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Popular Culture Review
Vegas dining boom are not created equal. Not everyone can afford or is turned
on by the sixteen-course chefs menu for S275 per person at Joel Robuchon at
the Mansion but will consider its casual next-door cousin, L’Atelier de Joel
Robuchon. Some diners will make pilgrimages to restaurants by Puck, Lagasse,
the “Two Hot Tamales,” and Flay because they are fans of the chefs’ television
shows. Yet a more in-the-know public, aware of chefs acclaimed in print, might
seek out Vegas establishments by the likes of Bradley Ogden and Melissa Kelly.
Even where TV-star chefs are concerned there is divergence. A quick appraisal
of the admissions of authors on the subject and a sample survey of my own
acquaintances and myself are enough to reveal that Lagasse, despite great
popularity, is a polarizing figure. A bilious chasm separates those who would
enjoy going to a taping of Emeril Live from people so averse to the chefs
relentless schtick that they will lunge for their remotes at first intonation of the
show’s opening band. They, and 1, would rather be edified by Mario Batali’s
intricate discourse on the regional varieties of Italian cuisine, or bask in Anthony
Bourdain’s irreverent worldliness.
Nevertheless, there are discernible patterns in the recent chef craze that
may help us understand the trend. There is no doubt, for instance, about its steep
temporal arc. The trend has accelerated consistently over the past, roughly, three
decades. It is also clear that the trend has been propelled, at every stage, by
similar types of consumers. On average, they have been relatively high-income,
educated, and/or urban. It is they who have watched the Food Network
throughout its history. It is they, again, who have led the chef-adoring sub
tre