Shima-aji, or striped jack fish. Photo by Anthony Mair

In the film Jiro Dreams of Sushi, which has not yet hit town, the subject is an 85-year-old sushi master, Jiro Ono, who runs a three-Michelin-star restaurant in Tokyo. The film chronicles the way quality and consistency shape a great restaurant, and Jiro’s visits to Tsukiji—the famed Tokyo fish market—make great theater.

A pull-out-all-the-stops dinner at Sukiyabashi Jiro costs $400-$500 per person, the amount one might spend at BarMasa at the Aria, our deluxe sushi restaurant. Sure, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but who can afford it? Besides, you’ll never get a seat.

Sushi fanciers, take heart: I bring good tidings. For the same amount you might pay at one of our many Taiwanese- and Korean-owned sushi bars—places that serve clots of improperly cooked rice, shaved, frozen fish and artificial wasabi squeezed out of a tube—you can eat at Kabuto, an 18-seat sushi-ya in China Town’s Seoul Plaza (about to be re-named Tokyo Plaza), a mini-mall that already boasts Raku, Nakamura-ya, Big Wong and Monta.

Kabuto is so new there is no sign, just the Chinese character for “samurai helmet” (what the restaurant’s name means) just inside the front door. It’s mostly blond wood in here, with a 10-seat counter set with elegant paper place mats and pink porcelain hashi-oki chopstick holders, and a small floral display behind the sushi men. (Two tables of four make up the other eight seats, but the counter is the real show.)

There are just two sushi men here, bantering in Japanese as they work in tandem. So far, the clientele has been largely Japanese, but that can’t last. When word spreads about Kabuto, it will be the toughest of tables—maybe the toughest reservation in the city.

Why? Consider what you get here. Nigiri sushi—individual clumps of vinegared rice topped with perfectly cut, perfectly fresh sea creatures—starts at $3 per piece and tops out at $6. You can order a la carte, but most people, so far, have opted for a multi-coursed affair. Thenigiri option is composed of an aperitif, an appetizer, 10 pieces of sushi served one-by-one, a hand roll and a dessert. For $40. Double that gets you the omakase (chef’s choice), which adds sashimi, grilled fish and the house soup, usually miso. It is, by any standards, a remarkable dinner.

I had the nigiri menu, served by a team of charming Japanese ladies and, naturally, the two chefs. First, a hot o-shibori towel arrived, then a tiny thimble of pineapple sake on the rocks, as a refresher.

The zensai, or appetizer, came in a lacquered bowl—stewed bamboo, firefly squid, and kombu, or sea tangle, a richly flavored seaweed. The parade of sushi followed, starting with shima-aji (that’s striped jack to you, pally) and finishing with tamago-yaki, omelet-like squares made of cooked egg. Oh and P.S., that’s freshly grated wasabi you’re eating.

In the middle, there was bluefin tuna from Spain, sea eel, fatty tuna and other delicacies. Each individual piece was perfectly brushed with soy sauce, the soy never touching the rice (a major no-no), edible works of art that I wanted to frame almost as much as eat. Dessert was a choice of mochi ice cream or a multi-layered crepe filled with strawberry cream.

I didn’t describe every piece I had in between, because the fish selection changes daily based on availability and freshness. Jiro, watch your back.

Executive Chef Philipp Norsetter and Gina Gavan, founder, Project Dinner Table

• Saturday, June 30
• Saturday, Sept. 8
• Saturday, Oct. 13
• Sunday, Nov 11

Who is that funny man with the hat?

French designer Philippe Starck has done it again with the D’E-Light lamp. Complete with a dock compatible with ipad, iphone and ipods, the lamp has a top surface where you can place your electronic accessory for use.

D’e-Light has a radical, extremely functional design, with a USB socket above the light diffuser for an iPod, iPhone, and iPad. the cool chromatic sophistication of the aluminum, the efficiency of a light source with a remarkable twenty-eight 3000K top LEDs and compatibility with various types of digital gadgets, make the D’e-Light lamp perfectly attuned to our contemporary habits.

12.4″ x 4.7″ x 8.5″. Hey, ipad and iphones aren’t included. Get your own!

Available for Quick Shipment HERE.

