Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Author takes 'average Joe' look at dining

"Reservations Required" is by Sarah Lee Marks.

Las Vegas chefs are getting scrutiny in another new dining book, as well. It is "Reservations Required" by Henderson resident Sarah Lee Marks.

Huntington Press published the book, whose full title is "Reservations Required, Culinary Secrets of Las Vegas' Celebrity Chefs."

Marks covers 26 chefs. She provides for each a brief biography, restaurant description and two of the chef's favorite recipes. The mix is mostly chefs of restaurants on the Las Vegas Strip, but includes restaurants at Lake Las Vegas and outlying neighborhoods, as well.

Recipes are rated for difficulty and are accompanied by a suggested wine pairing.

"I came at it from the perspective of me, the average Joe, and what (average people) anticipate when they go to a gourmet, or fine dining, restaurant," says Marks, 45.

She picked chefs and restaurants based on her own experiences as a diner. "These are restaurants I have been to several times," she explains. "They know me as somebody who comes in and sits down and eats ... and leaves. And comes back again."

All the restaurants in the book are, according to Marks, places where "not only did you get a fabulous food experience, but the service was outstanding, and the suggestions from the sommeliers matched and balanced. I felt there was good value there."

The difficulty scale for recipes in "Reservations Required" is based on ease of finding ingredients and ease of preparation. The easiest recipes (rated 1 or 2) are "just as you would open a child's toy and follow the (assembly) instruction," the author explains.

A 3 rating "involves a little bit more activity. ... You might be using several ingredients in several pans simultaneously."

Recipes rated 4 or 5 entail more ingredients, more preparation steps and more time to present on a plate.

Marks credits personal chef Elizabeth Hoiles-Menzel for helping organize and rate the recipes.

Marks has been a food lover for a long time, though not as a professional. "I eat out probably six days a week. I love fine dining, I love food," she says. "I entertain with clients."

She also enjoys cooking at home with family members. Her requirement for a good meal, regardless of location, is that it leave a person "full inside my tummy, and full inside my soul."

Marks relocated with her family to Southern Nevada in 1994 to continue her career in car sales. She works for the Tom Saitta Integrity Chrysler group. She also writes a regular car column for the Henderson Home News and Boulder City News.

Marks' two passions -- cars and food -- are not as antithetical as one might think. Choices in both are "representative of our lifestyles, our needs and our wants," she says. "Food is the slow part of my life, and the car is the fast part."