When it first opened about a year ago at 775 Basque Way off Roop, Z Bistro limited itself to luncheons of crepes, served in an unusual rectangle format. I tried it and was impressed with a real French touch in our city. But crepes for lunch are not my regular format so I hadn't been back since last weekend, when I noticed that Z Bistro now serves dinners on Fridays and Saturdays.
My old friend and fellow AP writer and onetime Paris bureau reporter Rod Angove was visiting so we decided to give it a go. The menu offered soup (crayfish con bisque, $6) and dinner entrees: grilled mahi- mahi, a lamb burger, coq au vin, individual lasagna. The lamb sounded interesting, but I stuck with the coq as did Rod, with a bowl of the bisque for him. The waiter nicely brought me an espresso cup of the soup for a taste test. It was very tangy, the corn blending with the crayfish perfectly. Desert was banana, chocolate and rum brioche ($6).
The Coq was $18. The entree was a winner, good as any place in Paris, Rod said. We asked the next table about the lamb burger, which the two women approved of mightily. From Adele's to Z Bistro, our city continues to enlarge its culinary choices.
AT THE CASINOS
At the Reno Grand Sierra Casino, for the first time, is Nick Oliveri's Mondo Generator performing live plus special guest The Swamp Donkey. Friday and Saturday, DJ Leslie Perez from San Francisco's Wild 94.9 serenades the dance floor. Sunday it's Say When with special guest Days No Different. RSVP at allcitylive.pkreative.com. Then Sunday at 8 p.m. Travis Tritt appears, tickets are $38.50-$71.50. Call 789-2000. At Harrah's Lake Tahoe, Queensryrche shows Saturday for $37.50 (800) 786-8208). And "The Male Intellect" has closed at the Eldorado with a new dance show "Floor Play" opening April 1. Collin Raye hits the Nugget in Sparks Saturday at 8 p.m., tickets are $35, 356-3000. Frank Caliendo appears at the Silver Legacy April 4, $45 to $55 tickets, 325-7401. Curtis Salgado offers a free concert April 1-2 at the Crystal Bay Casino. Three Dog Night howls at MontBleu in Stateline Saturday, tickets are $33-$43, 588-3515.
FROM THE MOVIE VAULTS
A one-night stand by a woman TV producer results, as such encounters sometimes do, in "Knocked Up," a funny, contemporary comedy starring Katherine Heigel as Alison the knocked up, and Ben, Seth Rogen the knocker-upper. Judd Apatow directed this very funny look at twentysomething Americans.
This could be written off as just another puerile comedy of wayward people, but Heigl is so frank that she lifts it above that. And Rogen is a very natural guy, enmeshed with his fellow layabouts, waiting for Internet porn site ships to come in.
Lots of drug use, profanity (although today profanity seems to be a quaint word) and some graphic scenes of delivering the baby.
Some critics sneered at this movie, but it is better than many and addresses an important subject with care and sympathy. Faced with the choice, Heigl makes the pro choice and makes it make sense.
Co-starring are Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd, as a married couple having problems. Mann is Heigl's sister and turns in a fine performance. Music by Loudon Wainwright III nicely captures the mood and feeling of the times.
Rogen got the big hype for the film, but Heigl steals it away from him. DVD is unrated and runs 127 minutes. Worth watching.
• Contact Sam Bauman at 881-1236 or Sbauman@nevadaappeal.com.