Vegas - 2015 - Issue 7 - November - Natalie Dormer

Vegas Gives Powerful women, unstoppable generosity

Fabulous, maximalist fashion for fall Farm to Strip Harvest time’s most delectable dishes

Jay Leno

GAME OF THRONES’

Natalie Dormer

vegasmagazine.com

niche media holdings, llc

Warrior Chic

goes back to his stand-up roots at the mirage

PLUS Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Alessandro Michele Carlos Santana

FLĂ‚NEUR FOREVER

Las Vegas Bellagio Encore The Shops at Crystals Hermes.com

©2015 Harry Winston, Inc. LOTUS CLUSTER by HARRY WINSTON

THE SHOPS AT CRYSTALS 702 262 0001 VIA BELLAGIO 702 479 2479 HARRYWINSTON.COM

HAPPY SPO R T

Disco ver the Wo rld of C h op ard : W ynn Las Veg as • 702.862. 4522 Exp lo re the co llection at u s. ch op ard . com

C E L E B R AT I N G 2 6 0 Y E A R S O F U N I N T E R R U P T E D WAT C H M A K I N G Our continous history is reflected in the Harmony Collection.

A new legacy has dawned.

C R A F T I N G E T E R N I T Y S I N CE 1 755

HARMONY D UA L T I M E

Geneva official watchmaking certification

A HISTORY OF MODERN. 2015 marks Bulova’s 140th year as an American brand known for its innovation, craftsmanship and advanced technology. Since 1875, when founder Joseph Bulova opened his store on Maiden Lane in downtown Manhattan, Bulova has remained true to his legacy—mastering the classic art of watchmaking while always embracing the future.

A Bulova watch is not only a timepiece; it is a piece of history.

AVAILABLE AT THE JEWELERS

Mandalay Place & 2400 Western Ave., Las Vegas thejewelers.com

, , Bulova and Precisionist are registered trademarks. UHF is a proprietary technology of Bulova Corporation. Š 2015 Bulova Corporation. 98B229

UHF Ultra High Frequency The high-performance quartz inside each Bulova UHF timepiece vibrates at a frequency of 262 kHz. This exclusive technology features unparalleled accuracy and a signature sweeping second hand.

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FRONT RUNNER Nevada Governor Bob Miller, Steve Wynn, and Siegfried & Roy, with two white tigers, at the 1989 grand opening of Mirage.

DESERT OASIS

MIRAGE OPENS ITS DOORS IN NOVEMBER 1989—AND THE LAS VEGAS STRIP CHANGES FOREVER. Hard as it may be to believe, the holidays in Vegas don’t necessarily bring about a boom in foot traffic. But when Steve Wynn’s Mirage Hotel & Casino opened its doors on November 22, 1989—a day before Thanksgiving—the Strip was anything but quiet.

Ever the strategist, Wynn had cleverly forbidden even members of the media from previewing the South Seas–themed property, making its opening day the first time anyone not employed by the company would get a glimpse of it. The public’s curiosity had reached a fever pitch: “Hundreds of people… ran up the two driveways to the main entrance to be among the first to visit the elaborate, $630 million Mirage,” wrote reporter Jeff Burbank in the Las Vegas Sun. “Security guards tried to discourage picture-taking, but the onslaught was too great, as people aimed Instamatics and camcorders at Wynn, who posed for a few photos.”

Yet while the lavish resort might have been an immediate hit, it certainly hadn’t been built overnight; it took Wynn and his team, including lead architect Joel Bergman and CEO Bobby Baldwin, more than four years to conceptualize

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and develop the property, and from the very beginning, it was a Vegas boundary-breaker in more ways than one. For starters, the 3,000-room resort was significantly larger than most of its Strip competitors and with a construction cost of $630 million, the priciest to date. Even more importantly, its design placed an emphasis on the resort as experience, with beautiful public spaces and focal points—including a central glass-domed atrium filled with tropical plants, a 60-foot lobby aquarium, and an exploding natural-gas volcano in the property’s front yard—stealing the spotlight away from the gaming floor.

Within two hours of opening, Mirage had welcomed an astonishing 50,000 visitors—the first of them being four white tigers escorted by Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn, whose show would grow to be among the wildly popular —and profitable—hotel’s fi nest selling points. Its enduring success, meanwhile, forever altered the landscape of the Strip by spurring new development in the form of themed, family-friendly properties like Excalibur, Treasure Island, and Luxor. V

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF THE LAS VEGAS NEWS BUREAU

BY TESS EYRICH

INTRODUCING OUR DESIGNER SHOWCASE

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HERE’S TO THE FUTURE. To the next step in a dance with all that is timeless and memorable.

Here’s to what we’ve created here: this place, these dreams, this life.

Two and a half decades of the fnest living this valley has ever known.

And here’s to the curtain rising on the next dramatic act in this breathtaking story.

The next chapter of a love story written by visionaries, dreamers and families.

It will no doubt be written in steel, stone and earth...

But also in shopping bags, play dates and grass stains.

Now the heart and soul of this valley has a new heart of its own. Downtown Summerlin®.

Another glowing beacon to all who look toward the red rocks and yearn for a better lifestyle.

Here’s to the dream coming true all over again in new ways and new places.

This is Summerlin. This is home.

NEW HOMES NOW SELLING | SUMMERLIN.COM Woodside Homes | William Lyon Homes | Toll Brothers | Ryland Homes | Pulte Homes Lennar | Richmond American Homes | KB Home | Christopher Homes

contents

november 2015

52

A look at the making of the Secret Garden necklace from Bulgari’s Italian Gardens Haute Joaillerie collection.

14 // Front runner 36 // Letter From the editor-in-ChieF

38 // Letter From

the PubLisher

40 // ...Without Whom

this issue WouLd not have been PossibLe

42 // the List 67 // invited

STYLE 45 // G ForCe Gucci’s new creative director, Alessandro Michele, freshens up the iconic label while remaining true to the heritage of the brand.

48 // briLLiantLy boLd Fine jewelry gets re-envisioned this season into luxuriously layered decadence, proving that more truly is more.

50 // styLe sPotLiGht News from DSquared2, NARS, Mulberry and Georgia May Jagger, and Dolce & Gabbana. Plus: sharp architectonic handbags.

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the face of Bulgari and global glamour, talks about why the jeweler’s latest dazzling collection has special meaning for her.

54 // stitCh in time The houses of Chanel and Lesage commit to the preservation of exceptional craftsmanship as they seamlessly blend the art of embroidery with top-notch Métiers d’art in watchmaking.

20 vegasmagazine.com

photography courtesy of bulgari

52 // roCk Garden

THEIA ALBERTO

MAKALI

saks.com

Fashion Show Las Vegas, on the Strip 3200 LAS VEGAS BLVD SOUTH. 702.733.8300

contents

november 2015

58

Multitasking model, writer, DJ duo Nervo plays Omnia on November 21.

62

The Broadway hit Elf: The Musical kicks off the holiday season at The Smith Center.

60

Vegas makes an appearance at Art Basel Miami Beach.

CULTURE 57 // Chin Up Now appearing twice monthly at Mirage, there’s no slowing down for comedy’s nice guy Jay Leno.

58 // SiSter aCt Talent-times-two DJ duo Nervo is EDM’s favorite musical team.

62 // CUltUre SpotliGht Santana at House of Blues, Garfunkel and Oates at Lipshtick, Elf at the Smith Center, and interactive art at P3Studio.

64 // Game on Score big on game day with frontrow seats at some of the Strip’s best venues for sports-watching.

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photography by Joan marcus (Elf); chloe paul (nervo)

60 // Global Gallery Vegas’s art afcionados are gearing up for next month’s Art Basel in Miami Beach that will be an international nexus for artists and creative minds.

OYSTER PERPETUAL DAY-DATE II

rolex

oyster perpetual and day-date are 速 trademarks.

november 2015

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73

Mezcal meets falernum in the Scorpion Daisy at Rose.Rabbit.Lie.

TASTE 73 // Hidden Harvests Kerry Clasby is the secret weapon of many of the Strip’s best restaurants, and during harvest season you won’t have to look hard to fnd her exceptional produce in dishes all over the city.

76 // sage advice Shawn McClain’s Sage has taken the Strip to a new level of seasonal dining. This year, McClain is drawing on new sources for a harvest menu to end all harvest menus.

78 // taste spotligHt News from Jack Daniel’s, Hard Rock, Yardbird, and Lago, plus new Vegas-based spirited ice cream.

80 // spirited away Bad case of wanderlust? The liquid cures at these Vegas bars and restaurants spotlight spirits from faraway places and centuries past.

24 vegasmagazine.com

Alain Ducasse is employing plenty of farm-fresh goodness at the brand-new Rivea, and Intuitive Forager Kerry Clasby is happy to help.

76

Sean McClain’s Snake River Farms New York strip with glazed maitake mushrooms is one of Sage’s seasonal sensations.

photography courtesy of the cosmopolitan of las Vegas (scorpion Daisy); mgm resorts international (sage); by pierre monetta (riVea)

contents

TAKE CONTROL. LOSE CONTROL. INTRODUCING AUDACIOUS MASCARA EVERY LAYER MULTIPLIES. AMPLIFIES. MESMERIZES. DARIA STROKOUS IN AUDACIOUS MASCARA. PHOTOGRAPHED

BY FRANÇOIS NARS. NARS BOUTIQUE – THE FORUM SHOPS AT CAESARS NARSCOSMETICS.COM

contents

november 2015

86

Dress, Valentino ($32,000). The Shops at Crystals, 702-7377603; valentino.com

FEATURES 82 // Queen of Thrones Smart. Beautiful. Fierce. The general consensus on both sides of the pond is that English charmer Natalie Dormer rules.

By David Hochman Photography by Tony Duran Styling by Martina Nilsson

86 // Allusions of GlAmour

It’s a new age of magnifcence this season as fashion goes absolutely opulent.

Photography by Daniela Federici Styling by Garth Condit

90 // At Your service Our annual Vegas Gives event, held at the Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian and Palazzo, pays tribute to powerful women who are paying it forward with style. This year, we’re toasting nine community infuencers whose passions for philanthropy are changing Las Vegas for the better.

By Tess Eyrich Photography by Brad Swonetz

As Alzheimer’s disease reaches epidemic proportions in the United States, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan strives to raise awareness—and much-needed funds—in honor of her mother, the late Hollywood legend Rita Hayworth. Plus: A special look at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.

By JP Anderson

26 vegasmagazine.com

photography by daniela federici

97 // stAtes of mind

速ROBERTOCOIN

BLACK JADE COLLECTION | robertocoin.com

105

Benson Riseman’s master bathtub was carved from a hunk of stone pulled out of a New Mexico mountain.

november 2015

HAUTE PROPERTY 105 // Special effectS Some of the most exciting design elements in Strip high-rise living right now are high-tech, custom pieces.

106 // Haute property SpotligHt

Interior designer Debraé Little looks in all the best closets; home décor inspired by nature.

Living LAs vEgAs 112 // tHe new jet Set Arriving in high style to Las Vegas just got a little easier.

ON THE COVER

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Natalie Dormer Photography by Tony Duran Styling by Martina Nilsson Coat, Dries Van Noten ($2,535). Barneys New York, Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian and Palazzo, 702-629-4200; barneys.com. Bra, Dolce & Gabbana ($275). The Shops at Crystals, 702-431-6614; dolcegabbana.com

photography by todd witcher. cover: photography by tony duran www.tonyduran.net StyliSt Martina nilSSon at opuS beauty hair by chriStian Marc at Forward artiStS uSing leonor greyl Makeup by Matthew vanleeuwen at the wall group uSing clé de peau. Manicure by Sarah chue For dior verniS FirSt photo aSSiStant: JuStin Schwan, Second photo aSSiStant: arthur lang video: adriano valentini location by SourceS locationS / nancy, 323-493-8844

contents

76 °F

BELOW ZERO

It is at the coldest and most remote extremities of the planet, visited by expeditions and studied by universities but never inhabited by man, that the soul of TUDOR North Flag belongs. A finely honed instrument, with the first movement developed and produced by TUDOR sheltered within, it is the modern adventurer’s solid companion, beginning a new era in the brand’s history.

TUDOR NORTH FLAG Self-winding mechanical Manufacture TUDOR MT5621 movement, officially certified chronometer, nonmagnetic silicon spring, approx. 70 hour power reserve. Sapphire case back, waterproof to 100 m, 40 mm steel case. Visit tudorwatch.com and explore more. TUDOR Watch U.S.A., LLC. New York

46 BRANDS. 25 UNIQUE TO MARKET | THESHOPSATCRYSTALS.COM

SHOWCASING NEW RESIDENCES

BY DESIGN AUTHORITY KERRY JOYCE

DISCOVER THE UNEXPECTED O N E TO TH R EE B ED ROO M R E SI D EN CE S FRO M $ 30 0,0 0 0 TO OVER $ 8 0 0,0 0 0 222 Karen Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89109 702.732.9797 living@turnberrytowers.com TurnberryTowers.com Exclusively represented by The Mark Company Nevada, LLC. DRE Lic#B.10000790.LLC. The developer reserves the right to make modifcations in materials, specifcations, plans, designs, scheduling and delivery of homes without prior notice and at the seller’s sole discretion. Investment opportunities are limited. Without limiting the foregoing, this is not an offer or solicitation to residents of California, New York and New Jersey or any other state where registration is required or sales are prohibited. Equal Housing Opportunity.

ANDREA BENNETT Editor-in-Chief Senior Managing Editor KAREN ROSE Art Director SPENCER MATERN Photo Editor SETH OLENICK Associate Editor TESS EYRICH Senior Fashion Editor FAYE POWER Research Editor LESLIE ALEXANDER

MAUREEN SCHAFER Publisher Account Director JESSICA ZIVKOVITCH Account Executives VINCE DUROCHER, IRENA HALL Director of Event Marketing HALEE HARCZYNSKI Distribution Relations Manager JENNIFER PALMER Sales Assistant RUE MCBRIDE

NICHE MEDIA HOLDINGS, LLC Senior Vice President and Editorial Director MANDI NORWOOD Vice President of Creative and Fashion ANN SONG Creative Director NICOLE A. WOLFSON NADBOY Executive Fashion Director SAMANTHA YANKS ART AND PHOTO

Senior Art Director FRYDA LIDOR Art Director ALLISON FLEMING, JUAN PARRA Designer AARON BELANDRES Photo Director LISA ROSENTHAL BADER Photo Editors MARIE BARBIER , JODIE LOVE, JENNIFER PAGAN, REBECCA SAHN Associate Photo Editor HALEY HAMBLIN Senior Staff Photographer JEFFREY CRAWFORD Senior Digital Imaging Specialist JEFFREY SPITERY Digital Imaging Specialist JEREMY DEVERATURDA Digital Imaging Assistant HTET SAN FASHION

Associate Fashion Editor CASEY TRUDEAU Assistant Fashion Editors CONNOR CHILDERS, LISA FERRANDINO Entertainment and Bookings Editor JULIET IZON COPY AND RESEARCH

Copy Editors JOHN DELERY, DAVID FAIRHURST, CANDACE NICHOLSON, JULIA STEINER Research Editors LOIS BARRETT, JAMES BUSS, JUDY DEYOUNG, KAREN MCCREE EDITORIAL OPERATIONS

Director of Editorial Operations DEBORAH L. MARTIN Director of Editorial Relations MATTHEW STEWART Executive Editorial Assistant CHRISTINA CLEMENTE Online Executive Editor CAITLIN ROHAN Online Editors ANNA BEN YEHUDA, TRICIA CARR Online Editorial Assistant CATHERINE PARK Senior Managing Editors DANINE ALATI, JILL SIERACKI Managing Editors JENNIFER DEMERITT, MURAT OZTASKIN, OUSSAMA ZAHR Shelter and Design Editor SUE HOSTETLER Timepiece Editor ROBERTA NAAS ADVERTISING SALES

Account Directors SUSAN ABRAMS, MICHELE ADDISON, MICHELLE CHALA, KATHLEEN FLEMING, VICTORIA HENRY, KAREN LEVINE, MEREDITH MERRILL, NORMA MONTALVO, DEVON MOORE, JEFFREY NICHOLSON, SHANNON PASTUSZAK, MIA PIERRE-JACQUES, VALERIE ROBLES, JIM SMITH Account Executives SUSANA ARAGON, LAUREN BROGNA, JANELLE DRISCOLL, JAMIE FOX, SAMANTHA HARRIS, SARAH HECKLER, CATHERINE KUCHAR, FENDY MESY, MARY RUEGG, JACKIE VAN METER Sales Support and Development EMMA BEHRINGER, ANA BLAGOJEVIC, LISSETTE COLLS, ERIN GLEASON, KRISTINE GUEVARRA, DARA HIRSH, EMERY HOLTON, REBECCA JAMES, KARA KEARNS, MICHELLE MASS, NICHOLE MAURER, ELIZABETH MITCHELL, STEPHEN OSTROWSKI, MACKENZIE WAXMAN, ALEXANDRA WINTER MARKETING, PROMOTIONS, AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations LANA BERNSTEIN Senior Director of Brand Development ROBIN KEARSE Director of Brand Development JOANNA TUCKER Brand Development Managers KRISTIN BARNES, JIMMY KONTOMANOLIS Promotions Art Designer KAITLYN RICHERT Event Marketing Directors AMY FISCHER, LAURA MULLEN, KIMMY WILSON Event Marketing Managers KELSEY MARRUJO, CRISTINA PARRA, ASHLEY VEHSLAGE Event Marketing Coordinators BROOKE BIDDLE, BLAIR GOTTFRIED Event Marketing Assistant SHANA KAUFMAN ADVERTISING PRODUCTION

Director of Positioning and Planning SALLY LYON Positioning and Planning Manager TARA MCCRILLIS Director of Production PAUL HUNTSBERRY Production Manager BLUE UYEDA Production Artists MARISSA MAHERAS, DARA RICCI, ALISHA SMITH Director of Distribution Operations MATT HEMMERLING Fulfillment Manager DORIS HOLLIFIELD Traffic Supervisor ESTEE WRIGHT Traffic Coordinators JEANNE GLEESON, MALLORIE SOMMERS Manufacturing Coordinator KIMBERLY CHANG Circulation Research Specialist CHAD HARWOOD FINANCE

Controller DANIELLE BIXLER Senior Finance Directors AUDREY CADY, LISA VASSEUR-MODICA Director of Credit and Collections CHRISTOPHER BEST Senior Credit and Collections Analyst MYRNA ROSADO Financial Analyst NEIL SHAH Senior Accountant LILY WU Junior Accountants KATHY SABAROVA, NATASHA WARREN Accounts Payable Coordinator NADINE DEODATT ADMINISTRATION, DIGITAL, AND OPERATIONS

Director of Operations MICHAEL CAPACE Director of Human Resources and Administration STEPHANIE MITCHELL Digital Producer ANTHONY PEARSON Facilities Coordinator ASHLEY GUILLAUME Office Assistant ERIC HOFFMAN Chief Technology Officer JESSE TAYLOR Desktop Administrators ZACHARY CUMMO, EDGAR ROCHE EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

J.P. ANDERSON (Michigan Avenue), SPENCER BECK ( Los Angeles Confidential), KATHY BLACKWELL (Austin Way), KRISTIN DETTERLINE (Philadelphia Style), LISA PIERPONT (Boston Common), CATHERINE SABINO (Gotham), JARED SHAPIRO (Ocean Drive), ELIZABETH E. THORP (Capitol File), DAMIEN WILLIAMSON (Executive Editor, Aspen Peak), SAMANTHA YANKS (Hamptons) PUBLISHERS

JOHN M. COLABELLI (Philadelphia Style), LOUIS F. DELONE (Austin Way), DAWN DUBOIS (Gotham), ALEXANDRA HALPERIN (Aspen Peak), DEBRA HALPERT (Hamptons), SUZY JACOBS (Capitol File), GLEN KELLEY (Boston Common), COURTLAND LANTAFF (Ocean Drive), ALISON MILLER (Los Angeles Confidential), DAN USLAN (Michigan Avenue)

Managing Partner JANE GALE Chairman and Director of Photography JEFF GALE Chief Operating Officer MARIA BLONDEAUX Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer JOHN P. KUSHNIR Chief Executive Officer KATHERINE NICHOLLS Copyright 2015 by Niche Media Holdings, LLC. All rights reserved. Vegas magazine is published eight times per year. Reproduction without permission of the publisher is prohibited.

