“BEYOND DESCRIPTION. YOUR JAW WILL DROP.” — VEGAS CHATTER
“BEST NEW SHOW.”
“ THE EXPERIENCE TO BEAT. BAWDY COMEDY, SEXY ART, ARTSY SEX AND PLAIN OLD FUN.”
— VEGAS.COM
“A LAS VEGAS EXPERIENCE LIKE NO OTHER.”
— CITY LIFE
“CREATIVE. ALMOST-PERFECTLY EXECUTED CUISINE.”
— ROBIN LEACH - LV SUN
— VEGAS SEVEN
“COOLEST PLACE IN VEGAS. CAN’T WAIT TO GO BACK.”
“LOVED IT!” — NEIL PATRICK HARRIS
— FOX 5 NEWS
C R E AT E D BY S PI E G E LWO R LD
PURCHASE TICKETS FOR 8PM & 10PM CANTOS THURSDAY-SUNDAY
EXECUTIVE CHEF
W E S L E Y H O LTO N
MIXOLOGIST
M A R S H A L L A LT I E R
MASTER SOMMELIER
ROLAND MICU
Tickets, dining and nightlife reservations 877.667.0585 I roserabbitlie.com I
@roserabbitlie
Casinos have to report big transactions to the federal government or face big penalties. Here’s why that could be problematic.
WOULD-BE HIGH-ROLLERS, take note: If you ever have a transaction of more than $10,000 at a casino, the staff there will gather information from you and fle a report with the federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. You probably haven’t heard of FinCEN, but it’s a major player in our city’s biggest industry. FinCEN, created in 1990, is a 340-employee bureau within the Treasury Department. Reporting to the Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, the bureau is charged with preventing criminals from abusing the fnancial system. Its job is to collect intelligence and fnd the criminals. And under the federal Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, casinos are classifed as fnancial institutions—hence the scrutiny applied to your 10 grand. For casinos, this means making sure they give FinCEN what it needs. If they fail to fle a Currency Transaction Report within 15 days, they face fnes from $25,000 to $100,000, and the specifc people involved can face much stiffer fnes and even prison time. Just making a mistake while flling out the report merits a $1,500 fne. Multiply the number of $10,000-and-up transactions the average casino processes in a year, and you have an idea just how seriously casinos have to take Currency Transaction Reports. Why all the fuss? Call it the war on money laundering. FinCEN gained new importance—and resources—after the passage of the Patriot Act, when it ramped up its anti-money-laundering efforts. FinCEN enforces the Bank Secrecy Act, which covers not only casinos and banks, but also insurance companies, securities brokers and jewelry dealers. Those organizations have one thing in common: They all handle large amounts of currency, and thus represent a potential opportunity for would-be launderers. The relationship between casinos and FinCEN has changed in the last few years. In September 2012, Jennifer Shasky Calvery took over as chief of the bureau with a mandate to improve FinCEN’s anti-money-laundering capabilities; previously, she busted money launderers in her post at the Department of Justice. In an earlier stint with the department, she
OFF-THE-RADAR DINING PLAYS
took down transnational criminal organizations as a prosecutor with the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section. Most believe she was brought in to make better use of FinCEN’s enforcement powers. FinCEN’s renewed vigor has brought some friction with the gaming industry. Last fall, Shasky Calvery spoke at the Global Gaming Expo. She reminded industry leaders of the importance of their cooperation to the U.S. fnancial system and American national security. Then she spoke of a “culture of reluctant compliance” in some quarters of the industry that made such cooperation diffcult. She stressed the benefts of embracing a partnership with FinCEN. “Information sharing is important,” Shasky Calvery said. “Being a good corporate citizen and complying with regulatory responsibilities is also good for a company’s bottom line. It saves your casino from a large fne, and it saves your casino’s reputation, which is something that you can’t put a price on.” Stressing that many of those present worked very hard at compliance, Shasky Calvery nonetheless went on to describe the more
vigorous actions that a new standalone enforcement division would take, and reminded listeners that FinCEN can collect big fnes, not only from companies, but also from offending partners, directors, offcers and employees. This means Las Vegas casinos are in a bind: If they collect information about their customers too vigorously, they may drive them away. The delicate nature of high-roller/ host casino dynamics—particularly across cultures—can make asking the kind of questions FinCEN wants answered challenging, and sometimes even impossible. On the other hand, if casinos fail in their obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act, Shasky Calvery has put them on notice that they can expect to hear from the enforcement division. The diffculties of squaring national anti-money-laundering policy with the status quo of highroller relations may be the major problem facing Las Vegas casinos over the coming year. International high-rollers represent an increasing share of Las Vegas’ gaming win, while federal pressure to prosecute fnancial crimes continues to grow. For now, the industry and FinCEN are committed to working together. But any serious breakdown in that relationship has the potential to make the economic woes brought by the recession seem mild.
