Wynn - 2015 - Issue 3 - Winter by Niche Media Holdings, LLC

WINTER 2015 / 2016

STEVE WYNN ON GETTING TO THE HEART OF LUXURY

THE FINEST FLORAL FASHIONS AND MOST SPARKLING JEWELS HIGH STEAKS WYNN’S GOT THE GOODS, FROM WAGYU TO KOBE AND BEYOND

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CONTENTS WINTER ISSUE 2015/2016 • NO. 29

FEATURES 26 Steve Wynn: Magic Kingdoms Steve Wynn reﬂects on the inﬂuential hoteliers, designers, dream makers, and even showmen who helped inform his vision of Wynn Resorts at a very young age. By Andrea Bennett

56 Wynn Luxury: House of Mrs. Prada Prada opens a boutique on the Wynn Esplanade that is as faithful to the tradition of the venerable design house as it is

to its inimitable co-CEO and lead designer Miuccia Prada’s maverick sensibilities. By Lydia Gordon

68 Macau Spotlight: Magical Brew The tea service at Golden Flower in Wynn Macau is intricate, precise, and attended by a tea sommelier whose mission is to ﬁnd your perfect brew—or the perfect match for dinner. By Jennifer Blossom

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BONNIE HOLLAND

Lotus linen embroidered dress ($16,600) and Serrure ring ($535), both by Louis Vuitton. Louis Vuitton, Wynn, 702-770-3492

WYNN

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Diamond Collection

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18k white-gold and diamond Franges swing bracelet by Chanel Fine Jewelry ($222,000). Chanel, Encore, 702-770-3498

Style & Beauty the intimate spaces of Wynn and encore provide a lush backdrop for winter’s most romantic fashions. Photography by Bonnie Holland

88 Wynn News: Treasure Trove tiny treasures ofers a highly curated selection of children’s gifts. By Karen Rose

90 All Access: Mirror Mirror 78 A-List: Little Luxuries Mirror this season’s decadence with the most luxe and covetable fnds. Photography by Brian Klutch

Brioni brings its cutting-edge Miror to Wynn, changing not only the madeto-measure process, but also the luxury menswear industry as a whole. By Connor Childers

82 Sparkle Season the most effervescent in jewelry with the very finest in bubbly. some combinations never lose their luster. Photography by Brian Klutch

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92 Très Chic Tresses claude Baruk looks to Paris for the hairstyles to best complement this season’s trends. By Abby Tegnelia

photography by brian klutch (jewelry); courtesy of prada (store)

72 Flirty Florals

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photography by rouse photography (baruk); jenna dosch (cocktail); mikayla whitmore (steak)

contents

Food & SpiritS 40 Food for Thought: Feast on This the already sumptuous Bufet at Wynn gets a decadent new look—and even more incredible dishes. sensory overload? that’s the goal. By Beth Schwartz

48 Food Spotlight: Prime Time For those who like their meat rare— or ultrarare—a beef even more precious than Kobe is now on the menu at Wynn. By Larry Olmsted

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54 Vine Arts: Into the Light can red meat and white wine get along at the table? By Amy Zavatto

96 Last Call: A Gala Afair the crowned Apple cocktail at Andrea’s is a fresh pick this season. By Chris Stave

CONTENTS

46 IN EVERY ISSUE 46 Discoveries: “As Exciting Every Time”

94 Back Story: Hoop Dreams You may never make the USA Basketball Men’s National Team, but for a few days each August at Wynn, you can play among the best of them. By Dave McMenamin

ON THE COVERS LEFT (IN-ROOM):

Barbara Kraft captures the redesigned Buﬀet at Wynn. ABOVE (NEWSSTAND):

The glowing new Costa di Mare in an image by Barbara Kraft.

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBERT MILLER (LOUNGE)

Production designer Michael Curry shares a few of the aspects of Wynn and Encore resorts he most admires. By Karen Rose

C R A F T I N G E T E R N I T Y S I N CE 1 7 5 5 260 years of continuous history is reflected in the Harmony Collection. A new legacy has dawned. HARMONY D UA L T I M E

Geneva official watchmaking certification

ANDREA BENNETT Editor-in-Chief

MAUREEN SCHAFER Publisher

Wynn Editorial Advisory Board Maurice Wooden, Michael Weaver Wynn Resorts Liaisons Nehme Abouzeid, Aga Abram, Shane Collins, Taylor Shields, Hedy Woodrow Chief Editorial and Creative Officer Mandi Norwood Vice President of Creative and Fashion Ann Song Creative Director Nicole A. Wolfson Nadboy

3 1. The author of our Food Spotlight story on Wynn and Encore’s steak program, Larry Olmsted, also writes the “Great American Bites” food column for USA Today and covers gourmet cuisine for forbes.com. “I’ve been to Japan several times, and even to Kobe to learn how the famous Kobe beef cattle are raised,” he says, “but I have never seen anything quite like the Snow Beef program at Mizumi. All that beef comes from just one ranch in Hokkaido, and you can count the restaurants that serve it around the world on one hand. It’s amazing that it is so accessible here at Wynn, along with the rest of the Japanese program—the Kobe, the Ohmi, and the Kumamoto beef. Those are enough to set it apart from every other resort, but even the domestic oferings are exceptional.” 2. Photographer Bonnie Holland is inspired by all things fanciful and stunning. Her clients include Bebe and Benefit Cosmetics, and you can see her work at bonniehollandstudio.com and in this issue’s fashion feature. “This issue’s story was particularly appealing to me,” she says. “There was such a fluidity to it—a beautiful lighter-than-air quality. Wynn is a treasure trove of tranquil moments and harmony, and it is these unexpected moments—like finding koi fish or bamboo gardens or curved pathways—that make Wynn special. Their attention to the tiniest detail or architectural curve or lighting nuance creates a fusion of excitement and relaxation.” 3. Photographer Mikayla Whitmore, who shot our Food Spotlight piece, will be featured in a Contemporary Arts Center exhibition called “Taste,” which runs January 14 through February 5. “Steak, steak, and more steak was on the agenda when I was shooting at the Wynn,” says Whitmore. “It’s amazing to see how one genre of food can be prepared in so many different ways, all yielding very scrumptious results. It was amazing to watch the style of each chef and how they approached their task at hand. Each dish had its own story to tell.”

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Senior Managing Editor Karen Rose Art Director Allison Fleming Photo Director Lisa Rosenthal Bader Photo Editor Marie Barbier Senior Fashion Editor Faye Power Associate Fashion Editor Casey Trudeau Assistant Fashion Editors Connor Childers, Lisa Ferrandino Copy Editors David Fairhurst, Julia Steiner Senior Digital Imaging Specialist Jeffrey Spitery Digital Imaging Specialist Jeremy Deveraturda Digital Imaging Assistant Htet San Advertising Sales Susan Abrams, Dawn DuBois, Vince Durocher, Kathleen Fleming, Irena Hall, Alison Miller, Valerie Robles, Dan Uslan, Jessica Zivkovitch Distribution Relations Manager Jennifer Palmer Sales Assistant Rue McBride Positioning and Planning Manager Tara McCrillis Production Artist Marissa Maheras Traffic Supervisor Estee Wright Traffic Coordinators Jeanne Gleeson, Mallorie Sommers Wynn magazine is published by GreenGale Publishing, LLC. The entire content is copyright of GreenGale Publishing, LLC. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the express written permission of the publisher. Wynn magazine does not assume liability for products or services advertised herein. Wynn magazine is a registered trademark.

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Managing Partner Jane Gale Chairman and Director of Photography Jef Gale Chief Operating Ofcer Maria Blondeaux Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Ofcer John P. Kushnir Chief Executive Ofcer Katherine Nicholls

M I K I M OTO.CO M

steVe Wynn

magic kingdoms

steve Wynn refects on the infuential hoteliers, designers, dream makers, and even showmen who helped inform his vision for Wynn Resorts at a very young age.

Gardens at Encore Beach Club.