The publisher and editors are not responsible for unsolicited material, and it will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication subject to Vegas magazine’s right to edit.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, photographs, and drawings. To order a subscription, please call 866-891-3144. For customer service, please inquire at vegas@pubservice.com.

To distribute Vegas at your business, please e-mail magazinerequest@nichemedia.net.

Vegas magazine is published by Niche Media Holdings, LLC., a division of Greengale Publishing, LLC. vegas: 608 South 7th Street, Las Vegas, NV 89101 T: 702-990-2500 F: 702-990-2530 niche media holdings: 711 Third Avenue, Suite 501, New York, NY 10017 T: 646-835-5200 F: 212-780-0003

34 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM

CALIBER RM 63-01 DIZZY HANDS

RICHARD MILLE BOUTIQUE THE SHOPS AT CRYSTALS, LAS VEGAS 702-588-7272

Letter from the editor-in-Chief

I met the lovely Rachel Zoe, a special guest at the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund’s Super Saturday shopping event, at a brunch hosted by Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada at Barneys New York in the Grand Canal Shoppes; Wayne Newton posed with me after our tour of his fabulous ranch; the delightful and charming Thom Filicia and I talked “Decorating from Top to Bottom” at an event at the Las Vegas Design Center, cohosted by the Interior Design Society, to beneft the Las Vegas Philharmonic.

The sheer number of celebrities and over-the-top experi-

ences that Las Vegas can pack onto a four-mile stretch means that if you walk around long enough, you might begin to relate, as I have, to Peter Sellers’s character in Being There. In that movie, simpleminded Chance, the gardener, is mistaken for upper-class businessman Chauncey Gardiner, who, through happenstance and proximity, becomes an unlikely trusted associate of famous people. Or for those of you unwilling (or unable) to go back with me to 1979, I give you Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump, ambling through life, digitally inserted into vintage newsreels and historical photos by director Robert Zemeckis.

For instance, there was the time I wandered into a red-carpet appearance by Priscilla Presley, who gamely pretended we were friends for the cameras. Afterward, I was stalked into a public restroom by a rabid fan—of hers, not mine—who just wanted to be in the same room as someone who had touched Elvis’s former wife.

Recently, I attended a sneak peek of Wayne Newton’s Casa de Shenandoah, the entertainer’s 52-acre ranch newly opened to the public, to ogle his prizewinning Arabian horses, Rolls-Royces, and Franklin Roosevelt’s own desk. While I was there, I ran into Mr. Las Vegas himself, who graciously gave me a tour, explaining that a Baccarat crystal-legged table in the billiard room had been commissioned for an Indian maharajah 300 years ago but

was being used as a rug stand before Newton rescued it, shipped it to Vegas, and placed it in front of a wall of big-eyed Keane waifs.

It was a priceless experience—but not literally. You can book the “Exclusive Mr. Las Vegas Experience,” but it’s priced on request.

That’s sort of how Las Vegas goes, of course. Most things are available for a price, and you’ll inevitably see some luminary or another. After all, there are plenty of hidey-holes on the Strip, but not being seen is not really the point.

Because we’re dedicated to conveying both the reality and surreality of our town, we’re debuting a new back page dedicated to the experiences that we and our writers are seeking out, both to help you make the most of your time here and also to give you a glimpse behind the scenes. Consider my suggestion box open; we’ll gladly entertain your “only in Vegas” ideas, though I personally stop short of two exclusive Vegas opportunities: finging myself off the 800-foot-tall Stratosphere and getting paddled by a “nurse” for not fnishing my “Bypass Burger” at the Heart Attack Grill. Most other things are fair game.

andrea bennett

Follow me on Twitter at @andreabennett1 and on vegasmagazine.com.

36 vegasmagazine.com

photography by bryan Steffy (Zoe); reid gardner (newton); greg autry (filicia)

from left:

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Letter from the Publisher

In that vein, here are a few of my current Vegas standouts: When you have a moment, take a ride down to the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. Designed by internationally renowned architect Frank Gehry, its building—in addition to being an architectural wonder for the eyes—sees thousands of patients a year and more clinical trials for treatments of Alzheimer’s disease than anyplace else in the world.

The ravioli at Spago, inside The Forum Shops at Caesars, will leave you angry that you ever ate ravioli anywhere else. The staff is lovely and treats you like you visit every day.

has departed for another year. The Nevada desert brings a brilliant, unanticipated chill to the fall and winter months, blending well with the curated version of “cool” that our city has made its patented, iconic brand.

The fall season also ushers me in as the new publisher of Vegas magazine, a role I am grateful to possess and eager to embrace.

Having lived in Las Vegas for nearly 15 years, I love this community, and while I’m not from here originally, I proudly consider Vegas my true home. The city welcomed me from the moment I arrived.

Have you ever wondered what makes a city truly great? In Las Vegas, being the young, vibrant, fast-growing metroplex we are, we think about entertainment, economic development, schools, healthcare, transportation, tourism, and other elements that affect the quality of life for residents, businesses, and visitors from every part of the globe. With its growing promise and ambition, Las Vegas is perfecting its management of these important areas every day. It feels exciting to live and work in the city today as we evolve, innovate, and re-create our brand: the food, the people, the activities… Viva Las Vegas!

The Drugstore Café at Wynn offers croissants that could claim a zip code of their own, yet they’re light as a whisper and have a distinctive favor. Another highlight is the corner-store view, perfect for people watching.

So here’s to another bountiful fall, as Las Vegas never fails to offer a myriad of events, activities, and landmarks to please one’s social, cultural, intellectual, and gastronomic senses. We hope you too fnd our city the best and brightest and want to be a part of it.

M aureen Schafer

Follow me on vegasmagazine.com.

38 vegasmagazine.com

photography by Jeff gale

Fall is Finally upon us, as the legendary Las Vegas heat

In a fashback to the future, visit the Las Vegas Neon Museum, located on six acres on Las Vegas Boulevard and dedicated to preserving and exhibiting original Las Vegas signs, many from the city’s founding casinos. It’s well worth the tour.

TO BREAK THE RULES, YOU MUST FIRST MASTER THEM. THE VALLﾃ右 DE JOUX. FOR MILLENNIA A HARSH, UNYIELDING ENVIRONMENT; AND SINCE 1875 THE HOME OF AUDEMARS PIGUET, IN THE VILLAGE OF LE BRASSUS. THE EARLY WATCHMAKERS WERE SHAPED HERE, IN AWE OF THE FORCE OF NATURE YET DRIVEN TO MASTER ITS MYSTERIES THROUGH THE COMPLEX MECHANICS OF THEIR CRAFT. STILL TODAY THIS PIONEERING SPIRIT INSPIRES US TO CONSTANTLY CHALLENGE THE CONVENTIONS OF FINE WATCHMAKING.

ROYAL OAK CHRONOGRAPH IN PINK GOLD.

AUDEMARS PIGUET LAS VEGAS THE SHOPS AT CRYSTALS 3720 SOUTH LAS VEGAS BLVD., SUITE 105 LAS VEGAS, NV 89109. 702-889-8828

BRAD SWONETZ photographer Brad Swonetz is the photographer behind this issue’s Vegas Gives feature, showcasing the nine philanthropic Las Vegas women who are being honored this year as part of our annual Vegas Gives event, held in conjunction with the Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian and Palazzo.

How did you enjoy your morning with our honorees? “The shoot went really well. It was pretty crazy, though, as I only had an hour to shoot nine portraits and a group shot of all the women. It was like sprinting nine relay races. We only had about five minutes before the ladies had to go to their next shoot, so my assistant and I had to run around like chickens with their heads cut off. To top it off, one of my lights malfunctioned and I had to improvise and MacGyver it.” Vegas is said to be a small town in a lot of ways. Were you already familiar with any of the women? “I didn’t personally know any of the women that we shot. It’s true, though. In Vegas there is really only one degree of separation between you and anyone else, so we all had mutual acquaintances, I’m sure. One of the women’s charitable endeavors was the Nevada Ballet, and my little 3-year-old, Sia, attends the school there, so we had a lot to talk about.”

40 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM

MELISSA VALLADARES photographer

DAVID HOCHMAN writer

RACHEL FELDER writer

Freelance photographer Melissa Valladares, who shot our Taste section opening story on “Intuitive Forager” Kerry Clasby, is based in Los Angeles but visits Vegas often for work and pleasure. When she’s not shooting, she enjoys cooking and going on small road trips with her husband.

How was your shoot with Kerry Clasby? “Spending the day with Kerry was so much fun! Her energy is so contagious, and her love for food is so obvious. She knows all the farmers and has such great relationships with them, and I admire that. They’re like family. She kept feeding me fresh food all day—it was fantastic!” Do you enjoy visiting farmers markets?

“I love visiting farmers markets. Shopping for fresh produce and knowing you’re supporting local farms is so great. My in-laws are grape farmers in Fresno, so I’m always trying to support local farms whenever I can. I cook a lot of fresh veggies at home: Brussels sprouts, corn, zucchini, squash—you name it! You know exactly where your food is coming from and you know that it’s fresh and not sprayed with pesticides.

And it just tastes better!”

David Hochman covers travel, the good life, and fame for Food & Wine, Forbes, and Details, among other publications. He runs a school for writers called Upod Academy and lives in Los Angeles with his chocolatier wife, Ruth Kennison, and their son.

In this issue, Hochman interviews cover star Natalie Dormer (page 82).

What is your favorite role of Dormer’s? “I love how sexy and quietly scheming she is as Queen Margaery Tyrell on Game of Thrones.” Do you watch when it airs or have to avoid the rampant spoilers on the Internet?

“I’m playing catch-up on Thrones. Waiting for the right El Niño weekend to binge.”

Which Hunger Games character would you be? “When I take those quizzes, I usually end up as Cinna. Apparently I’m ‘creative and have many hidden talents, although not a big fighter so will always play a big part in people’s lives.’” Do you drive or fly when you visit Vegas?

“It’s always a coin toss. With airport lines and waiting, you can sometimes get there by plane just as fast, door-todoor, as you can in the car.”

Rachel Felder’s work has appeared in The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, and Departures, among other publications. Her third book, Insider Brooklyn, is being published by HarperCollins in the spring. She interviews Alessandro Michele, Gucci’s new creative director, for this issue’s Tastemaker.

Did anything about Michele surprise or impress you? “Alessandro Michele is such an inspiring designer. He has an incredibly deep understanding of Gucci’s DNA and is using that to infuse his extremely modern designs with a sense of history and heritage.”

Do you have a favorite Gucci piece? “I have been Gucci-obsessed since my first purchase from the brand: a tiny, lipstick-red patentleather satchel with a bamboo handle from Tom Ford’s first collection. My weekend uniform usually includes a well-worn pair of Gucci sneakers, purchased at Jeffrey New York at least a decade ago.”

You’re based in New York but you have a Vegas connection, don’t you? “Sort of: my Brooklyn-born and -raised uncle Doc Pomus, who wrote the song ‘Viva Las Vegas.’”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MILLIE FELDER (FELDER)

…WITHOUT WHOM this issue would not have been possible // November 2015

SEE WHERE GOOD TASTE TAKES YOU.

#EFFENVODKA Drink Responsibly. EFFEN® Vodka, 100% neutral spirits distilled from wheat grain, 40% alc./vol. (80 proof) © 2015 EFFEN Import Company, Deerfield, IL

The LisT November 2015

Michelle Dimaya

Ardi Najmabadi

Marina Nicola

Mat Franco

Sheena Martin

Dawn Mack

Patricia Kaytia

Rachel Zoe

Anita Romero

Chantal Azamian

Rodger Berman

Marilyn Winn Spiegel

Sid Greenfeig

Audra Moran

Rose McKinney-James

Melody Jackson

Ariel Triunfo

Jeff Silver

Kayee Dredla

Caroline MacDonald

Mark Kaspar

Lauren Rogat

Jenn Stafford

Deborah Richard

Megan Johnson

Kent Caldwell

Mary Lin

Frances Manto

JRock Nelson

Claudia Vecchio

Lacy Reiss

Taylor Fischer

Joseph Zanelli

La Ritchhart

Sarah Jennings

Mark LoRusso

Nina Waldman

Ivanka Trump

Jonathan Cain

Lisa Blondeaux

Kristen Weddingfeld

A.J. Lambert

Larry Smith

Michelle St. Angelo

Tina Sinatra

Lin Jerome

Kayla Agnello

Amanda Erlinger

Phung Truong

Tara Foy

Charles Pignone

42  vegasmagazine.com

Get away from it all Casual, comfortable dining on the Las Vegas Strip Whether indoor or outdoor by the pool, enjoy trattoria cuisine at Veranda. Delicious for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

For reservations call (702) 632-5121, visit OpenTable or fourseasons.com/lasvegas.

Style tastemaker Alessandro Michele backstage before his debut Fall/Winter 2015–16 runway collection.

G Force

Gucci’s new creative director, AlessAndro Michele, freshens up the iconic label while remaininG true to the heritaGe of the brand.

photography courtesy of gucci

by rachel felder

Although he was only appointed creative director of Gucci earlier this year, Alessandro Michele is anything but a newcomer to the iconic luxury label. Working as part of the brand’s design team since 2002, Michele has an inherent understanding of Gucci’s delicate, covetable balance of heritage details, modern tailoring, continued on page 46

vegasmagazine.com 45

STYLE Tastemaker Models walk the runway during the finale of the Fall/Winter 2015–16 show. LEFT: Michele mixes delicate pleats with soft metallics for his debut collection.

“I WANTED TO INTERPRET AN ATTITUDE, NOT A SILHOUETTE.”

KNOT TO REMEMBER

46 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM

flat loafers, sturdy thick belts, and boxy handbags with a hint of a Royal Tenenbaums–meets–Bianca Jagger vibe. Most are punctuated with exactly what you’d expect from this distinctive brand: bold trademark hardware, like chunky horsebits and oversize metal G’s, that looks as fresh now as its has for decades. The Forum Shops at Caesars, 702-369-7333; Via Bellagio, 702-732-9300; The Shops at Crystals, 702-730-1946; gucci.com V

EXCLUSIVITY TIMES THREE All of Vegas’s three Gucci boutiques offer a deep selection of Michele’s design, yet each store in the trio feels unique, and each carries a few items exclusively. At the brand’s CityCenter location, there is, for example, a glammed-up gladiator sandal in gold leather, with a heel that’s not excessively high and bow detailing that stretches elegantly up the leg.

Gucci’s Forum Shops branch also offers covetable shoes, like a shiny gold mule that’s extra comfortable and ideal for a bit of Elizabeth Taylor poolside glamour paired with a bathing suit, plus an ornate brocade bag in a versatile shade of soft red.

A polished, structured red bag at the Bellagio’s Gucci boutique, meanwhile, is one covered in blooming pastel pink flowers, plus high-heeled black boots that are simultaneously sharply modern and investment-worthy classic.

BAND TOGETHER Gucci Chiodo ring ($9,100).

A single thick baton of perfectly aligned diamonds, this statement piece curves to coil around the finger and ever so slightly suggests a stack of separate white-gold bands. It’s somehow bold and understated at the same time, working as well with jeans as with a little black dress.

DROP-DEAD GORGEOUS Gucci Chiodo earrings ($13,950). Crisp and sleek, these drop earrings—long graduated columns of round diamonds (314 in total) precisely set in 18k white gold—have an Art Deco feel that accentuates their elegance.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF GUCCI

The Gucci boutique at the Forum Shops at Caesars.

wear) and ever-so-slightly androgynous without being excessively structured or serious. “I wanted to interpret an attitude, not a silhouette, through a perspective that blurs the masculine/feminine divide and champions the youthful energy and natural confidence of today’s urbanites,” Michele explains.

That natural confidence applies to the collection’s accessories as well, with fabulously Rat Pack–inspired black

There’s something about the glitz and sparkle of diamond jewelry that’s particularly well suited to Las Vegas. Gucci’s newest, streamlined, luxurious jewelry pieces—mixing modern confidence with old-school glamour—speak the language of Vegas.

Gucci Chiodo necklace ($28,500). This graceful, 18k white gold fluid rope of 276 brilliant diamonds—nearly three carats’ worth—drapes in a particularly flattering way around the neck.

—ALESSANDRO MICHELE

opulent materials, and a healthy dose of self-assured sex appeal.

