I'll have a steak sandwich ...
It's one of the most clubby, manly and old sc
hool mainstays on any American lunch menu – the steak sandwich.
Take that handy, utilitarian parcel of bread layers and stick a big honking grilled slab of sirloin in between. Forget the cold cuts, give us whole beef! The steak sandwich is all about the seared cut, the knife and the fork. Maybe add some grilled onions and A1 for accent.
This sandwich hubris sounds great in conception, but especially in the casino bar eating and “specials” territories that are so very Vegas, the steak sandwich is much abused with grease, gristle, out-sizing and over-doneness.
I recently found, however, perhaps the best steak sandwich in town. It's light and savory, a thin slice of beef grilled quick and layered with fresh lettuce, tomato and toasted French bread. I added some special sauce for flavor. It needed no knife.
This handy combo was a “churasco” steak sandwich from Rincon de Buenos Aires. This is Vegas' representative restaurant from one of the other great cowboy nations of our western hemisphere – Argentina.
The sauce I added was that flavorful, bursting blend known as chimmichurri. If you've had Italian pesto, you've tasted the creamier, cheesier and nuttier precursor of this condiment. Chimmichurri forgoes the herbal basil for the sharper and snappier parsley. It takes the olive oil but leaves the pine nuts and parmesan for a tiny bit of chili pepper and more so of red wine vinegar. It keeps the garlic.
I had a Guarana soda from Brazil (it's ginger ale-ish but grassier in flavor) and a chicken empanada, too. With fries, which were not really a highlight, it was too much food. And the empanada would have been fantastic warmed in an oven rather than a microwave.
But that steak sandwich was so good. That chimmichurri sauce was yum. The second half of the sandwich was still great the next day for a second lunch.
Rincon de Buenos Aires is a full deli and also a sit down restaurant. Check it out.
Rincon de Buenos Aires
5300 Spring Mountain Rd
Las Vegas, NV 89146
(702) 257-3331
Road hog food
I wandered into the Las Vegas Bikefest '07 in Cashman Field last Sunday afternoon. I was curious what kind of grinds the motorcycle crowd eats.
There's not much to report from inside this event ... it was mostly stadium concession food, and that sums that up.
But wandering outside, I did come across Eugene Altobella munching on a Polish sausage with onions and peppers. It was
grilled up in a booth across from his own vendor tent. Las Vegan Altobella owns WWED, a t-shirt, hat, apparel and body jewelry business that caters to the rough and tumble roadway crowds. His wares sport outrageous, funny, crude and acerbic sayings and mantras. Even in this blog, in the Weekly with its general liberality, I can't quote or show Altobella's gear. But he makes the circuit from rodeos to car shows and is making a go of it as a local businessman – so hats off to Altobella and WWED.
By the way, Altobella said the Polish was good. Discover his business' website for yourself at wwedinc.com and witness what I cannot quote.
Closer to those crazy pitas!
In great news for Green Valley/Henderson office workers and residents, Crazy Pita has opened a second location, this one at The District, the upscale shopping concourse next to Green Valley Ranch hotel/casino/resort.
Crazy Pita is owned by Mehdi Zarhloul, originally from Morocco. He moved to Washington D.C. twenty some years ago, and after a decade there lived ten more years in Los Angeles. He's been in Vegas just under two years, and his clean-lined, modern and
attractive Middle Eastern restaurants signal he's here to stay. His restaurants, with their emphasis on high quality kebabs, falafels and sides like hummus are just what many kefta and couscous lovers want here. Zarhloul is also a super-cool and congenial host.
Zarhloul's original place is on Horizon Ridge, and only has an edge on the new in that it serves delicious Saturday braised lamb shanks (and sometimes, too, in the work week). Zarhlou
l is still ramping up his new location to proffer these delicious legs.
Get crazy delighted with great kebabs and other fresh Middle Eastern food classics in a scene as clean as IKEA. There's also uncommon Lebanese beer and Moroccan wine available with sit down service at Crazy Pita "2."
Crazy Pita “2”
2225 Village Walk Dr.
896-7482
www.crazypita.com
Bonus: Down home-style AM frequencies now in Vegas
I was turned on to Vegas' newish 790 AM KBET a few months ago by a colleague/friend. He knows him some alt and indie rocking. But he's also a full-on Midwestern boy and has the taste for old glorious country/western. So when he tuned in 790 AM during a cheapo taco lunch run, I listened.
I vetted this station again on a warm Sunday Indian summer drive. I heard in one hour such goodness as Tom T. Hall's "Old Dogs, Children & Watermelon Wine," the Everly Brother's "All I Have do is Dream," Johnny Cash's "Walk the Line" and Wille Nelson's "On the Road Again." There was some Waylon, too. Perfect sounds. Nuff' said.
Please enjoy a glass of watermelon wine on me.
(This blog entry was composed with a bittersweet and poppy side order of "The Return of the Rentals” by The Rentals.)