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photography by barbara kraft

by andRea bennett

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STEVE WYNN

hould you ask Steve Wynn about himself as a real estate developer and hotelier, he might describe a composite of Jay Sarno (the founder of Caesars Palace), Ben Novack (who built Fontainebleau Miami Beach), Bill Harrah (founder of the Harrah’s empire), and Walt Disney. In fact, on a recent visit, he went so far as to suggest that if you were to shake them all up in a test tube, out would pop a fully developed Steve Wynn. His component personalities couldn’t have been more different. Sarno, for instance, rode into Caesars Palace in a flower-bedecked chariot for the resort’s 1966 grand opening, while Harrah studiously avoided the limelight, allowing the Harrah’s brand to take center stage. Disney, meanwhile, worked diligently to conjure up a Magic Kingdom that would forever occupy an important piece of real estate in every child’s brain. Novack and his hotel were symbols of the glamorous party culture of midcentury Miami Beach. But each man belongs to the postwar pantheon of dream weavers most influential to a young Steve Wynn. Even as an adolescent, Wynn had an innate sense for luxury, and he grew up in the golden age of burgeoning resort

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kingdoms—Disneyland and Fontainebleau—critically evaluating them from the age of 15. The obvious opulence of Wynn’s resorts belies his sophisticated ideas about luxury, based on the notion that guests should be cared for as if each is the most important person on earth. At this moment, you can conspicuously consume a $10,000 cocktail (the Ono) at XS; dine on a beef even rarer than Kobe (Hokkaido Snow Beef) at Mizumi; design your own exotic bag at the bespoke table in the new Prada boutique; bask in the reflected light from a monumental Jeff Koons sculpture; be serenaded by a frog with the voice of Garth Brooks at the fantastical Lake of Dreams—and any number of other things impossible to do in whatever city you came from. “Listen, the commodious rooms with the hand-woven fabrics, the beautiful stone and ornamental iron—all of that is pretty standard stuff,” Wynn says. “If you’re surrounded by beautiful things, you could feel lonely and disconnected. But when you’re being attended to, then the story comes to life. I could put you on a nylon carpet in a chair that cost a fraction of the one you’re sitting in, but if your every need was met, you would have the feeling of overwhelming luxury.”

In Wynn’s last year of prep school, his parents sold the family home in Utica, New York, and moved to Miami Beach, a change of address that he calls perhaps the biggest factor in determining his future career. “From spring break at prep school my senior year until my father died five years later during my senior year at Penn, I spent every holiday in Miami Beach at our home on Pine Tree Drive,” he says. “My folks had cabana 364 at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach, which in the ’50s was the single most important destination on the planet. The Fontainebleau was a world unto itself. There were French gardens, shopping, restaurants, swimming pools. Goldfinger was filmed there. You see the cabana there where he was playing cards? Right above him was cabana 364.” In the consumerist years following World War II, everyone was talking about luxury, Wynn says. “All of them, men and women, would sit around the coffee shop in the hotel and talk about the owner, Ben Novack, and his glamorous wife, Bernice.” That downstairs shop, Chez Bon Bon, was the hotel’s nerve center, a 24-hour-aday New York deli (despite its French name). Legendarily, the air-conditioning in the hotel lobby was turned up high so that female guests

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF FONTAINEBLEAU MIAMI BEACH

The Fontainebleau Miami Beach entrance in 1955.

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could comfortably swan up and down the Morris Lapidus–designed “staircase to nowhere” in their mink stoles in the heat of summer. “The place dazzled me. It didn’t even have a sign, and you had to have a key to get into the lobby. They didn’t allow lookie-loos.” It was in the hotel’s La Ronde Room that Wynn frst saw some of the performers who were hitting it big in Las Vegas, including Sammy Davis Jr., Jack Benny, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley. Even as a teen, Wynn was forming incisive conclusions about how a sense of intimacy and fantasy should inform hotel architecture. “The idea of creating a world that was better than the outside world is, in literary terms, very romantic,” he says. “The thing about the Fontainebleau is that it had parts that you could go to—from a two-story lobby with massive windows to smaller spaces, formal French gardens—that felt like you’d just discovered them. I thought it would be a great life to build a place like that. I changed my major from premed. I wanted to be a developer like Ben Novack.”

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Wynn credits two men as being the drivers of fantasy destination resort development in the late 1950s: Ben Novack and Walt Disney. “Walt became much more famous for the park than he did for the cartoons,” he says. “That television show that was all about the wonderful world of Disney was always about the park. Remember, the theme of the show was to look at the palace.” Jay Sarno was similarly afected by the Fontainebleau, Wynn explains, building the frst themed resort in Las Vegas, Caesars Palace, partly with money from Jimmy Hofa’s Teamsters union. “Caesars almost became as big as the town,” he says. “It was hard to separate Caesars Palace from all its prizefghts and stars. Prior to Caesars, all the hotels on the Strip were identical. The Riv, the Flamingo, the Sands, the Dunes—they were all casinos in front of a motel building. Caesars Palace was a fantasy world totally integrated like the Fontainebleau, only more themed. “All of those infuences matured while I was impressionable,” Wynn adds. “Disneyland became

from top :

The Fontainebleau cabanas as enjoyed by James Bond in Goldfnger; Jeff Koons’s three-ton Tulips (part of the artist’s “Celebration” series) departs Wynn Las Vegas for Wynn Palace in Macau in April.

photography by barbara kraft (koons); Mirrorpix/Courtesy of everett ColleCtion (goldfinger)

STEVE WyNN

A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME – WITH RIMOWA The 1920s marked the beginning of modern air travel and the golden age of Hollywood. In 1919, Hugo Junkers presented the world’s ﬁrst all-metal commercial aircraft. It was made using the aircraft aluminum alloy discovered by Alfred Wilm in 1906. In 1950, RIMOWA presented its suitcase with the unmistakable grooved design made of the same material – at the time, it was the lightest suitcase in the world. RIMOWA was a real pioneer in the sector, starting the trend for lightweight luggage back then. RIMOWA STORE LAS VEGAS: THE SHOPS AT CRYSTALS, 3720 S. LAS VEGAS BLVD. SUITE #228

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STEVE WYNN

Steve Wynn and Frank Sinatra at the Golden Nugget, circa 1984; Disneyland, 1960.

an institution by 1960, as did the Fontainebleau. And then I get a chance to come to Las Vegas, which seems to me the perfect way to combine the glamour of the movies and the Fontainebleau with the security of the bank. The father of one of my fraternity brothers from Penn was the chairman of Caesars, so there I am at Caesars on opening night in 1966, and I’m 24 years old. And Las Vegas feels like the promised land.” Years before Wynn would build the Mirage, with its 3,000 rooms and spewing volcano, capitalizing on the “fantasy factor” that the Strip was ready for in 1989, and the $1.6 billion Bellagio, which blew Las Vegas’s collective mind in 1998, he learned another important lesson about luxury—one having nothing to do with Roman chariots, summer furs, or pyrotechnics. It was 1973, Wynn had been elected chairman and president of the Golden Nugget, and he was going to visit the Nevada Gaming Commission in Carson City for the fnal hearing on his license. “In those days, you had to be found suitable,” he explains. “I rented a car at the Reno airport and made a reservation at the Harrah’s hotel on Virginia Street, a downtown hotel in Reno that’s bare-bones. And when I pulled up my rental car

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to the curb, it felt like pulling up to the Plaza. This young kid comes and says, ‘Welcome to Harrah’s. Are you just visiting or are you checking into the hotel, may I ask?’ And he gave me his card with an extension and had my bags sent directly up and said, ‘Don’t you worry about a thing, Mr. Wynn. If you call that number, we’ll have your car waiting.’ And I’m thinking, Whoa. He walks me over to this cheap glass door and welcomes me again to Harrah’s. I go up the escalator, and there’s a young woman behind a wooden front desk, and she gives me a greeting that’s just as nice as the one I got downstairs. “Now at this point she looks down—they didn’t have computers in those days; they had registration cards—and she sees the reservation request and it’s in red, which means complimentary, and the authorizer is Rome Andreotti, the guy who ran the casino. And I’m in the Presidential Suite. She says, ‘Oh my goodness, Mr. Wynn, you’re in the Presidential Suite. Are you gonna love this room—it’s the nicest one in the hotel! Mr. Andreotti has taken very good care of you! We’re delighted to have you. Are you just staying the one night?’ ‘Yeah, I’m going to Gaming Control in the morning.’ ‘Well, good luck, Mr. Wynn, and

again, if there’s anything you need, just pick up the phone—there’s a butler service in your suite. Your bag will be upstairs.’ I hadn’t even made it to the room yet, and okay, it was a lobby with a nice carpet, but I’m dazzled. And I make up my mind that that’s what I want with my employees. What the hell were they feeding these guys? How did they get that warmth? You know, 40 some odd years later and I can still see her face and hear that valet door kid. Now there’s luxury.” (Wynn tracked down the Harrah’s human resources consultant and hired him right away at the Golden Nugget.) Somewhere between the Fontainebleau’s cabana 364 and Carson City, Steve Wynn found his hospitality core. “I was infuenced by a whole bunch of forces that the men before me could not have experienced the way I did,” he says. “Disney played no role to Novack. Bill Harrah didn’t know from the Fontainebleau and he didn’t know from Disney. Sarno never gave a damn about Reno because it was Squaresville.” But Wynn saw them all in their heyday, “and I had that Harrah’s experience tattooed on me forever. And that gave me a richer experience. I was going to combine all the magic I’d seen with the service of Harrah’s.” And he’s been doing it ever since. n

photography by Keystone-France/gamma-Keystone via getty images (DisneylanD); chucK Fishman/WooDFin camp/the liFe images collection/getty images (sinatra)

from left:

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Gold ribbon cuf by Alexis Bittar ($295). alexisbittar.com. Pumps by Rene Caovilla ($3,600). Wynn Collection, 702-7703545. Optics clutch by Judith Leiber ($4,495). Bags Belts and Baubles, Wynn, 702-770-3555