For his first collection, Michele created pieces with a vintage feel—flowy ’70s-inspired flowerpatterned dresses, silk blouses tied at the neck with an unstructured, slender bow—but a sensibility that’s undeniably modern. Also included is a range of standout coats and neat trouser suits that are practical (particularly as extra-chic office

IN PIECES

Elvis™ and Elvis Presley™ © 2015 ABG EPE IP LLC

www.shop.hamiltonwatch.com

ICON LEGEND THISISVENTURA

VENTURA XXL

AUTOMATIC SWISS MADE

Style Accessories

Brilliantly Bold Fine jewelry gets reenvisioned this season into luxuriously layered decadence, proving that more truly is more. photography by jeff crawford styling by faye power

The PerfecT Mix White, black, and gold create a splendid yet striking sense of equilibrium. clockwise from left: Bracelet, Gucci Fine Jewelry ($5,000). The Forum Shops at Caesars, 702-369-7333; gucci.com. Watch, Cartier (price on request). Wynn Las Vegas, 702-770-3498; cartier.us. Necklace, Pomellato ($39,100). 800-254-6020; pomellato.com. Necklace, Gucci Fine Jewelry ($9,950). see above. Ring, Cartier (price on request). see above. Ring ($11,500) and bracelet ($22,000), Gucci Fine Jewelry. see above. Watch, Omega ($42,600). Via Bellagio, 702-733-4004; omegawatches.com. Earrings, Cartier (price on request). see above. Ring, Vhernier ($33,800). Saks Fifth Avenue, Fashion Show, 702-733-8300; saks.com.

Dress, Narciso Rodriguez ($1,995).

Neiman Marcus, Fashion Show, 702-731-3636; neimanmarcus.com.

Clutch, Valextra ($1,680). Barneys New York, Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian and Palazzo, 702-629-4200; barneys.com.

Parfum, Chanel (6.8 oz. for $160). Via Bellagio, 702-765-5505; chanel.com. Box, Tory Burch ($395). The Forum Shops at Caesars, 702-369-3459; toryburch.com. Lip colors, Tom Ford ($52 each). The Shops at Crystals, 702-740-2940; tomford.com

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Manicurist: Casandra L amar using Dior Vernis/Farmhouse Fresh Body Milk at Factory Downtown 1. box, ralph lauren ($95). the forum shops at caesars, 702-734-0030; ralphlaurenhome.com. tray, l’objet (price on request). lg gallery, downtown summerlin, 702-258-1073; l-objet.com. parfum, chanel (1.7 oz. for $98). via bellagio, 702-765-5505; chanel.com. 2. clutch, judith leiber couture ($1,495). neiman marcus, see above. box, ralph lauren ($95). see above. tray, l’objet (price on request). lg gallery, see above. 3. clutch, rauwolf ($2,980). barneys new york, grand canal shoppes model: brooke mason /major model agency;

at venetian and palazzo, 702-629-4200; barneys.com. foundation, givenchy ($56). barneys new york, see above. box, ralph lauren ($95). see above. 4. clutch, rauwolf ($990). see above. boxes, ralph lauren ($95 each). see above

1

2

Green With Envy

Lady Blue

Layered mixed metals create a cool contrast when paired with these glamorous emerald stones.

Chic white diamonds provide an elegant foundation for rich, sophisticated sapphires.

3

4

For Forever

Scarlet Nights

White diamonds get a powerful promotion with graphic black elements.

White-gold accents reinvigorate rubies this season.

1. clockwise from left: Ring, Graff (price on request). Wynn Las Vegas, 702-770-3494; graffdiamonds.com. Ring, Pomellato ($5,250). 800-254-6020; pomellato.com. Earrings, Leticia Linton ($65,000). By special order, 310-860-0041.

Beverly bracelet, Gucci Fine Jewelry ($22,000). The Forum Shops at Caesars, 702-369-7333; gucci.com. Necklace, Bulgari (price on request). The Shops at Crystals, 702-583-4747; bulgari.com. Ring, Carelle ($16,500). Neiman Marcus, Fashion Show, 702-731-3636; neimanmarcus.com. Ring, Wendy Yue ($26,000). Neiman Marcus, see above. Dress, Erdem ($3,935). Neiman Marcus, see above. Clutch, Bottega Veneta ($1,950). The Shops at Crystals, 702-220-4751; bottegaveneta.com. 2. clockwise from left: Watch, Graff (price on request). see above. Ring, Sutra ($75,000). Neiman Marcus, see above. Necklace, Graff (price on request). see above. Watch, Chopard (price on request). Wynn Las Vegas, 702-770-3469; chopard.com. 2015 Tiffany Masterpieces Collection diamond bracelet, Tiffany & Co. (price on request). Fashion Show, 702-734-2461; tiffany.com. Necklace, Chopard (price on request). see above. Earrings, Jacob & Co. ($48,200). Wynn & Company Watches, Wynn Las Vegas, 702-770-3520; jacobandco.com. Dress, Prada ($5,280). The Shops at Crystals, 702-740-3000; prada.com. 3. clockwise from top: 2015 Tiffany Masterpieces Collection pendant necklace, Tiffany & Co. (price on request). see above. Timepieces and bracelet (prices on request), Harry Winston. The Shops at Crystals, 702-262-0001; harrywinston.com. Ring, Vhernier ($29,000). Saks Fifth Avenue, Fashion Show, 702-733-8300; saks.com. Charleston necklace, Chanel Fine Jewelry ($126,000). Encore Las Vegas, 702-770-5468; chanel.com. Dress, Salvatore Ferragamo ($3,200). The Forum Shops at Caesars, 702-933-9333; ferragamo.com. 4. clockwise from left: Watch, Chopard (price on request). see above. Ring, Harry Winston (price on request). see above. Ring, Ivanka Trump Jewelry ($2,880). Neiman Marcus, see above.

Ring, Vhernier ($29,000). Saks Fifth Avenue, see above. Ring, Cartier (price on request). see above. Square ($11,500) and round ($7,400) bracelets, Hermès. Via Bellagio, 702-866-2629; hermes.com. Watch, Jacob & Co. ($48,000). see above. Earrings, Butani (price on request). butani.com. Earrings, Chopard (price on request). see above. Dress, Versace ($2,125). The Forum Shops at Caesars, 702-932-5757; versace.com

vegasmagazine.com 49

STYLE Spotlight beauty

arm candy

TAKING HOLD Cityscapes inspire this season’s architectural clutches.

KISS & MAKE UP The NARS x Steven Klein holiday collection, available this month, depicts images from high-fashion photographer Klein’s extensive archives—think glammed-up life-size sex dolls and kabuki-inspired models.

The provocative photos also showcased on the packaging influence the themes of the products. The exclusive sets include An Abnormal Female Lip Pencil Coffret ($65), which encapsulates three velvet matte lip pencils in an oversize red-tipped bullet-shaped bottle. The Forum Shops at Caesars, 702-749-1525; narscosmetics.com —RAMONA SAVISS

in concert

FOR THE LOVE OF LEATHER A classic makes a comeback, in the case of the new London Cool biker jacket and accessories Georgia May Jagger designed for Mulberry.

The soft black lambskin number debuts just in time to rev up fall wardrobes. Wear it with this small buffalo leather pouch ($630, ABOVE) for a bad-girl biker look that’s just this side of fierce. The Forum Shops at Caesars, 702-3820496; mulberry.com

50 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM

Victoria Beckham ($1,495).

Barneys New York, Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian and Palazzo, 702-629,4200; barneys.com

Eddie Borgo ($1,190).

Neiman Marcus, Fashion Show, 702-731-3636; neimanmarcus.com

Power of Two DSQUARED2 CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF CUTTING-EDGE COLLECTIONS. BY LISA FERRANDINO This month marks the 20th anniversary of DSquared2, whose fashion-forward styles have been spotted in Madonna’s music videos and on catwalks worldwide—and to honor the occasion, the brand’s founders, identical twins Dean and Dan Caten, have created a landmark Fall/Winter collection. Icons pays homage to the label’s “greatest hits” from the past two decades (think embellished jackets, voluminous parkas, and fringe bags), channeling the edgy aesthetic that has garnered

DSquared2 a cult following that includes Justin Timberlake, Lenny Kravitz, and other celebs. “We design for people who want to feel different and a little bit out of the box,” says Dan. Given that the brand’s offerings range from tailored tuxedo jackets and lumberjack prints for men to colorful ponchos for women, it’s clear that the brothers have plenty of sartorial inspiration to spare. Saks Fifth Avenue, Fashion Show, 702-733-8300; dsquared2.com V

Loewe ($1,050). Barneys New York, Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian and Palazzo, 702-629-4200; barneys.com

Jill Haber ($1,195). Bags Belts and Baubles, Wynn Las Vegas, 702-770-3555; jillhaber.com

WE’LL FLY AWAY Farfalle rings (small, $4,450; large, $5,450).

Alongside the embellishments and colorful patterns that make up Dolce & Gabbana’s Fall/ Winter collection, the house shows off its latest fine jewelry collection, Farfalle (“butterflies”).

And though in the past the brand has toyed with another farfalle—riffs on bow-tie pasta—this line incorporates rich emeralds, amethysts, and green jade stones in sparkling, lepidopterous glory. They join the brand’s lines including Sicily, Primavera, Mamma, and Pizzo, all full of symbolic references, from rosaries to native flora. The Shops at Crystals, 702-431-6614; dolcegabbana.com

Lee Savage ($1,850).

Barneys New York, Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian and Palazzo, 702-629-4200; barneys.com

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style Celebration TENDING THEIR GARDEN Lucia Silvestri, Bulgari’s creative director, gives us the scoop on crafting the Italian Gardens collection: First inspiration: The Gardens of Ninfa (often referred to as “the most romantic gardens in the world”) near Rome.

collection size: 100 pieces.

from Bulgari’s Italian Gardens Haute Joaillerie collection; a detail of the collection’s Secret Garden necklace; Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

Rock Garden

Carla Bruni-Sa ozy, the face of Bulgari and gloBal glamour, talks aBout why the jeweler’s latest dazzling collection has special meaning for her. by catherine sabino Carla Bruni-Sarkozy might have the most glamorous résumé on the planet: former supermodel and frst lady of France, best-selling rock star, and since 2013 the face of jet-set favorite Bulgari. “I love shooting pictures again,” Bruni-Sarkozy says as she wraps a day’s photography session for the Rome-based jeweler at a villa in the hills above Florence. “As a songwriter, you spend most of your time alone.”

Bruni-Sarkozy represents a most rarefed niche of modern celebrity (think Taylor Swift as an American presidential spouse for an idea of her unique fame), someone who has earned her superstar bona fdes in widely divergent

// local love //

arenas. While very much the modern woman juggling a megawatt career, high-profle spouse (rumored to have his eye on the Élysée Palace again), and children, she comes across more as thoughtful artiste than boldfacer and is quick to express a distinct appreciation for the aesthetics of Europe’s lavish past. BruniSarkozy once mused that if she could go back in time, it would be to Florence during the days of the Medici, which makes her third campaign for Bulgari, Italian Gardens, the name of the jewelry house’s latest Haute Joaillerie line, a particularly resonant one. “Gardens are one of the most beautiful things mankind has created,” she says, noting that many of

her best childhood memories, growing up in Turin, are connected with them.

The new collection takes inspiration from Italy’s landscape splendor, specifcally the Renaissance garden conceits that infuenced horticultural style for centuries, says Lucia Silvestri, creative director for Bulgari. Intricate parterre and swirling fowerbed patterns defne a pavé necklace, Sparkling Hearts; another masterpiece, Magical Refection, pays homage to the water artistry of the terraces at Villa Lante, a Mannerist garden in central Italy, with fawless pear-shaped diamonds.

Renaissance gardens had their special hideaways, where the most exquisite fowers

bloomed, which prompted Bulgari to create Secret Garden, a gem bouquet necklace with rubellite, tanzanite, citrine, and other vivid stones.

For Bruni-Sarkozy jewelry has always been much more than a luxury item. “It represents a world of feelings, and a little nostalgia, too,” she says, recalling gifts given to her by her family and husband, as well as the care she took to fnd the right pieces for state occasions while frst lady of France.

“Jewelry is always related to special moments in life.” As for her favorite gem, BruniSarkozy says that she likes both diamonds and colored stones, then adds with a wink, “Even if you’re a woman and not a girl anymore, diamonds are your best friend. It’s a good title for a song, actually. I should write it, don’t you think?” The Shops at Crystals, 702-583-4747; bulgari.com V

showstopper: Blue Iridescence with 187 carats of large blue sapphires.

Multitasker: The sapphire and diamond Water Symphony (shown above) can also become a brooch and bracelet.

hardest geM to source at the preMiuM level: “Rubies. We can find 20 diamonds that are internally flawless at 10 carats to every one ruby of that quality and weight.”

big geMs and high-tech: “With diamonds there’s a lot of technology; with colored gems the sensibility and the experience of the owner or the cutter are very important.”

a fruitful friendship

When Robyn Manzini, pResident of the Girl scouts of southern nevada, was living in the paris suburb of neuilly-sur-seine (coincidentally during the mayoral tenure of nicolas sarkozy), her italian husband introduced her to bulgari, and she fell in love. “it was chunky and different, and also feminine,” and steeped in european tradition. “but at the time, it was purely aspirational.” now an avid collector, she and her husband celebrate milestones with visits to the boutique in the shops at Crystals, where they forged a fruitful friendship with general manager Michael dipasquale and sales associate Maja stankovic: this year marked the third time the brand has donated a signifcant gift—a watch from its Lucea collection—to the Girl scouts’ dessert before dinner beneft. Manzini’s favorite bulgari item? a rose- and white-gold watch from the bulgari bulgari collection with a jeweled mother-of-pearl dial, a gift from her husband for her 50th birthday. “i just have to look down at my wrist,” she says, “to have a beautiful memory every day.”

52 vegasmagazine.com

photography Courtesy of Bulgari (jewelry); david atlan (Bruni-sarkozy)

from left: The Sparkling Hearts necklace

Style time Honored

Stitch in time

A term (and form) has emerged in the watchmaking community over the past decade that has come to describe one of the most highly esteemed achievements in the making of timepieces: Métiers d’art. Creating a masterpiece, whether in woodworking, sculpture, or on the dial, is a coveted art requiring rare levels of craftsmanship.

Achieving such mastery is what sets brands apart.

Chanel’s Swiss-made watches embody the Métiers d’art concept and take it to new levels with a unique Lesage technique of hand-embroidering diamonds, gold, and pearls on a watch dial. The process is incredibly labor-intensive, with everything done by hand at the Maison Lesage workshops.

For more than 150 years, Maison Lesage has painstakingly stitched works of wonder in haute couture for such brands as Charles Frederick Worth, Jeanne Paquin, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, and Dior. In 2002, Lesage joined forces with Chanel, collaborating on haute couture collections with a fierce commitment to preserving the exceptional craftsmanship that defines Lesage embroidery.

The Lesage archives represent the largest collection of couture embroidery in the world, with more than 60,000 samples and an extraordinary 60-plus tons of tassels, ribbons, beads, crystals, and cabochons that have been sourced over multiple decades. Every year, Lesage adds approximately 100 new embroideries to its lineup, using more than 100 million sequins.

The work is conducted in quiet yet bustling rooms at an atelier just outside of Paris. Here, a team of highly skilled artisans hand-applies the incredible embroidery, sequins, and beads to clothing and accessories. This is also where

54 vegasmagazine.com

Chanel’s Mademoiselle Privé watch (above) features a dial embroidered

by Maison Lesage with silk threads and natural pearls that is encased by 18k white gold and 60 brilliant-cut diamonds (price on request). Chanel Fine Jewelry, Encore Las Vegas, 702-765-5155; chanel.com

the embroidery work—complete with diamonds, pearls, and specially made silk threads—is done to create the dials for Chanel’s Mademoiselle Privé collection.

“We have worked with Lesage for years on the fashion and couture side to ensure this savoir faire lives on,” says Nicolas Beau, international director of Chanel Watches. “It has been normal for us to work with small companies in the Métiers d’art because people like these are the ones with the magical hands who make things happen. So when Métiers d’art began appearing on watches, we knew we had something truly special and turned to Lesage to help us execute it.”

Along with the decision to create a hand-stitched dial came myriad challenges.

Unlike embroidery on a dress, an embroidered watch dial has to resist continual

photography by cedric simoes (watch); gérard Uféras (embroidery)

The houses of Chanel and lesage commiT To The preservaTion of excepTional crafTsmanship as They seamlessly blend The arT of embroidery wiTh Top-noTch méTiers d’arT in waTchmaking. by roberta naas

“The dials are a sTory ThaT connecTs The brand, The crafT, The couTure sTaTus, and embraces The spiriT of chanel.”

—nicolas beau

photography courtesy of chanel

Chanel and Maison Lesage created this Mademoiselle Privé Camélia Brodé timepiece in 18k yellow gold set with 60 brilliant-cut diamonds and an embroidered dial set with one rose-cut diamond, yellow- and white-gold paillons, and gold thread (inset) ($41,900). Chanel Fine Jewelry, Encore Las Vegas, 702-765-5155; chanel.com

exposure to ultraviolet light without fading; it must be strong enough to withstand bumps; and it has to be made of threads that will last the life of the watch. Beau says Chanel and Lesage worked together to develop a special silk for the dial that was both strong and would not spill any silk dust (thereby damaging the watch). They then developed special gold threads and metallic paillons knowing that traditional embroidery materials, like cotton, wouldn’t work.

Unveiled two years ago, the first embroidered watches boasted pure silk threads and were so revolutionary that Chanel won the Artistic Crafts award at the 2013 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. Since then, Chanel has stepped up design and technique in its new pieces every year, including using gold threads in 2014 and adding glass beads and pearls this year. In fact, each time the brand opts to include a new element on a dial, the experts must work side by side with Lesage to create tiny new settings and develop methods that

will hold the elements in place.

The Mademoiselle Privé collection was selected for this special Métiers d’art Lesage line, according to Beau, because it epitomizes the brand’s artistic dials. The name derives from a sign on the door of Coco Chanel’s studio, which warned visitors that the area was a private space. “That patrimony translated nicely into a collection,” says Beau, “and expanding that collection to include Lesage, with designs inspired by the coromandel screens in [Coco Chanel’s] apartment, was perfect.”

Several top artisans create the Lesage dials, so every one is a unique, handmade piece. Once Lesage completes the embroidered designs, they are delicately packaged and sent directly to Chanel’s watchmaking workshop, Châtelain, in the Swiss city of La Chaux-de-Fonds, where they are applied to the final timepieces. “These dials have a life of their own,” says Beau. “They are a story that connects the brand, the craft, the couture status, and embraces the spirit of Chanel.” V

Sew ChiC! Maison Lesage brings expert needlework to Chanel’s Fall/Winter 2015–16 Haute Couture collection.

