VEGAS SUPER STAR CHEFS “SHAFTED” BY NEW YORK “FOODIES” YET AGAIN
It’s outrageous. It’s unfair—and in the words of actor Peter Finch when he starred in Network with Faye Dunaway “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.” It’s hard to believe but totally true that in the newest list of nominees in 52 different categories for the James Beard Foundation Awards not one Vegas celebrity chef or resort restaurant gets a tip of the toque for food!
In fact the only nomination at all for anything on the Strip was the “Outstanding Wine Service” nomination to Steven Geddes at Aureole in Mandalay Bay and Robert Smith, the wine director of Picasso in the Bellagio. No disrespect but the one and only chef and restaurant here that garnered any recognition whatsoever is Saipin Chutima at the off-Strip shopping mall Lotus of Siam Thai restaurant. The long overlooked nomination is very well deserved for the category labeled “best chef in the Southwest” (NV, AZ, CO, NM, OK, TX, UT). Located in the non-descript Commercial Center on East Sahara many food critics simply proclaim it the “best Thai restaurant in the entire country.”
This baffling situation even comes after many Vegas based chefs have made a pilgrimage to the New York headquarters of the Beard Foundation—all at their own expense. They paid their own airfares and hotels, tickets for their kitchen staffs, plus the foods and wines to present special dinners for which they are unpaid. Au contraire—proceeds from ticket sales for those meals go to the coffers of the Beard House, a food organization that was racked with its own financial scandal a few years back.
It describes itself as the nation’s preeminent recognition program honoring professionals in the food and beverage industries with award for restaurants and chefs, cook books, food journalism, design and graphics and Broadcast Media. You can see all the glaring Vegas omissions and oversights for yourself on its website: jbfawards.com
In interests of fairness I will point out that some East Coast and West Coast “name” chefs who have restaurants here were recognized for their “outstanding talents” ranging from best cookbook, to best TV show to best new restaurant—but none of their Vegas based operations won any praise whatsoever.
Among the only names we recognize here: Jean-Georges Vongerichten from Prime at the Bellagio and Mario Batali & Joseph Bastianich who run B&B, Enoteca at The Venetian and Carnevino at its new adjoining Palazzo, Wolfgang Puck who has six restaurants in town here and Tom Colicchio who is at MGM Grand.
So where were our superstars: Michael Mina, Paul Bartolotta, Bradley Ogden, Martin Heirling, David Robins, Julian Serrano, Barry Dakake, Andre Rochat, Alex Stratta, Michael Jordan, Kerry Simon, Steve Martorano—let alone the big VIP names of Joel Robuchon, Guy Savoy, Daniel Boulud, Charlie Palmer, Charlie Trotter, Emeril Lagasse, Thomas Keller, Nobu Matsuhisa, David Burke? I apologize if I’ve omitted any of my chef friends but the smoke is steaming out of my ears and I’m thumping my keyboard way too hard!
Vegas has been dealt a real dirty hand here. Our city has some of the greatest dining destinations in the world and certainly finer service here than any place I’ve ever been to. We are ahead in every respect of so many eateries in Paris, New York and Los Angeles. It’s totally unfair and a case purely of effete New York City foodie snobbism.
Next time the Beard House calls wanting a delegation of chefs in from Vegas to fly for free, shop and cook for free I suggest you just hang up the phone! For those who want to boycott the New York awards ceremony simply mark your calendar to do something else on June 6-8. Somebody, though, should send a petition of protest to the Beard board and ask if their judges have ever been here—let alone heard of us being the new culinary capital of the world! Perhaps they simply cannot stomach the thought we have become No. 1.