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Cofee-table book by Graf ($95). Graf, Wynn, 702-770-3494. slippers by Kevyn Wynn ($250– $295). Wynn Collection, Wynn, 702-770-3545; Wynn LVNV, 702770-3470; and Encore Homestore, 702-770-5477; kevynwynn.com. Platinum Han espresso cup and saucer by L’Objet ($120). Wynn LVNV, see above

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AVAIlAblE At SW StEAkHoUSE, tHE CoUNtrY ClUb, b bAr, toWEr SUItE bAr & WINg lEI PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY. Imported Cognac Hennessy®, 40% Alc./Vol. (80˚). ©2015 Imported by Moët Hennessy USA, Inc., New York, NY. HENNESSY is a registered trademark.

a-list Ewert lace-up shoes by Jimmy Choo ($1,195). Wynn Collection, Wynn, 702770-3545. Palladium and lacquer cuf links ($480) and wallet ($1,950), both by Hermès. Hermès, Encore, 702-650-3116. Ronde Croisière de Cartier watch by Cartier ($5,300). Cartier, Wynn, 702-770-3498

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT

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FEAST ON THIS

The already sumptuous Buﬀet at Wynn gets a decadent new look—and even more incredible dishes. Sensory overload? That’s the goal. BY BETH SCHWARTZ

he Buffet at Wynn was never a room one would describe as austere, what with its Carmen Miranda–meets– Willy Wonka décor; its central, sky-lit atrium bursting with oversize fruit and flowering trees; a dessert counter drawn straight from a sugar-crazed child’s wildest fantasies; and at least 16 live-action cooking stations. Just when you might think a dining venue

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has hit its sweet spot, however, Wynn tradition says it’s ripe for a refresh. Its newest incarnation, replete with sushi station, hand-dipped chocolate treats, more than 100 new dishes, and a theatrically flaming rotisserie defies any attempt to describe it without hyperbole. The first feeling that should come over people who dine there this holiday season, according to Roger Thomas, Executive

Vice President of Design and Development for Wynn Resorts, is delight. “It is a delicious and exquisitely presented experience with every one of the five senses considered,” he says. From the start, the Wynn buffet experience is visual, as guests enter beneath an array of chevron-patterned, tasseled draperies in vivid colors of persimmon, tangerine, lemon, and raspberry lollipops. As splendid as freshly picked fruit, those same hues are reflected throughout the buffet area, appearing on awnings and seating, and as accents on walls and ceilings. In addition to brightly colored awnings used to identify food stations, sculptures of stainlesssteel tuna, mahi mahi, sausage links, and ham artfully designate the seafood and charcuterie stations. “In the 16th or 17th century, signage was not in language but rather visual cues. In turn, we have created sculptures in gold and

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BARBARA KRAFT

The atrium at the Buffet at Wynn offers guests an experience that is both visual and gustatory, from vivid candy hues to tableside Champagne.

FooD FoR ThoughT

A candy wonderland dangles over vats of dark, milk, and white chocolate.

“We wanted to make it hard to choose because it all looks good, regardless of what you thought you were going to select.”—russell parker silver to turn signage into art,” explains Thomas. The sensory consideration of sound at the bufet has also been enhanced with the addition of 177 speakers. “We wanted to add a more attractive audio experience so that when you are selecting your food, you experience beautiful music rather than the noise of the kitchen,” says Thomas, noting, “With a room like a bufet, it looks and sounds like you are entering a party in progress.” It goes without saying that the carefully chosen cuisine is the focal point of the gustatory wonderland at The Bufet at Wynn. Diners encounter stations that include South American rodizio meats roasting on a grill with

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an open fame, fresh sushi rolls being prepared in front of them, a station featuring a rotating drum of bottomless crab legs, and a rotisserie laden with a carnivore’s feast of everything from prime rib to whole ducks. “We wanted to make it so you would have a hard time choosing because it all looks good, regardless of what you thought you were going to select,” explains Wynn Bufet Executive Chef Russell Parker of the live-action stations and 120 new dishes that have been thoughtfully curated for the bufet. From the healthful red kale salad bathed in sea salt caramel vinaigrette to the decadent baked Caribbean grits with criollo shrimp, there

“We are trying to create a conversation and draw the guest in,” says Executive Chef Russell Parker of the grill and rotisserie that are just two of the focal points that bring the element of fire to the newly refreshed Buffet at Wynn. The centerpiece rotisserie featuring a dramatic open flame rotates through different large cuts of meat. “Boneless lamb, trussed and filled with more leg of lamb, prime rib, roasted whole ducks that are stuffed, salmon, chickens, and whole pigs, of course, that goes without saying,” explains Parker of the rotisserie’s succulent offerings. The rotisserie isn’t the only fire element to generate excitement for Wynn buffet guests. A Wood Stone parrilla grill is also bringing the theatrics of an open flame. “Basically anything you can put on a grill, we are going to put on that station,” says Parker of the grill, the first of its kind in a US restaurant. On the other end of the elements spectrum, diners will be able to catch an ice show at the buffet’s Italian Rotunda ice cream cooler. “It rotates in a spiral direction so guests can see all the flavors,” says Parker. “Guests will basically pick the ice cream of their choice, and the chefs can hit a button, and it will spin back around so we can serve our guests.” Enjoy the experience—it will only be a matter of time until Wynn’s wizards find a way to top it.

photography by barbara kraft

Fire & ice

TO BREAK THE RULES, YOU MUST FIRST MASTER THEM. THE VALLÉE DE JOUX. FOR MILLENNIA A HARSH, UNYIELDING ENVIRONMENT; AND SINCE 1875 THE HOME OF AUDEMARS PIGUET, IN THE VILLAGE OF LE BRASSUS . TH E E A RLY WATC H M A K E RS WE RE 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.

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is no shortage of options for diners regardless of allergies or special diets. “We have chefs available to walk with guests through the whole buffet and specifically guide them to dishes that fall within their dietary restrictions,” says Parker. The centerpiece of The Buffet’s dessert station—a large sculptural display with three pools filled with white, dark, and milk chocolate created specifically to amplify guests’ dessert bacchanalia—was surely inspired by Willy Wonka’s Chocolate River. “It encourages our guests to have fruit, ice cream, and cakes freshly drizzled with chocolate as they desire,” says Thomas. Also new is an assortment of warm desserts. “When we first sat down to discuss the renovation, we talked about our favorite things,

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and we realized we were missing classics like chocolate lava cake, warm apple tart, and sticky toffee pudding,” recalls Parker, who has upped the sweet offerings from 22 to 39. “There are cobblers, butterscotch bread pudding, and crepes made to order, and we will be baking cookies and madeleines on the station.” “We are looking to put that olfactory sensation out there,” explains Parker of the aroma of freshly baked desserts wafting through the room. “These sensational smells create excitement for the guests causing them to explore what is on each station.” With all of the senses engaged in the most exquisite of ways, The Buffet at Wynn is the golden ticket to discovering the holiday season’s most irresistible delights. ■

FROM TOP :

The candyland theme continues in the refreshed dining room; sculptures of ﬁsh ﬁttingly adorn a seafood station replete with fresh crab legs and claws.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BARBARA KRAFT

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

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DIscOVERIEs

“As ExcITED EVERY TIME” Production designer Michael Curry shares a few of the aspects of Wynn and Encore that he most admires.

pecializing in transformational scenery, large-scale puppetry, costuming, and character design, Tony Award– winning production designer Michael curry has enjoyed a working relationship with steve Wynn for more than 20 years. His designs can be seen in Le Rêve—The Dream as well as the show on Wynn’s Lake of Dreams, and he is currently developing an intimate theatrical experience for The Wynn steakhouse at the soon-to-open Wynn Palace in Macau. “Mr. Wynn is a modern-day Medici,” curry says. “He wants great artists to be able to confer with, and I enjoy that he really values my opinion. It’s been a trusting, great relationship, and it’s helped me grow as an artist—and I hope I’ve helped him.” Here curry shares a few examples of ways in which, as he says, “Mr. Wynn has created a bunch of stage sets where the guest gets to be the performer.”

1. the fabrics

2. the escaLatOrs

3. the base

“I never tire of the incredible experience of descending the spiral escalators into Parasol Down. The animation of the stairs and parasols is poetry in motion. Many people don’t realize they move. I helped consult on that, and we didn’t want to make it overly active.... But in natural environments—in a forest, in an ocean—there are cycles—the way the sky is moving and shadows are changing—so it gives an organic story to the room. When there’s motion around you, it kicks in your cerebral cortex to a slightly heightened awareness. It makes it exciting and stimulates the environment to have those opposing motions. You have these parasols slowly shifting up and down like clouds, and then you have this movement of the escalator.... If you walked down the stairs, it would still be grand, but there’s something about this smooth gliding motion. It always makes me feel giddy and slightly royal.”

