VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Stirring news: Canteenwalla done at MGM

Friday, Sept. 13, 2002 | 9:29 a.m.

Is it a case of too many cooks?

Kim Canteenwalla is out as MGM Grand's executive chef.

The position put such spatula icons as Wolfgang Puck, Mark Miller and Emeril Lagasse under Canteenwalla's umbrella; they all have eateries at the MGM Grand.

Canteenwalla, who had not been at MGM long (less than two years), has a distinguished culinary career. He made his (soup?) bones with stints at Le Meridien Dubai and Le Royal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Immediately before the MGM gig, he was behind the burners at Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Miss. -- Steve Wynn built the resort when he headed Mirage Resorts.

Canteenwalla has cooked at James Beard Foundation events and has walls covered with blue plates ... er, ribbons.

He and companion Elizabeth Blau were on a cruise in Alaska and not immediately available to discuss the temporary fall of his professional souffle.

MGM Food and Beverage Department exec Sandy Zanella said MGM's policy is "not to discuss personnel movement." And she didn't. But at least she said no with a smile (and a dazzling smile it is; Zanella is a former Miss Nevada).

One Las Vegas food watcher said the reason for Canteenwalla's departure was "pillow talk." MGM officials were reportedly wary that Canteenwalla was sharing information with companion Blau, a former food and beverage executive at Bellagio and MGM Grand.

That seems slightly inane, as Canteenwalla is described by all who know him as beyond professional. But people have been known to say all kinds of things between the sheets.

More likely the reason is a creative person's frustration with a corporate culture. Canteenwalla's MGM job was administrative, dealing with everything from unions to hotel management -- everything but cooking.

A friend of Canteenwalla's told VegasBeat the chef was looking to open his own place near his Summerlin home, which will be a combined eatery and gourmet-food store.

Blau, meanwhile, is also preparing to open her own place. She and partner Kerry Simon are opening Simon at the Hard Rock Hotel next month.

(I know Simon from one of his first gigs, when he was at the Edwardian Room at the Plaza Hotel in New York, hosting sit-downs in the kitchen. However, friendship, schmendship. When I called him, Simon wouldn't add a thing to this item.)

'Idol' chatter

Every story seems to have a seamy underbelly, even if you aren't looking for it.

Turns out that evil "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell is dating a porn star.

Cowell's British squeeze, 23-year-old Georgina Law, has starred in such video classics as "Ally McSqueal" and "The Really Naked Chef."

Cowell should be in town next week for the "American Idol" concert at MGM Grand Garden Arena. His recording company signed show winner Kelly Clarkson, who is headlining the free Wednesday-night concert featuring the show's 30 finalists.

Wristbands, which will be redeemable for concert tickets, are being distributed at MGM starting at 6 a.m. Saturday. However, an early arrival does not guarantee a prized seat.

The wristbands will not be honored by lowest number, but instead chosen by lottery at 11:30 a.m.

Vierra Five-0

KNUU 970-AM newsman Andy Vierra had it tough as a kid.

Growing up in Hawaii in the 1960s and '70s -- in the days before widespread satellite communication -- news and television shows were literally flown in for broadcast.

"If the weather was bad, Walter Cronkite would not be on," Vierra told VegasBeat the other day. "Instead, they'd show a Three Stooges movie."

And Vierra was one of the few viewers who definitely knew "Who Shot J.R.?" before even watching the famous episode of "Dallas."

Speculation on who killed Larry Hagman's character was the nation's No. 1 topic of conversation in the summer of 1980.

"That episode of 'Dallas' was late in arriving from the mainland," Vierra said. "So we read about it in the paper after it was broadcast everywhere else."

Hold on!

Called the Hard Rock Hotel on Thursday and was put on hold.

The hold music playing was The Who's John Entwistle singing "Boris the Spider."

For those out of the pop-music web, Entwistle died at the Hard Rock three months ago.

Hello, Donny

No, Donny Osmond will not be replacing Rick Springfield in "EFX Alive" at MGM Grand.

Osmond told Sun pop-culture Buddah Kirk Baird for an upcoming story, "That was just a rumor.

"I went to see the show and thought it was great." He saw Michael Crawford, David Cassidy and Tommy Tune in the show.

The show is closing early next year and a new Cirque du Soleil production will take over the space in early 2004.

Osmond, prepping for the debut of the new game show "Pyramid" (based on the classic Dick Clark-hosted "$25,000 Pyramid"), added that he hopes to return to Las Vegas.

"I'd love to get back to Vegas soon. It is where I really started my career."

Sis goom bah

While I am still a recent Las Vegas transplant, it is quite apparent that locals don't peel themselves off the couch too often to visit the Strip -- not unless visitors are in town.

But there are some shows that are worth the trip. Gianni Russo's show, "The Godfather Wedding" at Stage 16 at The Venetian, has evolved into a terrific evening. (In the classic 1972 movie, Russo famously beats on his wife, Talia Shire.)

The evening features five courses and an entertaining floor show, mostly Russo crooning.

The $39.95 walk-up tickets are a real bargain compared to some of the other clip joints I've encountered in town.

Russo, a full-time Las Vegas resident, has also penned an upcoming memoir titled, "Godfather, Popes and Presidents."

Radio wars

One of the biggest battles in New York radio has a front in Las Vegas.

Former New York Post sports writers Tom Keegan and Wallace Matthews have launched a show on ESPN Radio. They are broadcasting from Mandalay Bay for Saturday's Oscar De La Hoya-Fernando Vargas junior middleweight title clash.

ESPN is the underdog all-sports station in the Big Apple and it is banking on Matthews and Keegan to make some noise. They have made plenty in the past; Matthews left The Post after a column of his was killed -- and he defiantly posted it on a sports website.

At issue: A Post gossip column had insinuated that star Mets catcher Mike Piazza was homosexual, and Matthews tried to take his bosses to task in print for running the story.