Las Vegas Shut Out from JBF Award Nominations

Shut out. The James Beard Foundation may have thrown their short list bash in Vegas but the restaurants here didn’t make the cut. The 2012 Restaurant and Chef Awards nominees were unveiled at a brunch held this morning in the former Dos Caminos space at the Palazzo.

“Why bother having a party here if we’re going to be shut out?” one guest said as the event ended.

Granted, this city Saveur just called “the world’s hottest dining destination” only had three restaurants in the running, a shame in and of itself, but not one of them made the final cut.

From Vegas, Picasso at the Bellagio was on the long list for Outstanding Restaurant and Outstanding Wine Program. Nada.

Joël Robuchon at MGM Grand landed a long list nomination for Outstanding Service. Zilch.

Mitsuo Endo, the chef at Aburiya Raku, was nominated for Best Chef: Southwest. Zip.

Chefs, publicists and media from Vegas sat in stunned silence when the last of the hopefuls’ names weren’t announced in a broadcast livestreamed on Eater National.

Outside Vegas, Wolfgang Puck, who has multiple restaurants at the Palazzo, Venetian, MGM Grand and Crystals, will receive the lifetime achievement award.

Bruce Bromberg and Eric Bromberg, owners of Blue Ribbon Restaurants in New York City, were nominated for Outstanding Restaurateur. The have an outpost at Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. ?Piero Selvaggio of Valentino Restaurant Group based in Santa Monica, Calif., is also up for the award. He has Valentino at the Venetian. So each, if they won, would represent Vegas for their body of work.

Other notables: Michael Mina, San Francisco, made the short list for Outstanding Service. Mina has restaurants at the Bellagio, MGM Grand and Aria.

Emeril’s New Orleans made the short list for Outstanding Wine Program. Emeril Lagasse has restaurants at the MGM Grand, Venetian and the Palazzo.
· All Coverage of the James Beard Foundation Awards [~ELV~]