Many congratulations to the 5 Las Vegas chefs (and the restaurants they work in) who earned James Beard Awards:

Best Chef: Southwest went to Claude Le Tohic of Joël Robuchon at the MGM Grand. If you haven’t yet experienced the playful and artistic dishes he crafts nightly, consider this a reminder to put the “Chef of the Century’s” eatery on your to-do list.Tohic is the second local chef to win the honor in the last two years; the Wynn’s Paul Bartolotta took home the coveted medal in 2009.

Though Vegas didn’t rack up the Beards this year, there were plenty of familiar faces in the winners’ circle May 3. Thomas Keller of Bouchon won for best General Cooking Book along with Dave Cruz for Ad Hoc at Home. Todd English, who recently expanded his Vegas presence with the opening of Todd English Pub at CityCenter, took a Beard Award for his television special Food Trip with Todd English. Local chef Rick Moonen was honored for his on-location TV show, Chefs A’ Field: King of Alaska. Finally, the culinary world’s favorite bald man (and the man behind MGM Grand’s Craftsteak), Tom Colicchio, won the highly regarded Outstanding Chef Award for 2010.

Now all we have to do is wait for the 2011 Michelin Guide to come out.

Just a few little items for those of you in town.

First, a “cash for appliances” program begins this coming Saturday. Let the state pay you up to $200 to upgrade your refrigerator, freezer, clothes washer, or dishwasher with a brand new energy efficient one! I’ve seen programs like this do very well in other parts of the country. Considering that we do live in a desert, it’s particularly important that we try to encourage the use of more efficient washers and dishwashers.

Here’s a list we wish we weren’t on: Forbes’s list of metropolitan areas where housing prices are “in free fall.” But regular readers of Friday Figures know that prices may be down year over year, but they are stable now. Stable prices are the first step in any recovery.

And one last item: our own CityCenter made Food and Wine Magazine’s “Go List” of 100 new food experiences. Unfortunately, it’s not available online yet. This year’s Best of Las Vegas came out just a couple of weeks ago, so it’s a good bet that some of these places will make the cut for 2011.

Not that I like rush hour traffic, but I kind of like driving across the Las Vegas Valley around sunset. The fading light reflects off the mountains in a quite lovely way, leaving interesting patterns of shade behind. And so much the better if there are some clouds that turn orange and pink and lavender as the sun dips behind the mountains at the West edge of town. This of course makes lovely contrast with the sea of bright lights as one passes by the Strip and Downtown.

Of course, there are other ways to spend time in Vegas than watching the setting sun. Here’s 15 Ways to have a Blast Without Gambling.

Now, if the sun is setting, it might be time to consider some dinner…. or maybe some other meal, depending on your native time zone. On that note, here’s some CES foodblogging from Down the Avenue’s (and Blodgett Communications’s) Renee Blodgett, and some fine dining tips from LasVegasUSA.org.

Buying a home can be exciting and scary. It’s easy to overlook little things, and easy to get nervous over the prospect of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars. And that brings me to the Tale of the Secret Mold Cellar: it seems a family purchased a bank-owned home only to discover a secret room hidden behind a bookcase; the secret room contained a note from a previous owner, and toxic mold. Apparently, the prior owner could not get the mold problem taken care of and let the bank take it back. They left the note to warn the new folks what they were getting into. I’m not sure I would go so far as to recommend everyone get a mold inspection when buying a home, but pay attention when the regular inspection is done, and make sure you look for “surprises” with a critical eye. These things go double on distressed properties that have things like “short sale,” “repo,” “REO,” “foreclosed,” or “bank owned” in the description. Disclosure laws are disclosure laws, but odds are really good that the bankers have no idea what the property even looks like, let alone what things are wrong with it. Sure, maybe you’ll pick up a bargain. On the other hand, maybe you’ll pick up a money pit.

Here’s a great commentary on the importance of doing research before deciding to buy a house — or any other investment! Your housing decision has to be based on your individual financial circumstances, not some blanket statement about the benefits of owning real estate.

I am very picky about what title companies I use for client transactions. Today, Inman News Blog spells out exactly why every real estate agent should be just as picky as I am. Several title companies in California are “consolidating,” and in one case closing the doors forever without bothering to even tell the employees. Closing on a house purchase or sale is stressful enough without worrying about whether your title company will still be there in 30 days!

For the last item of the day, we have restaurant picks from LasVegasUSA.org. It really would have been nice if they had included addresses, but alas you’ll have to Google your dining selection independently.

The other day, I picked up a copy of the Las Vegas Relocation Guide. It has lots of information that is of value both to newcomers and to people who have been here for years. If you would like your own copy, they are published by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce each quarter. Here are some little tibdits:

You knew Las Vegas had fabulous world-class shows by top notch performers like Celine Dion and Wayne Brady, Wayne Newton and Carrot Top. You knew we had groups like Cirque de Soleil and Blue Man Group. But did you know we also have the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra and the Nevada Ballet Theatre? We even have an Opera.

Maybe you’ve heard of the Elvis Museum and the Liberace Museum, but those are just 2 of the 39 museums listed in the area. Vegas has a children’s museum, a museum built around an ancient Anasazi village, another one at a turn-of-the-20th-century Mormon fort, a neon museum, a branch of the Guggenheim, and a reproduction of King Tut’s tomb.

We have over 125,000 hotel rooms (more coming soon, more jobs coming with them), over 197,000 slot machines, over 3700 conventions each year, over 315 weddings daily (so much for “Virginia is for lovers”) and over 96,000 new residents moving to Vegas every year.

In addition to now-traditional neighborhoods of single family houses, apartment complexes, and low-rise condominiums, Vegas is having a veritable renaissance of high-rise living! These modern developments often have shops, restaurants, work-out facilities, conference rooms, and other great amenities on site. As of yesterday, there were over 800 high-rise condos for sale (be sure to click the “Contact Me!” link on the left if you want more specific information on them or want to schedule a tour).

Everyone knows Las Vegas has it’s fair share of sun-seeking retirees, but did you know we have a Chinatown?

And of course no discussion of Vegas Living would be complete without mentioning that we are one of the great dining cities in the world. Name a top celebrity chef, and if he has a restaurant chances are he has one here. Last year’s “Top Chef” winner is a local boy, as is the runner-up from the previous year. That fellow at the next table that looks like Tom Collichio? Could be!

Oh yeah, I love it here. Won’t you be my neighbor?

Las Vegas is considered by many people to be one of the great dining cities of the world.  This being the case, it has been frustrating to me is that Las Vegas restaurant guides focus almost entirely on the Strip.  Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of very good restaurants on the Strip, but I don’t always feel like driving there.  While a Strip focus is great for tourists, it is not necessarily helpful for residents.  In short, you’d miss a lot of great places if all you had to go on were those guides!

As much as I would love to tell you about some of my favorite places to eat, that can wait. Today, I have other people’s opinions to share.  First,  we have an item by Ed Murrieta of The News Tribune in Tacoma (go figure) called “Off The Strip You can dine and drink well in Las Vegas while never setting foot on The Strip“.  His picks include Rosemary’s, Pamplemousse, Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que, Memphis Championship Barbecue, CJ’s Texas Barbecue (clearly the man likes barbecue), Kilroy’s, In-N-Out, Hash House A Go Go, and Orchids Garden.  Yes, addresses and phone numbers are included.

The second item I have for you today is from yesterday’s newspaper, and it includes both on and off-Strip eateries.  It is the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s round up of local Happy Hours.   I’ve eaten at a few of these places — just lunch or dinner, not happy hour — and sincerely hope the rest are as good.