The “SoCal Restaurant Show” proudly welcomes Food Network’s Aarti Sequeira as the very first guest on Oct. 6th.

Aarti, a Los Angeles resident, won Season 6 of “Food Network Star” (Food Network’s most-watched series) and went on to create the popular cooking-variety series, “Aarti Party” for food Network. She also competed on “Chopped All-Stars” for her favorite charity, Central City Community Outreach.

This year she was also seen on Cooking Channel with her special, “Hidden Eats, USA.” Early next year Aarti will debut a new series for Cooking Channel.

Aarti just returned from three weeks in India, including the southwest coast where she is from.

In addition to Aarti, our own Jet Tila will be dishing out his recent gastronomic experience at Grant Achatz’s Alinea in the Lincoln Park section of Chicago, Food GPS’ Josh Lurie will look back at last Saturday’s LA Beer Float Showdown as part of the fourth annual LA Beer Week. Speaking of beer, we’ll have Ed Murphy from the Blank Theatre in Hollywood discussing their upcoming Hollywood on Tap event at the Studios at Paramount on October 20th. And Brock Radke of Las Vegas Weekly will discuss what’s new in Las Vegas restaurants both on The Strip and off. Here’s Brock’s notes from his appearance.

It’s no wonder Jet wanted to hear all about the new Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace; the place is so huge, it’s hard to talk about anything else. It’s a big, beautiful buffet, but you might be shocked at how good the food tastes. Here’s what you really need to know to prep for the feast of your life:

The lines have been crazy long since Bacchanal opened last month, up to a 2-hour wait at dinner. Hit it for breakfast or lunch instead, when things move faster. Don’t get caught off guard by the prices, which have been bumped up a bit—$21.99 breakfast, $28.99 lunch, and $44.99 for dinner. Is that too spendy? I think I got my money’s worth just by demolishing the raw seafood bar. Don’t miss the dim sum and Asian soup section, both surprisingly good. Caesars actually stole a chef from Jet’s favorite Vegas ramen shop, Monta, to make sure they were doing it right. Be sure to save room for dessert, particularly the perfect individual soufflés.

As for the Nobu hotel and restaurant set for Caesars, the project got pushed a bit and is now set to open in the first quarter of 2013. So what’s next for the iconic Strip resort? Gordon Ramsay’s Pub, opening in December right off the main casino floor.

Podcasts:

Segment One: Aarti Sequeria – Part One
Segment Two: Aarti Sequeria – Part Two
Segment Three – LA Beer Float Showdown
Segment Four – Brock Radke’s Las Vegas Weekly Roundup
Segment Five – Jet at Alinea
Segment Six – Hollywood on Tap