Karl Lagerfeld showed this sleeveless dress in green silk tulle among his 67-piece Haute Couture collection in an Art Deco–inspired casino set at the Grand Palais in Paris. The dress is embroidered

by Maison Lesage with crystal tubes, and is finished with strips of silk tulle and an underskirt of tulle on organza.

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Culture Hottest ticket

Chin Up

Now appeariNg twice moNthly at the mirage, there’s No slowiNg dowN for comedy’s Nice guy, Jay Leno.

photography by Christopher polk/NbC/NbCU photo baNk via getty images

by Joh

Funnyman Jay Leno returns to his favorite Vegas stage at Mirage this November.

atsiLometes

Stepping down from The Tonight Show in February of last year has not slowed Jay Leno down a bit. The 65-year-old comedian and TV host recently launched Jay Leno’s Garage, an hour-long series about all facets of the automotive industry, running through December 2 on NBC. The show is an updated version of his YouTube series of the same name, which grew to a one-hour special on CNBC last year.

In the midst of this trek to network primetime, Leno is playing his favorite Vegas haunt, Mirage’s Terry Fator Theatre, on November 20 and 21.

He’s long served as an anchor in Mirage’s “Aces of Comedy” series, fying between Vegas and LA on the nights he performs.

“I have always been a stand-up comedian,” he says. “I love it. I remember when I would go places, and nobody would want to see you. Well, now people actually show up.”

Still, he remains “stunned” that fans would stop him and ask for an autograph. “I like people.

I am not one of those entertainers who kick people away and say, ‘I’m not signing autographs,’” he insists. “The more interaction you have, the better you are as a stand-up, because most of your comedy comes from people. The bigger you get in show business, the more isolated you become. I don’t want that to happen to me.”

He also contines to work to make sure he doesn’t get stale. “If I tell a joke in Vegas, I go home and listen to the recording and go, ‘I’ll bet if I add this to it, it’ll be better. Lemme work on that and do it tomorrow night.’” And he’s just as tireless in mentoring young comics. “When I was coming up, people like Steve Martin, Robert Klein, and George Carlin were very kind to me and helped me get work,” he shares. “Consequently, when I go to places, I say, ‘You should hire this guy, or you should hire that guy.’ People think [the comedy business] is a cutthroat thing, but it’s really not a bad environment at all. It’s not as competitive as sports, or selling insurance.” For tickets, call 702-792-7777 or visit mirage.com. V

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Culture See, Hear!

SiSter Act For identical twin sisters Miriam “Mim” Nervo and Olivia “Liv” Nervo, scoring a songwriting deal with the world’s largest music publishing company at the tender age of 18 was only the prelude to a decade that’s seen them rise through the ranks of electronic dance music.

In 2009, a few years after signing with Sony/ ATV, the former models cowrote and produced their frst hit, the Grammy Award–winning “When Love Takes Over,” with David Guetta and Kelly Rowland. Building on that momentum, they later penned songs for a string of high-profle pop stars (Britney Spears, Kesha) while mastering deejaying software like Logic Pro in their downtime.

Raised in Australia, the sisters, who now produce, record, and deejay together under the name Nervo, have stepped outside the studio in favor of a more nomadic lifestyle, crisscrossing the globe to get behind the turntables in EDM capitals like Ibiza, São Paulo, and, of course, Las Vegas.

This past year, multiple Vegas nightclubs, including Omnia at Caesars Palace, played host to Nervo residencies, leading up to the July release of their debut studio album, Collateral. A mix of new material and proven hits like “Hold On” and “You’re Gonna Love Again,” the album ascended Billboard’s and iTunes’ ultracompetitive Dance charts within days of its release, proving the sisters’ staying power in a genre that ultimately remains dominated by men.

Likewise, the album’s success confrmed what Forbes suggested last year when it tentatively named Nervo the EDM scene’s highest-earning female act based on touring revenue and lucrative contracts with big-name brands like CoverGirl.

Judging from their ease at climbing charts, we doubt it’ll take Nervo long to eclipse more players in the EDM scene.

November 21. Omnia at Caesars Palace, 702-785-6200; omnianightclub.com V

Olivia “Liv” Nervo and Miriam “Mim” Nervo.

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photography by chloe paul

the latest sensation to hit electronic dance music is a set of identical twins from melbourne. by tess eyrich

Culture Art Basel

Global Gallery

Art AficionAdos Are geAring up for next month’s Art BAsel in miAmi BeAch, An internAtionAl nexus for Artists And other creAtive minds. by matt stewart Since being launched in 2002, Art Basel in Miami Beach has become arguably the most prestigious and infuential art fair in the Americas. More than 70,000 international visitors descended on Miami for last year’s four-day event, and this year’s edition promises to surpass that fgure, with 267 galleries from 31 countries exhibiting an estimated $3 billion worth of contemporary art from December 3 to 6.

The spectacular growth of Art Basel in Miami Beach is directly related to the health

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of global fnancial markets over the last few years, which has encouraged more collectors to invest in fne art, particularly in contemporary emerging artists. The postwar and contemporary segments of the art market accounted for 48 percent of all sales by value last year, according to the European Fine Art Foundation, and with the US representing nearly 39 percent of the market by value, Art Basel’s American fair is at the epicenter of the international art world.

“The Americas have been

MARc SpIegleR

Director of Art Basel

NOAH HOROWITZ

Director Americas for Art Basel

paramount to the global art market for a long time,” says Noah Horowitz, recently appointed director Americas for Art Basel. “What we’re seeing now is the proliferation of dynamic regional art scenes across the Americas. All of these places are developing culturally in such unique and interesting ways, fostering local talent, begetting new galleries, and nurturing emerging collectors—feeding creativity and renewed energy into the larger ecosystem.”

Horowitz promises to bring vivacity to Art Basel in Miami

Beach, something he proved quite adept at as director of New York’s prestigious Armory Show. “I will oversee the Miami Beach show while also dedicating much of my time to engaging with the art scene and its key players across the Americas,” he says.

“I’ll be working to further strengthen relationships with collectors, museums, and institutions across the region, while also creating new opportunities for galleries and their artists, not only in Miami Beach but also throughout Art Basel’s global activities.”

photography Courtesy of thomas DunCan gallery (SP003_5_65x35_2014); Courtesy of garth greenan gallery (The Winner); © art Basel (spiegler, horowitz)

The Thomas Duncan Gallery will exhibit Sean Paul’s 2014 work SP003_5_ 65x35_2014 (far left) in the Positions sector at Art Basel in Miami Beach, while the Garth Greenan Gallery shows Rosalyn Drexler’s 1965 painting The Winner in the Survey sector.

Sem Titulo (1953) by Roberto Burle Marx will be exhibited

by Bergamin & Gomide in the Survey sector at this year’s Art Basel in Miami Beach. right: Wang Jinsong’s Untitled No. 7 (1989) will be shown by Beijing Art Now Gallery as part of

photography by Daniel Mansur, Courtesy of bergaMin & goMiDe (Sem TiTulo); Courtesy of beijing art now gallery (unTiTled no.7); Courtesy of noga gallery (installation view)

above:

But what the fair may have most to gain from Horowitz’s involvement, says Marc Spiegler, the director of Art Basel, is “his deep understanding of the art world, especially in the United States and Latin America. With him on board, Art Basel will be able to engage even more with emerging and established collectors, as well as our galleries throughout the Americas.”

Art Basel is well known for bringing artists and works from some of the world’s most venerable galleries to its fairs. Less well known is how

Survey. below: Black Wheel, Bouquet, and Tim Buckley by Keren Cytter, as seen in her 2015 video installation Siren at MCA Chicago. Cytter is represented by Noga Gallery, and her work will be exhibited in the Nova sector.

much effort the organization puts into presenting small independent galleries and the new artists they represent, as well as established artists who may be familiar to artworld insiders but who lack exposure in the marketplace.

“We have introduced sectors that are specifcally designed for younger galleries and that are subsidized by the fair,” Spiegler explains. “In addition, we also have sectors that are dedicated to singleproject booths, giving new and younger artists and galleries the opportunity to participate in the show.” These sectors were designed to be

more experimental than the main Galleries sector. The Survey sector was created in response to increased interest “in looking back at more historical positions,” he adds, “artists who had been overlooked by the market but that other artists and connoisseurs kept returning to. And then, of course, there is the continued surge of so-called ‘digital native’ artists, who now have really come into their own.”

What is Horowitz most looking forward to at his frst Art Basel in Miami Beach? “I’m very excited about Nova, which provides younger galleries

with a platform to present new work by up to three artists,” he says. “We have several frst-time exhibitors, including Ignacio Liprandi Arte Contemporáneo from Buenos Aires, presenting work by Nicolás Bacal, Tomás Espina, and Jorge Pedro Nuñez, and Essex Street in New York, with Park McArthur and Cameron Rowland. There are also some excellent new galleries in Positions, which is our other young sector focusing on single-artist presentations. I’m also looking forward to the second year of Survey, whose inaugural edition was spectacular.

This year’s iteration features 12 exhibitions of historically informed works, including Castelli Gallery’s presentation of iconic sculptures from the 1960s American artist Keith Sonnier, and the frst US survey of Brazilian artist Roberto Burle Marx at Galeria Bergamin. Finally, Public is always a major highlight of the Miami Beach show and will be curated again this year

by Nicholas Baume of the Public Art Fund.” artbasel. com/miami-beach V

Vegas View Each year, Las Vegas fine art advisor Michele Quinn (mcqfineart.com) attends Art Basel in Miami Beach to scout on behalf of clients. She shares her insights on the fair from a Vegas viewpoint.

What are some of the most exciting things you have seen at art Basel in miami Beach?

Last year one of my highlights was seeing the Pérez Museum and the Beatriz Milhazes exhibition.

There was a terrifc Jorge Pardo full-scale installation two years ago. It was a complete foor-toceiling environment, which is the only way to see his work. hoW is las vegas’s representation at the shoW?

There is a core group of collectors who have been visiting the fair the past several years. We have established enough buying power that there is recognition from the galleries and dealers that we have some serious collectors here. is there anything specific you Will Be looking for this year?

I’ve been focusing on large-scale outdoor installations the past few years, so I’m always looking for new artists who can accomplish those goals.

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Culture spotlight

on stage

elf-ish

Como Va Carlos santana is on a roll—and not just with record ticket sales at house of blues. by joh atsilometes By all accounts, Carlos Santana is enjoying a banner residency at House of Blues, which sold its 100,000th ticket in September.

But as any Santana disciple knows, the musician is not in it for the money. The headliner is giving back—whether it’s at the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, Three Square Food Bank, or Opportunity Village. His September visit to OV brought him to tears, and to his feet, as the OVertones music ensemble played a medley of his hits. After a tour of OV, he sat down for a quick catch-up....

What’s the term you use for those who perform acts of charity?

We are an army of weapons of mass compassion. We give people who need support a dose of daily validation.

Your wife (percussionist Cindy Blackman) is going to be working more frequently with you, right? Yes, she’s great. She has left Lenny Kravitz’s band and is going to be on stage with us more often, including the House of Blues shows. We’re going to shift gears and plan on doing a lot together. It comes naturally.

What’s the latest with Santana IV, the reunion album you’ve been recording with your original band (including guitarist Neal Schon, keyboardist Gregg Rolie, drummer Michael Shrieve, and percussionist Michael Carabello)? The album is fnished and should be out in the spring. People are really going to be shocked and surprised. There is so much vibrancy and vitality.

Everybody had fresh ideas. People our age, they don’t play with much energy anymore, but we do.

You still want to move spirits with music, don’t you? Music still has power to make change, oh yes. You know, I am guided by the spirit of people like John Lennon and Bob Marley. I am them now, and they are with me in my heart and telling me what to say every time I open my mouth. santana.com; houseofblues.com v

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Forget A Christmas Story—the latest cult classic holiday flm is Elf, about a charmingly guileless orphan named Buddy who returns to Manhattan to fnd his biological father after being raised by elves at the North Pole. So beloved was the flm by kids and adults alike that in 2010 it was adapted into a Broadway musical by award-winning writers Bob Martin and Thomas Meehan.

Featuring original music from The Wedding Singer songwriters Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin, the touring production ushers in the holiday season in Vegas with an eightshow run the week of Thanksgiving. November 24–29. Reynolds Hall, the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, 702-749-2000; thesmithcenter.com

The laTeST act to take the stage at the Sands Showroom as part of Venetian’s all-female Lipshtick comedy lineup is actually a folk-singing duo. Performing under the name Garfunkel and Oates, Kate Micucci and Riki lindhome pay homage to the “two famous rock ’n’ roll second bananas,” art Garfunkel and John Oates, with deadpan delivery of satirical songs like “happy Birthday to My loose acquaintance” and “My apartment’s

Image Obsessed From the Barrick museum to the Winchester cultural center, Vegas photojournalist mikayla Whitmore has made the rounds at some of the city’s bestknown art galleries. this month, she digs in for a residency at cosmopolitan’s P3 studio. a commentary on the degenerative quality of memory, Whitmore’s exhibition, “When the Night comes,” invites participants to assemble layered collages of personal photos, which the artist then condenses and reshapes into buttons to be taken home as souvenirs. November 11 through December 6.

P3 Studio, Cosmopolitan, 702-698-7000; cosmopolitanlasvegas.com

laugh in

Very Clean Without You.” But don’t be fooled by their dulcet tones; since frst meeting at the los angeles branch of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in 2007, the women have established a reputation as formidable comedic talents, releasing fve full-length albums, including September’s 17-track lP Secretions, and even starred for one season in a TV series on IFC. November 7. Sands Showroom, Venetian, 702414-9000; venetian.com

PhotograPhy by roberto Finizio/PaciFic Press/Lightrocket via getty images (santana); Joan marcus (eLF); seth oLenick (garFunkeL anD oates); JenniFer kLeven (Whitmore)

First Fiddlers Now

JULY 3, 2015 – JANUARY 10, 2016

Tickets and information 702.693.7871

|

bellagio.com/bgfa

Pablo Picasso, Woman with a Chignon and a Yellow Hat, Oil on Canvas, June 1962, 36 x 28 ¾” © Estate of Pablo Picasso, Paris/Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York.

CULTURE Good Sports Lagasse’s Stadium is a gameviewing sure bet. right: Multiple high-defnition big screens behind the bar provide peace of mind for sports fans at Therapy.

SCORE BIG ON GAME DAY WITH FRONT-ROW SEATS AT SOME OF THE STRIP’S BEST VENUES FOR SPORTS-WATCHING. by tess eyrich SPORTS BOO STEROIDS: ARIA RACE & SPORTS BOO

The Aria Race & Sports Book (866-359-7111; aria.com) is one of the most opulent betting venues in a major Las Vegas resort, yet its focus on style doesn’t detract from the high-tech accessories.

A foor-to-ceiling wall of 90 high-defnition TVs, including two spectacular 220-inch screens, complements a jewel-tone main room and VIP areas, which may be smaller than those of most other sports books on the Strip but emphasize Aria’s commitment to comfortable luxury. Plus, if you get hungry, you’re

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only steps away from Shawn McClain’s Five50 Pizza Bar and menu of customizable, wood-fred pizzas.

ULTIMATE VIEWING: LAGASSE’S STADIUM

Vegas may be chock-full of sports bars, but Lagasse’s Stadium (702-607-2665; palazzo.com), with its whiteleather stadium seating and more than 100 highdefnition TVs—one of which measures 16 feet across—is the most fully immersive dining, entertainment, and sports-viewing venue.

There’s an Emeril-designed menu, plus private suites, betting stations, and outdoor pool tables. In the spirit of the season, the Palazzo hot

spot is debuting a collection of limited-time menus— offered on Monday and Thursday nights—inspired by championship teams, like this fall’s football-centric selections (think Manhattan clam chowder for the New York Giants and Chicagostyle hot dogs for the Bears).

UNDER THE RADAR: PUB 1842

Leave it to Michael Mina to take the traditional pub setup and transform it into a sleek, sexy hangout like Pub 1842 (702-891-3922; mgm grand.com), MGM Grand’s wood-paneled trove of rare whiskeys, international craft beers, and elevated fnger foods (think lobster

HIGH-GLAM HANGOUT: LAVO CASINO CLUB

The Strip certainly isn’t a stranger to fusion concepts, but longtime Palazzo favorite Lavo is changing the game with a swank new addition: the Lavo Casino Club (702-791-1800; palazzo.com). Combining Lavo’s full menu of signature Italian dishes with an elaborate tableside mixology program and blackjack tables (baccarat, craps, and roulette are soon to follow), the second-story retreat offers a more intimate viewing experience, with 18 strategically placed fatscreen TVs broadcasting the

latest college football and NFL games. Though typically open only on Friday and Saturday nights, the space is hosting exclusive sporting events on Saturday and Sunday mornings for the remainder of the season.

A FOODIE’S DREAM: THERAPY

Downtown’s newest culinary sensation, Therapy (702-912-1622; therapylv.com), has made a name for itself with quirkycool dishes like oxtail empanadas and fre-roasted street corn. For football season, though, the two-story restaurant has launched an indulgent game-day menu, served on Thursdays, Sundays, and Mondays, that gives diners tastes of treats like caramelized-honey chicken wings and fried alligator tails with pickles.

The gastropub’s 32-foot bar is backed by a number of high-defnition TVs, but if you’re craving a side of privacy with your small plates, consider booking the upstairs loft, which features plenty of lounge seating and even more screens. V

PHOTOGRAPHY cOuRTesY Of VeneTiAn And PAlAzzO (lAGAsse’s sTAdium); bY bRiAn mAnnAsmiTH (THeRAPY)

Game On

fritters and pulled-pork sandwiches). A less crowded alternative to Tap, MGM Grand’s sports book-adjacent bar, Pub 1842 is rolling out several seasonal perks to attract fans on game day, including a build-your-own, bottomless Bloody Mary bar on Sunday mornings and Monday-night raffes that give entrants a shot at scoring limited-edition prizes, including authentic helmets, jerseys, and hats.

Presents The Seventh Annual

VEGAS GIVES Thursday, November 5, 2015 6 pm to 8 pm

Signature drawing items from Grand Canal Shoppes partners include:

Barneys New York, Christian Louboutin, Tory Burch, Diane von Furstenberg and more!

To RSVP, visit: VegasMagazine.com/vegasgives $50 Donation includes event entry and two drawing tickets $100 Donation includes event entry and ďŹ ve drawing tickets Additional drawing tickets available at the event for $40 each or ďŹ ve for $100 (CASH & CHECK ONLY)

Do Vegas Differently.

