simon at palms place.

Despite the fact that celebrity chef Kerry Simon is a real easygoing guy and he's been happy to talk to us on several occasions, our much delayed debut at his eponymous Palms Place restaurant was a little flat. Don't get me wrong; he's a very busy dude and we are far from the tourist diner who expects to see every famous chef in the kitchen. It wasn't that. And it wasn't the menu, which looks to be a tasty hodgepodge of steakhouse/sushi/Californian cuisine. And it certainly isn't the decor, since the restaurant is wrapped by a swanky, cabana-laden pool, accented by a neat sushi bar, a fireplace, and a super-mod wooden and white, space lounge. It's a cool room.

It was the underwhelming combination of all those things, and some downright bland food and drink. A spicy yellowtail roll was fresh and energizing, but you can't really fuck up fresh fish with jalapeno. A southwestern-style turkey chopped salad had no taste whatsoever, basically lettuce with very few tiny bits of meat, cheese, black beans and corn. And the signature cocktails we sampled -- a mojito with squished grapes and a citrus martini spinoff -- were mediocre at best. The cocktail menu is uninspired, leaning heavily on vodka and fruit that doesn't taste so fresh.

I haven't yet attended Simon's newly infamous Sunday Brunch, and I can see how that would work well in this not-so-Vegasy space, which feels like a resort rooftop in some fast-paced metropolitan destination. But after this quick snack and booze sampling, I wasn't left with an impression that will bring me back for dinner anytime soon. In fact, the mild disappointment sent us searching for satisfaction elsewhere. We found better booze at the Rojo Lounge, the lobby bar of Palms Place, and then better food and dinner atmosphere at Summerlin's Vintner Grill.

INTERVIEW: Kerry Simon

Kerry Simon is executive chef at Simon at Palms Place. He previously operated Simon Kitchen and Bar at the Hard Rock Las Vegas.

You've made some serious moves lately. How do new developments keep things fresh for you as a chef and restaurateur?
Kerry Simon: Change is always good, and finding home is also good. It's nice to be moving around a bit, finding the right people to do things with. There have been really big changes in Vegas in general. It’s a breath of fresh air to be working with the Maloofs (at the Palms). George really built me out a great restaurant, and to be so involved in it is spectacular.

How different did you want the Palms restaurant to be from Simon at the Hard Rock?
I just thought it was the next stop. I spent a lot of time looking at plans over and over. I really wanted a green restaurant, but also something that if you look at it, you can see it’s a Kerry Simon restaurant. It has a sushi bar, a fireplace, the pool area, and a lot of stone behind the bar. I couldn’t ask for anything better.

When you're starting over, do you feel pressure to please the following you've built at other restaurants?
I am in a business that is already very challenging. Working with the Maloofs and with all the promotion they do, it’s pretty incredible. But I'm always challenging myself. I can take nothing for granted, and that goes for the client as well. With this restaurant, we wanted to do what Simon was but make it new and improved. In a way, it was like growing up.

As far as the menu, is it tough to pull off the balance of presenting what your audience is calling for while bringing in something new?
Yes. As soon as I pull something off the menu that’s been around for a while, they order it. They complain. But we're ready to do anything. If I take the sea trout tandoori off, I’m still prepared to make it. We have this California pizza with tuna, crab, a wasabi base on it, and it's not on the menu now but people order it so we’re ready for it. At the end of the day, it's not how the menu is. The food has to be great, and we have to be ready to please people.

Your Sunday brunch is developing quite a following and has an attitude all its own. What is the genesis of bringing back such an old tradition?
Well I really thought Vegas needed a brunch, I felt like in all major cities there’s places that do brunch, and what a place for it: in front of the beautiful pool. But it had to be reinvented. We had to figure out how to do it in a unique and interesting way. So we get everybody together and have meetings, really intense meetings, trying to figure out the whole thing. What are the stations? What’s the marketing going to be? We get it perfect and then it's unleashed. People are coming in pajamas, there are nurse's outfit, girls in lingerie, and the bloody mary bar. Now everybody is doing a bloody mary bar. Every time I pick up the paper I see an ad for a new brunch with bloody marys, mimosas. I didn’t invent it. But what we did do is create something fun, an escape for you and your friends. It just clicked. But we didn't just do it. It's busy now, but that's a process, a long process to figure it out and then do all the hard work.

