Chef threw top-secret party for Las Vegas ‘Secrets of a Chef’

Hubert Keller threw a top-secret mock birthday party at his Southern Highlands home last week that was really a wrap party for several Las Vegas-themed episodes of his PBS series, “Secrets of a Chef.” Guest at the bash, which was filmed for the show, included Jean Joho (Eiffel Tower Restaurant), Lorena Garcia (Chica), Ricardo Zarate (Once), Shaun King (Momofuku), Brian Howard (Sparrow + Wolf), Justin Kingsley Hall (The Kitchen at Atomic), Khai Vu (District One, Le Pho and Mordeo), Jamie Tran (The Black Sheep) and James Trees (Esther’s Kitchen).

Fresh way to fight hunger

Three Square food bank on Thursday will unveil an indoor vertical garden that is expected to produce up to 40,000 heads of leafy greens each year. The new Nutrition Resource Center near the Bennett Family Indoor Garden — which replaces the outdoor garden, planted in 2010 and also named for the Bennetts — will host healthy cooking demonstrations and nutrition education for volunteers, agency partners and visitors.

Stone crab back on menus

Stone crab season opened in Florida this week, which means local restaurants that only serve the delicacy during the eight months it’s available fresh are starting to offer them again. Piero’s Italian Cuisine expects to serve them nightly through the end of the season, while Siegel’s 1941 continues the El Cortez’s long-standing tradition by putting the crabs on the menu Friday and Saturday nights from 5 p.m. until they run out.

New in the brewery

Michael Key has been named director of brewery operations and Eddie Leal head brewer at Ellis Island Brewery. The duo have updated the IPA recipe to a West Coast-style that’s more hoppy, with some citrus and fruity touches, and created a new Hefeweizen recipe.

New Leticia’s outlet

Leticia’s Mexican Cocina is scheduled to open Thursday at Fiesta Henderson, on the heels of the closing of its location at Tivoli Village. The flagship remains at 7585 Norman Rockwell Lane. Tivoli management has announced it’ll be replaced by another Mexican restaurant.

Vegas rocks pizza

TripAdvisor has named Las Vegas the country’s third-best city for pizza, following only New York and Chicago, and gave top honors to Pizza Rock.

Sightings

Shaquille O’Neal grabbing breakfast at Morels Steakhouse before a day of shooting for his Facebook Watch reality show, “Big Chicken Shaq.” Professional boxer Freddie Roach at MB Steak at the Hard Rock Hotel.

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