“What’s so hard in today’s world of so much information is establishing simplicity and a wholistic clarity to what one is trying to do. And Mr. Wynn has this—there’s a feeling that surrounds the choices he makes. There’s a familiarity to it, but he’s always surprising you. Mr. Wynn has a very specific chocolate brown used in various ways throughout his properties. This brown is rich and strong, like his voice. To me it’s his use of the nuance of brown through the interiors that is really gorgeous. It’s become familiar and is a strong base to support the vivid use of rich primary colors. Like Rembrandt would use this brown and then build on it—he was famous for it. But it’s a misunderstood color, and one of the most varied in the spectrum. It can be warm, it can be cool, it can be light, it can be rich. It is actually a very tricky color. But it’s a good base, like the velvet that Tiffany puts their jewels on.”

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photography by rebekah johnson (curry); barbara kraft (all others)

“Wynn and Encore utilize soft materials throughout, and this is extraordinarily rare within public spaces. These rich and inviting surfaces are found in valances, lighting fixtures, and wall coverings. Mr. Wynn and Roger Thomas [Executive Vice President of Design for Wynn Design and Development] accomplish this beautifully. The use of fabrics is really tough in interior surfaces, because they drape differently over their time, and they’re fairly transient in terms of color fading. They’re tricky and require fastidious cleaning and maintenance. What’s really amazing at Wynn is that all the interior soft goods are impeccable. They’re maintained to the point that they look like they did the day they were installed. Other individuals would make the choice to not use them—they would do hard surfaces that would be cleaned with some caustic cleaner. But Mr. Wynn is a designer’s designer, as is Roger Thomas. And they offer that familiarity—that you can trust that you’re gonna go in and it looks and smells and feels exactly like it should, like it was intended, like the day we opened. And so what happens is, it makes you feel as excited every time.”

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FOOD SPOTLIGHT

PRIME TIME

For those who like their steaks rare—or ultrarare—a beef even more precious than Kobe is now on the menu at Wynn. BY LARRY OLMSTED PHOTOGRAPHY BY MIKAYLA WHITMORE

apan’s Hyogo Prefecture is home to the strictest beef grading rules on earth, standards that make the USDA scale of Choice, Select, and Prime seem amateurish by comparison. Inspectors grade each animal on five different variables, the most crucial one being the beef marbling standard. The Japanese are obsessed with marbling, and when Canadian food writer Mark Schatzker visited the country for a chapter in his book Steak, he described a quality

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cut as “So fatty that ‘meat’ may no longer be the correct term for it… beef ornamented with wisps of fat that looked like crochet work, a pervasive filigree that reached into every nook of red muscle.” That is why beef from Japan is so prized worldwide, and in Hyogo they take this very seriously, because it’s the only place on earth where real Kobe beef can originate. Kobe is the most famous and expensive steak on earth. But because the name was never afforded

trademark protection in the US, it is widely misused in restaurants, and an estimated 99 percent or more of all beef sold as Kobe in this country is not Kobe at all, or even Japanese. So little is exported that the Kobe Beef Association licenses individual restaurants and hotels to receive it. In the entire United States, only three such licenses have been granted: to restaurants in New York, Hawaii, and Las Vegas, where it is held by Wynn. But the exotic and varied nature of Wynn’s beef program doesn’t

left: A dry-aged tomahawk chop at SW Steakhouse. below : A Kobe dish at SW, one of the few restaurants in the country licensed to serve authentic Kobe beef. right: Executive Chef David Walzog of SW preparing Kobe.

start and end with Kobe. From domestic hybrids to a breed even more elusive than Kobe, the Wynn beef repertoire is gaining international renown. “At SW and Mizumi, they have real Kobe, which is very rare,” says Joseph Elevado, Executive Chef at Andrea’s in Encore. From Kusunoki Farm in Kumamoto Prefecture, Andrea’s carries high-end Japanese wagyu rated A5, the highest score the country awards. All real Japanese wagyu beef is scarce in the US, but other regional meats are available in far greater supply than Kobe. “We all know a USDA Prime New York strip— that’s the benchmark,” says David Walzog, Executive Chef at SW Steakhouse, which has a huge variety of beef options. Prime is the

highest grade that American beef can receive, awarded to less than 2 percent of all meat produced in this country and typically available only to top-tier steakhouses. All the regular domestic steaks served at SW are Prime. “If you consider that steak to be a 10 in terms of marbling, beef flavor, and ‘steakiness,’ then something like the Snake River Farms domestic wagyu we offer would be a 13, with more mouthfeel, richness, and layered fat. In comparison, Kobe, Ohmi, or the A5 wagyu would be around 18 to 20.” Considering that Prime is already a very high standard, that’s a quantum leap—and the reason that dedicated red-meat lovers are making special trips to Wynn and Encore to sample all the myriad offerings. Almost all high-level Japanese beef comes

from purebred black wagyu (which means cattle) and has similar taste, texture, and appearance. But like wine, Japanese beef is highly regionalized, with some places more famous for quality, especially Kobe, Ohmi, and Matsusaka. “They are the holy trinity of Japanese beef,” says Walzog, “the most prestigious, and we carry two of the three: Kobe and Ohmi. The Ohmi has the most characteristic beef texture.Plac It’s still very silky, soft the palPlaceCaption Hreron plac ate, and much richer American beef, but ecapt ionthan hereplace captionhere the Kobe hasplacecaption more fat dominance.” SW also hHrer plac ecapt carries a third Japanese wagyu, from ionregional hereplace captionhere Ideue Farm inplacecaption Kagoshima Prefecture, her eplacewith more balanced fat eCaption content. Hrer plac ecapt Wagyu cattle been exported for breedionhave hereplace captionhere ing in other countries, especially Australia and placecaption hereplace

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Food SPoTLIghT

Center Fusion

the United States, but they are often crossbred with less expensive and more productive cattle to increase yields and reduce costs. Because the greater amount of fat in Japanese beef needs to be rendered by cooking, most chefs don’t like to use it raw, so Australian wagyu is the choice for the signature beef carpaccio at The Country Club—A New American Steakhouse. “The carpaccio has been on the menu since the very first day—along with the corn chowder, it’s a staple of this place,” explains Executive Chef Rene Lenger. “When I eat Kobe, I want it to be at least medium rare. The Australian wagyu is a crossbreed so it has less marbling, and the flavor comes through better when cold.” Several of the restaurants at Wynn offer domestic wagyu beef from Snake River Farms, which Elevado explains is from wagyu heifers crossed with Angus bulls, called “Wangus” in the beef industry. “The marbling is much better than Prime, but not as much as in Japanese beef,” he says. While everyone agrees that imported Japanese wagyu is distinctive and recognizable, not everyone thinks it’s the best, and

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top :

Creole-spiced bison rib eye. above: Chef Rene Lenger of The Country Club at work in the kitchen. right: The Country Club’s Australian wagyu beef carpaccio.

Andrea’s puts a modern Asianinspired spin on its dishes, offering guests the chance to try rare Japanese wagyu or classics with a twist, like the signature New York strip. “It’s our best seller,” says Executive Chef Joseph Elevado. “We take a USDA Prime New York strip steak, broil it, slice it, then drop it in a sizzling-hot cast-iron skillet with our special wasabi demiglace, and we bring it right to the table, sizzling and covered in that delicious sauce. It’s a Japanese-inspired riff on a classic French sauce paired with one of the most American favorites.” Elevado’s wagyu program offers options that encourage guests to try “table shares”— sampling menus that feature wagyu beef tartare (using the less-fatty Snake River Farms domestic wagyu/Angus crossbreed) as well as domestic wagyu sliders. For diners who want pure Japanese A5 beef, Andrea’s has a trio of interesting options. As an appetizer, a two-ounce portion is sliced into about five thin pieces, then seared in garlic oil and served with wasabi, ginger, and soy, not unlike the popular preparation of seared ahi tuna. Alternatively, the appetizer can be cooked tataki-style, in which the slices are lightly seared on all sides on a hot stone with ponzu sauce and green onion. Andrea’s also offers whole wagyu steaks, served on a sizzling plate with a trio of dipping sauces on the side so the beef takes center stage. “Some guests like to get two ounces of each wagyu and try them side by side,” Elevado says. “We’ve just added another Japanese wagyu from Ohmi to the menu. Needless to say, these are very high-end luxury items.”

