Unbelievable

I am not one who gets all giddy at thought of going to Vegas. I've been there, did the casino thing and actually came out ahead. That was my first clue to get the hell out of Dodge. Of course, this was before Las Vegas' recent 're-birth' which includes the obligatory 'Let's make this place look like Venice, that place like New York' and so on. I know I'm a bit on the jaded side but why would I fly/drive out into the middle of the desert just to look at a mock up of a city that I could fly/drive in the first place. And all the while, the locals are all to willing to relieve me of my 'folding money'.

'They've got Mario and Emeril', you say? Yeah right, those two and whoever else looks good on TV and can boil some water. I'll let you in a little secret.

1.Emeril's not cooking your spaghetti and meatballs.

2.Mario doesn't really care about you or your food.

Well, it seems that somebody else has figured this out too. The difference is, this guy owns the joint:

Casino developer Steve Wynn shuns celebrity chefs, tries to remake restaurant scene

"Casino impresario Steve Wynn is changing the rules of the Las Vegas restaurant game, reversing a strategy of hiring celebrity chefs that has proved financially irresistible in this glitzy city.

Instead, the billionaire famous for his maverick casino designs that reinvigorated the Strip has courted serious talent willing to move to Las Vegas and work year-round in the kitchens of his new $2.7 billion megaresort that opens in April. By being on-site, they can guarantee the high quality of their cuisine."

Holy shit! This guy's a genius. How late did he stay up trying to think of this one. It's a novel concept, I know but wasn't the point from the get-go - The chef on the menu is also the chef that prepares the menu?

" The list includes Jimmy Sneed, Paul Bartolotta, Stephen Kalt, Eric Klein, Alex Stratta, Mark LoRusso and Takashi Yagihashi"

This is the list of the 'non-celebrity' chefs. Do a 'google' on any of the people. They are proper chefs in every sense of the term. I have not eaten their food yet but it seems the only thing keeping them from getting 'the title' is a dozen camera guys running around doing everything they can to drain the subject of his soul and some second rate lounge act playing the soundtrack to the destruction.

"The Prime Steakhouse at the Bellagio, Jean-Georges Vongerichten's place, has fallen victim to this sour syndrome, Richman declared in a very public bloodletting. In the December issue of GQ, he skewered the steakhouse, targeting the famed foie gras brulee."

Vongerichten is getting taken to task?!? Isn't this the guy that makes people wait 4 years for a salad reservation?

"The closest cousin to this dish can be found in regions where cannibalism continues to be practiced, because it's reminiscent of breaking through a skull and finding brain matter underneath," he wrote."

Good God! Talk about a tought crowd...