VEGAS CHEF PIERRE GAGNAIRE FEATURED IN FOOD & WINE’S JULY ISSUE

Much-decorated French chef Pierre Gagnaire, who expanded his restaurant empire to Las Vegas in December, likes to describe his creations as "emotion on a plate."

In the July issue of Food & Wine magazine, food writer Jane Sigal went to Gagnaire's peers to further delve into the French master's "head-scratchingly complex" cuisine.

"There is no one doing creative cooking who does not go to taste Pierre's food and get inspired by him," said famed French chef Daniel Boulud, whose own restaurant empire is based in New York City.

Sigal writes: "Twist, in Vegas, marks a simpler cooking style for him, focused on U.S. product like Maine lobster, Washington bay scallops and Sonoma foie gras."

In her quest to better capture Gagnaire's brilliance, Sigal approached Pascal Sanchez, Twist's chef de cuisine, who had worked with Gagnaire in Paris.

"Sanchez shook his head," Sigal writes, "to say he understood the thrill and challenge of cooking with a visionary like Gagnaire." Sanchez told her: "Brainstorming with Pierre is like flying in a hot air balloon. Gagnaire is the balloon; we are all in the basket following him."

BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK EXPLORES THE QUIRKY SIDE OF VEGAS

Geraldine Campbell of Bloomberg Businessweek came to Las Vegas in search of fun spots that aren't always found along the neon-splashed Strip.

In the July 12-July 18 issue, she takes readers on a tour that includes the "smaller, quirkier scene."

She found off-Strip gems like newly opened Rumor, the South Beachesque hotel across from the Hard Rock Hotel, and the Artisan Hotel, "a hidden, art-swathed 64-room respite from the seedy video stores and gents' clubs nearby."

She made stops at The Arts Factory, the Erotic Heritage Museum and the Double Down Saloon (where she describes the infamous "Ass Juice" but doesn't say if she imbibed in the potent concoction."

Campbell climbed on board the Slidin' Thru, Vegas' first food truck, to check out the sliders and the ribs-and-pulled pork sandwiches for casual diners and she mentions Lola's, the popular Cajun diner with a mahogany bar and gleaming white-tiled walls.