More on the Kerry Simon Memoir Coming Out in 2016

Expect that cookbook of Kerry Simon’s recipes to be more of a memoir now. Simon died on Sept. 11 after a long battle with MSA, a form of Parkinsons disease. Simon’s business partner Elizabeth Blau, Vegas Seven food critic Al Mancini and chef Anne Callaghan make up the team behind the book, which should come out in 2016. Mancini is dividing the book up by chapters of his life, with stories from the friends he made along the way at the Culinary Institute of America, his time in New York, Miami and Las Vegas and more. Simon didn’t want a funeral, asking for a party instead. So on Sunday, a private celebration of his life takes place at Keep Memory Alive Events Center at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health with 12 chefs preparing dishes. [LVRJ]

Hurricane Rita destroyed Brandon Trahan’s laundry business in Louisiana in 2005, but that didn’t stop the owner of Zydeco Po-Boys from following his dream. He went to the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, “then moved to Las Vegas in 2007 for an externship at Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House. After that, I worked at Emeril’s Table 10 in the Venetian, then Marche Bacchus, then I started working for a small catering business and doing personal chef work. That led me to Downtown Project, which is my partner in Zydeco Po-Boys.” The biggest lesson he learned? “Money makes life easier, and it gives you security, but it doesn’t make life happier. I run Zydeco differently than the laundry because I love this business. Another thing I learned: Have a good insurance agent.” [Vegas Inc]

Looking for whiskey? Here’s a listicle of 13 places to drink the brown liquor on and off the Strip. [Thrillist]