3713 West Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas, NV‎. (702) 982-8036

Hours  5 pm – 5 am on Friday, Saturday and Sunday

            5 pm – 4 am on Monday through Thursday

 Nectaly Mendoza – Owner

Fabian Badillo – Executive Chef

Gerado De La Torre – General Manager

Herbs & Rye, which opened in December of 2009, is located in what used to be The Venetian Restaurant.  That wonderful “old Las Vegas” style Italian restaurant was were you went for traditional Italian food, good drinks and to meet friends late in the evening. 

  “I’ve dreamed of bringing this type of restaurant back to Sahara for years,” proud owner, Nectaly Mendoza informed me.  His goal is to encourage other venues to come back to Sahara, giving the new generations a taste of the old Las Vegas.  He is doing a wonderful job of it so far!

 Walking in you will immediately get a feeling of déjà vu, as you take in the vintage chandeliers, red flocked wallpaper, and the high-backed leather banquettes. The large room is divided in half, with the ristorante to your left, and a large mixology bar ahead of you.  The intention here is to become THE place to go, both for unique Italian cuisine and a late-night cocktail lounge specializing in authentic cocktails from the 1800s to the early 1900s. 

 You can expect the menus to change every few weeks, to better make use of produce that is fresh and in season.  The drinks are made from scratch, which is entertaining to watch and sometimes requires guest participation. The ambiance is good, if not a bit too dim and has background music that is a bit too loud.  But the waiters cheerfully provide a flashlight for easy reading of the rather extensive menu.

 Executive chef Fabian Badillo serves rustic Italian cuisine with a Mediterranean flair and an element of surprise. A good example would be the  Calamari Fritti, served with aioli. Expecting a spicy tang, I was surprised with a citrus tartness that I later learned was grapefruit.  It was refreshingly delicious. If you enjoy the sharpness of gorgonzola, you must try the pork tenderloin, which is artfully encrusted in fig and gorgonzola.  The Lasagna Bolognese with mushrooms and a Chianti meat sauce again shows Chef Badillo’s unique touch. Too full to order it, we were sorely tempted to try the cheesecake with its chocolate ganache.

 When all is completed there will be live jazz and brass bands on Monday evenings, and a true, old-fashioned piano bar.  Flat screen TVs will show the old mobster movies from the 30s and 40s, while the servers will wear flapper era costumes.  If you want a taste of yesteryear, unique food, fabulous mixed drinks, and entertainment,  Herbs & Rye is a must do!

Technorati Tags: drink mixology, Italian cuisine, new restaurant

For what reasons are people ridding themselves of land lines? They need to be plugged in day and night. Some feel they use more energy, but that is only true if you have backup batteries, or a cordless phone that needs recharging all the time. Land line phones are harder to recycle, but on the other hand, they do not wear out as fast, rarely break down, and you can keep them forever…unless you are looking for one that offers some new gimmick that your old phone hasn’t got.

For the most part, land line service, while it usually has a cheap base rate, charges extra for minutes used, long distance, call waiting, etc. and so forth. Most cell phone plans include more extras in the rates. While call for call they may be a bit cheaper, you have to factor in the original cost of the phone itself.

You will get a strong signal on a land line that is not affected by the weather, wind speeds, and the distance between towers. The number of users will not affect your ability to get through to your number. And reaching 911 in an emergency is far quicker and easier from your home phone.

While it makes sense, especially in these troubled economic times, to not pay for two telephone bills when you can make do with one mobile phone, there are other factors that are being ignored that most seriously need to be considered. What are cell phones doing to the environment, and how are they affecting your health?

Cell phones quickly become obsolete, and you are lucky if they last a couple of years. They are easily misplaced, lost, and stolen. Cell phone recycling centers may be fairly easy to find, but too few users bother to do so. Most cell phones become landfill.

These phones use toxic batteries that need frequent recharging. Most cell phone users leave their chargers plugged in all the time, draining our natural resources even when the phone itself is not on the charger. A land line uses no energy when it is not being used, making it a lot friendlier to the environment. Don’t forget that the cell phone provider is using energy all the time to route calls over the network and towers.