CatHouse is an entirely different experience. How would you describe that scene?
Cathouse started out as more European and it's gone through zillions of changes. It's really just a constant growth there. It's just different, a different kind of mindset. We fooled around with different stuff to see what works and what doesn’t, and at the end of the day it's a lot of steak and potatoes.

You've had multiple experiences on and just off the Strip. Is there a big difference running a restaurant from a place like Luxor to a place like the Palms?
Who is the operator? That's really the question you’re asking. When you work with Steve Wynn, he has this thing in his head already. He has visualized it differently than other people and he knows what he wants. It's much different than what you step into when you're doing your own thing. You have to create a vision for a restaurant that, really, it could be anywhere, but it has to say this is us. What’s the feeling of that? It's me ripping things out of magazines for a bunch of years, gathering all this info then trying to decipher what we’re gonna do with it.

You've been in Vegas long enough to appreciate the unique problems the city and restaurants here are facing today. How do you think the economy will affect the development of Vegas as a great dining destination?
I think it's gonna be pretty solid. First off, it feels like things are springing back a little bit. Casinos can withstand certain things. Certain restaurants will never have a hard time. There are so many talented chefs to continue. Restaurants which are not taken seriously may fall to the wayside. I think people are looking for ... not a deal, but what they’re getting for their money. It seems what they eat and drink tends to be a little more average priced.

Can you predict what the restaurant scene will look like in the next few years?
It's a tricky question. Pricing has changed. Two weeks ago the Palms had one of highest room prices in Vegas. It's hard to predict what will happen next. I'm open to going back to what Vegas was, more approachable for everybody, because it seemed like it was getting up there. Vegas should be more approachable. That’s where I’m at already. I want to be able to have people come and enjoy themselves. That's what it's all about. I never wanted to be in any way in that (higher) price range. But if you buy prime meat in my restaurant, you're still paying for it. Meat is expensive. But I think it's bouncing back. This is going to turn into a positive. Eventually it will stabilize and all move forward. Vegas is the same attraction it always was.

INTERVIEW: Robin Leach

Robin Leach is, well, he's Robin Leach.

How long have you been a full-time resident of Vegas?

Robin Leach: I have lived in Vegas full-time for seven years now. I love the city. I love its excitement, its pulse and the fact that away from the sins of the Strip it is a vibrant growing and extraordinarily generous community in its care for those less fortunate. It was never my intention to live full-time here but to cut down on commuting from NYC on Food Network TV business and with the executives of The Venetian before it was

planned out. I bought a small townhouse to cut down on the exhausting travel schedule, but then I fell in love with Vegas so I bought Gavin Maloof's home and made the switch from Manhattan.

You'll always be linked to the celebrity lifestyle. What are today's celebrity hot spots in Vegas? Is there a particular restaurant that really attracts the stars right now?
A battle rages between the Tao and Pure nightclubs as each week they seesaw in the No. 1 spot for claiming the top Vegas celebrity hot spot. Best celebrity spotting hotel is The Palms with its N9NE steakhouse restaurant and the new Nove, which attracts young Hollywood stars and sports VIPs alike. Tao's restaurant in The Venetian attracts numerous celebrities, as does Pure's Social House restaurant directly across the street at the Treasure Island and Pure's Pussycat Dolls lounge at Caesars. They are the best for night-time stars, and check out Spago in the Forum Shops of Caesars for daytime celebrity spotting.

