Garlic naan increased in popularity by 398% in 2016

There are many ratings and rankings involving the local culinary world, some more plausible than others, and this was one of the weirdest yet. Online and mobile food-ordering service Grubhub recently did a study of which food items had seen the biggest increase in orders in certain cities during the past year. For Las Vegas, the winner was garlic naan, with orders increasing a whopping 398 percent.

Kris Parikh, owner of Mint Indian Bistro at 730 E. Flamingo Road and 4246 S. Durango Drive, doesn’t doubt it for a minute.

“We have a lot of data,” Parikh said. “Our statistics say the same thing.”

Parikh said the reason is simple: “Everyone loves bread.” Add some garlic and cook it in a clay oven at 450 degrees, and you’re going to develop a lot of flavor, he noted.

“You add a little butter and it’s heavenly,” Parikh said.

Garlic naan has been the most popular dish at Mint for four years, he said. The restaurant decided to pair it with another popular dish, chicken tikka masala. Called naan makhni, the naan is cut in strips and served with two small bowls of makhni sauce, the sauce used with chicken tikka masala.

“You come to Mint, you probably see 60 percent ordering that appetizer,” he said.

Daniel Boulud fans who are sad about saying au revoir to his DB Brasserie at The Venetian will have to eat their version of the last meal on Sunday, because it’s going to be closed for a private event Wednesday through Saturday. But the 30 percent discount for locals will be in effect on Sunday.

Did you ever wonder how much food Strip resorts go through on a given New Year’s Eve? Here are some stats from the seven themed parties Caesars Entertainment hosted at seven locations this year: 4,200 pounds of lobster, 3,850 pounds of steak, 4,275 pounds of chocolate, 2,075 bottles of Champagne and 3,620 bottles of other wines, to serve 14,000 people. The largest event had an attendance of 3,600.

Sightings: Comedian Carrot Top at La Cave Wine & Food Hideaway at Wynn Las Vegas. Chef/restaurateur David Chang, whose Momofoku is to open imminently (sister spot Milk Bar opened Friday) at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, at Beijing Noodle No. 9 at Caesars Palace. Chang reportedly was able to take in the noodle-making process while he was lunching.

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