After the excoriation I gave it last June, Sweet Water Prime Seafood Restaurant seemed to thrive anyway, much to my annoyance and chagrin. Even with other lukewarm reviews in its wake, it just seemed to flourish – the parking lot always seemed to be full!

However, there’s some news! Someone told me a couple of weeks ago that Sweet Water, late of 9460 S. Eastern Ave. in Henderson, had closed. Really?!? I sort of tried to hide my glee.

For those of you who are scratching your head at my delight over the closure of a Las Vegas restaurant, all you have to do is to read my review. The food was okay (quite tasty, actually), but the portions were small, the service was hideous, and the attitude of the manager/owner was detestable. As a result of the poor service, my dining companions and I were late for the plans we had made for the evening. Let me rephrase that - the plans had to be scrapped altogether because we had such horribly slow service.
The bad service - coupled with the extortion-level wine pricing - made for an unpleasant experience that cost a lot of money. I opined here that if they didn’t get their service/price act together, then they could kiss success in Las Vegas goodbye. Let’s face it, service is king in this town, and woe to the restaurant that ignores that valuable little morsel. If I’m giving you a lot of my money, then I want to be treated well at your establishment.

The good thing about this was that it put me on the map as a restaurant reviewer. I received a lot of “atta girls” on the quality of the review, and my work became credible and respected. I have to give a most sincere thanks to everyone for the recognition.  And a shout out to Sweet Water for the opportunity.

Now here’s the other side of the coin – there is now a new restaurant in its place. “Steeles” is the name of the restaurant and from what I understand, it is a new iteration with the same owners. They now call themselves Steeles Steak Fish Tapas; an eclectic fusion steakhouse. Whatever that is.

And here’s the interesting part.  According to the Sweet Water website, STEELES (all caps) has opened in Sweet Water’s place with a new chef and a new owner. The surname of one of the owners of Sweet Water was Steele. Hm.

Will I review it? You bet your sweet patootie (whatever that is) I will. And I will report it here in the Blog. In case you were wondering, you can be sure that the review will be fair. A nice restaurant with good food, fair prices, and outstanding service deserves to be successful.  If they are the old owners, I hope that they came to their senses and realize where they erred.  If they are new owners, I hope that the old owners’ experience has served as a cautionary tale.

You can check them out now at www.steelesrestaurant.com.  According to them, it’s not an official website just yet, and their wine list – which of course would be my focus - isn’t online.
Let’s see if they’re any better. Stay tuned.

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Wine Dinner Special!

Six Tables Restaurant of Las Vegas and Cruise Holidays of Summerlin are offering a special wine dinner on Monday, September 8 at 7 pm. In the six-course prix fixe single sitting dinner, wine will be paired with each course. In addition to the beautifully prepared dinner, Cruise Holidays of Summerlin will be providing information on wine cruises and tours. Price: only $125/person.

This is an event for the serious wine lover! Because of the unique nature of Six Tables, numbers are limited.

The entrée offers a choice of seafood, lamb, duckling, or beef. Chef Roland selects just the right wine to pair with each course. Cruise Holidays of Summerlin can recommend trips and cruises for you to visit both famous and little-known wine growing areas and wineries.

Call (702)256-2060 or visit www.sixtables.com.

Carnival Cruise to Mexico

We are exploring wineries near and far with wine tours and cruises!

The collaboration of Vegas Wineaux and Cruise Holidays of Summerlin is turning out to be a lot of fun! There are upcoming land excursions, trips and cruises that are sure to spark your interest. Here is the list of the first of many wine cruises and trips to come.

Contact Cruise Holidays of Summerlin at (702) 982-0268, or email Robert for more detailed information, including dates and additional features.

And now, here are the travel packages!

Weekend tours to Temecula, CA.