The Block 16 Burger with Baltimore Fries

It’s too early to call Ray Nisi an empire builder, but he seems to be making a success of Bottles & Burgers in Tivoli Village, the most recently opened member of his Double Helix wine bar family. And lord knows this mall can use him.

The concept is simple: wines by the glass or half-bottle, imaginative and well-crafted burgers, shareable plates and both a soda fountain for kids and a bar for adults. Anyone fancy a Hostess with the Mostess—Three Olives Cake vodka, vanilla ice cream and a pulverized chocolate cupcake? I thought as much.

Of course, Nisi has an ace in the hole with the talented chef Doug Vega, a man who is, perhaps, working under speed here. Like his counterpart Anthony Meidenbauer of Block 16 Hospitality (the Barrymore, Public House, etc.), Vega has free rein to create an upscale menu with considerable variety and international flair.

One can just as easily get plates of hummus orarancini here as half-pound Angus beef burgers. And don’t for one minute expect anything as pedestrian as lettuce and tomato. The Block Sixteen—named after a portion of the original city grid, but still paying unwitting homage to the competition at Holsteins—is topped with caramelized onions, sharp cheddar and chipotle aioli on a tender brioche bun baked by a small, local Vietnamese bakery. As burgers go, this one is a must.

This is a large space, more than 6,000 square feet including the outdoor patio. The best seats may be at the soda fountain, where soda jerks create those adult milkshakes like the aforementioned cupcake affair.

Since the place has been designed for families as well, there are gooey milkshakes with add-ins such as Oreos and sprinkles in addition to the grown-up stuff. If you’re in the mood to be cozy, booths are spacious and comfortable, leather lined and plush.

When I first visited, the signature Double Helix burger was a baseball-size gob of chopped beef stuffed with pork belly, short rib, horseradish and tomato compote. Now it has morphed into the Double Helix BBQ, which subs in bacon, cheddar and charred onions for a more conventional, more appealing take.

You don’t have to go beef, but spicy turkey and an oddball vegetarian option—a quinoa mushroom patty that a kid could turn into pure mush before a parent could turn his head—make unusual burger bedfellows.

I’m a total mark for Irish sliders, which the menu says is grilled beef brisket, but is really corned beef with sauerkraut, a Thousand Island dressing thick enough to stand a spoon up in, and Jarlsberg cheese. I wonder why they don’t simply call the damned thing a Reuben. I’d eat them anyway.

Fries are done five ways: Baltimore, with brown gravy and pepperjack cheese sauce, is the closest thing to poutine you can get in northwest Las Vegas. (For that dish, visit Meidenbauer’s Public House.) The Double Helix fries get shallots, sherry aioli and fines herbes. These are my two faves, anyway.

The extensive wine and beer list includes seven boutique drafts, such as the terrific Canadian dark ale, Trois Pistoles, and endless wines in half bottles, full bottles and glasses. Two killer bargains include a Curran grenache blanc ’09 ($45) and the ’06 Costa de Oro pinot noir ($27) both from Central California.

Mr. Nisi, we think you might be onto something.

I Will Eat You, Said the Tolomeo XXL

An iconic design, and certainly one of the most widespread “modern” fixtures in the marketplace, the Tolomeo is seen everywhere- from the perfume counters at Neiman Marcus to the desks of the investigators on CSI.

The Tolomeo was designed by Michele De Lucchi with Giancarlo Fassina .  Initially a very simple and functional design, the Tolomeo family has grown to include different colors, shades, sizes, and, of course, LEDs.

Recently Artemide announced the new Tolomeo XXL outdoor/indoor lamp. A monster with a 10′ reach, the fixture has a cement base to keep it stable.  Wish we had a place for this in our backyard.  Or living room, for that matter. It is cool as beans.

Available at UNICAHOME.

 

Taste your way through American history this National Burger Month at NOBHILL TAVERN at MGM Grand. Every week throughout May, NOBHILL will present a specially crafted burger inspired by early American train lines and the regions through which they traveled. Juicy eight ounce Kobe beef burger patties sandwiched between brioche buns, baked daily in-house and topped with the finest ingredients are sure to evoke warm nostalgic images of the culinary diversity of America’s past and present. The cozy atmosphere of NOBHILL, known for creating cuisine reminiscent of classic American tavern fare, combined with Executive Chef Michael Mina’s cutting-edge vision, provides an inviting ambiance to enjoy these delicious symbols of Americana.

