Off-Strip chefs to throw fest with different, memorable foods

Thousands of foodies will descend on Las Vegas on Mother’s Day weekend for Vegas Uncork’d, a collection of 27 high-profile dining events where guests will pay big bucks to rub elbows with celebrity chefs such as Gordon Ramsay, Giada De Laurentiis and Nobu Matsuhisa.

On that Saturday night, May 12, however, while some Uncork’d patrons are enjoying vodka and caviar at Mandalay Bay or milkshakes and burgers at The Venetian, about a dozen of Las Vegas’ top non-celebrity chefs will gather in an alley in the Arts District, determined to prove the Las Vegas culinary scene isn’t confined to Las Vegas Boulevard.

“Off-Strip dining gets overlooked,” Sparrow + Wolf’s Brian Howard says. “And I think it’s time that people start listening.”

In addition to Howard, Vegas Unstripped will feature chefs from top neighborhood restaurants such as Other Mama, Esther’s Kitchen, The Black Sheep, Paid in Full, The Kitchen at Atomic, Flock & Fowl, District One, Metro Pizza and the soon-to-launch La Strega, BBDs and Gastromix. It will run from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., with food, beer, wine and cocktails included for $65 — a third less than the least expensive Uncork’d event, and just a quarter the price of the cheapest ticket to the Grand Tasting on May 11 at Caesars Palace.

Many chefs participating in Unstripped were asked to cook at the Grand Tasting but declined because of high fees (as much as $2,000 for one off-Strip restaurant) and the cost of preparing food for more than 2,000 expected guests.

“For a small business like us, it was too expensive to be involved,” Howard says. “And they’re not showing any love to kind of help with that.” At Unstripped, he says, he and his fellow chefs will be able to put all of their resources into creating memorable dishes for a much smaller audience.

Most are keeping their creations under wraps for now. But Howard says he’ll create miniature tasting menus for the crowd.

“We’re actually going to seat you six at a time and you’re going to get five courses on one plate. And we’re going to rotate them in and out. We’re coming to cook.”

James Trees, of Esther’s Kitchen, is also planning multiple dishes, although he’ll serve them in a different format.

“We’re gonna do pig’s head raviolis for one of the things,” he says. “But I want to do three different dishes. So that way, not only do you go and eat, and then go around and have fun. But when you come back, it’s something else. And then it’s going to be something else (again).”

“This is not just a bunch of food for you to get drunk with,” says Unstripped organizer Eric Gladstone, referencing the plethora of sliders and other uninspired dishes he’s encountered at some festivals. “This is an experience. Hopefully people will take away something from it, and literally say ‘Hey remember when Esther’s Kitchen did that crazy ravioli? Remember that stupid thing that Brian Howard did?’ I want a lot of ‘What the hell?’ ”

The timing of the event is aimed at getting visiting foodies and members of the national media to experience what’s happening off the Strip. But the chefs are also hoping locals will get the chance to explore the restaurants that are in their own neighborhoods, or across town.

“We really felt there was a reason for this event — not just for a fun night out but to really inspire the community here to understand that there is all this quality here,” Gladstone says. “Because these restaurants are so far flung, they may know two of them, but the others they’ve only heard about.”

“I want people to feel proud of a place that’s near their house, and then maybe try one or two they haven’t tried before,” Other Mama chef Dan Krohmer says.

Trees says Unstripped will offer a great party with a neighborhood vibe.

“We’re going to be out there having fun,” he says. “Our overlords are not there telling us that we have to put out 1,500 portions of food. We’re going to go out there and we’re going to cook, have a great time, drink, party (and) have a blast. So if no one comes, at least it’ll be us having a great time. And, oh man, are we gonna have a great time.”

Contact Al Mancini at amancini @reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlManciniVegas on Twitter.