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City Cast Las Vegas

 “Gold leaf is to food what tail fins were to Cadillacs: Strictly to impress those with more money than brains or taste. The types who 

 over architectural chocolate and things set aflame for no other reason than to pad the bill.”

The Raiders open their 2023 season on Sunday — at Denver. (Go, Broncos!) Their first home game isn’t until Sept. 24. Should you attend, food journalist Johnathan L. Wright has some 

 when you’re in the Big Roomba, er Allegiant Stadium — including boozy ice cream. [Review-Journal]

🌮 Finally, Vegas Is Near the Top of a Good List

This study, which designates Las Vegas as 

, was conducted by a real-estate website, and involved crunching a lot of data and tasting exactly zero tacos. But at least we learn that the valley has .064 taco joints per square mile, and that seems like enough. (Austin, Texas, and San Jose, Calif., are Nos 1 and 2.) [Real Estate Witch]

Not the standard arrangement, right? But this writeup is pretty persuasive about the 

 at the Su Casa sushi bar in The Silverton. Might have to try it — lotta people 

Thanks for the pointless, tasteless bling, edible gold leaf! 

Every day is a holiday, if you know where to look (next month’s 

 include International Skeptics Day, Howl at the Moon Day and Night, and Wear Something Gaudy Day). But tomorrow, Sept. 30, holds a special place in my heart: It’s International Podcast Day.

The podcast isn’t very old as media goes. Named for the iPod, the portable audio player launched in 2001, the podcast was 

 when a software developer created a program that allowed audio bloggers to syndicate their episodes on iPods. A journalist in the Guardian coined the term “podcast,” and today there are more than 2 million podcasts out in the wild.

The simplest way to describe podcasts is probably “radio on demand.” But what I love most about podcasts is how they keep me curious about the world. There’s a podcast for everything: I can learn about the work of 

 while driving to the grocery store, the 

And, of course, the podcast I work on keeps me curious about the city I love: 

. We talk about public art we hate, pizza we love, our water woes, and the industries that keep our economy thrumming. So this International Podcast Day, I have a two-part challenge for you: (1) Tune in to a new podcast you’ve never heard before, and (2) share your favorite podcast with a friend who isn’t a listener. (And I’m not saying it has to be City Cast Las Vegas … but I’m not NOT saying that either 😉)

An appreciation of the podcast form — and a challenge.

Why You Should Give Podcasts A Try

Lend an Ear to Podcast Day

The Appreciation Index

Sometimes a person just wants to observe the pageantry of modern humanity strolling by — maybe you want to feel less alone, or triangulate your own position in the human parade, or just get judgy about other people’s fashion choices. Here are five places to do it:

🚶🚶🏻‍♀️🚶🏾 Fremont Street: 

The second-floor window seats at this Binion’s bar offer a fishbowl view of the cavalcade of human variety — tourists, buskers, every denomination of person in between — that is the Fremont Street Experience.

👩‍🦽🚶🏽‍♀️🚶🏿‍♀️ Town Square: 

Hey, you don’t just want to people-watch the tourists — from this grog shop’s patio you have a casual overlook onto the mall’s play area, where families pause for a few minutes between shopping and eating.

Lotta foot traffic here. Buy a coffee, find a bench, and take in the endless parade of international visitors bringing varied fashion and converging languages to the echoing walkways.

🚶🏾🚶🏼🚶🏽‍♀️ Arts District: 

Grab a seat in the boat out front and observe the wide taxonomy of downtown hepcats, hungry suburbanites drawn by the hype for 1228 Main or Good Pie, and hardy tourists looking for a break from the Strip.

Weather permitting, the corner patio of this java joint in the Summerlin-adjacent mega-strip mall should present you with the squires of suburbia as they engage in their natural habits — shopping and walking while scrolling.

There's nothing odd about enjoying the human parade.

5 Great People-Watching Spots in Las Vegas

5 Great People-Watching Spots

Las Vegas' Best

Yes. The law is very clear. NRS 171.126 provides that any citizen can arrest a person for a misdemeanor (or larger offense) committed in their presence or any felony whether it is witnessed or not, as long as there's reasonable cause to believe the person did the crime. In making the arrest, the person can't use any more force than is necessary and reasonable under the circumstances — and certainly not deadly force unless it's in self-defense.

 That's the tricky part. There are no clear guidelines as to how to conduct a citizen's arrest, and when it 

 been used, it's usually just detaining the person until the police arrive.

