Friday, Sept. 3, 2004 | 8:45 a.m.
Muriel Stevens' dining column appears Fridays. Her shopping and travel columns appear Wednesday. Reach her at (702) 259-4080 or [email protected].
It was pure serendipity that I was in Chicago when the first Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! opened on Dec. 26, 1985. Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! is one of the Lettuce Entertain You group properties. Lettuce Entertain You was founded by entrepreneur Rich Melman.
It was Chef Gabino Sotelino, senior vice president and LEY divisional partner, who had the audacious idea to open a tapas bar and restaurant in Chicago. Sotelino's heritage has a Spanish side. At the time tapas were a rarity, yet Chef Gabino was convinced they would be a success.
Nineteen years later that first tapas restaurant is hotter than ever and Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! at the Fashion Show mall is a hip, improved version.
At a recent preview party sponsored by LEY and VEGAS Magazine, I had the opportunity to again meet Melman and to chin with chefs Gabino and Jean Joho, who is the chef/proprietor of Chicago's Everest and Brasserie Jo and Eiffel Tower restaurant at Paris Las Vegas. It was a joyful meeting and a savory tasting.
Guests were greeted by a line of costume-clad servers offering red or white sangria and other liquid refreshments. Stacks of small tapas plates were on each table. Polished metal sugar and creamer containers were filled with small forks and spoons at the ready for the abundance of tapas being offered.
Tapas and paella, a Spanish dish made with saffron-flavored rice which can include a variety of ingredients, are the house specialities -- seven paellas are listed on the menu ($8.95-$14.95 per serving). There is a rotating schedule of dozens more. Calderos, a traditional peasant dish, is served tableside in a cast-iron kettle (caldero) and is priced per serving ($11.95-$12.95).
There are 60 or more tapas ($2.95-$14.95). Among the ones I tasted were citrus-cured salmon with a cucumber toast; classic Caesar salad made with anchovies (as it should be); salmon and scallop ceviche, laced with orange mojo; curried chicken salad; wafer-thin slices of cured pork loin with shavings of manchego cheese (simply wonderful); zesty garlic potato salad; traditional potato and onion omelet; Spanish artisan cheeses; foamy salt cod brandade -- I've never tasted such a delicate brandade; chicken and ham croquettes; roasted dates wrapped with bacon, doused with apple vinaigrette; beef tenderloin crusted with crispy bleu cheese; classic gazpacho; roasted potatoes with spicy tomato aioli and fried padrone peppers and coarse salt.
Desserts ($1.99) are small delicious pleasures -- a tiny slice of fudgy chocolate cake, a mini-caramel flan, creamy cinnamon-topped rice pudding and sour cream foam over strawberries. The fancy Bulls Eye ($3.99) is quite a concoction, with ice cream, fruit and booze. Pastry chef Michele Briand, who created these treasures, is part of the LEY management team.
Spanish-inspired martinis and cocktails, domestic and imported beers and a good selection of Spanish wines were offered. The sherry offered after dinner was soooo smooth.
In addition to a cool bar, the cafe has patio seating for 50 to 150 guests in one outdoor area and a larger patio with seating for up to 200. There is a dance floor and other entertainment. Chef Gabino is planning to offer cooking classes in the near future. And there will be other surprises as time goes by.
Chef Jean and Chef Gabino have been friends for many years and worked side by side to open Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! Watching the two interact was the best kind of entertainment.
Call 258-1211 for reservations and more information.
LEY managing team is planning to be a Las Vegas presence. Sotelino, who also manages Mon Ami Gabi at Paris Las Vegas, has a permanent home in Las Vegas. Melman's son R.J. has moved to Las Vegas and will oversee Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab restaurant opening in the Forum Shops at Caesars in mid- to late-October.
2005 James Beard Foundation Awards celebrates Julia: Twenty years ago it was Julia Child's vision that led to the preservation of her dear friend James Beard's Greenwich Village home. It was that same vision that helped establish the James Beard Foundation in 1986.
A celebration of the legacy of Julia Child will be the theme of the 15th annual James Beard Foundation Awards, the nation's most distinguished honors in the culinary world, on May 2 at the New York Marriott Marquis.
The James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards presentation will take place April 29 at a dinner at the Grand Hyatt New York.
Child died Aug. 13 at age 91. She regularly attended the awards ceremony and was the recipient of eight James Beard Foundation Awards for her cookbooks and television cooking shows.
"What better way for the James Beard Foundation to honor her than by than by making the awards a tribute to her legacy?" said Ann Byrd, James Beard Foundation Trustee and member of the 10-member James Beard Foundation Awards Board.
Byrd noted that it will not be a memorial. The awards gala is a celebration with exceptional foods and wine. "Julia's greatest pleasure was cooking with chefs," she said. "We intend to invite chefs who formerly cooked with Julia to cook at our Awards reception. At this time, an executive chef for the Awards Gala has not been announced."
The Awards Gala is open to the public. Ticket prices are $300 for the general public and $250 for foundation members. The ticket line (212) 367-9490 opens Feb. 1. Price includes admission to the ceremony and reception.
Short orders
Lotus of Siam redo: The notable Lotus of Siam Thai restaurant in Commercial Center at 953 E. Sahara Ave. will close Tuesday for redecorating, and will reopen Sept. 12. The popular lunch buffet as well as the regular menu is offered from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Dinner is served from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. nightly.
More Lotus of Siam: Lotus of Siam chef/owner Saipin Chutima has been invited to participate in "Worlds of Flavor," the Seventh International Conference and Festival at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, Calif., Nov. 11-13. For the latest program info, visit www.ciaprochef.com and click on the Seventh Annual Worlds of Flavor Conference and Festival, or call (800) 888-7850.
Oops: Todd English's Olives restaurant in the shopping promenade at Bellagio is not accepting reservations for patio dining. Olives General Manager Kelly Sumner said, "The patio is dependent on weather so much that we do not reserve the patio." Just wishful thinking, Kelly.
Whole Foods' September calendar: Whole Foods' September calendar of "healthy events" includes Labor Day shopping suggestions, cheese and wine programs with sommelier and cheese expert Paul Ellis, an expanded kosher foods section for the upcoming Jewish holiday Rosh Hashana, and a 5 percent-off shopping day to benefit Opportunity Village. Of course, there's more.
Each month's calendar is available at Whole Foods market at 8855 W. Charleston Blvd. For more information, call 254-8655.
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