Coltan, which is a metal ore mined in Africa is used in cell phones capacitors. The competition for buying this product has led to civil wars, smuggling, and the destruction of national parks in the Congo and other parts of Africa. Forests are destroyed to enable mining of the ore, displacing both humans and the endangered gorillas by eliminating their food sources in their natural habitats. It also makes it easier for poachers to get to the gorillas, a major cause of the 90% drop in the gorilla population of the Congo.

There is a lot of worldwide debate going on regarding the possibility that cell phones are hazardous to your health. According to Mobile Telecommunications and Health, in a summary of the ECOLOG study for T-Mobile, 2000, it was found that the nervous systems of both humans and animals are affected by the magnetic fields emitted by cell phones.

In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, on August 24, 2009, Berenbaum noted that when cells removed from bees whose colonies and collapsed were studied, they were found to be full of fragments of ribosomal RNA. This indicated that genetic material was not being converted to functional proteins. It may be why the honey bee population is decreasing rapidly. The German research group, Verum, led by Franz Adlkofer offers cell phone usage as the reason for it.

Though cell phones are still too new to accurately determine the long lasting effects of radio frequencies beyond doubt, there is some evidence that it can alter brain activity, and cause cancer and reproductive disorders. According to the WebMD Health News, on October 23, 2006, a link was found between men who wore their cell phones on their belts or in a pants pocket and a weaker sperm quality and even infertility. There have even been suggestions that cell phone use is more dangerous than smoking.

Interestingly, there are many who uphold that cell phones impair reaction time and memory. They believe that laws prohibiting holding a cell phone while driving will not alleviate the problem, since the mobile phones that are hands free emit more than ten times the interference to your brain wave activity!

In a study that was reported by Dr. Mercola, on September 22, 2007, he stated that researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel found that changes in brain cells that led to cancer and cell division were triggered even by as few as five minutes on a cell phone.

As early as October 15, 1998, the BBC News reported that biologist Roger Coghill, believes that prolonged use of cell phones can cause fatigue, headache, dizziness, nausea, depression, and even arteriosclerosis. If calcium and serotonin levels are continuously disrupted by transmissions from a cell phone violence and even suicide can be the result.

Studies done all over the world showed a connection between increasing asthma related problems and deaths and heavy cell phone users. Heavy cell phone use triggers histamine production, which can cause bronchial spasms. Yes, more studies need to be done, but surely it is prudent to consider the implications.

Regarding land lines vs. cell phones, it would appear that, while cell phones are wonderfully convenient, and have all kinds of extra gadgets, bells and whistles, it would be prudent to only use them when you are out and to continue the practice of using your land line when you are home.

Sources:

“Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences”, August 24, 2009 (Berenbaum)
“Summary of the ECOLOG study for T-Mobile, 2000,” Mobile Telecommunications and Health
“WebMD Health News,” October 23, 2006
“Mercola.com,” September 22, 2007 (Dr. Mercola)
“BBC News,” October 15, 1998

Technorati Tags: cell phones, Coltan, endangered gorillas, environmentally safe, mobile phones, toxic batteries

 A couple years ago,  I was in a serious panic about my financial security, my retirement woes, and my seeming inability to do anything at all about them.  I was afraid to spend any money at all, and frankly, was so down in the dumps that it would have been a total waste if I had gone partying.  But my friends and I came up with a wonderful way to spend New Year’s Eve, that cost us very little, was amazingly entertaining, and is now a tradition that we look forward to doing for the rest of our lives.

 Of course, we are in the last third of our lives, so we had no concerns about kiddies at home, or teenagers out at wild drinking parties, or even on the roads with drunks driving around. What we decided to do is have a pajama party. 

 Now, don’t get nasty, or laugh at us.  Think about it.  What are the disadvantages of going out on New Year’s Eve?  Number one would be the huge expense, since all prices for dinners, shows, or hotel packages are usually greatly inflated for the holiday. And if you choose this form of entertainment you also need dressy clothing, accessories, a trip to the beauty shop, etc. 

