Counter Intelligence: Food & Wine All-Stars, Vic Vegas and Guy Fieri

Denise Truscello/WireImage

Gail Simmons, Jennifer Carroll and Fabio Viviani at Deuce Lounge in Aria on Nov. 5, 2010.

By Robin Leach (contact)

Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011 | 1:27 p.m.

Denise Truscello/WireImage

Rick Moonen, Gail Simmons and Hosea Rosenberg at Deuce Lounge in Aria on Nov. 5, 2010.

Rumor Food and Drink

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Guy Fieri @House of Blues

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Hot off the grill! Celebrity chef superstars, renowned sommeliers and creative mixologists will turn the Bellagio and Aria into a culinary playground starting Friday for the 2nd Annual Food & Wine All-Star Weekend. Top Chef host Gail Simmons and her program’s winners and contenders are a key part of the incredible epicurean experiences along with our own powerhouse team of chefs and restaurateurs.

Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard -- also named Best New Chef of 2011 -- will be joined by Bravo cheftestants Angelo Sosa, Hosea Rosenberg, Yigit Pura and Sam Talbot. Our local culinary kings to guide the journey include Michael Mina, Masa Takayama, Julian Serrano, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Shawn McClain and Sirio Maccioni.

Gail hosts the kickoff party at Aria’s View Bar in MGM’s CityCenter on Friday and the Saturday night all-star tasting poolside at Aria. Top Chef Season 5 winner Hosea leads a Saturday cooking demonstration, while Stephanie hosts a luncheon at Shawn’s Sage in Aria. It all wraps Sunday when champagne wishes and caviar dreams come true at a Bellagio brunch in Jasmine set against the backdrop of the breathtaking fountains.

*For the next four nights, Chef Vic Vegas is bringing his pop-up restaurant concept to Rumor, where he was former executive chef of Addiction. There’ll be two seatings nightly starting this evening for the four-course menu. Vic was the winner of The Food Network’s 2008 Big Bash Caterers and finished third on Season 7 of The Next Food Network Star.

Vic’s pop-up menu begins with wild mushroom, corn and potato zuppa followed by seared scallops with saffron risotto and caviar. For the entree, enjoy espresso-rubbed tenderloin with horseradish parsnip puree and seared pearl onion. As a finale, Vic presents his signature Kahlua bread pudding creme brulee.

*A culinary battle is raging between UNLV graduate and Chef Guy Fieri and the former independent producers of his 11-year Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives before The Food Network took control. Guy and The Food Network have filed a lawsuit against the producers over the “burned” relationships that have fallen like a flat souffle.

Guy’s rep issued a statement: “Guy’s reputation speaks for itself. He’s a standup guy who does right by people. He would never make the kind of comments attributed to him by the former producers, and anyone who knows or has even met him knows that. That these sadly desperate statements were made says more about them than it does about Guy or anyone on The Food Network team.”

*Lola’s, a Louisiana Kitchen, and one of the signature restaurants that staked its claim in the revitalization of downtown Las Vegas, celebrates its second anniversary Saturday with a birthday party and special five-course beer pairing dinner menu with the most authentic Cajun food in town: Lola’s famous charbroiled oysters in two marinades with imported Italian cheeses, signature salad with mandarin oranges and caramelized almonds, large shrimp steeped in tomato stew, pecan crusted trout with Lola’s secret barbeque sauce and a pear tart with butter pecan ice cream.

Grand Tasting 2011 Vegas Uncork'd

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Dos Caminos

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*New Bon Appetit Chief Editor Adam Rappaport will fly to Las Vegas next week to boost his next Vegas Uncork’d food festival, which I’m now reliably hearing is planned for next May 10-13. On Adam’s whirlwind visit, he’ll impress hotel executives, officials and, yes, even us ink-stained wretches as to why Las Vegas is an important place in today’s epicurean landscape and how Vegas Uncork’d affects our economy.

*The new 12,000-square-foot, indoor-outdoor Hyde Lounge with its floor-to-ceiling windows at the Bellagio opens New Year’s Eve and is the first nightlife venture in Las Vegas with visionary design icon Philippe Starck and Gulla Jonsdottir of G+ Design. It’s being created to resemble an opulent Italian villa lost centuries ago, filled with the worldly treasures of a Renaissance artist and complemented by Italian marbles, reclaimed woods, chandeliers and towering glass doors that lead to a secluded Tuscan Garden artfully brought back to life by Philippe and Gulla. Hyde will serve double duty -- in the early evening a lounge with small plates and an award-winning mixology program before transforming into a nightlife venue at 11 p.m.

*Ivy Stark, corporate executive chef of Dos Caminos in New York, Ft. Lauderdale, Atlantic City and at the Palazzo, launches her cookbook with a Nov. 5 cooking class at the Las Vegas flagship eatery. Ivy’s book has 120 recipes she’s masterminded, so you can duplicate them at home, everything from Baja-style fish tacos to rose petal ice cream. The book also profiles Mexican chefs and their tips and timesaving techniques.

*Just in time for Halloween, the pastry chefs at Jean Philippe Patisserie at the Bellagio have unveiled a chocolate masterpiece -- a witch soars high above on a broom holding a pumpkin. The design and construction began in June, and now after 60 pounds of chocolate and 30 pounds of fondant, she’s taken flight with 11 all-new chocolate treats.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

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