Columnist Muriel Stevens: Epicurean Affair was an Olympic-size odyssey

Friday, June 23, 2000 | 9:23 a.m.

Muriel Stevens' dining column appears Fridays. Her shopping column appears Wednesdays. Reach her at muriel@lasvegassun.com or 259-4080.

This year's Epicurean Affair was one of the best ever. A fresser's delight, the annual event traditionally takes place the evening before the opening of the Las Vegas International Hotel & Restaurant Show. This was the 21st year for the international event. Dubbed "Epicurean Affair 2000: An Olympian Odyssey" (the 10th annual) it was all of that and more. Adding to this year's pleasure, the food fest, usually held outdoors, was indoors at the Rio's spacious new pavilion. Dining al fresco is lovely, but June weather is unpredictable and there have been a few wind and heat problems in the past, so this was a good move. The Rio's sponsorship of Culinary Olympic Team 2000 was the inspiration for the name. Entrance to the dining room was through glitzy silver "hallways" that created instant excitement. The room itself was gorgeous: A plethora of ice carvings dec orated the displays. All of the carvings had been created by the Rio's expert ice artists.

More than 60 hotels and restaurants presented a dazzling array of specialties. Each hotel offered food and desserts from a variety of its eateries, so the selection was awesome. I was hard-put to resist overindulging, which was easy to do when so many wonderful foods, desserts and beverages were sending out messages to "eat me, drink me." And I did. As the host hotel the Rio had huge displays from many of their restaurants: Buzios, Fortunes, Napa, VooDoo, Fiore, Antonio's, Mask, Mama Marie's Cucina, Bamboleo and their terrific bakery. Among the many, many dishes were grilled jumbo prawns, New Zealand lamb chops, roasted veal, sushi, Beijing duck salad, green lip mussels baked under puff pastry, mini crab cakes, salmon Mazatlan, and a magnificent display of desserts from Rio's master baker, Brenda Hitchins. Overseeing the event was the Rio's gracious execut ive director of food and beverage, Luc Akellino.

Lawry's, The Prime Rib (always a hit) was kept busy carving the succulent beef for mini sandwiches; Todd Sicolo of WB Stage 16 at the Venetian proved that this is not just another themed restaurant with his spring rock lobster, Caribe crab cakes and Grand Marnier white chocolate mousse. Bellagio Executive Chef Grant MacPherson, true to his Scottish heritage, presented mini haggis atop a melange of root vegetables -- even this updated haggis is an acquired taste (I've eaten the real thing in Scotland) -- but the root veggies were delicious. Of course, there was more than haggis. The Bellagio display included excellent dessert crepes with a variety of fillings from Bellagio's pastry shop and delicious offerings from Aqua and Olives. So many temptations.

MGM's Terry Fong, executive chef at Gatsby's, presented one of the most popular dishes -- a square of potato galette topped with Kobe beef topped with seared foie gras. The combination of textures and flavors were to rave about. Also from the MGM, selections from Dragon Court, Brown Derby, Wolfgang Puck Cafe, Ricardo's and the new, Middle Eastern-style Neyla.

Caesars Palace Executive Chef Greg Waldron showcased some of Terrazza's Italian specialties: roasted vegetables with balsamic dressing, ravioli stuffed with wild mushrooms and enhanced with truffle oil, seared halibut, and veal scallopini.

Emeril Lagasse's Delmonico Steak House presented its winning flatbread of heirloom tomatoes with Fritz Maytag's white cheddar, basil pesto and capocolo. Maytag cheeses are some of America's best, rarely found here in markets, but featured in fine restaurants.

Circus Circus Food and Beverage Director Andy Enrico had a glorious display of foods from the Blue Iguana Mexican restaurant, Red Dragon Chinese, the ever-popular Steak House and Stivali Italian. It not only looked good, it tasted good.

Station properties Corporate chef Ted Beck was another with a fabulous display, featuring foods from Boulder, Palace, Texas and Sunset Stations.

The Fiesta had a terrific array of zesty foods from its Garduno Mexican restaurant.

As always, Southern Wine & Spirits presented a marvelous selection of beverages.

Of course, there were foods from smaller restaurants, too: Ellis Island offered beer and pretzels and foamy homemade root beer; Big Dog's featured tenderloin or brat sliders and Holy Cow beer; Tommy Rockers showed off its zesty barbecued baby back ribs; and Jay Yamaguchi's Black Mountain Grill pleased with its mochiko chicken skewers and rich creme brulee served in a Florentine cookie cup.

It was not possible to stop at each and every station. Even blatant gluttony has its limits, but there's always next time.

Bootlegger closing and reopening: I always get shook up when a landmark restaurant announces its closing, but never fear, the venerable Bootlegger restaurant will be with us for a long time. There will be a short delay between the closing of the old and the opening of the new -- it will open in August instead of the hoped-for July.

Meanwhile you can pick up some favorite dishes to store in the freezer until the new site at Robindale and Las Vegas Boulevard, just south of the Belz outlet, opens. The wonderful family photos will be in place, the favorite Italian specials will remain, but the menu will be expanded to match the new 24-7 policy. The Bootlegger will close June 30. Place your takeout orders in advance. They're that busy.