May 8-12

The Capital Limited – Transporting visitors to our nation’s capital is an important job and a burger created in honor of the Capital Limited must truly epitomize American cuisine. With a mixture of two of America’s most beloved condiments, mustard and mayonnaise, plus grilled Romaine lettuce and pickled red onions, this feast on a bun is a great representation of the passion for food felt in Washington, D.C.  

Week 3: May 15-19

The Lake Shore Limited – Passengers on the Lake Shore Limited train line could visit three of the country’s best foodie cities; Chicago, New York and Boston. The burger by the same name captures the essence of all of these cities with strips of bacon, a fried egg and beer cheese sauce. The best part is, guests only need to make one stop.

May 22-27

The California Zephyr – Coastal San Francisco is synonymous with fresh seafood and NOBHILL’s take on a California burger does not disappoint. The California Zephyr combines salmon tartare, fresh California avocado puree and fried shallots for a burger that travelers arriving from the Midwest would surely crave.

May 28-31

The Sunset Limited - When heading from Louisiana to California, passengers travel through the Southwestern United States, home to some of the country’s best cattle ranches and Mexican-influenced cuisine. It’s fitting that the Southwest’s signature burger consists of a double helping of beef. In addition to the eight ounce. Kobe beef  patty, it’s topped with beef short rib chili, New Mexican green chile and Cotija cheese.

$20 each includes a generous helping of delectable fries

 NOBHILL TAVERN by Michael Mina
 MGM Grand
3799 Las Vegas Blvd S

 Tuesday – Thursday: 5:30 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Friday – Saturday: 5 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Not available Sunday and Monday

Vegas Uncorked 2012, the city’s premier food event, kicks off this coming Thursday with the famed Saber-Off event, by invitation only, where chefs line up to knock champagne corks off with a saber.

Twenty six separate events follow, each sponsored by Bon Appetit Magazine.  It’s the city’s premier food festival, open to the public, for a price, naturally.

What makes it unique is the presence of our celebrity chefs, from Charlie Palmer and Wolfgang Puck, to Alain Ducasse, Michel Richard and dozens of others. It all comes to a head Friday evening, at a Grand Tasting at the Caesars Palace pool, beginning at 7:30. Tickets are still available at the Website, www.vegasuncorked.com, along with further details with regard to events still available.

Many of the Masters Dinners and Lunches are already sold out. I’ll be attending Michel Richard’s Thursday evening dinner at Central, and the 11 a.m. Sunday Steak and Eggs with Charlie Palmer, one of the festival events I look forward to every year.

In addition, I’ll be at Charlie’s poolside Clambake Saturday night at Mandalay Bay, and the noon Saturday fish market with Milos owner Costas Spiliadis. It all looks to be a great time, and I’m loosening my belt already. See you there.

Truffle Ball Appetizer

I simply don’t get to New York often enough. The list of must-eat places I’m Jonesin’ to experience there is longer than my left leg.

Recently, I had a two-day stopover upon returning from France, and what I ate impressed me greatly. Sure, I wasted calories noshing on a knish from Knish Nosh in Queens, a Sabrett’s hot dog, lamb shawarma, an empanada in Times Square and a gingersnap cookie at the amazing Union Square Greenmarket, but these were all preludes to my big deal meals at SHO Shaun Hergatt and Brushstroke, both symphonic poems in culinary guise.

SHO Shaun Hergatt

Wall Street is eerily quiet on a Saturday evening when I approach the Setai Hotel, a lovely, refined property where the restaurant is located.

SHO, which opened in 2009, quickly received a first Michelin star, and now has a second one. The meal I ate was definitely Three Star, so I’d like to know why the outgoing Times Critic, Sam Sifton, wrote glowing words about his meal, and then gave the place an ambivalent rating.

Mr. Hergatt, you wuz robbed, to quote what Leo Durocher, the old Brooklyn Dodger manager, would have said.

spring vegetables with basil sorbet

It glows faintly red in here, as you walk by glassed-in racks of wine to a hushed dining room, appointed with wood, glass and Asian touches. We sit at a Chef’s Table, next to a glass door affording a kitchen view. Hergatt himself does triple duty, as he gives a blow-by-blow account of every course, also plating, and expediting, as the evening wears on.

