jsmeeker

is this a new place? I don't recall it from past trips to Las Vegas.

This will be great. I'm a huge fan of Chef Ripert. Hopefully, the Dallas PBS station will pick it up (they probably will, they have always had a good lineup of cooking shows)

Don't feel bad about obsessing about dining when going to Las Vegas. I do. It's pretty much the only thing I really give a lot of thought to. By Table 8, do you mean a place by Govind Armstrong from Los Angeles or did you mean Table 10, an Emeril Lagasse place? (I didn't know there was a Table 8 in Las Vegas). If you want to hit a buffet, I'll suggest the buffet at Wynn. I'm not really into buffets anymore, but it was pretty decent. Best one I have been to in Las Vegas (though I have only been to a few and haven't been to the one at Bellagio) Is $50 your TOTAL "out the door" price? Do you drink?

I've been to Vegas a bunch of times and have had many good meals. Some friends wanted to go to N9NE, I had no other plans, so I went. As mentioned, I enjoyed my time there. Not your father's steak house, that's for sure. It's not the steak joint for everyone. But at the time, it worked fine. As far as it being a big deal, I think any restaurant closing down is a a fairly big deal. Moreso in an area like Victory Plaza that's been struggling to get tenants. I want to see that area succeed.

L'Atelier is offering a 5 course winter tasting menu for $75. Deals are to be had in Las Vegas.

edsel, where are you staying?

Interesting.. First Nove, then N9NE. Losing both has gotta be really bad for Victory Park. Never made it to the Dallas location of N9NE, but did go to the Las Vegas location. Loud as heck. Young, hip crowd. But it was a great steak.

No car is not a problem. You can easily get from The Rio to the Strip and back via taxicab. Rio really isn't all that far off strip, anyway. Since you are going for work, are you just looking for dinner suggestions?

thanks. I've heard of cooking rice like cooking pasta, but have never done it that way. I'll give that a whirl next time.

My rice isn't even as good as the Sodexho run cafeteria at work. Mine is always sticky. It's never cleany sperated individual grains. I've tried varying the 2:1 ratio of water to rice. more water. less water. Nothing changes. Of course, I really don't want t obuy a rice maker. I just don't cook enough rice on a regular basis to justify it.

I love Oysters.... Bowen's Island sounds awesome. I'm sure I can convince at least one of my friends to go there. But is it only open for dinner??

thanks for the heads up. I still have not bought any contianers as I am still working through a lot of small amounts of teas I have in light proof zip top bags.

About 4:1 chocolate to cream for dark chocolate. ← Thanks. I have a 10 ounce chunk of Callebaut 635. Thank makes for 2.5 ounces of cream. I'll give it a try.

I have a very generic question about chocolate truffles. Is there a standard ratio of chocolate to cream? If I have a hunk of chocolate that weighs x, how much cream do I need. I'm looking to do simple hand rolled truffles that will be rolled/coated in cocoa powder.

The Charleston Food & Wine Festival ← Saw that! Making plans to attend the Grand Tasting on Saturday. What are some good seafood restaurants?

Yes, cook it ahead. I always make puddings the day before. I'm not familar with a meringue on a pudding. Just put some saran on the pudding so no skin forms. ← I've seen it on some banana puddings, but my banana pudding friends give it the big thumbs down. I agree with them. Skip it. Other than that, you are totally OK with doing it in advance. It's pudding. Even home made not from a box mix pudding keeps nicely.

thanks for all of the replies and suggestions, even the non BBQ ones. It may turn out that I won't even do BBQ. The seafood stuff sounds good. What's local and in season in early March? Will the oysters sill be then?

I bought a round tray from a resturant supply one day, thinking I would use it all the time. Like you, I would make several trips. Surely I would start to use the tray, right? Well, no. I rarely use it. One of the reasons is that I think it's just not sized properly to carry a dinner plate with beverage. I could use it to carry a beverage, plus some snacks and stuff. And I have done that. But only a few times.

I used to travel Los Angeles a great deal for many years. But I never really paid any attention to the food media there. I'll need to read her blog/website.

Lost? Probably the most notable thing is any sort of frozen entree. I used to buy things like frozen pot pies (Swanson's, then "upgraded" to Marie Callendars), frozen Stouferr's Lasagna, frozen pizza, some types of frozen dinners (back to Marie Callendar's). I used to buy and eat that stuff fairly regularly. I haven't had any in my freezer in some time. Some things not totally "lost", but that I don't keep as much of? Soda. I used to always have Coca- Cola or Dr. Pepper or Root Beer or something like that on hand in the fridge, plus usually some back up supply in the laundry room. I but it FAR less frequently than I used to. FAR less. I don't buy brownie mixes, pancake mixes, pudding mixes, etc. either. Kept? I still buy Ben and Jerry's or Haagen Daz when it's on sale. ( I don't have an ice cream maker in the kitchen). I still like tortilla chips. I buy them a lot. "Snack" type foods are probably where I have kept the most. There are other things I could put on both lists. I'm not a total snob, though. I'll still happily buy a package of Oreos if the mood strikes (they are great for making a chocolate cookie crumb pie crust) or a bag of Lays potato chips to go with my made from a packed Hidden Valley Ranch dip.

I think Cook's Illustrated's "Baking Illustrated" is really solid. It's not about fancy plated restaurant desserts, but it covers everything baking with tons of solid recipes for "home type" baking and desserts.

My favorite was probably Fearing's (Dallas). Had a great dinner and a really nice lunch there. Good pizza at Grimaldi's in West Village (Dallas) as well.

I think I need to go to Ping Pang Pong next time I am in Las Vegas. That it's in a "major" casino is actually a plus. Now, I just need someone to "guide" and order stuff.

I think my seniors would agree with you on the green bean issue. They told me I didnt cook the frozen long enough. I was perplexed. ← I make Southern style green beans using cut, frozen beans. I cook some bacon, then remove. Saute onions in the bacon fat. Add in beans. Cover with chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper. Cook. And cook. When tender, I add some brown sugar and a small splash of cider vinegar. I LOVE the cut ones for this cause it makes for less work to get a bite sized green bean.

I can put the ceramic hone in the same place my steel is. And put the steel in the trash. I WOULD like to see the DVD, heck, I may even need to refer back to it a few times until I get the hang of it. My current chef's knife is a Forschner. I think I will learn on that before plopping down the cash for a Shun (or maybe a MAC)