Las Vegas Weekly

June 24, 2010 · 5:02 PM

Counter Intelligence: Alex Stratta, Geno Bernardo, Top 50 restaurants

By Robin Leach

Geno Bernardo of Nove Italiano at 2010 Taste of the Nation at Rain in the Palms on June 2, 2010.

Photo: TVT

Hot off the grill! Respected food writers John Curtas, Max Jacobson and Al Mancini came up with 150 of what they describe are the “most essential” restaurants in Las Vegas. Now they’ve whittled that list down to the Top 50, and this fall their new book Eating Las Vegas: 50 Essential Restaurants will be published. The book goes on sale at the end of September, and the three culinary kings sign off on the finished manuscripts next week.

*Celebrity chef Alex Stratta has revamped the Italian American dinner menu he serves at his Stratta restaurant at the Wynn and has added my favorites fettuccine alfredo with chicken and snap peas, herbed garlic ciabatta bread and cioppino, a hearty Italian fish stew, to his popular favorites such as the warm goat cheese salad with arugula and fire-roasted mushrooms, avocado, sweet corn and baked lasagna.

*Star chef Geno Bernardo hosts a wine lovers dinner tonight at his Nove Italiano in the Palms. He’s serving five Brogan Cellars wines ranging from sauvignon blanc to chardonnay to pinot noir and merlot with sashimi appetizers, porcini mushroom risotto, heirloom summer squash with toasted hazelnuts, grilled lamb, Italian farmhouse cheeses, chocolate ganache and Italian butter cookies.

Then on July 24, Geno hosts an intimate four-course cooking class at Nove to take guests on a culinary adventure, sharing insider tips on cooking fine Italian cuisine right there in the kitchen. The agenda: summer heirloom tomato brodo, Maine lobster, braised veal cannelloni, baby squash, Umbria summer black truffles, grilled wild salmon, fava bean puree, jumbo lump crab strawberry carpaccio, 8-year-aged balsamico and creme fraiche gelato. The cooking class is $75 per person.

*A new, authentic Tudor-styled tavern the Queen Elizabeth Pub is ready to open at Riviera. The 7,000-square-foot Brit-owned pub is decorated with London memorabilia and has a stage. It will be open 24 hours and serve the finest of British grub, including sausage rolls, steak and kidney pie, plus all the British beers you could ever imagine.

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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