 NRS 171.134 says “the person from whose custody he or she escaped … may immediately pursue and retake the person at any time and in any place within the state.”

 The obvious concern involves the person who's not happy to be citizen-arrested and gets physical. Also, what if the citizen is wrong? The person arrested could sue for things like false imprisonment or assault with a deadly weapon (if you use one to detain the person). The better course is the obvious one: Get as much information as you can and relay it to cops.

You can, but it's probably not your best move.

Can You Make a Citizen's Arrest in Las Vegas?

Las Vegas Life Hacks

Ubiquitous in the local desert thanks to its drought tolerance, the mesquite has long been a versatile, useful plant in the Southwest. The bark could be used to weave baskets. Its pods can be turned into flour, and the tree was a key source of protein for desert-faring Indigenous peoples. Its flowers can be boiled into tea, while its sap has been put to a variety of medicinal uses, whether applied directly to a wound or turned into a gargle for sore throats.

They’re hardy survivors, mesquite trees, with roots that can reach 100 feet or more into the earth in search of moisture. It’s said that during especially dry periods, the seeds can sit dormant for decades waiting for sufficient water.

Thanks to the mesquite’s versatility and climate adaptability, there are those who think that the tree could serve as the foundation of a 

 that might help alleviate poverty in drying Southwestern areas. In terms of food provided for water used, ecologist Gary Nabhan says, “I don’t know any desert crop that beats mesquite in terms of productivity.”

Mesquite trees are a versatile, durable resource in the desert.

Mesquite Trees Are a Versatile, Durable Resource in the Desert

The Durable, Versatile Mesquite Tree

Urban Almanac

Author and UNLV journalism professor Michael Easter is 

. His first book, 2021’s “The Comfort Crisis,” showed how to unlock the power of discomfort to upgrade your life. His new book, published today, is “

Scarcity Brain: Fix Your Craving Mindset & Rewire Your Habits to Thrive with Enough

Everyone knows everything is fine in moderation. But why are we so bad at it? Why don't we ever feel like we have enough? Most behaviors we do in excess now helped our ancient ancestors survive. But we still have our ancient brains that push us into more food, stuff, status-seeking, information binging, etc.

One big revelation from the book is that I discovered what I call the scarcity loop. It's a three-part behavior loop that evolved to help us obsessively repeat behaviors that kept us alive, like finding food. But it's now being applied to technologies that can hurt us. It was actually revived right here in Las Vegas, in the 1980s, in slot machines. But it's now what powers social media, dating apps, online gaming, sports betting, online streaming, and even our food system.

Humans evolved in a world where what we needed to survive was scarce. So we're built to crave. But we now have an abundance of everything we're built to crave. And we still keep accumulating. Anthropologists call this an "evolutionary mismatch."

For example, even a couple hundred years ago, the average American owned a handful of clothes and tools. Now the average home has 10,000-plus items and most homes are in some form of debt. Food used to be scarce — now we throw out about one-third of our food, and 40% of Americans are obese. A person in one day today takes in more information than a person 700 years ago took in during their entire life.

That has changed us, oftentimes not for the better.

In “Scarcity Brain” I identify three key ways to get out of the scarcity loop. It's the only scientific way to stop any bad habit. And this is very important. As a person who's studied physical and mental health my entire life, I've noticed that people want to develop good new habits. But the problem is that it's our bad habits that hold us back most. Fix your worst habits and your life improves instantly.

How do our primitive cravings shape our modern lives?

Las Vegas Author Talks About Impact of Ancient 'Scarcity Brain'

Author Michael Easter on How Your Ancient Drives Shape Your Life

3 Questions With

When Dr. Lynn Comella joined the faculty at UNLV, her office was in a space that had once been a bedroom. “It’s funny to think about that now,” she says. It was on the second floor of 

, a fascinating campus anomaly. Amid the school’s toybox of large architectural showpieces, Houssels House was once, as its name makes clear, a residence — a 1933 Tudor revival located on Sixth Street near Charleston.

The original owner, lawyer Harley A. Harmon — you’ve probably driven on the street that bears his name — sold it in 1936 to J. Kell Houssels Sr., one of Nevada’s first gaming licensees. Lotta history in 

 handshake! Both Houssels and his son, J. Kell Houssels Jr., went on to play big roles at joints like the Showboat and Tropicana, and Jr.'s wife, Nancy, was primarily responsible for Nevada Ballet Theatre. “The Houssels family did a lot to build the community,” says UNLV history department chair Michael Green, “and in my mind they don’t get enough credit for it.”

 in 1983. Once off the flatbed, it became the campus’ oldest building.