FOOD SPOTLIGHT

Diners sear their own Hokkaido Snow Beef on a hot stone at their table at Mizumi.

some diners find it too fatty, like eating butter. All the chefs interviewed recommend consuming it in much smaller portions, no more than four to six ounces per person. Elevado suggests that wagyu novices try the domestic version first, as a stepping-stone to the intensely fatty Japanese beef. Many visitors try a sampler of Kobe, Ohmi, and Ideue at SW, Kusunoki and Snake River at Andrea’s, or Kobe and Hokkaido Snow Beef at Mizumi. The latest addition to the Wynn family of exotic steaks, Snow Beef is even rarer than Kobe. It is produced by just one farmer, on the cold, snowy island of Hokkaido, the northernmost in Japan, known for its skiing and its long winter. “They call this farmer the ‘wagyu meister,’ and he has devoted his entire life to raising them,” says Devin Hashimoto, Executive Chef at Mizumi. “Because it’s so cold and they use corn as feed, you get this uniquely sweet taste

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from the beef. He only slaughters four head a month: One stays on Hokkaido, one goes to a restaurant in Singapore, one gets split between two places in Seattle and San Francisco, and one comes here. During Golden Week, we have a lot of Japanese guests come in, and we had people from Tokyo and Kyoto who don’t get up to Hokkaido telling us that they had to come to Las Vegas to finally try it for the first time.” Imported and domestic wagyu are not the only choices for beef lovers at Wynn. All the restaurants still do a brisk business in USDA Prime beef, often dry-aged, which concentrates and elevates the flavor, with SW serving classics like a dry-aged tomahawk chop, a 44-ounce porterhouse for two, and a rare double rib eye. To offer yet another taste profile, Walzog recently added a grass-fed natural domestic steak from a boutique Oregon farm. Slightly leaner than traditional grain-fed domestic beef, with a fat

ratio closer to that of wild salmon, grass-fed is the standard in the world’s largest beefconsuming nations, Argentina and Uruguay, and is becoming increasingly popular in this country. The Country Club also offers grass-fed steaks alongside grain-fed, but Chef Lenger is more excited about bison. “We try to source more natural ingredients—we use organic fish and we have the grass-fed beef,” he says. “We get the bison from Colorado. It’s 100 percent natural, and we work with just four or five ranches. It is very good meat, and you can use it for steaks, chops, or burgers, but if you’re a little healthconscious, it has less calories and cholesterol. We have the rib eye now, and I want to add tenderloin and a bison burger to the menu.” According to Walzog, a lot of guests who eat at SW are inspired to try more beef dishes at the other restaurants as well. “People love all the choices, and they’re going crazy for the dynamic of the varied offerings,” he says. “And because we’re one of only three registered users of the Kobe Beef Association in the US, they feel comfortable indulging, because here they know what they’re getting.” ■

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VINE ARTS

INTO THE LIGHT

Can red meat and white wine get along at the table? BY AMY ZAVATTO

e all try to play by the rules. Look both ways when crossing the street, even at the crosswalk. Pay your taxes on time. Pair red meat with red wine. But like the occasional jaywalk or ﬁling extension, bending the rules at the table can be an advantageous exercise. And for the sommelier who likes to be presented with a

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challenge, it can be downright thrilling. Wynn Wine Director Mark Thomas is one such somm. “I’ve certainly been asked to pair steak with white wine before,” he says. “Thinking outside the typical wine rules challenges you to learn your wine list, honing in on exactly what a guest wants and bringing a meal together. Finding the right wine for a customer completes the circle of the dining experience.”

A thoughtful practitioner is certainly the key. While one can always fall back on wine-pairing principals like Chablis with oysters or Sauternes with foie gras or California Cabernet with a nice juicy rib eye, there are no hard-and-fast rules for white wines and red meat. “With other food pairings, there are rules you can work with,” says Thomas. “But this certainly challenges you to know every little corner of your wine list—from the terroir to the vintage to the producer—and the food, too. It challenges us somms to be as great as we possibly can.” There are, however, some guidelines to follow. For instance, your typical New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc or ethereal Orvieto should be avoided for the simple reason that pairing either with the meatiest of meats is like pairing spunky but reedy Taylor Swift in a wrestling match with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. For Thomas, there are a few places his brain goes to solve this particular pairing conundrum, like Alsatian Pinot Gris, with its spice and weight and acidity. But it’s not an automatic go-to, he warns. Thomas starts by asking a diner questions in order to personalize the pairing, like what white wines and red meat dishes has he or she had and enjoyed in the past? Then he looks at the way a dish is prepared. “If you have a heavy, fatty steak that’s dry-aged and has a lot of flavor and sauce, it’s trickier,” he says. “But seared Kobe beef that’s delicate in flavor, well-marbled, and melts on your tongue can do well with a highacid, low-flavor white or even a savory junmai sake.” Or a pepper-crusted bison filet with an older vintage Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris from the aforementioned Alsace. That high-flavor style of wine and its residual sugar work to counteract the spice of a lean meat like this. Also, he notes: Don’t ignore the ancillary dishes. Sides are part of the pairing, too. Orange wines—whites that are often made in amphoras and left in contact with the grapes’ skins to create a fuller, grippier wine—are also fun to play around with here. “It really is case by case,” Thomas says. “And sometimes you’ve got to get granular! Was the meat grass-fed? Was it corn-fed? Understanding your protein is the kind of detail that can set a pairing apart.” But that’s the sort of peel-back-the-onion assistance that Thomas and his staff thrive on. Inspector Veuve Clicquot, at your service. ■

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MIKAYLA WHITMORE

An aged rosé from Bandol, such as Domaine Tempier’s, is an excellent choice to pair with meat; try Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris with a leaner, pepper-spiced steak.

Wynn Luxury

House of Mrs. Prada Prada opens a boutique on the Wynn esplanade that is as faithful to the tradition of the venerable design house as it is to its inimitable co-Ceo and lead designer Miuccia Pradaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s maverick sensibilities.

photography by barbara kraft

By Lydia Gordon

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WYnn LuxuRY

If you were forced to nominate one single current designer to represent fashion, someone whose name and style are known by even the most sartorially challenged, there is really only one candidate: Miuccia Prada. And, if such a poll were restricted to the cognoscenti, it might still come up Prada. Because Mrs. Prada, as those insiders call her, is one of a handful of individuals who command universal respect in the fckle, competitive world of fashion, even though it is a world she was reluctant to join. This factoid is one of a number of startling biographical details in the Prada creation myth—such as: Miuccia Prada is probably the only fashion grandee with a doctorate in political science, and defnitely the only major designer who is a former Italian Communist Party member with fve years of mime training under her ostrich leather belt. It was hardly the ambition of the then-29-year-old arty intellectual feminist from the Milanese counterculture to take over Fratelli Prada, the luxury luggage company her grandfather Mario had founded in 1913. Yet, in 1978, she bit the bullet, taught herself design and, seven years later, launched a range of handbags in military-grade black nylon that became instant cult

objects: the frst It bags. Later, she married her business partner Patrizio Bertelli—they are still very much together in both senses—who, in 1988, became the catalyst of fashion’s swerve into left feld. It was by appealing to his new wife’s famous competitive instincts that Bertelli more or less goaded her into designing clothes, when he threatened to hire a “professional.” And thus was born the most recognizable—and fnancially successful—of fashion’s mavericks. The empire that Prada inherited began as a single shop in Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. In a sense, this is still the empire— only opposite that little atelier now stands a second, far grander, Prada. And Prada stores fan out worldwide (70 countries) in more than 600 directly operated retail hubs, turning over some $4.65 billion annually. The very newest of the 600-plus stores is a 7,000-square-foot bemirrored marble and steel ode to the original atelier by Roberto Baciocchi. The latest star opened in October on the Wynn Esplanade: not the frst, nor the second, but the third Prada in Las Vegas. Even in a city that is the luxury shopper’s nirvana, that is some heavy Prada coverage. Of course, this boutique

Patrizio Bertelli appealed to his wife’s competitive instincts when he threatened to hire a “professional” to design the clothes. And the most recognizable of fashion’s mavericks was born.

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photography Courtesy of prada

An interior of the new boutique at Wynn. right: A look from Prada’s Spring/ Summer 2016 collection.

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“Fashion fosters clichés of beauty, but I want to tear them apart.” —MIuccIa Prada

is something quite special. Its entrance is dedicated to women, defned by the signature black and white marble checkered fooring, and opens up into a large octagonal space in which leather goods and accessories collections are set as art atop polished-steel display cases embellished with black Marquina marble drawers against a backdrop of green fabric-clad walls. Cut-in alcoves, in a reinterpretation of Prada’s iconic display niches, showcase the leather goods, accessories, and jewelry. A mirrored portal leads to the men’s collection in a succession of intimate spaces punctuated by polished-steel display counters and green ostrich leather sofas. But duck into one of the alcoves, such as a room devoted to exotic leather goods, and you will see

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what separates this from other leather goods shopping experiences. Sit across from a Prada made-to-order specialist, and you may customize your handbag from a selection of Prada’s most iconic styles, including the Prada Galleria, Pyramid, and Sound in safano leather, ostrich, or crocodile in a variety of color combinations, and then personalize it with your initials in silver or gold. The made-to-order service is ofered only in three locations in the United States— Madison Avenue, Beverly Hills, and at Wynn. A few handbags on the shelves even celebrate the Wynn and Prada marriage, made exclusively for Wynn. So how do these clothes, shoes and, of course, bags of all sizes keep renewing their appeal? Certainly a Prada collection is

photography by victor virgile/gamma-rapho via getty images (miuccia prada); courtesy of prada (bag)

Miuccia Prada walks the runway during Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/ Summer 2016. below : Frame bag ($3,200).

JULY 3, 2015 – JANUARY 10, 2016

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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.