Visit new wineries and sample their outstanding wines within easy traveling distance of Las Vegas. This is by far the closest California Wine Country! This is a convenient and easy trip for those with a serious interest - or a new interest - in wine. And yes, we take care of the drive! Our group will be able to get discounts of 10% to 20% on wine purchases! The first trip dates are during the weekend of September 27 and 28. But get your reservations in soon!
$350.00 ($375 after Sept 2)

Mexican Winery Cruises

Mexican wine cruises aboard Carnival Cruise lines to Ensenada. Tour the little known Mexican wine country and discover the great variety of wines produced there. Although better known for tequila and beer, Mexico produces excellent wines that are attracting excitement throughout the world. Four days.
$700

Italy

Wine tours in Italy. Come Romantico! (How Romantic!) Enjoy warm and cozy accommodations in wineries and countryside inns. Meet the winemakers and sample their wines and enjoy your visit to the ancient heartland of Tuscany. Six days.
$3000

River Cruises

River cruises in France, Portugal, and Germany. Stops every day to explore river towns and local wineries, some of which you may never see in the U.S. Wine tastings, lunches and dinners at local wineries, castles, and monasteries for a real taste of the Old World.
$2600 - $5000

Southern France

The land tour of southern France features the wines of Bordeaux and Provence. The trip begins with two days in Paris. Tour the glorious countryside and villages. Eleven days.
$2549

The Mediterranean

Mediterranean cruises aboard the Yachts of Seabourne. Exceptional luxury! Special wine cruises to appeal to those who want the best of travel and the best of fine wines.
$15.000 and up

Private Yacht Charters

Private Yacht Charters to cruise anywhere you like in the world! Yachts can dock in small ports not available to larger ships and have easy access to extraordinary and unusual wine growing areas.
$20,000 and up

So whether it’s a quick weekend trip to Temecula or a once-in-a-lifetime world yacht cruise, there’s something for just about any budget. Remember that these prices do not include airfare.

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John Curtas and Me!

Technically, this interview should appear on MirePoix Vegas, but I just had to present it here because John is a Wineaux as well as a Foodie. So here we go!

If you’ve ever seen John Curtas on Channel 8 or listened to him on KNPR radio, you already know that he’s a high-energy, dynamic, and animated person. I can tell you from my brief, in-person experience that this is not an act. What you see on TV is exactly what you get in person! He and his long-suffering lovely girlfriend, Alexandra, met me at Starbucks and the hour or so that we spent there flew by in camaraderie, laughter, and fun.

He’s a very fit 5’ 9”-ish. He has dark eyes that are always flashing from idea to idea, and a very direct manner is both disconcerting and engaging. His face is a readerboard, and there is absolutely no artifice or pretense about him. I never once stopped smiling.

We exchanged food stories, horror stories (all about food), our favorite places to eat, wines to try, and just talked about “stuff” in general. I was surprised to find out that he hadn’t really been interviewed by anyone before, so I decided to do it, presenting him with a few questions that I felt that his fans would appreciate.

How and/or why did you decide to become a restaurant critic?

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. And in 1995, Las Vegas was the land of the blind as far as restaurant and food writing was concerned. Spago had been open for 2+ years, Palm was still our best steakhouse, and MGM was starting to bring hot chefs here: Trotter, Lagasse, Mark Miller…and no one in the local media was paying attention! So I started writing to the R-J, the Sun and KNPR (the only outlets I thought would pay attention) about having a restaurant critic. It took a while, but Nevada Public Radio gave me a test run of a few weeks on the air, and the rest is history. It was five more years before the R-J hired someone to cover the food scene in town.

How do you decide on a restaurant to review?

I pick places to review based upon the following factors: Are they doing something new, different or interesting? Are they likely to be open a year from now? Will the public be interested in knowing about the place? Does it provide some geographical and other food diversity for my readers, watchers and listeners? Is the QPR (quality to price ratio) substantial? Is something about the place just so good or so famous that it needs to be mentioned? I’d much rather review an excellent local joint like Settebello or Sen of Japan than anything Mario Batali is doing, but people want to know about the superstar as well as the under-the-radar places.

