The Divine Dish

Vegas Uncork’d Grand Tasting at Caesars Palace Pool Deck

Posted on May 11, 2009 under Archives | No Comment

On Friday, May 8, I began a wonderful weekend of events at Bon Appetit’s Vegas Uncork’d event.  My friend and fellow foodie Chris came from one desert (palm springs) to another (Las Vegas) to join me.  Our first event was the grand tasting held at the pool deck at Caesars Palace.   Signature dishes from a large variety of Vegas’ top chefs were available as well as some great wines.  We tried to taste everything, but it was pretty crowded so here is a sampling of what we were able to see and taste:

David Burke Modern American Cuisine had some tasty Thai Chicken Dumplings, here is a pic:

We ran into Dos Caminos chefs Scott Lilnquist and Roberto Hernandez.

Dos Caminos is one of my favorite restaurants in Vegas, great food for a reasonable price, here is what they offered for the tasting, it was one of our faves of the night.

The Dos Caminos short rib was spicey and tender and had a nice slaw to go with it.

After sampling the BLT Burger, well worth a visit if you want a tasty burger and are near the Mirage, we had some nice pork from Isla.

We headed around the curve to the Country Club New American Steakhouse, located in Wynn.

The Kobe beef tartar with black truffle vinaigrette was another fave.

After the yummy steak tartare, we squeezed into Society Cafe.

The sugar cane shrimp skewers were tasty.

Who did we run into?  Robin Leach talking up Chef Kim.  So, we asked for a pic and got a very grumpy, “if you must.”

We got a whiff of next door’s meatballs, so we headed over to the  Lavo booth.  Lavo is a nice place to dine if you want to share some small plates for dinner when you are near Palazzo.

Next over to BOA (located in the Forum Shops at Caesars).

Guy Savoy (located at Caesars) had some nice artichoke and black truffle soup.  Anything with truffles makes us happy.

Also at Caesars is Bradley Ogden, here are pics:

Next door was Payard Patisserie and Bistro, also at Caesars.

Master pastry chef Francois Payard was on hand to talk about the dish of the night, the butterscotch pudding.  This was so good that we had two – winner, best dish of the night.

The Caesars area also featured Neros Steakhouse.

Chef Matt Seeber and his crew manned the Craftsteak booth.  Craftsteak is at MGM Grand.

We headed to Fiamma, also located at MGM, for some pasta.

We got through most of the booths, but by this time we were pretty full.  We headed out and saw some great food on the way:

I ran into one of my fave chefs, Hubert Keller, and Jean Joho from the Eiffel Tower at Paris.

We saw Border Grill chef Mary Sue Milliken on the way out.

Valentino had a great spread – located at Venetian.

Their antipasto misto was one of the best displays at the event.

The last booth before heading out was Eiffel Tower (located at Paris).

There were many booksignings, but the crowd was huge so we left.  It was a great grand tasting.

Weekend at the Phoenician Resort

Posted on May 07, 2009 under Uncategorized | No Comment

I recently spent a weekend at the beautiful Phoenician resort.  Known for its lavish décor, this 250-acre resort on the south side of Camelback Mountain has nine pools, a 165-foot waterslide, 12 tennis courts, six restaurants and a $25 million fine art collection.  The 574 rooms and 73 suites are decorated in muted earth tones and feature oversized marble bathrooms, rich leather accents and original artwork.

The pampering 22,000 square foot Center for Well Being Spa offers traditional treatments as well as the two-part Golf Power program, offering players a digital golf analysis and training session with an exercise therapist, golf yoga classes and a special golfers massage for pre-game conditioning and post-game soreness.  I got a relaxing Maharani Chocolate Decadence facial before heading out to the golf range for a lesson with pro Michael Lamanna.

Regarded as one of the most scenic courses in the area, the Phoenician’s 27-hole USGA championship facility is made up of three challenging nines named for the surrounding landscape – Canyon (6,068 yards), Desert (6,310 yards) and Oasis (6, 258 yards).  The entire 27 holes cover 150 acres of palm trees, colorful flowers, waterfalls, ponds and spectacular mountain views.

That evening, Willie (my good friend and husband of my Vegas travel buddy Sheila) sampled some great food at the resort’s J & G steakhouse.  Here are some of the dishes we ate:

I ordered the crab cake, large, flakey and delicious.  Willie got the ravioli, below.

We both shared the Caesar salad.  Big, crisp and good.

We both ordered steaks, which came with many sauces.

We also received this huge plate of onion rings, along with potatoes and some spinach.

