Soaring gasoline prices? That's small potatoes compared to the elite steaks in Las Vegas.

Along Las Vegas Boulevard and off the Strip, the $20-something steak has gone the way of the $1.99 buffet.

A survey of top eateries reveals the most expensive steaks this side of New York City, if not even higher than there.

Granted, many of the jaw-dropping prices are the result of more Kobe beef being served. Take Shintaro, the Japanese eatery at Bellagio, where the 10-ounce Washugyu Kobe tenderloin is going for $190. Shintaro's 12-ounce sirloin commands $170.

Over at Bradley Ogden, the high-end restaurant at Caesars Palace, the 8-ounce Kobe steak goes for $175.

Also cracking the $100 barrier: Craftsteak at the MGM Grand, with a 10-ounce Kobe filet mignon price at $100. On the cusp: a 14-ounce Kobe ribeye for $98.

So much U.S. beef has topped the $50-a-steak mark that we couldn't count them. Among the highest: Michael's at the Barbary Coast offers a 20-ounce New York prime aged Black Angus sirloin for $75, and filet mignon for $68.

Yes, it's outrageous, agrees Russell Anzevino, assistant maitre d' at Michael's, "but it's got to do with the availability of prime beef. In the days of the $20 steak, prime beef was plentiful. Now one percent of beef is deemed prime now."

Prime beef, he said, "is deemed just like a vintage wine. It goes through an auction. It's very rare, almost like diamonds."

THOMSEN RESCUES 'CARMEN'

Henderson's Mark Thomsen got the telephone call of his lifetime the other day.

The tenor soloist in last season's finale of the Las Vegas Philharmonic's "Carmina Burana," he was summoned for the season opening of Lyric Opera of Chicago.

The dilemma: Neil Shicoff, the male lead in Bizet's "Carmen," had a bout of laryngitis as opening night loomed opposite American operatic star Denyce Graves.

After dress rehearsal on Wednesday with Graves, Thomsen confesses he was "higher than a kite."

But he calmed down and came through in the clutch, with his wife, Naomi, compensation manager for Bellagio, in the audience.

"Credit for saving opening night went to Thomsen," wrote F. N. D'Alessio of The Associated Press.

"When a large bouquet came flying over the orchestra pit at the curtain calls, Graves picked it up, extracted one red rose and presented it to the tenor. It was an echo of the action in Act I, but it was also a way of saying 'Thank you,'" he wrote.

"To have the opportunity to sing with the Chicago Lyric is a joy and then to have the added joy of singing for the season opener with Denyce Graves, the Carmen of our time, is/was a blast!" Thomsen told me by e-mail.

MAY I RECOMMEND ...

New York transplant Hogs and Heifers Saloon, 201 N. Third St., quickly has become downtown's party central. It's open seven days a week from 1 p.m. to 4 a.m., but is considering extending hours from 10 a.m. to 6 a.m. Its motto: "No lemon, no lime, no salt, no sugar, no olives, no onions, no tomato juice, no pineapple juice, no frozen drinks, no margarita glasses, no martini glasses, no wine and no whining!" For more information, 676-1457.

SIGHTINGS

Jenny McCarthy, riding the mechanical bull and mud wrestling at Gilley's (New Frontier) for her "Party at the Palms" segments. She's returning to get acquainted with the bingo ladies. ... Josh Groban and the Chippendales, taking in "Avenue Q" (Wynn) on Wednesday night.. ... Charles Barkley, cigar in one hand and Grey Goose and cranberry in the other while lip-synching to Cypress Hill at Tabu (MGM Grand) on Wednesday night. Later he was spotted dancing at Studio 54 (MGM Grand). ... Janet Jackson, dining at BOA Steakhouse at the Forum Shops at Caesars on Wednesday night. ... Danny Gans, leading a standing ovation for his piano player, Bill DeLoach, at the end of his show, "Echoes of Woodstock" at the Gold Coast on Monday night. ... Three founding members of Blue Man Group will be attending today's VIP unveiling of Blue Man wax figures at Madame Tussaud's (The Venetian) from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. No, they don't talk, either. The group, after four years at the Luxor, opens at The Venetian on Oct. 10.

THE PUNCH LINE

Spotted on a burgundy Mercedes convertible in Summerlin on Tuesday, Nevada license plate CME4DD.

Norm Clarke can be reached at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com.