Escape to ESPA’s world-renowned spa experience at our all-suite, non-gaming, smoke-free, eco-friendly boutique retreat. Vdara.com

An MGM Resorts Luxury Destination

InvIted Wayne and Kathleen Newton with one of their 60 prize-winning Arabian horses at Casa de Shenandoah.

inside WAYne’s World

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF DEniSE TRUSCEllO FOR WiREimAGE

For the very First time, mr. Las vegas Lets the pubLic behind the veLvet curtain at his Famous casa de shenandoah.

It’s hard to imagine anyone who has driven past the familiar golden gates on the corner of Pecos and Sunset not fantasizing about what lies beyond them. When Wayne Newton and his wife, Kathleen, agreed to open up their 52-acre Casa de Shenandoah to the public this fall, curious onlookers finally received much more than a glimpse of the property’s wonders, including Newton’s memorabilia-stocked personal museum, car collection, stable of Arabian horses, and private jet (pro tip: be sure to check out the windows, which are painted to depict Casa de Shenandoah and the Vegas skyline in all its after-hours glory). On opening night, VIP guests and celebrity friends such as Tyson Beckford, Pia Zadora, and Criss Angel strolled the grounds with Newton before ending the evening, naturally, at a private dinner party on the mansion’s patio.

Modesty may not be a virtue Newton abides by, but we wouldn’t want it any other way.

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INVITED // good taste //

HOW SWEET IT IS AT GIRL SCOUTS OF SOUTHERN NEVADA’S ANNUAL GALA, 11 CHEFS COMPETED TO OFFER THEIR MOST CREATIVE TAKES ON THE ORGANIZATION’S LEMONADE COOKIE; OUR Yamilet Hillers, Marisela Espinoza, and Cynthia Werth

FAVORITE DISHES INCLUDED A CITRUS AND BERRY PARFAIT,

Alisha McClellan and Amber Beason

TASTY CHEESECAKE BITES, AND WHIMSICAL “MUSHROOMS”

DESSERT BEFORE DINNER

WRAPPED IN COTTON CANDY. Raspberry lemonade cheesecake

by Cynthia Werth

brought together 11 local chefs in pursuit of one goal: creating the tastiest dessert based on the organization’s Lemonade shortbread cookie.

Held inside Caesars Palace, the gala event drew more than 1,000 guests, who enjoyed entertainment courtesy of Caesars headliner Matt Goss, live and silent auctions, dinner, and a recognition ceremony in which seven Vegas women were honored for their impact on the community and their contributions to Girl Scouts.

Ardi Najmabadi, Elizabeth Blau, Cari Marshall, Diana Bennett, and Susie Lee

Sebastien Silvestri, Chloe Mortaud, and Olivier Dubreuil

Carolyn and Andrew Hagopian

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Natasha Fridman, Marci Murdock, Heidi Straus, and Andrea Gordon

Gianduja lemonade mushrooms by Marisela Espinoza

Lemonade parfaits

by Megan Romano

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF RAY ALAMO

GIRL SCOUTS OF SOUTHERN NEVADA’S largest annual fundraiser

Crystal Clay and Courtney Fierros

Amy Ma and Greg Jarmolowich

Lavo Casino Club

LAVO CASINO CLUB LAUNCH PARTY

Rachel Reynolds and Ronald Smith

VEGAS MAGAZINE TOASTED the grand opening of the Lavo Casino

Club, an elegant new gaming experience on the second floor of Palazzo’s Lavo Italian Restaurant, with a stylish launch party. The event invited attendees to sample a variety of the club’s amenities, including a collection of blackjack and craps gaming tables, bottle service, and signature Italian dishes from the award-winning Lavo menu.

Susan Bunce and Braunwyn Delco

Tom Wright, Tony Codwell, and Zachary Jackson

Joshua Gardiner and Rich Robledo

Andrew Tyson, Jeri Crawford, and Donato Cabrera

Michele Madole and Amy Wiles

LAS VEGAS PHILHARMONIC OPENING NIGHT REYNOLDS HALL at the Smith Center

for the Performing Arts played host to the Las Vegas Philharmonic as the symphony raised the curtain on its 17th season with “Beethoven & Brahms,” a production conducted by Donato Cabrera and Mike Falconer and Cathy Brooks

featuring a guest solo appearance by award-winning pianist Andrew Tyson.

After the show, guests mingled with Cabrera and Tyson over cocktails in the Founders Room while celebrating the start of the new season.

Kevin and Joyce Klevins

VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 69

INVITED Dorrie and Jodi Jacobson

James Turnwall and Jodi Jordan

Beli Andaluz and Marlene Richter

ALEXIS BITTAR GRAND OPENING VEGAS MAGAZINE AND ALEXIS BITTAR

celebrated the official debut of the New York– based jeweler’s first Vegas boutique, inside The Forum Shops at Caesars. Hosted by Beli Andaluz and Marlene Richter, the event gave

Bracelet by Alexis Bittar

Megan Johnson and Ruth Rios

guests an exclusive opportunity to browse Bittar’s newest pieces for fall while supporting The Shade Tree, the largest shelter in Nevada for women, children, and pets who have been victims of domestic violence.

Sue Cassidy, Deborah Alto, Rosana Berger, and Heather Jakusz

Lance Robins and Cary Vovel

“DECORATING FROM TOP TO BOTTOM” WITH THOM FILICIA CELEBRITY INTERIOR DESIGNER and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy star Thom Filicia touched down in Vegas to host “Decorating from Top to Bottom,” an intimate presentation moderated by Vegas Editor-in-Chief Andrea Bennett at the Las Vegas Design Center.

An opening cocktail reception inside the center’s Safavieh showroom kicked off the evening, which also included a silent auction benefiting the Las Vegas Philharmonic, as well as desserts and Champagne in the Kravet and Eastern Accents showrooms.

Robyn Woods and Diane Cabral

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Milene Koblasa, Erica Brodenstine, and Becky Najafi

The Las Vegas Design Center at World Market Center

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF RAY ALAMO (ALEXIS BITTAR); GREG AUTRY (THOM FILICIA) OPPOSITE PAGE: PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF AL POWERS (SPAGO); RAY ALAMO (VACHERON)

Elizabeth and Jacob Lishnevsky

Camille and Larry Ruvo

Donna Isaacs and Abbie Friedman Mo Younis and Gray Maynard

Anna Robins and Ellen Schaner

Kerry Clasby

SIP & SAVOR AT SPAGO CHEFS FROM ALL SIX of Wolfgang Puck’s Vegas restaurants gathered at the one that started it all, Spago, for a dine-around event benefiting Keep Memory Alive, the philanthropic arm of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. Along with the food, guests who attended the fundraiser inside The Forum Shops at Caesars sampled wines from more than 20 of Puck’s favorite wineries, as well as Champagne and spirits from the restaurants’ extensive collections.

Alan Wexler, Gary Frey, and David Robins

Vince Brun and Paul Bartolotta

Watches

by Vacheron Constantin

David Filipi and Dani Reeves

John and Ida Hester

VACHERON CONSTANTIN FOOD & WATCH PAIRING IN HONOR OF THE LUXURY watchmak-

er’s 260th anniversary, Vacheron Constantin and Wynn & Company Watches hosted a lavish cocktail reception, followed by dinner inside a private room at Bartolotta Ristorante

Ilene Wei, Jennifer Luo, and Sophie Shen

di Mare. Invitees browsed a selection of Vacheron’s latest releases before enjoying multiple courses creatively prepared by chef Paul Bartolotta to pair with the Swiss brand’s various timepieces.

Jelindo Tiberti, Vince Brun, and David Steinberg

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L I F E I S A C O M B I N AT I O N O F M A G I C & P A S TA - F E D E R I CO F E L L I N I

NOW SERVING NIGHTLY SALUTEVEGAS.COM

@SALUTEVEGAS

11011 West Charleston Boulevard / Las Vegas / 702.797.7777 • redrock.sclv.com • Like us on Facebook.com/RedRock © 2015 STATION CASINOS, LLC. MANAGEMENT RESERVES ALL RIGHTS.

TasTe

Hidden Harvests erry Clasby is the secret weapon of many of the strip’s best restaurants, and during harvest season you won’t have to look hard to find her exceptional produce in dishes all over the city.

photography by melissa valladares

by miChael aplan

Kerry Clasby ranges far and wide to ensure that her clients serve only the best.

Diminutive and energetic, Kerry Clasby makes frequent jaunts—in her 28-foot truck— between Las Vegas and California in search of the most exceptional and exotic produce for the pickiest chefs in the business. Known as the Intuitive Forager, Clasby parlays personal relationships with a coterie of elite, often obscure farmers, allowing her to snag the rarest of the rare—entire crops of black dates from Southern California and baby escarole grown by Farmer and the Cook in Ojai—tailored to clients’ specifications.

In Vegas, Clasby is in constant demand among the culinary elite. At the same time, her farmers markets (Downtown3rd Farmers Market on Fridays and Downtown Summerlin on Saturdays) are turning local home cooks into organic-produce fanatics themselves. Think strawberries that taste like they’ve been injected with sugar, tomatoes that can be eaten like apples, and Surprise avocados (developed by a botanist at UC continued on page 74

vegasmagazine.com 73

taSte

clockwise from far left: Matsutake

mushroom dobin mushi soup with fresh yuzu at Mizumi; Clasby the Intuitive Forager in her natural habitat; Rivea’s Provencestyle vegetable caponata with farm-fresh zucchini.

Riverside). “Grapes, pears, and persimmons are coming in,” says Clasby. “You fall in love with flavors at the beginning of the season, and they just keep gaining depth and density as the months go on.”

Chef Sean Griffin of JeanGeorges Steakhouse (Aria, 877-230-2742; jean-georges.com) asks Clasby to show up with “anything interesting” in her weekly visits. For fall, Griffin has embraced her Thomcord grapes from Apkarian Family Farm in Reedley, which marry the sweet skin and seedlessness of Thompson grapes with the full flavor of Concords. In a dish called Morning in the Vineyards, they’re roasted on the vine with herbs, set alongside a protein, and embellished with Riesling foam. Other Clasby-picked items on Griffin’s menu this fall: Warren pears, intensely flavored broccoli di cicco, and heirloom apples, such as Roxbury Russets and Pink

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Pearls, from an apple farm in Northern California.

At B&B Ristorante (Venetian, 702-266-9977; bandbristorante.com), chef Jason Neve—who likens Clasby to “an extra set of hands in the kitchen”—is using a savory Italian squash called zucca barucca (or “holy squash”).

Spotted by Mario Batali during a cooking stint in Italy, he loved it so much that he asked Clasby to have it grown for him here; she found a farmer in Santa Paula. Neve uses it to make a ravioli known as cappellacci di zucca. “You can get butternut squash ravioli at any decent Italian restaurant,” he says, “but this ravioli is made from an heirloom varietal that has the perfect balance of sweetness and richness.”

At his new restaurant, Rivea (Delano, 877-632-5400; delanolasvegas.com), chef Alain Ducasse is making good use of Clasby’s gorgeous eggplants, zucchinis, and tomatoes.

Mizumi (Wynn Las Vegas, 702770-3320; wynnlasvegas.com) frequently employs Clasby’s variety of mushrooms and makes a slaw out of Fuji apples gathered at Prevedelli Farms in Watsonville.

Those tucking into the fall tasting menu at Joël Robuchon Restaurant (MGM Grand, 702-891-7925; joel-robuchon.com) should pay extra attention to the pure white eggplants, painstakingly procured by Clasby and lacking the bitterness usually associated with their purple counterparts.

At Carnevino (Venetian, 702-789-4141; carnevino.com), chef Nicole Brisson actually begins menu development with Clasby’s produce. “We look at how beautiful Kerry’s stuff is and it inspires us,” she says. Look for Brisson’s branzino, cooked in parchment and augmented for fall with freshly dug potatoes (“Right from Roots Organic Farm

in Los Olivos,” says Clasby, “they exude a ton of flavor”) and just-picked baby artichokes. The dish is set off with fennel and sweet, succulent Kishu tangerines, grown at a biodynamic orchard in Ojai.

At Spago (Caesars Palace, 702-369-6300; wolfgang puck.com), executive chef Eric Klein is stocking up his fall favorites, like squash, kale, and Brussels sprouts. Klein, who has worked with Clasby for 25 years, saves his greatest enthusiasm for Clasby’s apples. “I will be doing an apple experience,” he says.

“I can use apples for chips, salad, juice, apple butter. The idea is to stay flexible and keep evolving.”

Not surprisingly, Clasby has fallen in love with Vegas and its innovative chefs. “I’m bringing family farms to the glittering desert,” she says.

“Great produce allows the great chefs to shine, and I enjoy contributing to that.” V

Kerry Clasby’s food tour continues off the Strip, at stand-alone restaurants, where her produce is used to great effect. At Andiron Steak & Sea (1720 Festival Plaza Dr., 702-685-8002; andironsteak.com), chef Kim Canteenwalla has made Clasby’s heirloom squash the headline ingredient in a rich vegetable soup (shown below), which also includes the forager’s leeks, thyme, and sage. At David Clawson Restaurant (2840 Bicentennial Pkwy., Henderson, 702-466-2190; david-clawson.com), chef David Clawson takes the sweet route by highlighting Clasby’s Santa Rosa Valley blueberries in an extravirgin olive oil cake, her Brentwood corn in panna cotta, and her sweet carrots in a carrot caramel sauce.

At the appropriately named Vegenation (616 E. Carson Ave., 702-366-8515; vegenation.com), Clasby’s oversize sweet potatoes from The Little Organic Farm in Petaluma, California, are the key ingredient in chef Donald Lemperle’s African yam stew.

photography by jeff green (mizumi); melissa valladares (clasby); pierre monetta (rivea); courtesy of andiron steak & sea (soup)

OFF the StRIP

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Sage Advice ExEcutivE chEf Shawn Mcclain’S rEStaurant, Sage, haS takEn thE Strip to a nEw lEvEl of SEaSonal dining. thiS yEar, Mcclain iS drawing on nEw SourcES for a harvESt MEnu to End all harvESt MEnuS. By Catherine De OriO Although born in San Diego, Shawn McClain, the executive chef at Sage, declares, “I’m a Midwestern guy.” He did his culinary training in Chicago and honed his skills there at Trio, Spring, Custom House, and Green Zebra, gathering awards along the way. So it should come as no surprise that he welcomes the changing season and the task of thoughtfully deciding how to utilize the harvest’s bounty. “Fall is just one of those awesome seasons.… Psychologically, it’s one of the best seasons to move into,” he says. “And there are so many great foods that go along with that.”

All It’s CrACked Up to Be “It’s by far the simplest dish we have,” Executive Chef Shawn McClain says of the slow-poached, organic-farm egg, an untouchable menu item that has a devoted following among chefs, waitstaff and regulars at Sage. Starting with an organic egg

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Shawn McClain

Richer, more savory favors make their way onto the menu as fall settles in. Beef belly, short ribs, and veal cheeks are on offer, but it’s the Snake River Ranch wagyu-beef rib cap— the fatty, full-favored outer cap of the rib eye–that no one should miss. Sitting atop celery root and apple accented with nutty brown butter, garnished with earthy black truffes, and fnished with a red wine reduction with a hint of aromatic nutmeg, the dish is a veritable homage to harvest season.

“We would like to showcase pristine and amazing ingredients in somewhat fabulous ways,” explains McClain. He utilizes as many cooking techniques as possible, treating ingredients in unexpected ways, and turning what could be a ho-hum, ubiquitous farm-to-table experience into a series of gustatory delights. With these outcomes, it is no surprise that McClain was touting (and vehemently committed to) “seasonality” and “sustainability” long before those buzzwords became fashionable. Some dishes contain ingredients that undergo no fewer than three techniques each to maximize favor and texture. Meaty wild-caught Columbia River sturgeon is cured, smoked, and then briefy cooked sous vide to lend more texture to the fsh, which is accompanied with buckwheat tuiles, early-fall potatoes, fennel and horseradish, and crowned with caviar.

Much like the seasons, Sage’s menu is constantly evolving, with dishes rotating off the menu to highlight only those ingredients at their peak. “Our menu is really driven by products,” explains McClain. “Dishes will have targets on them and be subbed out when an ingredient is no longer available.” A riff on a classic Italian dish highlights the bitter winter greens kale and rapini, unexpectedly adds eggplant (it’s a nice bridge between the seasons, McClain notes), and lends some heat with peppers before quite literally fattening up with some house-made sausage tossed with cavatelli and cheese. “Only a few [meals] always remain, including the crowd-pleasing grilled Spanish octopus, which is tweaked to keep with the season–Bloomsdale spinach gives way to Lacinato kale, and pumpkin seeds replace Marcona almonds in the romesco sauce. Adding potatoes and heirloom apples lends serious seasonal fair.

While paying the utmost respect to the tenets of farmto-table, “we want to stay progressive and inventive” explains McClain. Mission accomplished. Aria Las Vegas, 877-230-2742; aria.com V

from Nevada’s Crossfre Ranch, it’s simmered for 65 minutes in a water bath of exactly 147 degrees, rendering the rich yolk super creamy. “It’s really about the yolk,” explains McClain. It is served nestled in a creamy, smoked purèe of La Ratte potatoes, with a foat of black-truffe-infused milk and seasoned with sea salt, pepper, and a healthy shaving of fresh truffes. A side of thick country bread ensures no drop is left behind. Simple? Simply sensational.

photography courtesy of MgM resorts InternatIonal

The charred baby octopus caponata is a consistent favorite at Sage.

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TASTE Spotlight TO FRANK, LOVE, JACK Happily, Frank Sinatra’s preference for Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 has inspired the distillery to come up with ever more premium offerings.

Sinatra Select, released in 2013, is bottled at 90 proof, close to what Ol’ Blue Eyes would have been drinking (since then, the brand has changed the formulation of Old No.

FROZEN FUN Las Vegas–based Leif Pearson recently launched Momenti Spirited Ice Cream, featuring frozen treats containing between five and 13 percent alcohol. Ice cream varieties include White Russian and Chocotini Chip, and the sorbet comes in flavors like Champagne Strawberry, Limoncello (with Meyer lemons), and Blackberry Cabernet (SHOWN). momentispirits.com

7 to be 80 proof). Now, in honor of his 100th birthday, comes the brand-new, ultrapremium Sinatra Century, which is exposed to extra layers of toasted oak during aging, producjackdaniels.com

JULIAN SERRANO’S LAGO LAUNCHES THREECOURSE LUNCH AND SUNDAY BRUNCH. Perhaps realizing that Bellagio’s fountains provide the perfect backdrop for a power lunch or leisurely Sunday brunch, Lago by Julian Serrano now offers three courses of each. Lunch options include lighter portions of the restaurant’s popular small plates, plus items like spinach lasagna, insalata di mare (think shrimp, lobster, clams, calamari, scallops), and pistachio-crusted salmon.

