Gold Spike reaching out to downtown hipster crowd
Welcome to Kitchen Confidante, your go-to spot for the latest dish about the Las Vegas food scene.
First stop: Downtown Las Vegas, where things slowed down this summer, but are stirring on sleepy little Ogden Avenue. You may remember the Gold Spike at Fourth Street and Ogden as a place to get a cheap beer, a whiff of something that’s best forgotten and not much else, in which case you may be surprised to learn it’s now a hipster hangout — with a Las Vegas Boulevard address, no less. The Gold Spike has morphed into a sort of extension of the nearby Zappos headquarters, with “co-working” space during the day and plenty to do at night, including Geeks Who Drink Trivia Night (know your audience, we always say), Down & Derby disco skating parties and games such as Connect Four and Skeeball in the Backyard.
So the new 24/7 restaurant Fiddlestix fits right in, with cornflake-crusted French toast or a breakfast burrito to wake up, along with the expected build-your-own parfaits or acai bowls, salads, burgers, flatbreads, panini and alcohol-infused milkshakes. There’s even a kids’ menu. Do hipsters have kids?
A little farther west on Ogden, Freedom Beat is to open this month at the Downtown Grand. Chef Scott Commings’ (“Hell’s Kitchen” season 12 Champion) menu features Chicken Fried Bacon and Red, White & Blue Velvet Waffles. And, as its slogan “American Taste & Tunes” promises, it’ll also be a live-music venue.
Coming up, on the other side of downtown: Sour Saturday, a celebration of sour beers at Atomic Liquors at 917 Fremont St. It’s not until Nov. 5 but tickets are on sale now, and if you’re a lover of sour beers, it might be a good idea to plan ahead. It’s $50 general admission or $75 VIP; visit soursaturdaylv.com
A stroll through The Venetian on a recent afternoon revealed that the Anchor Bar — an offshoot of the bar in Buffalo, N.Y., that’s arguably the birthplace of the Buffalo chicken wing — has quietly disappeared. In the former Wolfgang Puck Postrio space is the new Mercato della Pescheria, styled like an outdoor Italian seafood market and featuring fresh handmade pastas.
Eric Klein is leaving as executive chef of Spago; more to come on his plans.
Las Vegas DJ Shaun O’Neale and poker pro David Williams will compete (along with a Kentucky schoolteacher) in the finale of “MasterChef” tonight on Fox.
Sightings: Rapper Yo Gotti, hip-hop artist Busta Rhymes and pop star Ashanti (no, not together) at Tao restaurant, Donnie Osmond and Jewel at VegeNation (no, not together), Vancouver Canucks goalie Ryan Miller and retired NHL player George Parros having burgers (together) at Topgolf.
Overheard at Metro Pizza: “Every time I see twins, I think of ‘The Shining.’ ”
Have an item for Kitchen Confidante? Email hrinella@reviewjournal.com.