Next came a few plates for dessert, a nice cheesecake and a yummy carrot cake which we both liked.

It was great to see my friend Willie and share all of the great food.

The Phoenician is a great resort for couples and families – even if you don’t end up staying for a weekend if you are in the Scottsdale area it is definitely worth a trip to have dinner at their steakhouse.  Located at 6000 E. Camelback Road, Scottsdale, for reservations call 480/941-8200.

Interview with Michael Lamanna, Director of Golf Instruction at the Phoenician

Posted on May 07, 2009 under Archives, Interviews, Other interesting people | No Comment

While staying at the lovely Phoenician resort I was lucky to grab a private golf lesson with pro Michael Lamanna.  He taped my swing and provided a detailed CD of our lesson at the end of the hour, which is really helpful if you are trying to improve your game.   Michael began playing golf at age 4 and earned a golf scholarship to the University of Idaho.  After graduating he worked as a club professional for 10 years.  He has taught golf using video training techniques since 1979.   During the past 18 years he has dedicated himself to teaching full-time.  First as a Master Instructor, then as Director of Instruction and Director of Schools for three Jim McLean Golf Academies.  In 1998, he became the first Director of Instruction for Resort Golf Group and opened and operated golf academies at Sierra Nevada Golf Club in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, Mesquite Golf Club in Palm Springs, California, Cimarron Golf Club in Cathedral City, California, The Westin Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, California and at Doral Arrowwood Resort in Rye, New York.  In 1999, he was named Director of Schools at the PGA TOUR Golf Academy in Saint Augustine, Florida and in 2002, he was named Director of Instruction at the prestigious The Academy at La Cantera, located at The Westin La Cantera Resort in San Antonio, Texas.

Michael has worked with teaching legends Jim McLean, Bob Toski, Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher, Scott Sackett, and Golf Digest Top 50 Teacher, Tim Mahoney.  He has conducted clinics with Hall of Fame members Billy Casper, Ben Crenshaw, Gary Player and Tony Jacklin, and with tour legends Bruce Lietzke, Calvin Peete, Bill Rogers, Dale Douglass and Gay Brewer.

Michael has been affiliated with the PGA and teaching golf for more than 27 years and is a Certified Golf Fitness Instructor with the Titleist Performance Institute. He was named “2004 Harvey Penick Teacher of the Year” in the Western Chapter of the Southern Texas PGA and has written articles for About.Com, Avid Golfer magazine, Texas Golfer, AZ Golfer, Northwest Golfer and numerous local and regional newspapers and periodicals.  He has hosted local golf talk radio programs and has appeared in numerous TV golf tip segments.  He has taught players of all levels, including the San Antonio City Girls, Boys and Men’s Champions, the Texas State Mid Amateur Champion, Arizona Amateur Champion, Phoenix Men’s Amateur Champion, Montana State Open Champion, Arizona State Boys and Florida State Girls Junior Champions, collegiate golfers, members of the LPGA, Nationwide Tour, The Champions Tour and PGA TOUR.

Here is our conversation about golf and the three nine hole courses at the Phoenician. 

Palate Food and Wine, Glendale

Posted on May 07, 2009 under Uncategorized | No Comment

I finally was able to get a reservation at Chef Octavio Becerra’s Glendale restaurant Palate.  I ended up having to go during the week as it was booked solid for several weekends in a row.  I have heard great things about the restaurant since it opened almost a year ago.

The 70-seat restaurant offers casual dining in an open  room with butter colored walls – a bit crowded and noisy, but it is a small space.  My friend Dalbert joined me and we went to celebrate his new job as head make-up artist for NARS at Barney’s in Beverly Hills – if you need to get your face done head to over to Barney’s and say hi to Dalbert.  Here is what we sampled:

Once we sat down we were served this yummy board of homemade bread and soft butter with dill and chives.

We split the Romey Salad, with avocado, beets, maui onion and a red wine vinaigrette.  We both liked this starter.

Dalbert had the salmon, which came with cannelini beans, artichokes, tomato confit and sauce pistou.  I ate a few bites and it was perfectly cooked.

I had the pork belly with Swiss chard and leeks, very yummy.

We are both suckers for chocolate pudding, so we had to get dessert.  This was our fave of the night, Valrhona bittersweet chocolate with a lovely cream topping.  We also loved the wine selection, which you can order in 2.5, 5 and 8 ounce portions in case you want to taste a bunch of different varieties, only problem is that they were quite pricey so I would opt to choose one 8 ounce for the night.  Palate is located at 933 South Brand Boulevard in Glendale, reservations at 818/662-9463.