Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
they allow outsiders to come in and audit classes for free. You can stay for an
entire morning or afternoon session, or come and go as you please. You don't even
have to pretend to reside in the city. The no-nonsense but ultimately friendly
Kallos, whose school has appeared in numerous Travel Channel specials, is rightly
proud of his operation and welcoming of visitors.
Watching a session has varied pleasures. You'll definitely come away with some
strategies for your own gambling. If you're like me you'll also leave with an appre-
ciation for the complexity of the dealer's work. I spent about 10 minutes on my
last visit just watching students practicing the mechanics of the job: One fellow
pitched cards endlessly on a blackjack table (“You want Ray Charles to be able to
read that from across the room,” the teacher next to him exhorted) as another
worked on picking up the chips without spraying them all over the table (harder
than it looks; it's all in the pinkie), while still a third would-be craps “stickman”
arched his stick in the air over and over, working to cleanly pull the die aside in a
movement that seemed to have as much to do with fencing as gambling. “It's not
brain surgery,” says Kallos, “but it does take time and practice.” Just as intriguing
to peek in on are the sessions discussing various strategies for blackjack, poker,
and the like. Anyone who enjoys gambling will get a kick out of hearing an
insider's point of view on these topics.
COOKING VEGAS STYLE
Haute cuisine is hot in Vegas, with more star chefs arriving each day than Elvis
impersonators (well, almost). As Catherine Margles of the Creative Cook School
puts it: “Las Vegas has gone from buffet to gourmet. Every major celebrity chef in
the U.S.—Wolfgang Puck, Charlier Palmer, Alain Ducasse, Hubert Keller—now
has restaurants here.” For those entering the industry, there's a feeling—perhaps
justified, perhaps not—that a cooking career in Vegas puts one on the fast track
in the culinary world.
It's no accident that the grand prize winner of 2006's reality cooking show,
Hell's Kitchen,
got the chance to be Executive Chef at a swanky new restaurant in
Vegas. Or that a branch of the top cooking school in the world, the famed
Cordon
Bleu
(1451 Center Crossing Rd.;
%
888/712
-
0200 or 702/365
-
7690; www.vegas
culinary.com),
opened in Vegas in January of 2003. Indeed, those who are serious
about cooking careers tend to apply to the Bleu; it also operates sporadic classes
for amateurs, taught by faculty members two Saturday mornings per month.
Topics are all over the map, from Sicilian cuisine to cake-decorating workshops to
food and wine pairings. Unfortunately, the classes are not posted on the website,
nor are they consistently held on particular Saturdays. You'll need to call the num-
ber above to learn if one will be given when you're in town.
Because it's the luck of the draw whether you'll be in town on one of the dates
when le Bleu is offering a class (and to be honest, they tend to sell out far
in advance), the second best option is an impressive operation called
The Creative
Cooking School
(7385 W. Sahara Ave.;
%
702/562
-
3900; www.creative
cookingschool.com;
$
99 for 3-hr. class; Tues-Fri 6-9pm, Sat 10am-2pm).
Offering
a mix of recreational classes and certification courses for would-be pros, it's inti-
mately connected with the Sin City sautéing scene, drawing much of its faculty
from the kitchens of the big Strip restaurants. When you take a class here, you'll
likely be taught a recipe currently being used at one of Wolfgang Puck's branches,