Prix-fixe brunch starts with a pastry basket (zeppole, bomboloni, cinnamon rolls), and the antipasti stars include truffled ricotta raviolone topped with an egg yolk and truffle butter sauce, and braised pulled duck meat served with cheesy, creamy polenta.

Eggplant parm Benedict is a must-try main, or opt for Nonna’s Frittata, made with baked eggs, fresh vegetables, and mozzarella, or a pizzetta with cured guanciale. Finish with Serranoesque twists on Italian classics, like panettone pudding and Nutella crespelle. Bellagio Las Vegas, 702-693-7111; bellagio.com V

STAY CENTERED The Hard Rock Hotel’s Center Bar is ready for round two. An über-sceney hot spot since its opening in the mid-’90s—known as the place to meet friends, and perhaps a celebrity or two, before and after shows— the iconic space closed this summer for a much-needed update. Now the revamped bar and lounge, with its mix of banquettes, stone-top cocktail tables, plush couches, high-defintion television screens, and expanded drink menu, is once again worthy of its rock-star status. hardrockhotel.com

LOCK IT DOWN BOURBON LOVERS, REJOICE. In keeping with its “Southern Table & Bar” tagline, Yardbird at Venetian has debuted a program specially for fans of the American South’s greatest invention: bourbon. (Sorry, cotton-gin buffs.) Guests can now purchase their very own in-house bourbon locker, featuring a personalized nameplate, for a $2,500 annual fee.

Bourbon locker owners will be able to buy exclusive, limited-edition releases to drink at the restaurant—straight up or in specialty house cocktails like blackberry bourbon lemonade or mint juleps—and store in the locker (located in the restaurant’s private dining room). Locker owners will also receive VIP reservations, so you can visit—and dip into— your bourbon whenever you get a hankering. Venetian Las Vegas, 702-297-6541; runchickenrun.com

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY NIKKI PEARSON, PEARSON IMAGES (MOMENTI); ERIK KABIK (HARD ROCK, YARDBIRD); COURTESY OF MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL (LAGO)

Midday Dream

ing a richer, smokier flavor.

TasTe Imbibe

Spirited AwAy Bad case of wanderlust? the liquid cures at these Vegas Bars and restaurants spotlight spirits and liqueurs from faraway places and centuries past. by tess eyrich liqueur is a primary component of the bar’s Scorpion Daisy, a heady marriage of Karma tequila reposado and mezcal. “Falernum lends spice and nuttiness to cocktails and also provides a great weight,” says lead mixologist Rustyn Vaughn Lee. caribbean breeze: the golden tiki

Velvet Falernum also plays a starring role in several drinks at The Golden Tiki (702-222-3196; thegoldentiki.com), Chinatown’s new ode to midcentury tiki culture. The Three Dots and a Dash cocktail couples the liqueur with rhum agricole, a type of rum made in the French Caribbean using fresh-squeezed sugar cane juice rather than molasses. Also on the menu are tantalizing blends of Panamanian Cana Brava rum and apricot liqueur (the Hotel Nacional) and Cuban and Jamaican rums, Spanish sherry, and the sweet Italian liqueur Galliano (the Polynesian Haze). asian sensation: hakkasan

italian style: downtown cocktail room

This fall the seasonal menu at Downtown Cocktail Room (702-880-3696; thedowntownlv.com) focuses on Italy. The B-Movie Detective cocktail puts a Mediterranean spin on the traditional Bloody Mary, mixing marinara and mozzarella (yes, you read that correctly) with grappa.

Italian herbal liqueurs, meanwhile, show up in drinks like the What’s a Matta You?, a no-holds-barred blend of vermouth, beer, and the bitter, artichoke-based Cynar.

French imports: Bardot Brasserie

The trove of unusual European spirits at Aria’s Bardot Brasserie (702-590-8638; aria.com) includes Holland’s malty take on gin, Bols Genever, which

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reentered the US market in 2008 after a half-century absence. Likewise, Bardot’s signature drink, And God Created Woman, reintroduces a French aperitif that disappeared during Prohibition: Byrrh. “Byrrh is similar to vermouth, but the primary bittering agent is cinchona bark instead of wormwood,” says Craig Schoettler, Aria’s property mixologist. “The herbaceousness of the drink’s gin is softened by Byrrh’s rich red fruits, cocoa, and oxidative qualities.” tropical ic : rose. raBBit. lie.

Not known for playing by the rules, the mixologists at Rose. Rabbit. Lie. (877-667-0585; cosmopolitanlasvegas.com) wield heavy-duty ingredients like absinthe, pecan-favored Chartreuse, and Velvet Falernum from Barbados. The tropical

alpine run: yardBird southern taBle & Bar

The essence of Central Europe comes alive in an unexpected setting: Yardbird Southern Table & Bar (702-297-6541; venetian.com), where a drink called the Rumble and Sway combines two rums (smoky Bacardi 8 and smooth Atlantico reserva) and cherry liqueur with Nux Alpina, an Austrian liqueur made by steeping green walnuts in grape brandy. “Some people compare this cocktail to a Manhattan,” says Greg Waters, the restaurant’s operations manager and the creator of the drink, which is topped with a bourbon-soaked black cherry, “but it’s in a class all by itself.” v

photography by jon estrada

The Weapon of Choice cocktail at Hakkasan draws its unique flavor from baijiu, the national drink of China.

Baijiu, the world’s most-consumed spirit, is virtually unknown in the United States, but that’s changing as cutting-edge cocktail programs such as the one at MGM’s Hakkasan (702-891-3838; hakkasanlv.com) embrace the grain-based liquor’s intense, deeply earthy favor. Hakkasan’s Weapon of Choice uses baijiu from the 600-year-old distillery Shui Jing Fang, balancing its savory qualities—born of sorghum and a fermenting base called qu—with No. 209 gin, Death’s Door Wondermint liqueur (artisanal schnapps made with peppermint extract, bitter almond, rosewater, and absinthe), and Hum liqueur (with hibiscus, ginger, cardamom, and kaffr lime). Or opt for a straight (tiny) shot—as it’s traditionally consumed in the spirit’s home country of China—for an unforgettable taste adventure.

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queeN of throNes SMART. BEAUTIFUL. FIERCE. THE GENERAL CONSENSUS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE POND IS THAT ENGLISH CHARMER NATALIE DORMER RULES.

by DAVID HOCHMAN photography by TONY DURAN

N

atalie Dormer is on a pool terrace overlooking Los Angeles, doing what can only be described as the happy dance. In an entertainment world where things so often go wrong, everything appears to be going exactly right for Dormer, and you sense her good fortune as she casually pirouettes and pliés— she was a ballerina before becoming an actor—for a photographer’s camera on this sparkling-blue day in Beverly Hills.

But then she stops, cocks her hip, and scrunches her lips into a mischievous little pucker that edges up on one side. Dormer has very large, bright blue eyes that somehow loom larger in that instant. The English actress is so well known for this facial fourish that there is a highly traffcked Tumblr page called “Natalie Dormer’s Smirk.”

For the record, she is okay with that. “I have a lopsided smile, what can I say?” she says. “And if that message flters down to some girl looking in the mirror who feels she’s not completely symmetrical, then I am glad to have helped in some small, albeit ridiculous, way.”

At the moment, Dormer is not smirking so much as suppressing laughter or perhaps primal screams. It has been an intense week that’s about to get crazier. She just arrived via London, where she lives, from Serbia, where she flmed her frst honest-to-goodness lead role in a supernatural horror flm called The Forest. Tomorrow, she heads to San Diego for the restorative Zen retreat that is Comic-Con. Over three frantic days there, she will promote roles in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, which opens November 20; Patient Zero, an upcoming

bio-thriller about a global pandemic; and the sixth season of HBO’s Game of Thrones, in which Dormer stars as Margaery Tyrell, queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Press panels, parties, hordes of furry green-haired cosplayers—“The trick will be remembering which Natalie Dormer I need to be and when,” she says as her grin starts to curl again.

Madness might be justifable. At 33, Dormer somehow fnds herself in two of the biggest pop culture sensations of our time. Hunger Games and Game of Thrones attract so much frenzied analysis and commentary that they are international events. Game of Thrones, which this year received a whopping 24 Emmy nominations, will once again simulcast across more than 170 countries when it returns next year, and the three Hunger Games flms alone have grossed over $1 billion worldwide.

Dormer, who frst appeared in Mockingjay Part 1, was the number-one choice to play Cressida, the propaganda flm director whose scalp ripples with vine tattoos. “Natalie had to shave part of her head for the role, and she wore the look with absolute ferceness,” says Hunger Games producer Nina Jacobson. “She gives you everything as an actor, and yet, on screen, you still can’t quite pinpoint what she’s thinking.

The more you watch her, the more you want to know. I suspect it’s why audiences are so drawn to her.” To Dormer, the hair was a crucial part of developing the role. “If you shave your head and walk around with a semiautomatic rife for three months, you just feel different,” she says.

“Going to the bathroom in the middle of the night I’d sometimes catch my refection and actually get a little scared. The beanie stayed on my head pretty solidly.”

opposite page: Gown, Chanel ($6,550). Wynn Las Vegas, 702-770-3532; chanel.com. beauty: Leonor Greyl Baume Bois de Rose ($49), Éclat Naturel Nourishing and Protective Styling Cream ($46), and Serum de Soie Sublimateur ($46). leonorgreyl-usa.com. Clé de Peau Radiant Fluid Foundation in O10 ($125), Luminizing Face Enhancer ($95), Eye Color Quad in 313 ($55), and Extra Rich Lipstick in 101 ($40). Saks Fifth Avenue, Fashion Show, 702-733-8300; saks.com

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Dormer grew up in Reading, England, where a thriving Hollywood career seemed about as probable as a play date with Prince William. “I didn’t know any actors and had no idea how to get into the profession,” she says. It was her grandmother who inspired Dormer, the eldest of three, to perform. “She would take me to see Shakespeare’s tragedies in the ruins of the Reading Abbey, knocked down by Henry VIII and Cromwell, and my eyes totally opened up to the possibilities.”

A straight-A student who speaks multiple languages, Dormer was accepted to Cambridge University but chose instead to enroll at drama school in London. Just months after graduating, director Lasse Hallström cast her as a bumbling virgin opposite Heath Ledger in Casanova. Dormer’s role was written as a bit part, but Hallström gave her more screen time when he saw she had real potential.

David Goyer, the screenwriter behind Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy and the writer and coproducer of The Forest, says, “When you meet Natalie, what distinguishes her is this sense that ‘here’s someone who’s going to be a star.’ It’s partly her ambition, but it’s also her rare combination of razorsharp wit, unusual intelligence, and unique, timeless looks.”

That mix made her a natural to play Anne Boleyn in the 2007 Showtime series The Tudors. By the time another costume project, Game of Thrones, came along, Dormer might as well have stitched herself permanently into a corset.

“You say that,” she says a touch defensively, when asked about the period roles, “but I’ve actually only done three corset dramas in 10 years. Kate Winslet’s spent more time in a corset than I have. Helena Bonham Carter has spent more time in a corset than I have. What Americans tend to forget is that I can carry a semiautomatic weapon and run around in jeans and T-shirts, too.”

That’s true. Her role as Sherlock Holmes’s only love, Irene Adler, in the CBS series Elementary showed that Dormer could be powerful and sexy without ruffes. But it is the character of Margaery Tyrell on Thrones that is her greatest creation. Here, too, the role was not conceived as a major one—Margaery is a marginal fgure in the original fantasy novels—but Dormer turns her into a politically savvy woman in charge, who dominates whatever scene she’s in.

Last season found Margaery in what might have been the most uncomfortable sex scene ever broadcast on television that did not actually involve sex. The boy king, Tommen Baratheon, played by Dean Charles Chapman, made Margaery his queen—with all the carnal clutching and gasping such a royal union involves on a show like Thrones. Fans were agog. Chapman is 17 but playing 12, an age gap that set off a Twitter storm even though the hook-up was mostly implied. Dormer fnds the fuss a little irritating. “After what we’ve done on this show—the rape, the incest, the child murdering—it baffes me that two people in a reasonably good, reasonably affectionate relationship is what gets the wide eyes and the questions.”

As for questions about Dormer’s own relationship, let’s just say it might be easier to extract answers from Ser Pounce, the Game of Thrones cat. Dormer’s partner of four years

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is Anthony Byrne, a flmmaker and director. He created Hozier’s latest music video, which features Dormer. Byrne is across the pool today, tapping on his phone as Dormer talks, but she doesn’t say much about him. “I couldn’t possibly comment,” is all she says when asked about recent reports that the couple was spotted ring shopping or about the double date paparazzi caught them on in Serbia last June with Lady Gaga and her fancé (and Dormer’s costar in The Forest), Taylor Kinney.

Dormer treasures her privacy, which is partly why she stays off social media. “I’ve been busy enough playing four different roles in the last four years,” she says, “and I don’t have energy to put out some perfect image of Natalie Dormer that’s not the real me anyway.” To stay grounded, she spends as much time as possible with friends she’s had since childhood. “Most of my closest pals have nothing to do with the industry. They watched me struggle fnancially.

They know my sob stories and the roles I missed out on and the nights when I never thought I’d work again.”

She is also devoted to philanthropy.

Dormer ran the London Marathon last year to raise money for Barnardo’s, the UK’s largest children’s charity. “She put us all to shame by somehow managing to train in the middle of Hunger Games,” Nina Jacobson laughs. If Dormer’s schedule allows, she’ll run the New York Marathon this month in support of Team for Kids, the New York Road Runners’ charity. She also appeared in a campaign on behalf of Plan UK, which works to eliminate forced underage marriage and female genital mutilation around the world.

Whether future roles will involve bodices and bustles remains unclear.

Margaery did not appear in the Game of Thrones fnale last season, leaving fans to wonder if she might become yet another victim of brutality in Westeros and Essos. But Dormer will be okay no matter what happens. She says she’d love to do a comedy (“I’m a huge fan of Veep,” she says) or a naturalistic drama, and being a Bond girl might be cool, too.

Dormer looks out to LA, her eyes glimmering, as that confdent, cryptic facial expression returns. “My fve-year, no, 10-year, hell, my 55-year take is that I’m going to keep doing this as long as I can keep doing this,” she says. “You look at my countrywomen like Judi Dench and Vanessa Redgrave and Diana Rigg—they’re gonna drop doing what they love to do. That’s where I’m heading.” Corset or not, she says, “Someone’s going to have to carry me out.”

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 opens in theaters on November 21. V

“I get oil paintings from fans, computergenerated art from fans, fans approaching me in the toilet, fans approaching me in the sauna. It’s a Champagne problem, but I can’t really go anywhere without a ‘Wait, aren’t you…?’”

Embroidered silk dress, Erdem ($5,280). erdem.com. Bra, Dolce & Gabbana ($275).

The Shops at Crystals, 702431-6614; dolcegabbana.com Photography by Tony Duran/ tonyduran.net Styling by Martina Nilsson at Opus Beauty Hair by Christian Marc at Forward Artists using Leonor Greyl Makeup by Matthew VanLeeuwen at The Wall Group using ClĂŠ de Peau Manicure by Sarah Chue for Dior Vernis First photo assistant: Justin Schwan Second photo assistant: Arthur Lang Video: Adriano Valentini Location by Sources Locations/ Nancy Rigoli, 323-493-8844

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Allusions of GrAndeur

It’s a new age of magnIfIcence thIs season as fashIon goes absolutely opulent.

Photography by Daniela Federici Styling by Garth Condit

opposite page: Dress, ChloĂŠ ($11,595). Wynn Las Vegas, 702-770-3450; chloe.com. Silver and red Vibrante pendant necklace, Lalique ($825). The Shops at Crystals, 702-507-2375; lalique.com this page: Dress ($9,965) and choker ($730), Emilio Pucci. The Shops at Crystals, 702-262-9671; emiliopucci.com

this page: Jacket ($6,800) and skirt ($21,200), Chanel. Wynn Las Vegas, 702-770-3532; chanel.com. 18k white-gold 1.5 carat princess-cut diamond 1932 ring with 238 round-cut diamonds ($85,500) and 18k white-gold Jazz ring set with 90 brilliant-cut diamonds, one square-cut diamond, and 48 round-cut black spinels ($76,500), Chanel Fine Jewelry. Wynn Las Vegas, 702-770-3532; chanel.com opposite page: Dress ($7,950),

necklace ($1,750), and belt ($690), Lanvin. The Shops at Crystals, 702-982-0245; lanvin.com. 18k whitegold Jazz ring set with 90 brilliant-cut diamonds, one square-cut diamond, and 48 round-cut black spinels, Chanel Fine Jewelry ($76,500). Wynn Las Vegas, 702-770-3532; chanel.com Beauty: Charlotte Tilbury Light Wonder Foundation ($45), Luxury Palette in The Sophisticate ($52), Filmstar Killer Cheekbones ($110), Lip Cheat Lip Liner in Foxy Brown ($22), Brow Lift Eyebrow Pencil ($30). charlottetilbury.com. Kérastase Forme Fatale (125ml for $36), Sérum Oléo-Relax (125ml for $40), Laque Noir Hairspray (300ML for $37). Globe Salon, 900 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 702-938-4247; kérastase-usa.com.

Hair by Luca Blandi/ Oscar Blandi Salon Makeup by Georgina Billington/ Judy Casey using Charlotte Tilbury Model: Nicole Meyer/Wilhelmina Shot on location at Fonthill Castle, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 215-348-9461; fonthillmuseum.org.

Built between 1908 and 1912, Fonthill was the home of Henry Chapman Mercer, who built Fonthill both as his home and as a showplace for his collection of tiles and prints.

Designed by Mercer, the building is an eclectic mix of Medieval, Gothic, and Byzantine architectural styles.

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At Your Service Our annual Vegas Gives event, held at the Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian and Palazzo—this year on November 5— pays tribute to powerful women who are paying it forward with style. This year, we’re toasting nine community infuencers whose passions for philanthropy are changing Las Vegas for the better.

