It’s only maybe kind of a little bit of a small coincidence that our annual Restaurant Awards feature falls in December, part of the season that celebrates rosy-nosed goodwill, generosity, and, if you’re doing it right, heedless excess. (What are holiday parties but rehearsals for the flagrant, cathartic hedonism of New Year’s Eve?) Our critics’ selections for their favorite restaurants of the year are always diverse (and this year, almost dizzyingly so) but they all partake of an idea of abundance, of lavishness, whether it’s the winning French bakery that deals in éclairs bulging with custard or the winning Strip steakhouse whose innovative chef has transformed it into a culinary shrine. Get a taste of this year’s honorees on
p. 58. Las Vegas can often be superlative in the worst ways, but the Restaurant Awards always mark a happy excess of culinary initiative and imagination.
Here’s another reason for a toast: Desert Companion won two Folio editorial awards, which were announced October 30 in New York. We took first in Series of Articles for our April 2019 feature “ In the Realm of the Senses,” a piece comprising five essays on how various Vegas sensory experiences reflect on our sense of place. And we took first for Single Article for Heidi Kyser’s October 2018 story, “ Rescue + Reunion,” which explored the sometimes improbable bonds that formed between survivors and rescuers in the wake of October 1. Congratulations to us — and here’s to another year of compelling stories about our fascinating home.