Alize to end Palms run
As the retooling of the Palms’ restaurant lineup continues, Alize executive chef Andrerochat and director of operations Joemarsco announced that their last dinner service would be on New Year’s Eve. Alize opened with the Palms in 2001. In a statement, Rochat and Marsco thanked former Palms owner George Maloof, who had been a longtime guest of the groundbreaking Andre’s French Restaurant in downtown Las Vegas. The original Andre’s opened in 1980 and also closed on a New Year’s Eve, in 2008.
Celebrity chefs will play a big part in the Palms’ reboot, with Bobby Flay, Marc Vetri, Michael Symon and Chris Santos working on concepts for the off-strip resort.
Coastal Italian cuisine
The Mirage has confirmed some details of the new Italian restaurant coming to the resort early next year. It will be called Osteria Costa and will feature the cuisine of Italy’s Amalfi Coast in the form of Neapolitan pizzas, handmade pastas, seafood and house-baked bread. Corporate executive chef Anthony Amoroso is serving as executive chef, leaving unanswered the question of what chef Michael Laplaca will be doing after the closing of Mirage’s Portofino this year.
It’s news to Santos
It’s not surprising that many of Las Vegas’ top chefs were in attendance Saturday night/sunday morning when John Courtney defeated Nicole Brisson in the latest Back of the House Brawl cooking competition, in the parking lot of the Sand Dollar Lounge. But Beauty & Essex’s Chris Santos, no stranger to chef battles, ended up at the event accidentally. Santos, who runs his own heavy metal record label, showed up at the bar with Metal Blade Records founder Brian Slagel and singer Lizzy Borden .He said they were just there for drinks and music. In fact, the frequent “Chopped” judge had never even heard of the underground cooking competition before that night.
Tran cancels ‘Takeover’
Due to “unforeseen circumstances,” The Black Sheep chef Jamie Tran has canceled her planned Snackwagon Takeover dinner this Friday at Harvest at Bellagio. Her appearance likely to be rescheduled for next year. The final takeover of 2017 will be Dec. 8, when Harvest chef Roy Ellamar hosts Michael and Bryan Voltaggio.
Vegas-seoul connection
Las Vegas local Akira Back, who runs Yellowtail at Bellagio and Kumi at Mandalay Bay, has been awarded a Michelin star for his Seoul restaurant Dosa. Located in the Cheongdam-dong neighborhood of the city’s Gangnam district, Dosa specializes in modern Korean cuisine.
Have an item for Kitchen Confidante? Email hrinella@ reviewjournal.com or amancini@reviewjournal. com.