A+E

What was it about Calatrava's work you wanted to explore? Why him instead of, say, Frank Gehry?

What drew me to Calatrava first and foremost was this idea that maybe he's a modern-day Michelangelo. He paints, he sculpts, he invents furniture, he's responsible for some of the most fantastic bridges, as well as buildings, being made today. I think the piece could have easily been about Gehry—or Moneo or Ando or Rem Koolhaas. But what made Calatrava most significant, on the fifth-year anniversary of 9/11, is that he's designing what some consider the most symbolic building of our times at Ground Zero—his PATH station, which resembles a bird lifting off the Earth. Especially as so many problems have plagued the reconstruction efforts there, Calatrava's station has taken on the added hopes and dreams of many Americans. And then there is this very real debate about Calatrava's genius, and the idea of profiling someone's mind through his buildings hooked me hard.

Ten years from now, what will you remember most about this assignment?

Unlike profiling a chef, where every meal can be brought to a table and tasted and meditated over, this assignment required a lot of travel in order to see Calatrava's work. I think I was in six countries, so as much as I'll remember the buildings, I'll remember that place I had dinner in Copenhagen or that train ride from Valencia. What I'll definitely remember, too, is almost getting arrested—in Tenerife, to be exact. I was prowling around Calatrava's auditorium there, late at night. It was myself and a couple of other tourists, and I followed them through an open door, and suddenly we had seven cops on us. I acted as if I didn't understand a word of Spanish, and after a while they let me go. Meanwhile, the other two were taken away.

Does this piece share any thematic concerns with some of your other work?

Perfection, obsession, immortality and the presence of angels—I'd say that about does it. That's pretty much what's on my mind these days.

This just in from the food world

1. Three local restaurants made Gourmet's just-out list of America's Top 50 Restaurants: Joël Robuchon at the Mansion (No. 5); Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare (No. 21); and Restaurant Guy Savoy (No. 36). None existed last time Gourmet compiled the ranking, in 2001. That year's sole Vegas listee, Picasso in Bellagio (No. 29 then), didn't chart this year. "Picasso, while still a terrific restaurant, has been upstaged by French imports," says Weekly food critic Max Jacobson. "Perhaps the pooh-bahs at Gourmet felt that four local inclusions were too many—then we would have out-dueled Northern California."

2. Great news from Indiana University, where a new study by kinesiology prof Joel M. Stager and his team suggests that "when athletes drank low fat chocolate milk after an intense bout of exercise, they were able to work out longer during a second round of exercise, compared to when they drank a carbohydrate-replacement drink." Just as we began training for December's Las Vegas Marathon, too!

Should you buy tickets (now on sale!) to see Chuck Palahniuk on November 4?

I can't recommend Palahniuk's writing—what I've read is full of cheesy shock effects and grating lessons about the evils of consumerism—but I wholeheartedly endorse his reading. I was there two Februaries ago when he rocked a capacity crowd at the Clark County Library. Huge fun. Onstage, Palahniuk is vivid and charismatic, and the one-dimensionality of his writing actually works better this way: Cheesy shock effects pack more gut-punch when he performs his prose than when you read it to yourself. He's coming back for the Vegas Valley Book Festival; grab tickets now before they're snapped up by alienated kids and fight-clubbers looking for encouragement in their battle against consumerism. (Tickets are $12 at www.vegasvalleybookfest.org.)

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2 stars)

$18.95

For all its imperfections, sometimes the MPAA ratings board gets it exactly right. The PG-13 rating here was awarded for "reckless and excessive behavior involving teens. Violence, language and sexual content." That endorsement was worth more than a dozen of Roger Ebert's thumbs. The third installment in the FatF franchise was set in neon-choked Tokyo, where an American street racer was pitted against rice-burning Japanese drifters. Enough said. Does it work? Sure, but only if you've bought into the series' Rebel Without a Cause conceit and are too young to pay for your own car insurance. Tokyo is the real star, and it shines. The extras amplify the concept of drift racing.