By Tess Eyrich Photography by Brad Swonetz Styling by Olwen Zarlengo Location , clothing, jewelry, and makeup provided courtesy of Barneys New York, Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian and Palazzo

from left: Cari Marshall, Gigi Shaukat, Marilyn Larson, Paula Lawrence, Rachel Smith, Nancy Houssels, Mauricia Baca, Kristin Conte, and Barbara Molasky.

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on gigi shaukat: Jacket, Dries Van Noten ($1,030). Dress, Alaïa ($3,150). Earrings, Irene Neuwirth ($3,675).

Ring, Spinelli Kilcollin ($5,800). Barneys New York, Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian and Palazzo, 702-629-4200; barneys.com. Heels, Shaukat’s own

“My favorite part is getting to know the Make-a-wish kids, and seeing how transforMative the experience is for theM.” —gigi shaukat

on cari marshall: Dress,

Christopher Kane ($1,320). Earrings, Irene Neuwirth ($9,860). Clutch, Stella McCartney ($2,770).

Barneys New York, Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian and Palazzo, 702-629-4200; barneys.com. Ring and pumps, Marshall’s own

GiGi sha at Making Children’s Wishes CoMe True

Cari Marshall Finding a Cure For Crohn’s disease

Harvard University graduate and former Procter & Gamble executive Gigi Shaukat may have left the traditional workforce in 2012 to focus on raising her children, but she is utilizing her skills in strategic planning, fundraising, and fnancial forecasting in another capacity.

Shaukat joined the board of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Nevada in 2014 and now serves as its vice chairman, a role that brings her in close contact with the more than 100 Make-A-Wish kids whose requests are granted by the organization’s Southern Nevada chapter each year. “I was attracted to the idea that I could help alleviate the suffering of children,” Shaukat says. “My favorite part is getting to know the Make-A-Wish kids, and seeing how transformative the wish experience is for them.

Even after their wishes are fulflled or they’ve recovered from their illnesses, they still wear their wishes as badges of honor.” snv.wish.org

The experience of living with a chronic medical condition is a reality Cari Marshall knows all too well. As a child, Marshall’s daughter, Dana Marshall-Bernstein, was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, an infammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract that affects an estimated 1.4 million Americans. Her story forms the basis of the 2015 documentary Semicolon; The Adventures of Ostomy Girl. Working with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, as well as the Cleveland Clinic’s Digestive Disease Institute, Marshall has spent the past year hosting screenings of the flm to increase awareness and raise funds for further research. “So many people suffer from this and don’t want to talk about it,” Marshall says. Now 26 years old and in line for an organ transplant, Marshall-Bernstein attends the screenings when scheduling allows. “It really helps her to see this support behind her,” Marshall says. “It gives her encouragement.” ccfa.org

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BarBara Molas y Educating thE nExt gEnEration

Philanthropic powerhouse Barbara Molasky has devoted herself to raising awareness for a diverse lineup of homegrown nonproft organizations.

For the past three years, though, her focus has been squarely on CORE Academy (formerly the I Have a Dream Foundation), which was formed to address Nevada’s worryingly low education ranking (50th in the country) and national statistics that show only 9 percent of children from low-income families will receive a bachelor’s degree. “The CORE Academy model provides academic enrichment and character education that children need to reach their full potential,” Molasky says.

The organization furnishes underserved scholars with resources like lunches, tutoring, career development training, mentorships, and fnancial assistance for college. “Because the organization works with kids over a long period of time,” she adds, “supporters have the opportunity to see the scholars grow and become well-rounded, community-minded leaders.” ihaveadreamsonv.org

on barbara molasky:

Blouse, Sophia Kar ($990). Lace skirt, Givenchy ($1,075).

Earrings, Stazia Loren Estate Collection ($1,050). Barneys New York, Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian and Palazzo, 702-629-4200; barneys. com. Bracelet and pumps, Molasky’s own

ristin Conte Stopping aSSault BEforE it happEnS

Formerly the director of marketing at Tao Group, Kristin Conte used her position as a representative of one of Vegas’s most recognizable nightlife brands to raise awareness of sexual assault. After launching Tao Cares, the company’s primary philanthropic arm, in 2011, Conte focused her attention on spearheading Party Smart, a public education campaign designed in partnership with The Rape Crisis Center to help guests stay safe on the Strip.

The success of the initiative later inspired her to pursue a spot on The Rape Crisis Center’s board, a position she has held since January 2014. “There are so many services that the Rape Crisis Center provides for both men and women, whether it’s advocacy for victims or just help with counseling,” Conte says. “People will call the center to talk about a sexual assault that happened 30 years ago—it’s just such a process to deal with something like that.” rcclv.org

on kristin conte:

Dress, Alaïa ($3,695).

Bangles ($1,900) and rings ($7,000), Spinelli Kilcollin. Pink leather bracelet, Baleen ($245).

Clutch, Christian Louboutin ($995).

Barneys New York, Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian and Palazzo, 702-629-4200; barneys.com. Pumps, Conte’s own

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Rachel Smith Changing Lives One Friendship at a time

on rachel smith:

Jacket, Balenciaga ($2,745). Earrings, Stazia Loren Estate Collection ($1,250).

Barneys New York, Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian and Palazzo, 702-629-4200; barneys.com. Dress, evening sandals, and ring, Smith’s own

Fox5 Las Vegas’s More and More Access viewers may be used to seeing veteran anchor Rachel Smith cozy up to the likes of Brad Pitt and Blake Lively. Off the air, though, they’re more likely to fnd her in the company of a 27-yearold woman named Michelle Desrochers.

The pair frst connected seven years ago when Smith met Desrochers, who has Down syndrome, through Best Buddies, an international nonproft that creates friendships for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. “There’s a real feeling of isolation or exclusion if you have Down syndrome or autism or other special needs,” Smith says.

“Best Buddies creates something so simple— one-on-one friendship—that makes such a big difference in a life.” bestbuddiesnevada.org

maRilyn laRSon ensuring seCOnd ChanCes FOr pets

Marilyn Larson’s more than 40 years in Vegas have included stints as, among other things, a secretary and a helicopter pilot. But one of the roles that has meant the most to her is her position on the board of the Animal Foundation, which oversees the operation of Nevada’s largest animal shelter and pet adoption service. Larson was introduced to the organization’s life-saving work by William Bennett, a former owner of Circus Circus, and joined the board after his death in 2002 in order to oversee his $500,000 philanthropic donation toward the shelter’s development. In recent years, that progress has equated to a renewed commitment to saving at least 90 percent of the animals that come through the shelter’s doors by 2020. “We’re one of the fnest shelters in the country now,” Larson remarks. “But one of the best things Las Vegans can do to support the Animal Foundation is spay and neuter their animals.” animalfoundation.com

on marilyn larson:

Handbag, Paco Rabbane ($1,590). Barneys New York, Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian and Palazzo, 702-629-4200; barneys.com. Dress and earrings, Larson’s own

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MAURICIA BACA CHAMPIONING VEGAS’S OUTDOOR WONDERS

ON MAURICIA BACA:

Dress, Valentino ($6,990). Barneys New York, Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian and Palazzo, 702-629-4200; barneys.com.

Heels, Baca’s own ON PAULA LAWRENCE:

Dress, Balenciaga ($2,225). Clutch, Stella McCartney ($3,800).

Barneys New York, Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian and Palazzo, 702-629-4200; barneys.com.

Bracelet and heels, Lawrence’s own

ON NANCY HOUSSELS:

All Houssels’s own

A Nevada transplant by way of New York City, Mauricia Baca was pleasantly surprised by the sheer size of public lands in the Silver State upon moving here 10 years ago. “There are so many incredible places in this valley—there’s Red Rock and Mount Charleston—but very few people I talked to realized the variety of trails and parks available,” Baca says. Her passion for Southern Nevada’s great outdoors is now the driving force behind her work as executive director of the Outside Las Vegas Foundation, an organization dedicated to protecting the area’s thousands of miles of parks, trails, and open spaces through interactive field trips, educational trainings, and volunteer-based initiatives like the county’s Adopt-a-Trail program.

“The best thing we can do for our environment,” she says, “is to share the story that Las Vegas and Southern Nevada are absolutely wonderful places to live and to visit.” outsidelasvegas.org

“CONTINUING TO EDUCATE IS SO IMPORTANT. ” —NANCY HOUSSELS

PAULA LAWRENCE CREATING A NETWORK FOR WOMEN

NANCY HOUSSELS BUILDING A HOME FOR THE ARTS

Paula Lawrence’s career stemmed from an unlikely source: “I ran a bodyguard company,” she explains, “and the ones who were the most hirable were those who had the most social skills.” With that in mind, Lawrence founded Keynote Academy, a social protocol program she now shares with hospitality groups, retailers, and hotel properties—as well as the women of Dress for Success Southern Nevada, where she has served as executive director for the past four years. “The resources we provide are something you’d do for a family member or friend,” Lawrence says of the organization, which supplies interview attire, career counseling, and networking opportunities to job- seeking women. “It’s extremely rewarding to know that I get to be there when a woman looks in the mirror for the first time and feels great.” dressforsuccesssouthernnevada.org

For Nancy Houssels, the road that led to the founding of what is now the Nevada Ballet Theatre (NBT) included stops from Hollywood to Europe, where she toured extensively before landing in Vegas to appear in Tropicana’s Folies Bergère. Immersed in the city’s nascent performing arts community, and working with fellow dancer Vassili Sulich, she conceived of the plan for the dance theater in 1972.

“About 15 of us met in my living room,” she recalls, “and we each put up $1,000.” Thanks in large part to Houssels, who assisted with the development of a ballet training facility in Summerlin and the opening of the Smith Center in 2012, both the organization and its budget have expanded dramatically since.

“Continuing to educate is so important,” she adds, “and so is bringing in the finest talent and productions we can find.” nevadaballet.org V

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Here, our best minds are working for the health of yours.

Inside the walls of our world-renowned, Frank Gehry-designed building, you will ďŹ nd world-class doctors leading the way to life-improving research and care for people affected by Alzheimer’s and other brain disorders.

Your generous support of Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health helps ensure our continued advancement towards a cure. 100% of your donation will go directly to making a difference.

clevelandclinic.org/brain 855.LOU.RUVO

States of

Mind As Alzheimer’s disease reaches epidemic proportions and millions of Americans observe National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month and National Caregiver Month, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan strives to raise awareness—and much-needed funds—in honor of her mother, the late Hollywood legend Rita Hayworth.

BY J.P. ANDERSON

Young Princess Yasmin with her mother, Rita Hayworth.

VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 97

benefit the Association’s efforts of care, support, and research for legantly clad in a body-skimming black and people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. In the three decades to folwhite gown, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan is the picture of grace low, the Gala has raised more than $66 million. as she mingles with the black-tie crowd in the grand ballroom of Aga Khan’s journey—the exhausting challenge of caring for a Chicago’s Hilton Towers Hotel, which is festooned in royal purple loved one with Alzheimer’s disease—is one to which millions of on this Saturday night in May. With blonde hair cascading down Americans can relate. Alzheimer’s has reached epidemic proporher shoulders and sparkling Cartier diamond chandelier earrings tions in this nation, and the numbers laid out in the 2015 Alzheimer’s capturing the light around her face, Aga Khan may be dressed for Disease Facts and Figures report are startling: 5.3 million a celebration, but to anyone familiar with her passionate, decadesAmericans are living with the disease, two-thirds of them are long fight against Alzheimer’s disease, she clearly means business. women, and that total is projected to rise to 16 million by 2050.

This is the Alzheimer’s Association Rita Hayworth Gala, a Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of death grand event held in New York and Chicago in the United States, and the only one in the top inspired by one of the Golden Age of Holly10 that cannot be prevented, cured, or slowed. wood’s glamour queens, Aga Khan’s mother.

Just as alarming is the financial toll: In 2015, Diagnosed in 1981, Hayworth, the embodidementia-related diseases will cost the United ment of Hollywood sex appeal in the ’40s States $226 billion. “This is now the most and ’50s, was one of the fi rst public faces expensive disease in America, over cancer of Alzheimer’s—the most common form and heart disease,” explains Dr. Dean Hartley, of dementia. The condition, thought to be Director of Science Initiatives, Medical and caused by the buildup of abnormal proteins Scientific Relations for the Alzheimer’s Asso(called “plaques and tangles”) in the brain, ciation, “because of the number of years often results in the gradual loss of memory and people live—somewhere between five and severe cognitive impairment. Hayworth’s eight years, and it gets more expensive as they health had already seriously degenerated by progress.” Indeed, it’s estimated that by 2050 the time of her diagnosis at age 62.

World-renowned Alzheimer’s researcher Dr. that number could rise to $1.1 trillion.

“It started with problems remembering her Jeffrey Cummings, director of the lines when filming,” notes Aga Khan, “and Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas.

GIVING TIL IT HURTS quickly developed into behavioral changes The real wake-up call, though, is what Hartley as well. I was actually relieved when she rerefers to as the “hidden cost” of the disease: ceived the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s because The cost of caregiving. He says families caring it explained why she was acting so differently directly for someone with Alzheimer’s are providing some 17 bilthan the mother I knew my whole life.” As Hayworth’s condition lion hours of additional support—or the equivalent of $214 billion worsened, it was Aga Khan who came to her side. “Our roles of unpaid caregiving. “So not only is there an emotional impact for reversed,” she muses. “I became the mother and her guardian, families caring for loved ones,” Hartley explains, “but there’s a and I had to do whatever I could do.” huge economic burden that’s only growing, to the point where it’s Back then in the early 1980s, there wasn’t much she could going to impact our healthcare system.” The emotional impact of do. Alzheimer’s was not yet a part of the public consciousness, caregiving that Hartley mentions can’t be underestimated, says and even the Alzheimer’s Association was just “a mom and pop Larry Ruvo, who established the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo organization,” as founder Jerry Stone described it to her at that Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas—a stunningly curvy stainless time. But bolstered by the support the organization offered—and steel structure designed by Frank Gehry—after being dismayed by nudged by family friend Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who said, the “terrible, almost nonexistent care my father received when he “OK, Yazzy, what are you going to do about this? You’ve got to had the disease, and the even worse care my mother received as a do something to fi nd a way to raise money and awareness”—Aga caregiver.” He notes that caregivers are frequently “sleep-deprived, Khan established the Rita Hayworth Gala in New York in 1984. malnourished, stressed, all-too-often forgotten… and often die And again, four years later, the Gala was held in Chicago to

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY CASHMAN PHOTO

E

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF CAREN ROBERTS-FRENZEI (HAYWORTH); CLEVELAND CLINIC (EXTERIOR); CHARLES BUSH (I’LL BE ME); JULIE SKARRATT (KAHN)

Rita Hayworth, the embodiment of Hollywood glamour in the ’40s and ’50s, became one of the first public faces of Alzheimer’s disease. TOP RIGHT: Designer Naeem Khan (LEFT, with Patty Smyth McEnroe and Princess Yasmin Aga Khan) created a one-of-a-kind gown to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association. BELOW: The documentary I’ll Be Me chronicled country music singer Glen Campbell’s struggle with the disease. BOTTOM LEFT: The Frank Gehry-designed Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.

Sterling Support Lagos combines beauty and support for brain health with its new Keep Memory Alive jewelry collection. By Matt Stewart

Julianne Moore won the 2015 Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in Still Alice, a flm based on the 2007 novel tackling the realities of Alzheimer’s disease.

Why is brain health important to you?

Steven Lagos: My grandfather and grandmother suffered from Alzheimer’s. One of the lessons I learned is that Alzheimer’s affects the family as much as the patient.

How did the Keep Memory Alive jewelry collection come about?

SL: The spectacular exterior of the Ruvo Center formed the basis for our designs, but what’s going on inside that building is even more amazing. The treatments and breakthrough clinical trials they’re conducting are changing lives. The fact that receiving care there is not based on ability to pay makes this project even more incredible. I wanted to celebrate that spirit.

Why did you decide to donate all proceeds to Keep Memory Alive?

SL: It was a way for Lagos to bring attention to the cause of brain health. We could have just written a check, but being involved allows us to bring our talents to this fght and to inspire ourselves in the bargain.

The Keep Memory Alive cuff ($2,900) references the unique exterior design of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.

100 vegasmagazine.com

before the patient.” Then there’s the isolation and loneliness, says Lisa Genova, author of Still Alice, the groundbreaking 2007 Alzheimer’s-themed novel.

“There is still so much shame and stigma attached to the disease,” says Genova, “and families affected by AD are often excluded from community, left to care for loved ones alone.”

Caregiving for a family member can be particularly painful, in that the caregiver is often the closest witness as the loved one gradually fades away. A profound sense of loss is a natural response, says Dr. Sam Fazio, the Director of Special Projects in Medical and Scientifc Relations for the Alzheimer’s Association and the author of multiple books on Alzheimer’s care. “You have a long-standing relationship with the person you’re caring for now, and you remember how they used to be.” That doesn’t mean there can’t still be moments of connection and joy in that relationship, insists Fazio, whose work is centered around the persistence of self in Alzheimer’s patients. “The biggest thing is living in the moment and going with the fow,” he explains.

“So the joy might come in smaller connections, and fnding a way to connect on a different level. It may be different from what the person was before, but it is what it is now. That person has a disease and can’t adapt to come into your reality anymore, so you have to adapt and go into their reality. That’s the only way it’ll work. And that’s hard to do.”

As sobering as the state of the disease is, one nugget of hope is that, after decades of being dismissed as “a disease just for old people,” according to Aga Khan, Alzheimer’s awareness is now very much

in the mainstream, and the cause is being championed far and wide. From Julianne Moore’s 2015 Best Actress Oscar for the flm adaptation of Still Alice to I’ll Be Me, director James Keach’s much-lauded recent documentary about country music icon Glen Campbell’s struggle with the disease, more and more attention is being drawn to Alzheimer’s in popular culture, in large part because so many more people can identify with its consequences.

Explaining the success of I’ll Be Me, which, in June, set a CNN Films record for viewership, Keach says, “People saw that it was a tough subject, but it wasn’t going to push people away or create more shame in the game—it was going to create an opportunity for people to relate to what they experience in their own lives or what friends have experienced, [those] caregiving and also suffering with the disease.”

In addition to those flms, events such as the Rita Hayworth Gala continue to raise awareness; celebrities like Seth Rogen and Wayne Brady have stepped up to publicly commit to the fght against the disease; and not one but two months are now dedicated to recognizing the cause: June was Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month (which introduced the Twitter hashtag #EndAlzheimers that has been trending ever since), and November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month and National Caregiver Month.