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aspirational, replete with exquisite artisan detail and masterful tailoring, but it is also edgy, avant-garde, and often downright challenging. To parse Prada, we must look to the woman herself. From her very frst 1989 collection, Prada refused to do things the “correct” way. “By defnition good taste is horrible taste. I do have a healthy disrespect for those values,” she noted. At the time, Milan fashion was nothing but good taste, if glitzy, with highly produced shows of va-va-voom corsetry, enormous hair, power shoulders, gilt buttons, and mini-miniskirts. “Fashion fosters clichés of beauty, but I want to tear them apart,” she said. And amid the theatrical hyper-femininity, she did just that, showing minimal, muted long skirts, cropped pants, demure collars, and vintage silhouettes, all paraded on a beige carpet, hair close to the head, bare faces—and not a heel in sight. “I was very much criticized for inventing the trashy and the ugly,” the designer said recently. “But the investigation of ugliness is, to me, more interesting than the bourgeois idea of beauty.” Indeed, the resetting of our collective eye began immediately, as Prada frst made us look twice. In a way, it’s obvious why her iconoclastic vision should be so potent. Unlike many designers in major houses today, Prada has creative freedom. She works purely from her own aesthetic, alighting on whatever motif grabs her attention, whether it’s fairies (2008), stripes and bananas (2011), or something more abstract such as Symbolism (Spring/Summer 2016). This collection she named—at the last possible minute, as is her wont—post-modest, postindustrialist, post-pop. “It was trying to analyze the concept between honesty, humanity, and simplicity, compared with the necessity of being bold, aggressive, and loud,” she explained backstage. Well, yes, and, as the curator of the 2012 Prada/Schiaparelli show at the Met said, “Prada is more semiotician than designer. She’s like the Umberto Eco of fashion.” And yet she is thankfully less than deadly serious. Yes, it was Symbolism, she said, but “I don’t like to simplify thoughts, so we chose stupid symbols, the most infantile, that worked graphically.” Hence bunnies, spaceships, and big red arrows. Ugly, funny, sublime. Rabbits and rockets are reprised in the SS16 women’s

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PhotograPhy by antonio de Moraes barros Filho/WireiMage (Miuccia Prada); courtesy oF Prada (exterior, shoe)

Miuccia Prada walks the runway during the Prada show as a part of Milan Fashion Week Womenswear Autumn/Winter 2014. below : Prada’s fagship boutique in Milan. right: A shoe from Prada’s Spring/ Summer 2016 collection.

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ready-to-wear collection currently in store—this time on charming silk blouses. This backstage disquisition was given by Prada’s longtime Design Director Fabio Zambernardi (as Miuccia Prada had just lost her beloved 103-year-old aunt), and the information was direct. “Mrs. Prada was obsessed with suits this season, because we really don’t do them so much anymore,” Zambernardi pointed out. “She likes obsessions.” It has been called a return to her roots, a redo of Prada tropes, and certainly it’s a collectible season, with the familiar boxy jacket and knee-length skirt, only very, very tweaked. Here are gaudy 1970s intarsia V-neck wool tanks tucked into, and showing right through, starched organza skirts, the matching jackets in matchstick-line print with black edges recalling Lichtenstein or Roberta di Camerino. Also in organza are gorgeous embellished graphic frocks in 1920s fapper shapes and, in the opposite corner, showstopper leather blazers in

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stripes of matte, patent, and suede, and boxy suede white-tipped car coats with contrast collars, all in colors more autumnal than spring—raising the question of where, in Prada’s global market, is it spring anyway? Those bunny-print silk blouses are worn half untucked, with overlong sleeves bunched down to the knuckles that hold the handbag—and what handbags! Some highlights: totes in candy-striped crocodile; a whole stable of top-handle structured lady purses in stripes of colorful calf or croc, as tightly constructed as car seats; a snakeskin purse with steroidal chrome hardware and chain straps thick enough for ships; and the continuing evolution of the new Inside Bag. They’ll look especially alluring showcased in diva light on the curved walls of accessory cubbies on the Esplanade. “When I started,” says the designer, “everybody hated what I was doing except a few clever people.” Well, thank you, Mrs. Prada. We can all feel clever now. Prada, Wynn, 702-770-3495 n

photography Courtesy of prada

A look from Prada’s Spring/Summer 2016 collection. right: An interior of the new boutique at Wynn.

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MACAU SPOTLIGHT

MAGICAL BREW

ames McNeill Whistler’s Peacock Room, an entire dining room painted as a commission for British ship owner and art collector Frederick Leyland in the 1870s, is considered one of Whistler’s greatest works. In fact, its final owner realized that it was so important, it belonged in the public domain. So he had it dismantled and it now resides in the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The work’s influence has been broad; in fact, the ornate tea lounge at the Wynn Macau restaurant Golden Flower was inspired by the Peacock Room. When the original room was in service, Leyland would likely have enjoyed high tea there on most days. But it’s unlikely that even this tycoon experienced a tea service of the caliber offered by the two-Michelinstarred Golden Flower. He definitely would not have had a tea sommelier. Percy Cheung holds the position at Wynn Macau, where she brings guests

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the finest teas, helping them make a selection that complements their tastes as well as the menu, which features Tan, Lu (Shandong), and Sichuan cuisines. Cheung, who holds the qualification of advanced tea art specialist, studied under a tea master in Hong Kong and led workshops and seminars at the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware for six years. “Growing up,” she says, “I always felt that tea had a kind of magical quality to it.” Cheung brings that magic to Wynn Macau, curating premium teas from China’s best-known tea regions—41 selections currently, with 23 more to be added in the spring. In the lounge, she oversees traditional tea ceremonies employing teas brewed expertly with whole leaves and flowers and served using the finest teaware. Staff members carefully calibrate the temperature, especially for delicate teas like green and jasmine, by pouring the water in a high stream so that the air cools it.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY WYNN MACAU; OPPOSITE PAGE: BY RUSSELL MACMASTERS

The tea service at Golden Flower in Wynn Macau is intricate, precise, and attended by a tea sommelier whose mission is to ﬁnd your perfect brew— or the perfect match for dinner. BY JENNIFER BLOSSOM

left:

Tea sommelier Percy Cheung. above: Golden Flower’s tea bar.

Tea is also central in the dining room, available to guests first rather than last. A meal often begins with a pot of Golden Flower’s unique signature blend of chrysanthemum-infused oolong tea to ready the palate. Then Cheung will suggest a tea that complements the qualities and flavors of each course. “Tea is a subtle beverage in general, not having a strong character like alcohol or coffee,” she says. “Tea plays a role on the dining table of cleansing and balancing the palate, assisting the natural flavors of each dish to come through.” Green tea, one of the most delicate, can enhance the freshness of seafood, for instance. High in amino acids, green tea creates the earthy umami taste and can be as sweet as chicken soup. It pairs excellently with dishes such as Golden Flower’s steamed fish with chicken stock “Tan style,” stir-fried scallops with marinated ginger, and stewed fish maw with crab claw in chicken broth. For meatier dishes, Cheung may suggest a vintage pu’er tea. A large-leaf varietal, pu’er has high levels of polyphenol and tannin, which neutralize the oils from heavy meats and aid digestion. “Its mellow, sweet, full-bodied texture can clear up our palate instantly,” says Cheung, who also suggests pairing it with braised, deep-fried, or crispy dishes, like spiced roasted yellow croaker, braised abalone in brown sauce, or braised pork ribs with pineapple and osmanthus honey. Tea also figures in the dishes themselves. On the menu is a Sichuan tea-smoked duck and a dish featuring fresh clam and jasmine in chicken soup. “The scents of the jasmine flower are released by the heat as it floats on the clear chicken soup,” says Cheung. For the cold months, Cheung is recommending Wuyi oolong, red tea, and brown pu’er tea: “These teas are highly fermented, which carries a warming effect and boosts the circulation to our body.” The pu’er teas, grown in the Yunnan province of southwestern China, are aged between five and 30 years, with their large leaves often pressed into balls that blossom in the water. Like wine appreciation, tea appreciation has a bit of a learning curve, but Wynn Macau offers classes in which students can acquire this new vocabulary of taste, texture, aroma, color, and aftertaste. “Tea descriptions are more or less related to the herbaceous,” Cheung explains. Some descriptions will sound similar to those used for wine: buttery, full-bodied, complex, bold, chocolaty, smoky, fruity. Others less so: umami, vegetal, wheat, salty. And then, of course, there’s the magic, which is hard to put into words. n

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY BONNIE HOLLAND

Style

What could be more decadent than a riot of flowers in winter? Or the ability to escape to a tropical oasis (or Japanese garden pagoda, or bamboo forest) in spectacular golden heels and miles and miles of taffeta, with an escape plan that involves only a short jog over a Monet-worthy footbridge? Of course, there are many ways to indulge, not the least of which is drinking something sparkly—while wearing something sparkly. Jewelry and fashion effervesce right off the following pages, setting the mood for a bright holiday season.