The chef, a former martial arts enthusiast, looks the part. The man has a monster physique-he works out with 60 pound Kettlebells. I mean, do you realize how frightening that is. (If you want to see a picture of him, look on his Website, www.shoshaunhergatt.com.) He was reticent to have his picture taken by a non-pro such as moi.

He’s a passionate guy, but maybe it’s because he’s Strine, Australian to you, mate. He was chef at the Ritz-Carlton Sydney before coming to the Apple, and he aims to be the first Australian chef to garner a Three Michelin Star rating. If I were the inspecteur, he’d have one now.

hudson valley foie gras with apricot puree

Luckily, we have pictures to describe a meal for which words fail me, but a few of the things we ate included a magnificent spring vegetable medley, Hudson Valley foie gras with apricot puree and apricot dust, a warm morel espuma served in a tall porcelain cup, black garlic crusted lamb, and three desserts from Hergatt’s talented pastry chef, Jennifer Yee.

black garlic crusted lamb and friends

Hergatt’s cooking is intensely colorful, every dish an artistic palette of colors, but at the same time, manages to be both organic and seasonal with an emphasis on product. I was blown out by sautéed Bay scallops with sea urchin, for instance, and the quality of his Chatham cod.

jennifer yee’s stunning desserts

Service doesn’t miss a beat, and prices beat those at any comparably rated restaurants in New York City.

SHO Shaun Hergatt, in the Setai Hotel, 40 Broad St. Reservations are a must.

Brushstroke

This hot TriBeCa kaiseki restaurant is a collaboration of storied chef David Bouley, and Japan’s Tsuji Culinary Institute. Brushtroke’s head chef, Isao Yamada, was mentored by Three Michelin Star chef Hitoshi Ishihara of Mizai Restaurant in Japan. The stunning design is by Super Potato, nee Takashi Sugimoto, who did Sensi and StripSteak in Vegas.

master at work

It’s a rainy Friday night, approximately 9:15 p.m., when we settle into our seats at the long, wooden, L-shaped bar. This is no sushi bar, even if occasional sushi items appear on the counter in front of us. Chefs do kaiseki here, a multi-course Japanese meal structured rigidly, where a zensai, or appetizer course, leads off, followed by sashimi, and then an interesting litany of preparation styles, steamed, stewed, fried, etc. I’d prefer a brownie sundae to the soy flavored panna cotta or fancy fruits that encompass the kaiseki dessert repertoire, but hey, that’s just me.

top drawer sashimi

The first three courses are amazing, especially the sashimi, a quality that gives our exclusive Bar Masa a run for the money, especially the hamachi, not to mention a mound of real, not artificial, wasabi. This is New York, I suppose, where turnip trucks are barred. You won’t get a squeeze of poisonous green horseradish from a tube in this town.

kobe beef sukiyaki style

Then came my favorite course of the evening, the mushimono, literally “steamed thing”, a chawan mushi custard with Florida pink shrimp and fava beans, shhlllp, shhllp. Later, we got rice crushed soft shell crab, a terrific Wagyu beef done sukiyaki style, and a donabe, or iron pot, with rice, more fava beans, and baby bamboo shoots. Oishii-that’s Japanese for delicious.

rice crusted yam

One thing that amazed me was how well the largely Western staff is trained. Not only can they pronounce the names of the dishes, but the components, in Japanese, and provide adequate translation. Sometime I’d like to see that in Vegas, from a non-Japanese service person.

exquisite chawan mushi

Raku, our best kaiseki restaurant, rivals this place in food quality. But what you won’t get is the killer design, the hip clientele, or a staff that can explain what you are eating with such eloquence. Every time I eat in a top New York restaurant, go to the theater or a museum, or just do a stroll, I’m reminded that this is the Big Leagues.

In fairness, my meal was slightly uneven-there were a few rough spots, but was memorable, and well worth the price tag. The big deal kaiseki here is $135, hefty, yes, but a fraction of what it would be in Tokyo. I’d recommend both Brushstroke and SHO Shaun Hergatt, the latter doing a sort of Western kaiseki, to anyone who takes fine dining seriously.