 The second concern is drinking.  At all of these events, it seems that drinking to excess is the major goal, which mean you will feel lousy, both during and after it is over.  Driving in that condition is stupid and can be lethal, especially if you live in a cold climate where snow, sleet, and slush will further complicate things.  And even if you aren’t drunk, there are plenty of them on the road.  Of course, you can always have a designated driver, who has a really terrific time pretending it was worth the money to watch you get stinking drunk.

 Even if you made it through a really nice evening, where both the food and the entertainment were good, you weren’t seated at a table with crashing boors, and you managed to sip your wine in moderation, you still have to take your aching feet and exhausted bodies home. This could include waiting in long lines to get a costly taxi, or,  finding your car, warming it up, and possibly having to dig it out of the snow…and then facing the long drive home.

 Actually, the hotel packages are a really good thing in this respect.  It is far better to limp up to your room and snuggle into a warm bed at your hotel, sleep as late as you like, and have them serve your breakfast in your room.  Pricey, but better than that long, cold drive home.

 So quit snickering and listen up.  What my friends and I do is simply this.  In the late afternoon, they show up at my house with pillows, blankets, jammies, a change of clothes, snacks and games. Nobody is on the streets yet, so it is an easy drive.  Everything gets dumped in the guest bedroom for the time being, food gets stored, and off we go for an inexpensive dinner BEFORE the streets are packed and they hike up the prices.  Jeans and sweats are worn…this is all about comfort and convenience.

 Upon arriving home, we figure out our nesting arrangements, which are somewhat simple in my home, since I have a guest bedroom, two sofa beds, another couch, and a cot.  But if the party got bigger, I would simply tell them to bring sleeping bags.  The champagne goes in the frig, snacks are laid out, and then we chat, play cards, dominos, catch phrase, trivial pursuit, or whatever we feel like doing, including television.

 One of the most interesting aspects of this, is that we have, for years, joked about having trouble staying up until midnight to toast the new year.  But last year, we were having such a comfortable, wonderful time that we were up until almost 4:00 am. 

 Once everyone is awake and hungry, we then make breakfast…usually pancakes or omelets, fruit, and whatever side meat someone contributes.  By mid-afternoon we are usually ready to resume our daily lives.  All of us agree that we wouldn’t change a thing for next year’s sleepover.

 When I think of the ways I used to spend New Year’s Eve, I realize how empty and sad those parties were.  People get drunk and loud, and spend most of their time pretending they are having fun. We have no “morning after”  blues, hangovers, or fear of having spent too much.  Bonding with old friends is far easier in small, more intimate surroundings.  And if you don’t wake up in the morning with a headache and guilty feelings over your behavior or wasting money, it is truly a nice start to a better year.

Technorati Tags: designated driver, drinking, hotel package, New Year's Eve, partying, sleepover

Sincerely,

Sandi

A PORTRAIT OF INTERSTATE 94

While I was driving through the countryside, delighting in its glory
My thoughts dwelt on artists who have tried to capture this great story.
I followed skies from gray to blue, with wisps and puffs of cloud
And closing in from side to side were dark fields neatly plowed.

Fields ripe for sowing…interspersed with prairie overgrowing…
Painted every brown and green that you and I have ever seen…
And yet, it wasn’t ALL serene!

For as I traveled, mesmerized, along that road that wound and stretched
Enjoying all I saw and smelt, and hoping it was firmly etched
In my mind…but, what’s this? Oh no Lord, please!
The charred remains of once proud trees…
In my breast burns growing ire to see this forest marred by fire!

Though their green tresses have been shorn, a valiant effort to be reborn
Can be seen at their bases…
I’m overjoyed to see some traces…of new life!

My children sleep behind me: their bickering took its toll.
Poetry, peace and music fill my soul.
The sun at last has triumphed o’er the storm.
The weather has turned humid and quite warm.
Fleetingly I wish I had the skills to paint the beauty of these plains and hills.

Technorati Tags: forest fires, interstate 94, poetry, Wisconsin interstate