Magenta silk faille bubble hemp dress with bow details ($2,990) and black silver geometric facet stone earrings ($290), both by Oscar de la Renta. Oscar de la Renta, Encore, 702-770-3487. Delicate fancy quartz marquis tennis bracelet ($995) and quartz marquis cuﬀ (price on request), both by Alexis Bittar. alexisbittar.com

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Flirty Florals

THE INTIMATE SPACES OF WYNN AND ENCORE PROVIDE A LUSH BACKDROP FOR WINTER’S MOST ROMANTIC FASHIONS. PHOTOGRAPHY BY BONNIE HOLLAND STYLING BY LEILANI LACSON

opposite page: Floral embroidered and beaded chifon gown by Naeem Khan ($12,990). Wynn Collection, Wynn, 702-770-3545. Fractured spear clip earrings ($325) and gold quartz bracelet (price on request), both by Alexis Bittar. alexisbittar.com this page: Silk organza dress by Chanel (price on request). Chanel, Wynn, 702-770-3532. Blueberry marquis earrings with blue topaz ($2,595) and blue topaz cuf ($995), both by Alexis Bittar. alexisbittar. com. Shoes by Jimmy Choo (price on request). Wynn Collection, Wynn, 702-770-3545

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opposite page: Capri silk tafeta gown with rufe detail ($6,690) and black and silver pear stone necklace ($1,190), both by Oscar de la Renta. Oscar de la Renta, Encore, 702770-3487. Black leather pumps by Manolo Blahnik ($595). Manolo Blahnik, Wynn, 702770-3477. Round black knight quartz ring by Suzanne Kalan ($1,210). Bags Belts and Baubles, Wynn, 702-770-3555 this page: Maxie leaf jacquard raisedbeading dress by Hervé Léger ($5,190). Wynn Collection, Wynn, 702770-3545. Crystal and black pavé stacked earrings by Oscar de la Renta ($450). Oscar de la Renta, Encore, 702-770-3487

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Viscose pullover ($5,500) and coated lace skirt ($3,350), both by Chanel. Chanel, Wynn, 702-7703532. Russian gold ivy button earrings ($250) and ring ($195), both by Oscar de la Renta. Oscar de la Renta, Encore, 702770-3487. Carnaby crossstrap sandals by Nicholas Kirkwood ($1,013). Nicholas Kirkwood, Encore, 702-770-3543

this page: Kendra embellished jumpsuit by Diane von Furstenberg ($998). Bags Belts and Baubles, Wynn, 702770-3555. Silver sea swirl pearl necklace ($790) and crystal silver foral baguette bracelet ($590), both by Oscar de la Renta. Oscar de la Renta, Encore, 702-770-3487 opposite page: Sleeveless blue chifon gown by Alexander McQueen ($7,095). Alexander McQueen, Wynn, 702-770-3490. Framed baguette chandelier clip earrings by Alexis Bittar ($325). alexisbittar.com. Black and silver large octagon stone bracelet by Oscar de la Renta ($590). Oscar de la Renta, Encore, 702-770-3487 78

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Dress by Georges Chakra ($8,300 for special order). Wynn Collection, Wynn, 702-770-3545. Olga pumps by Alexandre Birman ($890). Bags Belts and Baubles, Wynn, 702-770-3555. Gold spike earrings and crystal and gold cuf (prices on request), both by Alexis Bittar. alexisbittar.com Photo assistance by Zeke DeRoseÂ Styling assistance by Jason Klaiber Makeup by Iryna Pume Hair by Viviana M. for Claude Baruk Salon at Wynn Modeling by Alanna Whittaker with Hollywood Model Management

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sparkle season The most effervescent in jewelry with the fnest in bubbly. Some combinations will never lose their luster. photography by brian klutch styling by samantha yanks set design by sergio esteves

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Platinum and 11.06 carat Diamond Links timepiece by Harry Winston (price on request). Available upon request at Wynn & Company Watches, Wynn, 702770-3520. 42.78 carat multishaped diamond necklace and fancy yellow radiant-cut and white-diamondtop earrings, both by Graf (prices on request). Graf, Wynn, 702-770-3494. 18k white-gold and 7.94 carat diamond High Jewelry Collection ring by Chopard (price on request). Chopard, Wynn, 702-770-3469

18k white-gold and diamond Franges Swing bracelet by Chanel Fine Jewelry ($222,000). Chanel, Encore, 702770-5468. 18k whiteand yellow-gold 39.39 carat fancy yellow emeraldcut diamond and 3.06 carat Three Stone Diamond ring by Jacob & Co (price on request). Available upon request at Wynn & Company Watches, Wynn, 702-770-3520 84

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18k white- and yellow-gold 6.27 carat fancy yellow radiant-cut and 30.72 baguette diamond necklace by Jacob & Co. (price on request). Available upon request at Wynn & Company Watches, Wynn, 702-770-3520

opposite page: 17.35 carat fancy yellow cushion-cut diamond ring by Graf (price on request). Graf, Wynn, 702-770-3494. Yellow-gold La D De Dior Precieuse white and fancy yellow diamond timepiece by Dior Timepieces (price on request). Dior, Wynn, 702-770-3496 this page: 18k white-gold and 17.17 carat pavĂŠ set with diamond cuf bracelet by Jacob & Co (price on request). Available upon request at Wynn & Company Watches, Wynn, 702-770-3520. 18k white-gold, diamond, and onyx Charleston necklace by Chanel Fine Jewelry ($126,000). Chanel, Encore, 702-770-5468

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wynn news

treasure trove

as with all things wynn, when curating the new upscale children’s boutique tiny treasures, sourcing exclusive items from the world’s foremost purveyors was of paramount importance. the new tiny treasures showcases a variety of extraordinary gifts, toys, educational games, clothing, and other child-friendly fare from renowned designers. why add a children’s store to wynn’s retail lineup on the esplanade? “we saw a significant trend in our children’s business,” explains wynn senior vice President of retail Hedy woodrow. “so we decided to curate a children’s assortment for guests who are traveling with their children, guests who attend the conventions and need to take something back, and grandparents who need to purchase a gift.” and what gifts: of the wynn-exclusive Glitzy bella Morgan Cycle ($2,400), with nearly 400 hand-placed swarovski crystals, handcrafted steel frame, padded seat, and working headlight, woodrow says, “every little girl needs a tricycle that sparkles!”

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these treasures come from all over the world, says woodrow. the organic cotton Mama teddy bear ($295) is by anne-Claire Petit in the netherlands; a Dream Mobile ($125) by L’oiseau bateau hails from France and is offered for sale in the us exclusively at wynn. “we also have a little saab roadster and a scooter that is a must-have,” she shares, from swedish brand Playsam. German company Hape designed the store’s popular pink children’s piano ($225). there’s even a children’s robe ($95) made by beverly Hill-based designer kelly van Halen. the mirrored bank in the Form of a Pig, designed by Harry allen and made by reality by areaware ($250), is a surprising take on a children’s classic, is great for tweens, and works just as well for adults. “our team attends the various shows to ensure that our assortment is very special,” says woodrow. and with this treasure trove right next door to the wynn Collection boutique, there’s something special for everyone within just a few steps. Tiny Treasures, Wynn, 702-770-3588 n

photography by barbara kraft

wynn’s new tiny treasures ofers a highly curated selection of unique—and exclusive—children’s gifts. by karen rose

ALL ACCESS

SUITS AHEAD The Brioni Miror removes the guesswork from custom suiting.

ACCENT MARKS The must-have accessories of the season are all elegance, with a festive twist.

MIRROR, MIRROR Made-to-measure clients need only gaze into the Brioni Miror to see what their fabric swatch will look like as an entire suit. Up next: viewing yourself in an endless combination of Brioni garments. BY CONNOR CHILDERS

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talian menswear house Brioni is merging its rich history of precise made-to-measure suiting with cutting-edge technology that requires just a bit less imagination from its clients. The new Brioni Miror, the first of its kind—and aside from Wynn, available only in two boutiques, in Rome and Milan—allows clients to simulate the look of any fabric in a full suit using its special 3-D technology. The Brioni Miror marks a breakthrough in the menswear industry by eliminating the main issues commonly associated with the custom suiting process. “The Miror builds confidence,” says Emily Ciafone, Brioni’s Director of Retail for the West Coast. “It’s difficult for a new made-tomeasure client to imagine the garment and how it would look in the material they’ve selected because they’re only given a swatch that’s maybe six by six [inches] to look at for reference, so this allows the client to see their creation fully rendered.” Considering that a Su Misura (or made-to-measure) suit from Brioni gives customers 1,500 fabrics from which to choose and up to 8 million styling combinations, coming up with one’s perfect garment can be a bit daunting, to say the least. The Miror is being rolled out in three stages, culminating in 2017 with the ability to virtually try on your custom outfit. A portable Miror is also on the horizon, allowing the boutique to bring this experience to clients via private appointments in their suites at Wynn. Ciafone explains, “Made-to-measure is not for every customer. It’s really for a very special client who understands the highest level of luxury.” Brioni, Wynn, 702-770-3440 ■