Over the years Houssels House contained programs as varied as architecture and consciousness studies. “It was where the women's studies department was housed when I started at UNLV in 2007,” says Comella, now chair of the school’s department of interdisciplinary, gender, and ethnic studies. “Houssels House was a real hub of activity then.” These days it headquarters a campus multicultural center.

The point of all this being, you gotta love a place that pulls so much local history onto a campus populated by structures that were born on-site, a building that literalizes the notion of the school’s connection to the community.

 Which UNLV structure was mentioned in our “

A small building on campus with big local history vibes.

Let's Hear It for the Old Las Vegas House at UNLV!

Let's Hear It for the Old House at UNLV!

One of the joys and cringes of being a Las Vegan is seeing how your city of global interest is portrayed in the national media. Here are five of our favorite recent stories:

The lefty journal The Baffler devoted much of an issue to our city. Contents include a dismissive take on the “nostalgia-tripping cash grab” of the Punk Rock Museum; a look at the Teamsters-mob relationship in building the city; and an expansive appreciation of sign artist Betty Willis.

‘How Usher Became the New King of Vegas’

 in Las Vegas, like someone who saw the glamorous first hour of ‘Casino’ but not the subsequent stressful two hours of ‘Casino.’ For Usher, Vegas is a place of renewal, a place of rebirth.”

 on a news roundup. [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]

‘The First Magician on the Vegas Strip’

The New Yorker wrote about Las Vegas more than once this year, whether 

 of “Learning from Las Vegas” or tracking 

 surviving the summer of 2023. But we like this piece about vintage performer Gloria Dea.

The cosmopolitan weekly newsletter Airmail retells the sordid downfall of Sara King, the so-called “slot whisperer” of Las Vegas, who ran through a lot of other people’s money.

‘Sphere can be bizarre and sublime — or just an ad. That’s what makes it so Vegas’

The L.A. Times offers a thinky take on our big orb, and its mingling of the worlds of art, commerce, and spectacle.

With stories from the New Yorker, GQ, the L.A. Times, and more.

Our Favorite Glimpses of Las Vegas in the Media

Our Favorite Glimpses of Vegas in the Media

No actual dogs are exploded in the staging of “Dog Explosion” — that has already happened, moments before the play opens on the McCall family in rural Missouri: three siblings and a terminally ill mother who’s just died. While the play has its share of laughs, says Las Vegas playwright Sean Clark, who directs this production, it doesn’t have the bleakly irreverent tenor of a black comedy. It 

 have lots of donuts and beer. A couple of questions for Clark:

Did I read that this play dates back to 2013?

“It’s a lot older than that. I kind of had it in a drawer. I was working (as a screenwriter) in Hollywood, and this stage play got me more work than any screenplay I’d written. They read this play and hired me for ‘Northern Exposure.’ As the great Ray Wylie Hubbard said, if you write something you think is good, be prepared to live with it for 40 years.”

How did you come to write this particular story?

“There’s a lot of incidents right out of my own life. My main character was a woman,and her frustrations mirrored my frustrations at the time: student debt, not knowing what your future was, feeling a little trapped. And then I was at a bar one night, and this total stranger tells this story of a guy who decided to kill his dog with some dynamite because it had cancer. All of a sudden I went, ‘That’s the catalyst I need to really make this play pop.’”

Did you have to update this production at all?

“It’s set in 1984, and I thought, ‘It’s going to be a period piece.’ That way you don’t have to explain why there are no cell phones. But as I watched it unfold, oddly enough, on the metaphoric levels, it’s more topical now than ever. Part of the clash is between somebody who is extremely cynical and sarcastic and burned out, and her sister, who is the opposite of those things because she’s found strength and happiness in her religion. And you have a guy in the middle who’s trying to do the right thing but finds the world around him a little judgmental if he happens to blow up a house or something. (Laughs.) A lot of it’s about the divides — that the country is in, between siblings. And those divides seem sharper now than in 1984.”

 at Winchester Dondero Cultural Center ($15).

 While they're not exploding dogs, do Vegas 

 when it comes to other areas of public life? [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]

Though the title, 'Dog Explosion,' is less autobiographical.

Las Vegas Playwright Turns Life Into Theater

'Dog Explosion' Playwright Turns Life Into Theater

This week’s charcuterie board of Las Vegas food news and views.

Las Vegas Is a Great Taco Town

Las Vegas Is a Great Taco City + Edible Gold Leaf ... Why?