You've sampled the best cuisine around the globe. Did you ever think that Vegas would become a great dining city?
I've said publicly for a long time now that Vegas is the top dining destination in the world and exceeds New York, Los Angeles, Paris and London. We simply have more superstar chefs here than any other city on earth: Joel Robuchon, Guy Savoy, Alain Ducasse, Wolfgang Puck,Thomas Keller, Michael Mina, Emeril Lagasse, Bradley Ogden, Daniel Boulud, Charlie Palmer, Bobby Flay, Todd English, Kerry Simon, Nobu Matsuhisa, Pierro Selvaggio, Alex Stratta, Julian Serrano, Jeans-Georges Vochterin and Hubert Keller, just to name a few. Back in 1998 when I first began assisting The Venetian with its plan to have the world's best chefs and their restaurants as part of the resort's masterplan I never guessed that everybody else would copy that formula. Now it's growing bigger and better everywhere else on the Strip -- but at The Venetian we still have Mario Batali and David Burke to join this winter!

Besides the obvious growth, how have you seen Vegas culture change over the years?
I'm thrilled about the development ongoing downtown. The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute for Alzheimers Research near the World Market Center speaks volumes for what Las Vegas will eventually stand for. We have flourishing support for the downtown performing arts center and that will benefit classical music, opera and ballet -- Vegas just ain't about slots and gaming tables anymore. It's the food, the entertainment, the spas that have made Vegas what it is today and that culture now expands outwards, too. Vegas will one day be proudly known as a resort city with its own distinct culture and not just as gaming central.

Do you have a single favorite restaurant in Vegas?
It's impossible to name just one favorite restaurant -- we are blessed to have so many. I'll give you a couple of my favorites: I love the comforts of Spago in Caesars and Postrio in The Venetian; I love the gastronomic experiences of Joel Robuchon at MGM and Guy Savoy at Caesars. I love the Japanese delights at Shibuya at MGM, Japonais at The Mirage and Little Buddha at the Palms. For superb steaks and sensational seafood, I recommend N9NE in the Palms, Delmonico at The Venetian and Stripsteak at Mandalay Bay. I love my Italian suppers at Valentino's and Zefferino in The Venetian and Nove at the Palms. I love the fun noisy casual mood at Simon Kitchen & Bar in the Hard Rock and I love the elegance and romance of Andre Rochat's Alize at the Palms and Fleur de Lys at Mandalay Bay. Offstrip, my two favorites are the two Nora's restaurants for Italian food and the wondrous waterside delights of the Marche Bacchus French restaurant and wine bar.

Which hotel/resort do you believe has created the finest dining experience with its collection of restaurants?
Admittedly I'm biased in favor of The Venetian for the most extraordinary collection of superb restaurants and fine dining choices. But MGM along with its Bellagio and Mirage properties are playing catch-up fast and furious! I love to see the war being fought and who knows what's next as the Luxor and Planet Hollywood unveil their new restaurants.

What is the most decadent dish you've ever been served in Vegas?
I'm all for delicious dining decadence. I'd have to tip my toque to two meals I ate from the master, Joel Robuchon. He's not called the Pope of the food world for nothing. In his Mansion I went through an 18-course meal with my friends Michael Boychuck and his wife, Karen Rader, that we'll never forget. And then the superstar chef topped that with his very own custom-made chef's tasting menu next door at his "workshop," L'Atelier. Michael Mina dazzled the night before he opened Stripsteak and Guy Savoy created art wth his offerings at Caesars. Forget the prices, though. Just sell the car, take a loan and definitely do one of them before you die! And yes, with the highest prices in town it's not only justified but worth the extravagance. To have one particular dish stand out above all others is an actual impossibility because it's the entire meal that become memorable. But I'll never forget the truffle pasta Luciano Pellegrini made for me at Valentino and the truffle ice cream David Robins at Spago conjured up. In fact, Spago has a "Rich and Famous" pizza even though it's not on the menu. Order it and you'll get smoked salmon and cream cheese on the pizza -- and you can enter the world of extravagance and decadence simultaneously by saying, "Top it with all the caviar you have!" Perfect with very expensive fine champagne ... and now you all know where "champagne wishes and caviar dreams" came from.