Add the perfect touch of texture to your outfit this season with a slim tonal necktie such as Hermès’s smart take on a structured plaid tie. The classic pattern references textile influences from the 1930s, while the silhouette and subtle color evoke modernday menswear. Silk twill ties by Hermès ($180). Hermès, Encore, 702-650-3116

Louis Vuitton’s tuxedo shoes are minimal, sophisticated, and highly stylized pieces that, this season, get a modern update in plush velvet paired with textured trim and metal accents. On Stage Richelieu by Louis Vuitton ($970). Louis Vuitton, Wynn, 702-770-34

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BARBARA KRAFT (INTERIOR); COURTESY OF BRIONI (CUFF LINKS); COURTESY OF HERMÈS (NECKTIES); COURTESY OF LOUIS VUITTON (SHOE)

Brioni’s cuff links in robust rose gold pair perfectly with a crisp suit for day and add a bit of romance to evening’s dapper looks. Cuff links by Brioni (price on request). Brioni, Wynn, 702-770-3440

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BEAUTY

TRÈS CHIC TRESSES

With a keen eye and a progressive sense of fashion, Claude Baruk looks to Paris for the hairstyles to best complement this season’s trends.

efore celebrity hairstylist Claude Baruk was beckoned to Las Vegas by Steve Wynn, he had spent 18 years tending to the tresses of the most sophisticated women in the world in his home country of France. Now settled into his high-glamour Claude Baruk Salons at Wynn and Encore, he is celebrating 20 fabulous years in the hair business with a romantic holiday hair menu inspired by the alluring women of Paris. Baruk’s muses in the City of Love may give

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off an air of effortless beauty, but in his world of high fashion, every single look is meticulously choreographed by him from cut to finish. “The hair is the most beautiful part of a woman’s entire look,” Baruk says. “Diamonds without great hair mean nothing. If the hair doesn’t fit, nothing works. But the most simple dress with nice hair? Everything will then be great.” This season Baruk is featuring dreamy looks that allow movement, perfect for both the cosmopolitan Parisian lifestyle and Vegas’s glit-

tering, breathtaking holiday parties. “I love waves and curly hair,” he says. “But it has to stay in a natural way. I love movement. That is glamorous holiday hair.” In fact, Baruk is constantly researching, creating, and updating style trends. “We create two hair menu collections a year, interpreting the trends,” he says. “Here in Vegas, we can try everything because everyone is ready to try looks they wouldn’t try in their regular life or in their hometown. They’re open here, so we can go big.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIC ITA; OPPOSITE PAGE: ROUSE PHOTOGRAPHY

BY ABBY TEGNELIA

from left:

Naturally straight with heavy bangs; high-shine wavy blow-dry.

high-ShiNe wavy Blow-Dry inspiration: “I went back to my roots: My clients, friends, and muses are all from Paris.” how to wear it: “It’s a natural look with natural waves, so it is easy to wear in any place, day or night, for a party.”

Naturally Straight with heavy BaNgS

wavy BoB

inspiration: “The strong French spirit.”

inspiration: “All of these looks are inspired by the fall/winter trends of the Parisian woman.”

how to wear it: “As a day look with a lot of personality.”

how to wear it: “Sophisticated and natural, this could be worn day or night.”

how he creates it: “The bangs make the whole style. It’s a one-length cut texturized on the ends with heavy bangs for a nice fnish around the eyes and face. Balayage technique creates dimension with a mix of highlights. There are light, warm honey lowlights and cold blond highlights. It’s very natural, very straight hair.”

how he creates it: “For a natural wavy look, I use layers all around. It is a short bob cut texturized with layers to create diferent lengths, waves, and volume. We leave the roots untouched on purpose, to create dimension. Then we use balayage to add blond at the ends.”

how he creates it: “It would not have these waves without the right cut done in my salon. There’s a lot of shine to the hair—that makes all the diference. The only way to get this shine is by working the hair gently with special techniques. We curl exclusively with the brush and blow-dryer.”

romaNtic chigNoN inspiration: “The ‘naturally straight with heavy bangs’ look—this is the night version! It shows of a woman’s pure beauty.” Plac PlaceCaption Hrer plac how to wearecapt it: “This for a sophisticated, ionishereplace captionhere romantic night out.” placecaption hHrer plac ecapt ion hereplace captionhere how he creates it: “Keep the heavy bangs placecaption herhair eplace with texturized ends. Put the in a ponytail Hrer plac ecapt in the middleeCaption of the head, and twist the hair ion hereplace captionhere around the ponytail into a nice chignon that is placecaption hereplace natural yet elegant.” n

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BACK STORY

HOOP DREAMS

You may never play in the pros or with the USA Basketball Men’s National Team, but for a few days each August at Wynn, you can sure feel like you do. BY DAVE MCMENAMIN

FROM LEFT: Anthony Davis, John Wall, and DeAndre Jordan warm up during USA Basketball training camp; awards from USA Basketball Fantasy Camp.

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where. There’s no cutting corners at Wynn.” Since Jerry Colangelo took over as managing director and chairman of USA Basketball, the sport’s governing body, in 2005 and named Mike Krzyzewski head coach, Wynn has hosted the organization for nine of the last 10 summers. It will do so again in the summer of 2016 as the US team prepares for the Olympics in Rio. Three years ago, USA Basketball, in conjunction with Wynn, created the oﬃcial USA Basketball Fantasy Camp to heighten awareness and build excitement for this summer training block. The result is a four-day hospitality and sports extravaganza, highlighted by a stay at Wynn, a competitive amateur basketball tournament, coaching by top collegiate coaches, and all the camaraderie and good-natured ribbing of one’s letterman days. “Wynn just does it right,” says John Calipari, head coach of the men’s basketball team at the University of Kentucky, who has moonlighted as a coach at the fantasy camp for the last three years. “And they’ve been unbelievable supporters of USAB for a while now.” Beyond the basketball ﬁx the camp provides, campers enjoy the same luxuries that USA

Basketball players do, from Nike gear to access to a training room in the hotel, complete with ice bag service and a masseuse. The campers, typically men aged 35 and over who are ﬁt enough to handle three consecutive days of on-court competition, come from all over the country for the experience. They relish the fact that coaches like Calipari, who are usually busy recruiting the nation’s top high school prospects each summer, are just as concerned with their fantasy camp team’s ability to run a zone defense or a pick-and-roll oﬀense. In nightly recap events, celebrity camp administrators Jay Bilas and P.J. Carlesimo analyze the campers’ performances with the same fervor they do the pros’ on their ESPN broadcasts. And just as the USA Basketball Men’s National Team returns to Wynn each year, so do the fantasy campers. The camp has sold out every year of its three-year existence, and interest is already growing for this summer. Ed Henry, the White House correspondent for Fox News, is a regular. And last year actor Jerry Ferrara, best known as Turtle on HBO’s Entourage, went head-to-head with more than 60 campers. Apparently, not even fame on the small screen can replace playing among the big boys. usabfantasycamp.com ■

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOE DURKIN FOR PHOJOPHOTO LLC

n August, at a private event at the nightclub XS, 46-year-old Isaac Brown strode past nearly a dozen professional basketball players to accept an award. This was no bored-at-work daydream for the hotel developer. Instead, he was at the USA Basketball Fantasy Camp, where his team had won the championship that caps the four-day event at Wynn. As memorable as the basketball was for Brown, however, sharing the experience with his 4-yearold son, who got to watch his father play among some of the best basketball players in the world, was even more meaningful. “This is something that I never imagined he would actually get to see,” Brown says. “And him meeting all these professional athletes at that age, it’s going to sink in.” For Brown, the reward came in the form of meeting and training in the same environs as Blake Griﬃn, DeMarcus Cousins, and Kawhi Leonard. And just to add a little more star power, basketball legends like Hall of Famer David Robinson were on hand, regaling attendees with stories of past triumphs. “The camp and its related events are just outrageous,” says Ric Elias, CEO of Red Ventures and a veteran of nearly every major fantasy basketball camp there is. “You don’t see this any-

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LAST CALL

A GALA AFFAIR

The Crowned Apple cocktail at Andrea’s is a fresh pick this season. BY CHRIS STAVE

ho doesn’t love a gala? Or an apple for that matter? Offered exclusively in Asian-inspired restaurant Andrea’s at Encore, the Crowned Apple cocktail combines Crown Royal’s Regal Apple whiskey— made with Regal Gala apples—and Cardamaro amaro, a Moscato wine-based amaro that’s infused with cardoon (a relative of the artichoke) and aged in oak. It all makes for an appley, slightly nutty, smooth drink that, topped with a lightly frothy crown, is fit for royalty.

THE CROWNED APPLE

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker without ice. Shake vigorously for 15 seconds to get the egg white incorporated and frothy. Add ice, shake again, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Top with a dash of cinnamon. ■

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY JENNA DOSCH

2 oz. Crown Royal Regal Apple whiskey 1 oz. Cardamaro amaro 3 ∕4 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 ∕2 oz. simple syrup White of one egg Cinnamon

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