City Cast Las Vegas
😬 Throwdown in Flavortown!
February 15, 2024
Happy Thursday! When you scroll down to the story about Whataburger, note the writer’s name: Rob Kachelriess. Starting next week, you’ll see that byline a lot more as Rob — a versatile, knowledgeable, longtime writer in these parts — takes the wheel of Hey Las Vegas for good. (Me, I’m retiring to a life of full-time cat care.) You’ll be in great hands!
What's CITY Talking About?
😬 A Bad Fieri Tale
At least two local restaurants are vocally unhappy about their experiences after being invited to participate in the Guy Fieri-branded Flavortown Tailgate, which took place on the Strip before the Super Bowl. After preparing large volumes of food to sell, they learned that big corporate sponsors were giving away free food. They say they lost money and had to dispose of their leftovers. [KSNV]
- One of the restaurants involved, Yukon Pizza, makes a great burger. [Hey Las Vegas 📧]
🐺 Coyote Bites Girl
I’ve had some yuks in this newsletter implicitly siding with coyotes in their encounters with humans, but there’s nothing funny about this: A 2-year-old girl reportedly had to have rabies shots after a coyote bit her last month in Lake Las Vegas. As described, the attack sounds horrifying. Don’t feed the coyotes, people. [KVVU]
- Context: Why we’re seeing more coyotes in neighborhoods. [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]
⚡ 57 is the New 95!
Eligible NV Energy employees will be getting bonuses equal to the amount they’d receive if they had met 95% of the company’s internal goals — even though they only met 57%. The bonuses total $4.7 million, a bill that will be footed by us rate-payers after a Public Utilities Commission decision this week. [Review-Journal]
What To Do
Thursday, Feb. 15
- 💬 Black History Conversations With a Cowboy | 4 p.m. | Free | Windmill Library
- 🐿️ Living With Wildlife | 4 p.m. | Free | Centennial Hills Library
- 🖼️ Created in Paper (exhibit reception) | 5 p.m. | Free | Las Vegas City Hall
- 🍕 Pizza Trivia Showdown | 6 p.m. | Free | Clark County Library
- 🎭 Lifespan of a Fact (multiple dates) | 7 p.m. | $41 | Arts District
Friday, Feb. 16
- 🎤 Artist Talk: Tony Lewis and Joe Reihsen at UNLV | 6 p.m. | Free | University District
- 🗂️ AARP Free Tax Prep at Rainbow Library (all ages) | 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. | Free | Rainbow Library
- 🎹 Buckwheat Zydeco Jr. And Ils Sont Partis Band at The Smith Center | 7 p.m. | $39+ | Downtown
- 🪕 Dennis Jones Band (blues) | 7 p.m. | Free | West Las Vegas Library
- 🎭 A Festival of Short Plays at UNLV (multiple dates) | 7:30 p.m. | $30 | University District
Today on City Cast
Does Vegas Need Another Celeb Chef?
It’s been a pressing question since shortly after celebrity chefs drove Las Vegas’ 1990s rise as a culinary destination: When will we have too many famous cooks in the kitchens? As the shouty guy and the “everyone’s trying to beat me” guy expand their local restaurant empires, podcast co-host Sarah Lohman talks with food writers John Curtas and Gemini Stevens about whether our hub of grub has reached a tipping point.
➕ Why national food awards always ignore the Las Vegas dining scene. [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]
Lastly today, it appears that there’s a case to be made that Travis Kelce’s bellowing-elk rendition of “Viva Las Vegas” after the Super Bowl was, in fact, musically spot-on. OK, I’m listening … (to the explanation, not to Kelce).
Scott Dickensheets
See my five-star Yelp review of Sonja Cho Swanson’s edits!
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