu changes daily based on what’s available and includes such taste treats as candied pistachios, chestnut soup, caramelized apples and chanterelle mushrooms and is topped off with a chocolate or Grand Marnier souffle.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

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Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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