Category: Dining

Josh Capon, a New York celebrity chef with a number of restaurants under his belt, is renowned on the East Coast for his Bash Burger, a perennial people’s-choice winner at the New York City and Miami Wine and Food festivals. Which is why we found ourselves at Fontainebleau yet again, to sample the burger at Capons in the Promenade Food Hall.

As an aside, we’ve been to Fbleau way more than we would have expected when it opened. But we can say this: The easy in and out of the parking garage and the free four-parking for everyone provide all the incentive we need to try what we can there, without spending two arms and three legs.

First, the name is pronounced “KAY-pons,” not kuh-PONE’s, the way we suspected.

The menu consists of three burgers — Capons Classic with lettuce, tomato, pickles, cheese, and secret sauce ($15), the Smoke Show that adds onion-bacon jam and onion straws, and the Blackjack with truffle aioli and potato sticks (both $16). There are also chicken sandwiches ($14-$16), chicken “tenderonies” with a choice of four sauces ($15), waffle fries and onion rings ($7), a dozen varieties of scooped gelato, soft-serve shakes, and sundaes ($7-$12), and a few adult beverages ($9-$10).

We sampled Capons Classic, which might not look like much, especially in the photos, but it’s made from a custom beef blend and the patty is extraordinarily juicy, with very fresh lettuce and tomato, a sauce somewhat like In-N-Out’s, and a bun that holds up fine, even under the onslaught of ooze. And this bad boy is good for a meal and a half, even without fries. We brought home half for later.

We also had to order a Topo Chico (“Little Mole”). We rarely see this sparkling mineral water in Vegas, but we’ve always liked it in Mexico, sourced and bottled in Monterrey since 1895. It’s $7 and worth it, at least to us.

The total bill came to $27.14, including tax and a $3 tip.

Yes, pretty steep for a burger and bottled water from a food hall. We’re not soft-pedaling that. But we do like Fbleau and Capons is among the few food items there that are (mostly) affordable for the likes of us non-jetsetters.

Anime is a style of animation that originated in Japan and has become popular worldwide. “One Piece” is a long-running (1997) anime and manga (graphic-novel) series, one of the most popular in Japan. It chronicles the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat pirate crew as they search for the ultimate treasure known as One Piece. It combines elements of action, adventure, comedy, drama, and fantasy in various formats, including a TV series, movies, and video games.

“One Piece” opened its first U.S. fast-food cafe in Las Vegas in mid-May. It’s located in Chinatown at 5600 Spring Mountain Rd. (north side just west of Lindell). The U.S. fan base is huge, if the lines out the door, along the storefront, and around the corner were any indication. We finally got near the place after two months.

Even then, we waited in 112-degree heat with a dozen other people to get in the door, where the line continues. It took 35 minutes from the back of the line to the counter, then another five for the food.

It’s a two-store restaurant, with six four-tops in the front room; the 24 seats can accommodate the number of people waiting in line inside. In the second room are three high tables to stand at and 14 seats in two big booths.

Mostly, the second room is devoted to a wall-length “One Piece” mural and a half-wall selfie station. In all, around 38 can sit, 12 can stand. Everyone else, say “sayonara.”

The menu is fries ($5), beef skewers and pepper and egg friend rice ($10 each), tuna casserole, seafood fried rice, and beef curry ($16), burger and fries ($18), and the Mighty Meats platter ($30), along with a half-dozen desserts ($5.50-$25).

We ordered the beef skewers, a matcha mochi cookie (matcha is green-tea powder, mochi glutinous rice dough pounded into different shapes), and a yuzu (Asian lemon) lemonade ($6). It was … edible. The bill came to $23.30 with tax.

For that price, we could’ve gotten bigger, better, cheaper food at any of 10 other places within walking distance in Chinatown.

The food is more of an afterthought to the ambience, murals, and gathering of fans and, of course, the merchandise: T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, beanies, caps, plush dolls, keychains, lanyards, stickers, pins, jigsaw puzzle, all in the expensive range ($12 for a pin to $80 for a hoodie). Both the merch and food were flying out the door.

If you’re a fan of the show or culture or have kids in tow who are, this is the only place in the country to get a vicarious experience of “One Piece.” Or if you really want to see what all the fuss is about, check it out. Otherwise, it’s a pass.

Hawaiian cuisine, such as it is, is getting good.

When we reviewed Zippy’s, we weren’t particularly complimentary, especially considering the irrational exuberance over the place. But 808 Café was a vast improvement, so when we read a highly positive review of Ai Pono on a San Francisco news site, we took notice.

Ai Pono (“Good Eats” or “Eat Right” in Hawaiian) Café is one of the sit-down eateries at the Eat Your Heart Out food hall at Durango.

It’s the brainchild of Hawaiian-born and -raised Las Vegan Gene Villiatora, a 30-year local who’s cooked at numerous restaurants around town and had a mostly successful run on “Top Chef: New York”; he opened the first Ai Pono in Orange County, California, in 2019.

The word is out about Durango’s Ai Pono. We were there at 4:30 on a Saturday, figuring to beat the dinner rush. No such luck. We waited a few minutes to order, but behind us, nine people were in line.

The menu is amusing, with names like Mento Bento, Dim Sum and Den Sum, Crackhead chicken (“everyone keeps coming back for seconds in one sitting”), and Ham Buggah steak. Most dishes are a major carb fest, with two scoops of rice and one of macaroni salad, along with some Asian slaw.

But the proteins and sauces are the stars of the show. The Crackhead chicken ($17) is sauteed in Ai Pono’s “secret batter” and topped with a coconut-garlic miso glaze. You’ll also find guava-chili chicken, Japanese chicken in a katsu sauce, and Korean chicken in a truffle sauce ($17 each), pork chops in a spicy garlic barbecue glaze ($18), mahi mahi in a garlic-butter-white-wine sauce ($18), and Korean short rib ($20). You can also get bowls ($14-$16), sampler plates ($20-$23), and add-ons such as kim chee, lumpia, potstickers, and lollipop shrimp ($5-$10).

We sampled the garlic shrimp in a cilantro-citrus-chili sauce, which comes with a fried egg on the rice, and the OG beef, hibachi-style slices of striploin marinated in “black-magic” teriyaki (both $19). Each ushered the Zippy-style Hawaiian plate lunch into a whole other dimension— a very good thing. Our bill, including a pickled-mango lemonade (delicious), came to a reasonable $48.77 (including tax, not tip).

The verdict: This is the kind of menu that, beyond our reviewer responsibilities, tempts us to go back and try everything else that looks so good. Villiatora claims that Ai Pono is on its way to becoming the standard of Hawaii fast-casual and street food and it might just succeed.