Have you ever gotten food poisoning during any of your assignments?

Salmonella Surprise is an occupational hazard. It’s happened to me twice. Once from oysters (not really salmonella - just bacteria that occasionally gets into shellfish), and from a plate of Polish-Middle-European sausages and meats that came highly recommended by my successor at Las Vegas Weekly magazine. The place was out of business less than a year later (see rules above). I tell people: beware of hole-in-the-wall joints doing everything on the cheap….no matter how “authentic” they appear to be…..although amazingly, I’ve never gotten sick from any Chinese/Southern Asian restaurant, and some of them are best not looked at too closely.

Do you visit a restaurant a few times before writing about it?

I occasionally write a positive review after only one visit, but I never write a negative review without going at least twice. I ate at Mesa Grill five times before barbecuing it and Carnevino three times before giving it the grilling it deserves.

Do you cook?

I was an avid home cook for twenty years before I started reviewing restaurants…and a world-class restaurant goer for most of that time as well. Just like being a District Court Judge, I think you need substantial experience in the field before you can start passing sentences on other people’s conduct.

Have you ever gotten so inebriated while doing a review that you forgot what you ate and how it tasted?

The older I get, the less intoxicated I become no matter how long the meal and how much the vino is flowing. As essential as alcohol is to the wonderful alchemy of wine, I find it to be an annoyance that I put up with by chugging massive amounts of eau minerale au gasseuze (Pelligrino et al). To me, it’s all about the flavors and sensations of the food and the wine, and anything that interferes with that pisses me off….instead of getting me pissed.

Now that you’re famous, can you go into a restaurant incognito? Do you wear a disguise?

I’m so well known on the Strip that I can’t go anonymously anymore….and don’t even try to. For eight years I went undercover, and then all the big hotels hired p.r. guys and gals to scope out the food writers and my jig was up. I can still duck into neighborhood joints and anyplace in Chinatown (multiple times) and no one there will have a clue what I’m doing - (even when I’m snapping dozens of photos of the food). At this point though, I’ve been to so many places, and spent so much of my own money, that I hope I’ve built up enough credibility that people know I’m giving an opinion that hasn’t been bought and paid for.

Which is more important – the food or the service?

People always get mad at me for saying this: but I couldn’t care less about service. Service is so fungible and organic it’s unfair for me to say “the service is good/bad/etc.” If the waitron dumps soup on my head, I don’t care (as long as it’s good soup). To me, the food is 80% of the experience, decor 10%, service even less than that - although I realize those numbers are reversed for many diners.

(Note from Irene: We Disagreed Violently over this one. If I’m spending a lot of money at a place, I want to be treated like I - and the money I’m spending - matter!)

Do you look at the way that the restaurant treats its other clientele when you’re doing a review?

That being said, I DO pay attention to how other customers are being treated…..how long it takes to get the menus/food/bill to them, water re-fills, how the sommeliers are chatting them up, etc…. A real test for me is to watch how a young or unsophisticated couple is treated in a relatively sophisticated restaurant. If the staff is making them feel special (and not out-place), even when the waitrons know they might get a 12% tip, then I’ll give a major shout out for the service.

When it comes to other critics, do you have a particular pet peeve about what they do? Or more than one pet peeve?

My biggest peeve in this town is how almost all reviews (including the R-J, Weekly, Citylife, et al) are based on a single visit. There is no way to take the proper measure of a place (especially a major, expensive Strip restaurant) after only one visit. My second peeve is the cult of the comp, as in: I called the restaurant, told them I was coming with 3 friends (or my wife…) and we ate and drank for free with the tacit agreement that I’d write something positive about the place. Both of my peeves would disappear if most reviews began: I went to L’Income de l’Atelier aux d’Argent the other night with my girlfriend for my first and only time, I was on a total comp from the restaurant and here is my review of the place…. but good luck waiting for that! As I like to say, I’m the only restaurant critic in town who puts his money where his mouth is.