MAKING PROGRESS All too often the news about Alzheimer’s has been bleak, but recent research breakthroughs have resulted in, for the frst time, an attitude of cautious

photography by Sony pictureS claSSicS/photofeSt (Moore)

Jewelry designer Steven Lagos is supporting the cause of brain health through his eight-piece sterling silver jewelry collection Keep Memory Alive. All proceeds go to the nonproft Keep Memory Alive as it works with the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health to provide care for people coping with Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases. The collection incorporates Lagos’s distinctive caviar motif while referencing Frank Gehry’s design for the Lou Ruvo Center in Las Vegas.

Princess Yasmin Aga Khan (center) with Robert and Linda Mendelson, members of the steering committee for the 2015 Rita Hayworth Gala in Chicago.

Gray Matters When it comes to fghting Alzheimer’s disease, Larry Ruvo is blazing the trail. By Meg Mathis

“I

’m in the liquor and wine business in Las Vegas.

Who’s going to take me seriously?” recalls Larry

Ruvo of an idea frst suggested to him in 1998 by the late Alzheimer’s disease researcher Leon Thal, MD. At the time, Ruvo was best known as the senior managing director of Southern Wine & Spirits of Nevada. A veteran of the hospitality industry, he practically grew up in The Venetian Restaurant, the Italian institution (frequented by bold-faced names like

photography Courtesy of teK IMage/sCIenCe photo LIbrary/CorbIs (teChnoLogy); bILL reIChert (MendeLson)

Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Robert

optimism among Alzheimer’s researchers.

News from the science front has admittedly been dreary as far as Alzheimer’s is concerned, with no effective treatments on the market and just a few FDA-approved drugs available that have had some success in boosting a patient’s memory. “But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing on the horizon,” says Hartley, who cites one recent breakthrough that enables researchers to image the living brain and see problemcausing plaques and tangles that start to develop long before Alzheimer’s is present, as opposed to having to wait for an autopsy. That knowledge can hopefully lead to the ability to recognize who is at the most risk and, ideally, stop the progression of the disease before a person demonstrates symptoms—perhaps with a drug that may already be in trials. “What we’re thinking,” explains Hartley, “is that maybe [some of] those drugs that have failed in clinical trials weren’t inappropriate, they were just being used at the wrong time.”

At the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, director and world-renowned Alzheimer’s researcher Dr. Jeffrey Cummings speaks optimistically about another potential breakthrough that may be at hand involving the use of new immunotherapies for patients with Alzheimer’s. “Immunotherapies involve giving patients antibodies, which then attack the abnormal proteins that are accumulating in the brain,” he explains. “There are two of these treatments that are particularly promising—one from Lilly, one

De Niro) owned by his parents, Lou and Angie Ruvo, for more than 40 years. But following Thal’s recommendation, Ruvo took a decidedly personal turn by launching the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health (my.cleveland clinic.org/services/neurological_institute/ lou-ruvo-brain-health), inspired by the care—or lack thereof—his father received while suffering from the disease, and the ensuing toll it took on his mother.

Ruvo recalls taking his father to an Alzheimer’s disease specialist and waiting for 45 minutes alongside three other patients—one wheelchair-bound, one in diapers, and one with his head slumped down. “My dad was somewhat lucid then, and he asked, ‘Is this where I’m headed?’” says Ruvo. “I said, ‘No, Dad, this doctor sees a myriad of other diseases.’ But I had a sense it was true,” above: New brain-imaging technology makes

it possible to see the plaques and tangles associated with Alzheimer’s disease before memory problems or other symptoms develop.

says Ruvo. “Afterwards, I said if I could ever do anything, I would never have a building with a waiting room.” Following his father’s death from Alzheimer’s disease in 1994, Angie required back surgery as a result of the two discs she’d continued on page 102

vegasmagazine.com 101

fell. Says Ruvo, “We just didn’t understand what caregiving was about.”

Now, he does. Not only does the $80 million Frank Gehry-designed Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center

“We’re finding mechanisms to boost the dollars that we need to accelerate treatment. That’s how we’ll make progress.”—DR. DEAN HARTLEY

for Brain Health, which opened in 2010, have no waiting rooms for more immediate, self-contained medical care (“We try not to commingle stage one with stage two and stage three,” says Ruvo), but it is also steadfast in providing

Princess Yasmin Aga Khan speaking at the Rita Hayworth Gala, the fundraiser she founded in memory of her mother.

care to the caregiver. With additional centers in Ohio and Florida, Ruvo believes his work is only beginning.

“We’ve made enormous progress,” says Jeffrey L. Cummings, MD, director of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, who cites the

more than 40 drugs that have been tested across the clinic’s trial consortium as a promising development. And the good news for Las Vegans is there are many ways to get involved in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease:

Clinical trials.

The nonprofit Keep Memory Alive (keepmemoryalive.org), which supports the Lou Ruvo Center, offers interventional and non-interventional clinical trials where participants can help advance the research of brain diseases. Call 855-568-7886 or e-mail brainhealth@ccf.org to learn more.

Support groups.

A variety of specialized support groups— from early stage and veterans living with the disease to caretakers—are available to Southern Nevada residents through the Alzheimer’s Association’s Desert Southwest Chapter. Visit alz.org/dsw or contact the 24-hour helpline at 800-272-3900.

Fundraisers.

The Alzheimer’s Association’s Desert Southwest Chapter hosts the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s at seven locations during autumn to raise funds. Visit act.alz.org/walk.

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from Biogen.” His dream-world scenario? “The most optimistic forecast would be for the Lilly compound, which should be fi nished next year and therefore could be available in the market in about three years, if everything went perfectly.”

As patients and their families wait for the discovery of effective treatments, the Alzheimer’s Association is focusing its efforts on disease prevention and brain health with its “10 Ways to Love Your Brain” program, which was unveiled on June 1 in recognition of Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month and encourages general lifestyle improvements, such as regular cardiovascular exercise, a healthy diet, adequate sleep, and continuing education. “We never want to give people a recipe of what they can do [that will mean] you’re not going to get Alzheimer’s, because nobody knows that,” says Fazio, who led the development of the program.

“But there’s been good research on exercise and on diet, so this new program is really all about aging well. It looks at four pillars: cognitive activity, physical exercise and health, diet and nutrition, and social engagement. It’s basically a healthy-aging program.

We’re talking about aging in general versus just brain health, because it’s really about all we do to age well. Brain health is one piece of it. It’s all stuff we should be doing.”

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE Even the experts know that brain health can do only so much without effective treatments for Alzheimer’s on the market. In 2011, President Obama signed the National Alzheimer’s Project Act, a plan to fi nd effective treatments by 2025— but, ultimately, the program’s success will depend on dollars. “One of our biggest impediments now is

the lack of funding,” says Hartley, noting that cancer and heart disease receive between $4 billion and $6 billion per year in research money, while Alzheimer’s is at just $600 million. In December 2014, Congress took a step toward rectifying that imbalance with the passage of the Alzheimer’s Accountability Act, which gives the National Institutes of Health the opportunity to tell Congress each year how much it needs in funding. “So we’re fi nding these mechanisms to boost the dollars that we need to accelerate [treatments],” says Hartley, a note of hope in his voice. “That’s how we’ll make that progress.”

Back in Chicago, at the Rita Hayworth Gala, as Princess Yasmin Aga Khan leans in to be heard over the strains of the jazz band, she, too, speaks with cautious optimism, tempered by the awareness that the fight is far from over. “We’re getting close, and I think there’s hope,” she says. “I’m proud that the Alzheimer’s Association is what it is today, and that it has spread the word nationally and internationally. And I’m proud of all the dollars that everyone has raised. But we’re not there yet.” V

FROM LEFT: Larry Ruvo, founder of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, with his father, Lou Ruvo, who battled with Alzheimer’s disease.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL RICHERT (PRINCESS YASMIN)

ruptured by lifting her husband when he

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SECOND OPINION

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Robotic radiosurgery ofers a non-invasive alternative to open surgery using radiation therapy.

Genomic tumor assessment examines a tumor on a genetic level to fnd the DNA alterations. This helps physicians tailor your treatment based on the tumor’s genetic makeup.

Specialists spend their residency training during medical school focused on a specifc area of medicine. Subspecialists, such as medical oncologists, have additional training.

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Intergrative oncology services help manage side efects, boost your energy and keep you strong during treatment.

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© 2015 Rising Tide

Haute ProPerty

Special effectS

Some of the moSt exciting deSign elementS in Strip high-riSe living right now are high-tech, cuStom pieceS. by t.r. witcher

When businessman Benson Riseman moved to Las Vegas from Los Angeles a few years ago, he knew he wanted to be on the Strip. “I like the vibe, “ he says. “It’s great for entertaining.”

In the name of putting his own stamp on his living space, he snapped up a gray shell space in the 37-foor Veer Towers (veertowers.com) in CityCenter. And because he knew he wouldn’t be interested in selling the property, he went for a design he calls “fearless.”

photography by lisa corson

continued on page 106

Benson Riseman’s home in Veer Towers.

vegasmagazine.com 105

The view couldn’t be better—a corner penthouse that faces north and east, with 13-foot foor-to-ceiling windows that offer sumptuous views of the Strip and the eastern Valley and are so clear that you approach them with a touch of caution. “Nothing gets in the way of the view,” he says.

The home took three years to build, a custom job by LA designer Nicole Sassaman (nicolesassaman. com) and local companies Carpenter Sellers Del Gatto Architects (702251-8896; csdarchitecture.com) and Merlin Contracting & Developing (702-257-8102; merlincontracting.com).

A Swiss Army knife of a residence, it’s designed with three sleeping quarters but also the ability to be opened up for entertaining and hosting charity events. And virtually everything, from the furniture to the tub to the art, is one of a kind.

Customizing spaces, at the high end, certainly seems to be a growing trend. “Most defnitely we see a fair amount of that in the homes we list,” says Jamie Lium, managing broker at Shapiro & Sher (lasvegasfnehomes.com).

“There’s no question that is something people literally install in

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above: Chairs hang from the ceiling by the east window. top right: The

chandelier over the table evokes a slowed-down explosion of porcelain china. right: One wall displays Riseman’s personal affrmations.

their homes and it’s going to bring added value if they leave it.”

To create a sunken living room and bedroom, the rest of the 3,300square-foot condo was built on risers.

The ceilings were dropped to make room for an oval-shaped recession in the ceiling sprayed with mica stone that changes colors.

The condo’s high-tech sense of whimsy is apparent the moment you approach the front door. The door talks as you walk up to it: “Welcome, please ring the doorbell.” The chime itself comes from The Jetsons. But the door is a clever stunt—because the real entrance is actually seamlessly hidden in a concrete-looking panel on the corridor, so it’s a jolt when the wall opens up several feet away from what you thought was the front door.

Step inside and you’re greeted by a black wall with backlit text—in Riseman’s own handwriting—that highlights key words that are important to him, such as “home,” “happiness,” “friends,” and

“adventure,” and can change colors or cascade into a rainbow of hues.

Created by Vegas-based Yesco Sign and Lighting Service (yesco.com), the wall is the ultimate in personalization.

The amount of custom craftsmanship is obsessive and delightful. Six televisions pivot across the space, ensuring a good view from anywhere; one even descends from the ceiling in the master bedroom.

A chandelier made of shards of broken china (architecturalcustom.net) is made to look like an explosion of porcelain captured by a high-speed camera. There’s a curving full-height glass wine cellar. Nearby, a full-service onyx bar

(mdesignglobal.com) includes a pullout chrome table that can be positioned anywhere in the house.

In a guest suite, a coffee table can be manually lifted up to conference table height; another coffee table is a subwoofer in disguise; a transparent guest bathroom counter has a porcelain bird’s nest buried inside; and the master bathtub was carved from a hunk of stone pulled out of a New Mexico mountain.

Custom pieces like these—deeply idiosyncratic artistic statements—are becoming more common. Marsha Timson, director of the Las Vegas Design Center (lvdesigncenter.com), explains, “We want to mix styles.

So if we have this piece we can tell a story about, it’s adding interest to our lifestyle.” Minimalist décor tends to look the same. Now, she says, “People want a conversation piece.”

Despite the bravura fourishes, what one remembers is the sense of intimacy. In fact, Lium notes that people are turning toward smallerscale, resort-corridor condo living.

“There are people who don’t want that huge house commitment, but they want access to Vegas.”

In the guest suite, two short halfstaircases lead to small spaces below the main foor and above—both with walls of glass. The lower one is a great spot for Riseman’s 2-year-old grandson to play; the upper one is a place to take in the whole condo or to, for a moment, escape from it.

“I had envisioned using this place as really a center for entertainment,” Riseman says, “a center for friendship and comfort.” V

photography by Lisa Corson (ChandeLier, Chairs); todd WitCher (WaLL)

HAUTE PROPERTY

HAUTE PROPERTY Spotlight oh, natural conversation piece

wood you rather...

Branching Out

The Phillips Collection has a variety of Mahoni wood sculptures in its catalog, but none may be as stunning as this 17-pound piece ($600). What is it? A tree in a yoga pose? The bones of a prehistoric creature? It looks as old as the mountains that ring Las Vegas, and will surely create as much wonder. Las Vegas Market, 495 S. Grand Central Pkwy., 336-884-9261; phillips collection.com

profile

InterIor desIgner debraé little wants to look In your closet. by t.r. witcher It’s not every InterIor designer

who goes through her clients’ closets for inspiration. But for former Hollywood costume-designer-turned-interior designer Debraé Little, it’s all part of “using that as a measure to defne their personality and their personal style.” Even as she was overseeing costumes on Martin Lawrence comedies, and Penn & Teller’s show at the Rio, clients and friends were admiring an obvious talent that Little was exercising personally, but not professionally: a fair for interior design, specifcally in her own home. So, eight years ago, she says, it was time “to expand my creative outlet.” In 2007, the self-taught designer and her husband relocated to Las Vegas, where she worked for a small design frm—one of whose clients was (then-future) Hakkasan CEO Neil Mofftt. When Little formed her own frm, Debraé Little Interiors, Mofftt came on board for a complete redesign of his home (shown above). Turning from costume design to interiors wasn’t such a stretch for Little. Both, she says, involve “lighting, color, texture, the fow or the feel of the fabric. It’s the same principles of construction.... and how fabrics work under different lighting conditions.” When clients are mixing colors or textures in their wardrobe, for instance, Little knows she has a license to be similarly bold with her designs. 702-407-5161; debraelittleinteriors.com V

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Sure, we’re spending more time indoors now that the temperature is dropping into the (gasp!) 50s, but there’s no law that says you can’t bring the outdoors inside with you. Shed some light on your situation with the Twig pendant chandelier from Global Views ($4,997.50). It features handcrafted brass twigs with a base in either bronze or nickel.

The frosted-glass diffuser gives the four 75-watt lightbulbs a tempered quality (and there are some great natural-light bulb options out there these days). Las Vegas Market, 495 S. Grand Central Pkwy., 702-868-8439; globalviews.com

THE CORNER OFFICE

The Jordan desk from Vanguard Furniture ($4,077) is elegantly thin, yet somehow rugged, with its part-elm body and bronze metal legs. This desk commands its own corner of the room with quiet confdence. Urban Chic, 4845 W. Nevso Dr., 702-364-2442; urbanchicfurniture.com

PhotograPhy by Lydia Cutter PhotograPhy (LittLe interior)

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Pablo Picasso, Profle of a Woman with Blue Hair, 1938, Oil on canvas, 22 x 18 1⁄8”, © 2015 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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LIVING LAS VEGAS

The New JeT SeT

“I don’t care how you get here, just get here If you can,” Isn’t really a lIne that applIes to las Vegas. we care how you got here—and gettIng here rIght just got a lIttle easIer. by andrea bennett

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photography courtesy of las vegas news bureau

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memberships that let you charter ecessity—namely private jets or even snag a single seat the lack of commeron certain routes. cial fights in early Take JetSmarter (jetsmarter.com), years—may have an app funded by, among others, been the mother of Jay Z and members of the Saudi the private fight to Las Vegas, but Beautiful landing: Brigitte Bardot and Gunter Sachs arrived in style at royal family. For an initiation fee of you can credit our love of showboatMcCarran International Airport for their 1966 wedding. $3,000 and annual membership of ing for keeping it alive. $9,000, you can book a one-way priDecades before McCarran Intervate fight, schedule a customized chartered jet, or fy its JetShuttle service, which national Airport was planning its latest $51 million expansion, high rollers lets you hop on an empty seat at no additional charge on one of its regular routes. were landing on badly marked airstrips in the middle of nowhere or right on It just added a Las Vegas–Los Angeles round-trip; a Vegas to San Francisco the golf course at the Desert Inn. You wanted to be seen at the Copa Room at route already existed, and the company says more Vegas fights are on the way. the Sands, but the ultimate midcentury selfe was your disembarkation from But it’s the convenience that beckons high fiers to private aviation’s door: a private plane.

No waits in security lines or pat-downs by cranky TSA agents. We recently Not surprisingly, Frank Sinatra’s “Come Fly With Me,” became the anthem tried the new service from Vegas to LA, rolling in to park free at Signature of the jet set; after all, his own Learjet 23 was the main shuttle for his buddies Flight Support about 20 minutes before our scheduled fight, where we were from LA, Palm Springs, and Las Vegas in the mid-1960s. Even Elvis Presley greeted by two improbably beautiful hostesses, the bulk of whose responsibilborrowed it for his Vegas wedding to Priscilla Beaulieu. Presley later caught ity seemed to be making sure we had enough refreshments and telling us how the fever, of course, tricking out his own Convair 880 with seating for 29, a awesome we were before sending us on our way. By Las Vegas standards, that bedroom, and a gilded bath, then taking the inaugural fight of the “Lisa service alone is worth the annual fee.

Marie” into—you guessed it—Las Vegas.

Our trip door-to-door from the parking lot to the Beverly Hills Hotel lasted Still, it’s travelers’ love for a bargain that may propel private fight into a grand total of two hours. But it is the fight back—soaring over the hours-long Las Vegas’s future. (Treat as an anomaly the “crisis” that arose when so many traffc snarls on the I-15, circling north over the Strip for a close-up view of G5s packed into Vegas for this summer’s Mayweather v. Pacquiao fight Wynn Golf Club (on the site of the old Desert Inn)—that will remind you why that McCarran shut its runway. Most of those fiers were paying full fare for this town is for jetsetters. And no one needs to know you didn’t pay retail. V fight and fght.) A growing number of upstart companies are offering annual

Carmen Steffens