Columnist Muriel Stevens: Villasanta enjoying final say

Wednesday, March 6, 2002 | 8:26 a.m.

Las Vegas clothing designer Louie Villasanta is one of six finalists for the Emerging Visions New Designer Award for fall-winter 2002. Villasanta, founder of Villasanta Fashions, is participating in a fashion show hosted by CurvStyle: Reshaping Fashion, where the winner will be named. Finalists are designers considered to be "on the cutting edge of creations for full-figured women."

"This is a benchmark event because retail establishments now recognize the importance of offering women of all shapes and sizes exquisite clothing," Villasanta said.

More about the fashion designer when he returns from New York where the competition took place.

Luck of the Irish at Canal Shoppes: Leprechauns and photo ops are part of the St. Patrick's Day celebrations March 15-17 at the Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian.

St. Patrick's Day entertainment and performers, giveaways at the top of every hour from noon-8 p.m., and more. A leprechaun will stroll the Canal Shoppes streets giving away gold chocolate coins to shoppers fast enough to catch him (they're sly creatures, these leprechauns).

"We wanted to create a fun and festive atmosphere so guests could really feel the luck and spirit of St. Patrick's Day," Grand Canal Shoppes General Manager Fred T. Walters said.

Canal Shoppes gondoliers will wear scarves with shamrocks; guests can throw pennies in the signature canal for good luck.

Canal Shoppes hours are 10 a.m.-11 p.m. daily; longer hours during weekends and holidays. Mall valet parking on the second level is available 24 hours. For additional information call 414-4500.

Grocery shopping: Shopping trade shows for new items can be rewarding, but not always. I recently spent many hours at the Supermarket Synergy Showcase 2002, sponsored by the National Grocer's Association at Paris Las Vegas, and walked away feeling frustrated because so many of the things I liked were not going to be available in Las Vegas.

It was a reminder that in spite of our growth, we're still stepchildren when it comes to food distribution. We've got all of the staples, but lack many specialties.

I did enjoy the food sampling in two distinctly different areas: Whole Health Solutions and Fresh and Prepared Foods. Foods in each category were set up in special areas similar to a cafeteria and offered a variety of foods that took little or no time to prepare.

It was fun ordering a soy-based Boca burger at one counter, but I'm still looking for the "Stir Fry" soy products. The barbecued "beef " tasted as good as the real thing. How you get tofu to taste like, look like and cook like the real thing is a mystery, but a bigger mystery is where to find this healthy dead ringer locally. It's one mystery I've yet to solve.

Company reps said it could be found in some Smith's markets. No one in the three Smith's I visited knew about this company or its products or where they could be found if they did have it. So I wandered the stores searching different areas of the frozen food sections, but no luck. I'll keep looking.