We owe the brainiacs at Brookings Mountain West a nice dinner. If Southern Nevada manages to crawl into the 21st century as anything more evolved than a place to feed some slot machines and catch a little Cirque, it’ll be thanks in large part to their ceaseless wonky prodding.

iDrink You know the fine-dining drill: The water’s served, the napkins are unfolded and then the waiter hands over the wine list — that unwieldy tome crawling with vineyard names, grape-growing regions and head-scratching phrases like “dusky hints of tobacco and burnt oak.” That’s changing.

H. Lee Barnes’ Vietnam war memoir captures the heightened reality of combat Maybe it’s the former deputy sheriff in him, but College of Southern Nevada professor of English H.

Does Las Vegas have an official food? It does now: The hamburger. Here’s why Many months ago, way before the popular food truck he created with his friend Robert “Mags” Magsalin blossomed into the kind of fresh, hip Hollywood eatery where Jim Carrey would pop in on opening night, Colin Fukunaga was talking a little smack.

We bet you’ve got quite an appetite right about now. After all, 2011 was a year of hard work, hunkering down, and holding on beneath thundercloud headlines about halting recovery and slow economic comeback.

Everything old is new again There’s a shocking secret in the new Nevada State Museum. In the back — past the ichthyosaur fossil and the bighorn sheep and Comstock miners and railroad trucks, all those trusty icons of Silver State history — is … a shimmering pink wall stocked with elaborate showgirl costumes? Yes.

Discretion advised Experts weigh in on the most neglected dining utensil: etiquette If only the Victorians could see us now. Not only do ladies no longer smile behind napkins, but before the meal is even over, people have checked in, Tweeted and reviewed the place on Yelp via their ever-handy smart phones.

“Now, every once in a while, I’ll have a quesadilla.” Imagine being told you could no longer eat your mother’s cooking.

Off the Shelf Playtime, unplugged Most toy stores are stressful, ironically enough: multiple electronic gadgets whizzing near the door, lighting so bright it feels positively confessional, and a sales staff as uninterested in helping as the atmosphere is uninviting. Kettlemuck’s in Henderson is noticeably different.

What does the City Impact Center do? What doesn’t it do? Meet the scrappy cluster of do-gooders that make up the emerging new model for social service The Trinity Life Center church is one of the oldest churches in Las Vegas. It traces its roots back to Tenth Street downtown, and it has been in its current home, on St.