Hm. I’ve written about restaurants after only one visit. I look at it the same a first-time customer would. I’m giving them a chance to prove themselves. If they blow it, I won’t be back.

The difference is: what you’re talking about is just giving an impression of a place (after one visit), versus actually critiquing and analyzing the food based on hundreds or thousands of similar meals. One is just giving an opinion (educated or not) the other is an actual, researched review.

Touché. I’ll give you that. I think that locals especially appreciate a more in-depth review because they’re looking for a place where they can go with a measure of confidence that their money won’t be wasted.

And I’d like to add one thing to the question about pet peeves about other food critics: this town is and was stuck in the cult of “The King Has No Clothes….” No one writes anything negative….or truly critiques the restaurants. The powers that be control the message so powerfully that most media outlets just want to appease them and continue to get the “everything’s great and wonderful in Vegas” message out….at the expense of good writing and journalism. Al Manicini and Heidi Knapp Rinella try to be honest and critical, but they’re stuck with audiences that want them to review pancake houses and cheap ethnic joints, and editors that are catering to that base (and I mean base) audience!

Who were your inspirations for your interests in food? Any particular heroes?

For cooking: Jacques Pepin, Julia Child and James Beard.

For eating: Antoine’s in New Orleans started my affair d’cuisine in 1964 (it was crabmeat bubbling in sherry sauce - I was 12).

For reviewing: Calvin Trillin, Craig Claiborne, Seymour Britchky, Alan Richman, John Mariani.

Any additional comments or advice for those who aspire to become critics?

Aspiring critics need to do four things: eat a lot, cook a lot, read a lot and travel a lot. And have an adventuresome palate. If there are some things you simply don’t/won’t eat - find something else to write about. I loathe beets but eat them all the time. One of these days some chef’s gonna convince me why anyone bothered to dig them up in the first place.

*********

While we didn’t get into the pros and cons of beets (which I happen to love), we looked at our watches, wound everything down and had to run our separate ways. Even on weekends, schedules call!

In that short period of time, an admiration turned into friendship. What a delightful man who just wants to see Vegas food brought to a higher level on a real basis - not just “The Strip” hype.

My favorite place to find John is on his website, Eating Las Vegas. He has something to say nearly every day, and it’s always good!

He also has his own spot on Channel 8, Restaurant Picks by John Curtas, where he gives a quick two-minute review on something food and local.

And of course, there’s the place where I first discovered John - on KNPR’s Food for Thought. For those of you outside of the local area, there are videos on the Channel 8 site and MP3 and Real Audio recordings on KNPR.

AAAV Logo

People, like grapes, come in all colors. And like grapes, can sometimes be surprising with their personalities, characteristics, and the way that other people perceive them. I wasn’t surprised that people weren’t aware that there are several African-American winemakers in California.

I was surprised at the rich history of these winemakers in the United States. I was also surprised to learn that with the thousands of wineries scattered across the US, less than a dozen are owned by African Americans.

It was quite the event. The tasting was hosted by Brenda Knight, the promoter and marketer for the Association of African-American Vintners (AAAV), and she made sure that it was a lively interchange of information and fun. She knows the winemakers personally, and has been involved with the organization since February of this year.

The beautiful Caylix Jazz Club located at 4760 W. Sahara at Decatur was the setting for the event. The venue was ideal, with a large, lovely gathering room that was spacious enough for all of the people who attended. There was a great cross-section of wine-knowledgeable folks - those who wanted to learn about the winemakers, those who wanted to learn about wine, and those who wanted to learn everything!

And then there were the wines. All of the hype and enthusiasm about African-American winemakers wouldn’t mean anything if the wines weren’t good, right? And this is where the wineries shone … in their wines. I was happily not disappointed, primarily because one of my favorite Pinot Noir winemakers was represented. Not that it mattered, but I didn’t know until nine months ago that the winemaker was African American. The Pinot was delicious, and that was my only criterion. So you can imagine my happiness to see this winery’s beautiful Pinot Noir at the event. I will supply the tasting notes at the end of this post.