Brushstroke is at 30 Hudson St. Dinner only. Reservations essential.

Festivo Candleholders by Timo Sarpaneva

So, hey, check out the new prices.  The largest discounts seen were on the Toikka birds- where some went down over $100.

In other news from those quirky Finns, Iittala has decided to stop selling all candleholders and votives in the United States. This includes the popular Festivo by Timo Sarpaneva, which have been sold in the US for (my guess) about 45 years- and the Kivi votive.  Limited stock remains in the US, so if you are looking for any of these pieces- we would be happy to try to get them for you.

Check out the new product, prices and get those candleholders and votives fast HERE.

Chef Rainer and his Sausages

Rainer Matz, the certified Master Chef who just opened Café Berlin on W. Sunset Rd., is my new hero. He makes all his own sausages, and an amazing menu of classic German fare to accompany them; knockwurst and smoked beer brats, Nurmberger and bockwurst. Eat in or take out. This is sausage heaven, so who needs burgers.

We’ve already got German restaurants, Café Heidelberg for one, and the grandiose, overblown Hofbrauhaus for another. If you’re hoping for curvy German waitresses in dirndls, schmaltzy brass bands, or beer in frosty steins, forget it (though their beer and wine license is pending.)

Real German Pretzels

What you will get at Café Berlin is terrific schnitzel, pretzels imported from the Vaterland, homemade strudel that would make oma weep and simply the best German food in the city, all made from scratch.

The café opened on a shoestring, evidenced by bridge chairs, unadorned tables, plastic ware, Styrofoam serving containers and distinct lack of atmosphere.

Trout Special

Matz envisions putting in a stammtisch, a round table where locals who frequent the place can sit and socialize, and wants to add dishes such as German style trout and sauerbraten to his menu. But that’s all in the future. For now, he just wants to get the word out. No problem.

So far, most of the business has been at lunch, when customers are coming in force for giant sandwiches, half-pound monsters using Matz’ house cured pastrami, or American stuff like roast turkey or beef, done on the house pretzel bread or fresh roll, for a ridiculous $7.95.

Pork Tenderloin and Spaetzle

You can have a schnitzel sandwich, too, a breaded pork cutlet so light that you could sit on it and not get a grease stain on your trousers. My personal fave, the bier brat, is a smoky sausage best consumed with a flurry of grilled onions. Hope you aren’t going to the office after lunch.

Zigeuner schnitzel

I’ve dined here just before the restaurant’s 8 p.m. closing time, when I found the room unreasonably quiet. One night I had Zigeuner schnitzel, that same pork cutlet smothered with a spicy paprika sauce.

Another, I had the chef’s incredible bockwurst, a light veal sausage similar to a weisswurst, Munich’s famous before noon treat. Try it with curry sauce, a combination that Germans call curry wurst, street food that you eat on any corner in that country, at the schnell imbiss, which means “fast food stand.”

Matz is justifiably proud of the house made sauces that blanket some of his schnitzels. Mushroom gravy turns it into Jaeger schnitzel, eaten with tiny flour and egg dumplings called spaetzle. Top one with capers and lemon, and it become Wiener schnitzel. Get the idea?

Cordon Bleu

If pork isn’t your thing, Matz stuffs a chicken breast with ham, cheese and a touch of cranberry, and coats it with a crispy crust, Cordon Bleu style. The homemade sauerkraut, flecked with caraway seed, is also a must here. A true German kraut has a sharp sourness to it, and there’s a reason for it. You need the acidity to cut the richness of the dishes. I love sauerkraut, but hey, for some, it’s probably an acquired taste.

Strudel, Anyone?

Don’t leave without trying one of the strudels, blueberry poppy seed, cherry, or apple, the latter studded with walnuts and raisins. They are served hot, with a warm vanilla sauce also made in house, a custardy sauce that you’ll want to eat by itself, from a plastic cup.

I can’t emphasize enough, how delicious this food is, or how excited I will be to try the sauerbraten, when Matz finally gets a steady enough clientele to justify making it.

P.S. You can buy his sausages to go, in pre-packed vacuum packs. I plan to be a regular sausage eater from here on out.

Café Berlin, 4850 Sunset Rd. 875-4605. www.cafeberlinlv.com.