‘Top Chef’ Shirley Chung Opens a Restaurant in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES — Former Las Vegas-based chef Shirley Chung, who was the runner up behind Brooke Williamson on Top Chef Season 14, opens her first LA restaurant Ms. Chi Cafe in Culver City on Oct. 9. She whips up a menu of pork potstickers, zhajian-mian with hand cut noodles, and a vegan mapo tofu inspired by Sichuan chef Yu Bo. Chung, who formerly worked at China Poblano at the Cosmopolitan and Carnevino at the Palazzo, among other Vegas restaurants, also has a casual stand at The Fields at Banc of California Stadium, as well as Twenty Eight in Orange County. She’s also releasing a cookbook on Oct. 23 dubbed Chinese Heritage Cooking From My American Kitchen. [Eater LA]

WESTSIDE — Lucky Dragon officially closed on today. The resort’s casino and restaurants closed in early January, and the owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in mid-February. The 200-room hotel opened less than two years ago. [LAT]

PALAZZO — Las Vegas turned out for one final shindig for Robin Leach, the gossip columnist at the Las Vegas Review-Journal who died after stroke on Aug. 24, last Friday night. Twenty-seven chefs paid tribute to the long-time journalist. Michael Mina, for example, claimed that he wrote to Leach at age 15 while he was working at a truck stop in Washington. Leach responded. Tom Kaplan, senior managing partner for Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group, says Leach inspired the smoked salmon/caviar “Jewish pizza,” now one of the best-known dishes on the Spago menu. Naturally, there was one final toast of champagne for Leach. [LVRJ]