John Katsilometes on the Food Network’s visit to Summerlin for a Bleu-plate special

Sunday, March 12, 2006 | 7:25 a.m.

For years - since it was founded 2003, to be exact - Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Las Vegas has been a "gotta get out there" place. Every couple of weeks I say, "I gotta get out there," but the Food Network beat me to it.

On Monday a production crew from Los Angeles visited the acclaimed culinary school in Summerlin for three hours, recording footage of all the college's nuances for a show that will air on the Food Network on June 17.

The show is tentatively titled "The Top Five Food Destinations," and is a travel-oriented culinary program that showcases fun and interesting places to eat and visit across the country.

In Vegas, the focus is on what to do (and where to eat) once you're weary of the Strip. It trumpets Le Cordon Bleu's 55,000-square-foot culinary institute and student-run restaurant, Cafe Bleu.

Cordon Bleu features 10 state-of-the-art demonstration kitchens. Its current enrollment exceeds 800, and nearly 600 students have graduated from the demanding 15-month course that includes a three-month externship at an outside restaurant.

The cafe has lunch and dinner seatings on Tuesdays through Fridays; for just $35 you get a five-course dinner, and lunch is about $12. For information on the school and restaurant, located at 1451 Center Crossing Road (behind the Bank of America building on Town Center Drive and Summerlin Parkway), call 365-7690.

NoteMart

Bell tolls: More food news: On Friday, McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant announced that Shawn Bell has been named executive chef of its Las Vegas location, at 335 Hughes Center Drive. Bell has appeared on the Food Network's "Ready, Set, Cook," along with several network and cable TV appearances ...

All along the Avenue: Once listed at $99, across the board, ticket prices have dropped for "Avenue Q" at Wynn Las Vegas. Tickets (without taxes and handling fees) are $80, $70 and $50 for 7 p.m. shows on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The cost is $70, $60 and $50 for all other performances. Catch it quick - the show is said to be heading to London when its run at the Wynn has concluded ...

Turnblad turnover: Still awaiting confirmation on this one, but it is being reported - this week by longtime Vegas PR man Frank Lieberman, who writes a column in the Las Vegas Israelite - that former "MADtv" cast member Paul Vogt will take over for Harvey Fierstein in the role of Edna Turnblad in "Hairspray" at the Luxor. Fierstein departs the production on April 30 ...

Oscar party haul: The officially sanctioned Arthritis Foundation Oscar party honoring Jaki Baskow, held March 5 at the Bellagio, raised more than $90,000; the next Arthritis Foundation event is an Arthritis Walk and Dog Walk kickoff breakfast from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. Tuesday morning. Ken Kercheval who played the smarmy Cliff Barnes on "Dallas") has been named as the spokesman for the Arthritis Foundation for Southern Nevada. The Arthritis Walk and Dog Walk is April 29 at UNLV; call 367-1626 ...

Sign up: In breaking blues news, congrats to locals' favorite Sand Dollar Blues Lounge, which last week finally installed a lighted sign over the club's main entrance. The sign, so bright that some customers complain you can't even read the lettering, can only help draw attention (and maybe moths) to a place that could not be more difficult to locate. It sits tucked away in a strip mall on the corner of Polaris Avenue and Spring Mountain Road ...

More about Bob? On Friday we noted that tickets were "on sale" for Bob Dole's "Leadership and Values in the 21st Century" Barrick Lecture Series appearance, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on April 17 at Artemus Ham Hall. Those tickets are not "on sale" because they "are free.'' Tickets are limited to two per person and distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Call 895-2787 ...

I'm sold: One way to get your name in the paper, and that includes 13-year-old Joshua Beard, is to spot an odd license plate on our great Las Vegas roadways. Joshua checks in with BYNSLR, which we think means "buy-and-seller," as the frame around the plate was from a real-estate agency.