The latest on the hottest places to eat, drink, socialize, and talk about in Las Vegas.

Food & Drink

Got a full plate of food news this week …

, right? Winner of that ballyhooed Dapper Co. competition for a built-out location in the Huntridge Shopping Center? If that seems like 10,000 news cycles ago, well, the opening’s finally getting closer — and 

 Candidates to work as line cooks and sous chef should apply online ahead of time; selected applicants will be emailed with details about where to take the culinary skills exam on these days.

 Applicants for all other positions can visit a hiring fair at the diner. Prior online application is encouraged, but walk-ins will be accepted from 1-2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and 6-7 p.m. Monday; bring resume, ID, and current health district card.

Food historian Sarah Lohman teams up with Arts District restaurant Main Street Provisions next Thursday for a presentation called “

: Tasting Las Vegas Food History.” It’s part of the Neon Museum’s “Duck Duck Shed” program honoring local culture. Here, 

 by food journalist Johnathan L. Wright. [Review-Journal]

Pour a little out for the latest additions to 2023’s list of 

These readers have suggested a few additions to this newsletter’s roundup of great coffee joints beyond downtown. Adding each to my sip list.

 in Henderson has the best coffee in town. They have it shipped in directly from Hawaii. I actually drive from Summerlin to Henderson to treat myself.”

 on West Charleston has some of the best coffee in town. The beans are roasted on-site and you can chat with the roaster while he brews your coffee to order.”

We've got a full plate of food news this week …

What Does Vegas Food History Taste Like?

Winning Diner Staffs Up, the Taste of Old Vegas, and More

Time again to fill up on local food news.

This weekend’s Greek Festival (deets below) kicks off a fall season 

. Johnathan L. Wright helps you mark your calendar. [Review-Journal]

If you plan to venture into the hipster containment zone known as Life is Beautiful, Eater Vegas has some 

. Just avoid the puddles of beard oil! [Eater Vegas]

On Monday, I included Cottonwood Station in a rundown of Blue Diamond’s high points. A reader who lives out there demurs. “We have stopped frequenting that business,” they write. “They often don’t have the staff to accommodate simple/basic orders, and they have a 30- to 60-minute gap between breakfast and lunch where customers have to stand around and wait. Also, the staff are not very friendly or welcoming.” The more you know.

📜 Another Day, Another National Food List …

… That Las Vegas isn’t on: Bon Appetit’s rundown of 

. Nor does the city figure into the mag’s tally of best single dishes or desserts. [Bon Appetit]

A year ago, I asked local food writers why lists like this ignore Vegas. A sampling of the replies:

 “Unfortunately, the reputation of the Strip (as a bastion of tourist-soaking celebrity chefs) hurts the efforts of neighborhood restaurants in their efforts to garner national recognition.”

 “Las Vegas' culinary origin as a cheap buffet and steak-and-eggs town still colors opinions of the city, as does the current reputation (some of it deserved) for excess. Many food writers look down on both.”

 “What the hell does New York know about Las Vegas?”

Las Vegas' Fall Food Festivals, Where to Eat in Life is Beautiful, and More

Las Vegas' Fall Food Festivals and More

Local food critic John Curtas may be best known for his astringent takes on food, culture, and people, but he is, at heart, a knowledgeable food enthusiast, as his list of 

Queen Las Vegas, a new LGBTQ-friendly hotel on Las Vegas Boulevard downtown, 

 tomorrow, with executive chef Natalie Delgado at the helm. Future plans include a drag-queen brunch. [Review-Journal]

Fall’s only 24 days away, but the heat’s still on — mid-90s as far as the forecast can see. So reread co-host Vogue Robinson’s 

, the locally handcrafted popsicles that will blow your taste buds’ mind. They’re $4 a pop, but if you feel the urge to splurge, Vogue’s right — they’re awesome. [Hey Las Vegas 📧]

It’s taco o’clock somewhere — indeed, is it ever 

 taco o’clock? — and the folks at Eater Vegas have 

A sampler plate of Las Vegas food news and views

Best New Restaurants in Las Vegas, and a Robust Taco List

Best New Restaurants, and a Robust Taco List

This was written by lead producer Sonja Cho Swanson:

I thought I knew a thing or two about fried chicken: The buttermilk-brined, thick-crusted Southern fried chicken of church potlucks growing up, the extra-crispy, double-fried, garlicky Korean fried chicken that’s always served with beer, the can’t-stop-won’t-stop sear of Nashville hot chicken.

