Q:
Back in December of 2006, in response to a QOD, you gave the correct pronunciation for the names of a number of restaurants and shows, e.g., Mon Ami Gabi. It was very helpful. Would you please revisit this with some of the new names out there today, such as Jaleo, Comme Ca, Marche Bacchus, and N9NE?
A:
Ah, yes, we had some fun with that one the first time around, with the likes of the former Daniel Boulud (at Wynn): pr. dan-YELL boo-LOO (which came straight from his PR dept.) and Caesars' Restaurant Guy Savoy: Ghee Sav-wah (courtesy of the man himself). Check the QoD Archives for Dec. 2, 2006, for other such gems as Le Café Île St. Louis and Mon Ami Gabi, the original query that started the whole thing off.
As an aside, while revisiting that answer, we spotted one that we really should revise, namely the correct pronunciation of Cirque du Soleil, which begins not with the "Surk" sound we suggested, but correctly is something closer to "Seerq," followed by the do (like a short crisp "I do") so-lay (short 'so-' like in "sock"). However, unless you're actually French or French Canadian, you'd almost certainly be considered somewhat pretentious for going that route, not to mention the fact that the majority of people, including anyone on the phone or at a box office from whom you were trying to purchase a ticket, probably would have no clue what you were talking about. There's a happy medium when not in Rome, so to speak, so we'd suggest sticking with "Surk".
Moving on, let's tackle some of the newbies, as suggested. Here goes:
- Marché Bacchus: This is another tricky one, where you probably want to stick with common usage, as opposed to the phonetically correct pronunciation. The latter, would be Mar-Shay Baa-Koo, with the emphasis on the second syllable in both instances. But most people say Mar-shay Back-us, which combines the French of the first word with the English pronunciation of the Roman god's name (still with us?!) for the second part. This lakeside French bistro made the "Top Ten" in this year's Eating Las Vegas restaurant guide. Bravo!
- Due Forni: This westside pizzeria that opened since we last answered this question and made the "Essential 50" in the 2013 edition of Eating Las Vegas, is correctly pronounced "dù-e fornì-è," or doo-ay for-knee, as we would put it, but according to management, most first-timers tend to say something more along the lines of "doo forny," and they're fine with that, so don't sweat it.
- Holstein's: This gourmet hot dog joint at Cosmopolitan is correctly pronounced "h oh l st ee n," as we saw it written somewhere, so that's basically hole-steens.
- Comme Ça: Another among Cosmo's acclaimed panoply of eatery options, Chef David Myers' restaurant, the name of which means literally, "like that" is pronounced kom-sah (the phrase "comme ci, comme ca" translates literally as "like this, like that," but means "so-so," colloquially.)
- Jaleo: Yup, this upscale Spanish restaurant at ... yep, you guessed it, Cosmopolitan, is pronounced ha!-lay-oh (in our own unorthodox phonetic guide) and is named for a lively dance of Andalusian origin, or the music or hand-clapping that accompanies said dance.
- Julian Serrano: Ah, here's a peach. It's HOO-lee-ahn seh-RAH-no (nope, don't ever call him "Jooleean"). Another awesome upscale tapas restaurant which, like the preceding two in this list, is also in our "Essential 50" list.
- Absinthe: The adult human circus show that performs at Caesars, named for the infamous French liqueur, is properly pronounced ab-santh, although some Americans consider that pretentious and ab-sinth seems to go down OK around these parts.
- N9NE: Um, this steakhouse at the Palms is pronounced ... nine!
We think that covers most of the tricky ones that have opened lately, but let us know if we missed one and we'll add updates.
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