Four of the seven member wineries had wines represented. The wineries were Vision Cellars, Running Tigers, Sharp Cellars, and Stover Oaks. Missing were Esterlina, Black Coyote Chateau, and Mark Norwood Vineyards & Winery, Inc. Poston Crest, the other vineyard shown on the site, was the vineyard of the founder who passed away in 2002.

This past June saw the Fifth Annual African American Wine Tasting Festival at Copia, the American Center for Food, Wine and the Arts in Napa. The event was beautifully covered by Jo Diaz of Wine-Blog who was present for the festivities. The next Festival will be held on June 20, 2009 at the same location. Try to move heaven and earth to attend it. It looked like a well-attended, educational, and fun event.

The wines of Vision Cellars can be purchased at Khoury’s Fine Wines & Spirits and Marche Bacchus. Esterlina wines are available at some of the higher end restaurants in some of the Strip properties, including the Bellagio. There will be links to the wineries and to the Association on the Vegas Wineaux homepage very shortly.

And now, the wines:

2007 Vision Cellars White Wine (Blanc Gris)

This was the only white wine of the day, and Brenda indicated that this wine is a blend, but I’m not so sure. Although it doesn’t state it on the label, this wine is at least 95% Sauvignon Blanc. If there’s another wine in the mix, I couldn’t detect it. It has all of the characteristics you’d expect from a really great SB, citrus, minerals, gooseberry, cat pee (yes, this is a very good thing), with flowery notes. It’s crisp and citrusy on the tongue, with a fresh acidity that screams for seafood. 12.9% alc.

2006 Vision Cellars Pinot Noir – Sonoma County

Translucent black cherry cola, medium body. On the nose, black cherry, smoke, strawberries, touch of rose petals. Black cherry, smoke, and wild berries with rounded tannins and gripping acidity. Delicious, but lighter in body and flavor than the Black label. 14.3% alc.

2004 Running Tigers Syrah – Dry Creek Valley

Purple-red in color, with medium body. Spice box, plum, white pepper,. Big extracted fruit, with cherries and plums predominating. Smooth tannins, medium acidity. Very Aussie-like in style. 15.3% alc.

2006 Sharp Cellars Pinot Noir – Keenan’s Cover, Sonoma Coast

Reddish garnet/black cherry cola, medium to full in body. On the nose, black cherry predominates, with rose petals, smoke, strawberries, and an indecipherable spice. Taste confirms the smell, with big fruit and paradoxically, a Burgundian-style character. Has Oregon Pinot Noir characteristics. Delicious, rich wine that could be paired with big, well-seasoned meats. 14.5% alc.

2005 Stover Oaks Cabernet Franc – El Dorado County

Cedary pepper, red fruits, with just a hint of herbaceousness. Surprisingly bright and fruity on the tongue. 13.8% alc.

2005 Stover Oaks Syrah – El Dorado County

Reminds me of Stanley-Lambert Family Tree Shiraz, with eucalyptus, red fruit, black cherry, and tar on the nose. Dark fruit and spice on the palate. Yummy Syrah with a beautiful nose. 14.7% alc.

2004 Sharp Cellars Zinfandel – Hailey’s Creek Vineyard, Sonoma Valley

Rich, almost portlike in color and viscosity. Jammy cherry, wild berry and plum. Light spice and leather. On the tongue, it is rich, with deeply extracted fruit, integrated tannins, light acidity. It is a different style than what I generally prefer (I love Paso Robles Zins and Howell Mountain in Napa), but its rich fruitiness will appeal to a lot of palates. What’s interesting about this wine is that it tastes like a 17% alcohol wine, but is only 14%. With that kind of body and the richness on the palate, I had to do a double take.

Look for links to the winemakers’ sites and to the AAAV on the home page. And seek out these wines or contact them directly to get information on their wine clubs. If you would like to have more information, contact Brenda directly at infoataaavintnersdotorg.

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