And then I tried Chef Hemant Kishore’s 

. What a revelation: Indian spices baked in, a dark and delightful crunch, and a squeeze of lime to wake everything up. Chef Hemant serves a few kinds of fried chicken, but the Trivandrum fried chicken, named for his hometown, most closely mirrors the street food he remembers eating growing up in the southern Indian state of Kerala. “It’s just called ‘chicken fry’ there,” he says. Unlike American fried chicken, which is typically brined and battered, 

 is marinated for 36 hours in yogurt and spices like chili, fennel, and curry leaf. It’s then battered with rice flour, giving it a darker, extra-crisp exterior.

Don’t forget to order extra dipping sauces, which were possibly the highlight of the meal. The tikka ranch is ranch sauce finally reaching its enlightened form. And our plant-based friends need not miss out: The battered cauliflower, based on an Indo-Chinese recipe, is similarly flavor-forward.

Hemant started popping up a few years ago, rotating through guest kitchens, serving bar bites, more traditional Indian dishes, and experimenting with fusion foods. But his most recent venture with Fried Chicken Fridays at the Parlour downtown seems to have struck a chord: Desert Companion magazine just named him best pop-up of the year. You too, can get a taste of this feted fried chicken: The next Fried Chicken Friday is tomorrow and 

Sampling a chef's amazing Indian 'chicken fry' pop-up

Las Vegas' Next Big Thing in Fried Chicken

The Next Big Thing in Fried Chicken

Are dog-lovers getting too brazen, taking their pets 

 — including restaurants? Or are foodies too persnickety about a generally harmless activity? How do you feel when you see a dog in a coffee shop or eatery?

Email Your Opinion!

Who doesn’t love a good Strip food fight? This one involves Emmitt’s Las Vegas, a huge Fashion Show restaurant named for NFL great Emmitt Smith and announced almost two years ago. Still unopened, it’s 

 between some of the partners (not including Smith) and includes an impressively large damage claim: $67 million. [Review-Journal]

Did your lunch date flake on you? Excellent! Why not pop in your ear buds and ingest a couple of our short, tasty, dining-related podcast episodes as you eat your sad, lonely lunch?

 in Las Vegas – seasonally appropriate!

A helping of Las Vegas food news, with a side of conflict

The Latest in Las Vegas Food and Drink

A Restaurant Battle on the Strip + Dogs in Eateries

 and food offerings timed to the megastar’s Aug. 26 and 27 shows in Allegiant Stadium. [Review-Journal]

Last week, we here at Hey Las Vegas listed our favorite coffee shops beyond downtown. Let’s see what 

 before writing about it? If you guys actually go there you would see how filthy the place is. It's caked in dust everywhere ... nobody cleans shit. Yet they serve food and drinks the entire time.”

 — ranked No. 1 on Yelp in the country last year!”

 at Boca Park is fantastic. Great coffee, bites, and two-story atmosphere.”

. It uses locally roasted coffee beans from the 

, so I knock out two ‘locals’ in one visit!”

, and it ain’t no grind! [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]

Readers Love These Las Vegas Coffee Shops, Plus Beyonce Cocktails, and Top Baking

Readers Love These Coffee Shops — Except One ...

Here's what's new in the Las Vegas food and dining scene this week.

Food & Drink

Las Vegas Is a Great Taco City + Edible Gold Leaf ... Why?

💬 The One-Question Interview

What’s with gold leaf on food?

🏟️ Food Ball

🌮 Finally, Vegas Is Near the Top of a Good List

🥪 Sandwich at a Sushi Joint?

Food & Drink

Winning Diner Staffs Up, the Taste of Old Vegas, and More

Las Vegas' Fall Food Festivals and More

Best New Restaurants, and a Robust Taco List

The Next Big Thing in Fried Chicken

A Restaurant Battle on the Strip + Dogs in Eateries

Readers Love These Coffee Shops — Except One ...

New Italian, Hawaiian, and Dry-aged Seafood

Reader-Approved Breakfasts Around the Valley

The latest in Las Vegas

Lend an Ear to Podcast Day

5 Great People-Watching Spots

Can You Make a Citizen's Arrest in Las Vegas?

The Durable, Versatile Mesquite Tree

Author Michael Easter on How Your Ancient Drives Shape Your Life

Let's Hear It for the Old House at UNLV!

Our Favorite Glimpses of Vegas in the Media

'Dog Explosion' Playwright Turns Life Into Theater