In the spirit of this issue’s cheap-eats theme, here’s a rundown of good dining plays you probably won’t find listed in traditional places. The Hard Rock Hotel is running a $17.99 lobster special in Mr. Lucky’s on Fridays only. A one-pound whole lobster comes with boiled potatoes, corn on the cob and coleslaw. It’s the best lobster special going in the casinos right now, but if you want it, be sure to get there early—the deal is supposed to run from 2 to 10 p.m., but was sold out at 8:30 the first time I tried. Mr. Lucky’s also serves its off-the-menu Gambler’s Special around the clock, which includes a sirloin steak, three small shrimp on a stick, garlic string beans and a big helping of mashed potatoes for $7.77. This one’s always been good, but you now have to purchase a beverage to get it. Which beverage is best? A draft beer is $4, but the bargain move is milk for just $1.99. Las Vegas’ most famous off-the-menu deal is the 24/7 steak special in the Ellis Island Café. It’s a filet-cut sirloin that comes with a big salad, choice of potato, vegetable, rolls and an EI draft beer. Everyone thinks it’s $8.99, but there’s a trick that drops the price by a buck. If you play just $1 through any machine, you can print out a voucher to get the special for $7.99. You might lose the dollar, but then the meal still costs $8.99, so you’re getting a complete free roll on that dollar bet. Home Plate Grill & Bar (4785 Blue Diamond Rd.). runs a free pizza buffet every morning from 3 to 6 a.m. It’s presented as an “Industry Night,” but anyone who plays at least $1 in a machine gets the deal, and there’s a $500 bonus on royal flushes during those hours. Gamblers can also take advantage of Silverton’s $20-dining-comp deal for earning 500 points on Thursdays. The 500 points equates with $500 played though a machine, which is about 45 minutes of quarter video poker. That’s a nice play-and-eat parlay that will cost you about $1.50 in losses on average. Note that I said this one’s for gamblers—despite the low expected loss, 45 minutes of play can result in a much higher real loss when things don’t go well. If you find yourself at Planet Hollywood’s Miracle Mile shops, try Lobster ME for a roll and a shot. The lobster rolls are excellent ($17/$23), and a large feeds two. But the deal here is the lobster shooter—sort of a Bloody Mary mix with lobster pieces and a shot of vodka—for just $5. MGM Grand offers free juice in its registration lobby. You can tell the flavor by the big pieces of fruit in the dispensers. It’s tough to beat free.
David G. Schwartz is the director of UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research.
Anthony Curtis is the publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor and LasVegasAdvisor.com.
ILLUSTRATION BY CIERRA PEDRO
THE LATEST March 20–26, 2014 VEGAS SEVEN
14
Information, Please!
Jo Koy
March 21
9 P M // T R E A S U R E I S L A N D T H E A T R E // T I C K E T S 8 9 4 . 7 7 2 2
THE LATEST
@jimmyfallon The Roots are flying to Vegas right now for a show at the new Brooklyn Bowl. Hangover 4??? #CantStopWontStop
@CaptainKDouglas Las Vegas on a full moon. Simultaneously the best and worst place to be when you’re on the wagon.
@anylaurie16 Psst, Ukraine. Think of “Crimea” as your “Florida” and then count your lucky stars.
@GoldSilverPawn
Killers, Costello and Conspiracies at the Mack
March 20–26, 2014
By Jason Scavone
VEGAS SEVEN
18
What’s the most musical month? Well, the Grammys are in January, and the height of concert season stretches from June to August. We had the iHeartRadio Festival in September, Electric Daisy Carnival in June, and Vegoose and Life Is Beautiful both staked out October. But March? March was always for losing money on basketball and/or throwing up whatever 90 percent Coors Light/10 percent green dye abomination of a cocktail you could swill down for 14 hours straight in the middle of the month. Yet here come the Killers, just in time for Virginia’s ritual dismantling of Coastal Carolina, with the offcial anthem of March Madness: “Shot at the Night,” recorded for November’s Direct Hits compilation and performed for the frst time at Life Is Beautiful. The promo video mixes hoops highlights with the band playing at the Grand Canyon. They’ll be at the March Madness Music Festival on April 4-6 in Dallas, and are being touted by experts to have a legitimate chance of knocking off No. 3-seed Creighton in the West
Regional. How they got a No. 14 seed is beyond us. Everyone knows Brandon Flowers chucks up 3s and doesn’t hustle on defense. Meanwhile, another local band was just deep in the heart of Texas. Or the appendix of Texas, anyway— the weird vestigial part that doesn’t quite ft with the rest of the body. Rusty Maples was the only Vegas act to get a SXSW showcase, playing March 14 at the Austin Ale House as part of the Caesars Entertainment showcase curated by Life Is Beautiful. Things worked out pretty well for Imagine Dragons when they did their SXSW showcase in 2010, so infer from that what you will. The Roots played three times over the course of Brooklyn Bowl’s frst big weekend, closing out with shows March 15 and 16 with Elvis Costello. The second night saw Holly Madison, Claire Sinclair and Josh Strickland come to see Homer Simpson’s favorite rock ’n’ roll fantasy-camp instructor. At the end of the second show, Costello led a call-and-response of “Walk Us Uptown!” from the Roots collaboration album Wise Up Ghost, to which bandleader Questlove interrupted, in cadence with the song, “Elvis, I got a job! I got to catch a plane!” Hey, you don’t want
to get fred from The Tonight Show a month after you start the gig. First Friday is getting into the concert game, too. On April 4, Sheryl Crow is playing Container Park as part of a fundraiser for Feed the Children and Opportunity Village. There are fewer than 1,000 tickets available at $39 a pop (or VIP ducats at $79). Call it a hunch, but you might get to hear “Leaving Las Vegas” live. Finally, it isn’t music related, but the radio factors in—during the San Diego State-New Mexico tilt for the Mountain West championship March 15 at the Thomas & Mack Center, someone with the arena apparently wanted Aztecs broadcaster Ted Leitner to move some equipment. The request didn’t sit well. With little more than a minute left in what was at the moment a one-point game, Leitner unleashed: “Unbelievable. These guys are unbelievable. These people are unbelievable in this arena. They got security guards, think they’re guarding the Pentagon. Coming over, interrupting me during a broadcast. … These morons think the terrorists are honing in here on the Mountain West tournament in Las Vegas.” You had better do what you are told, you better listen to the radio.
Breaking news: CHUMLEE IS ALIVE & WELL! He is actually filming today, but we all really appreciate everyone’s concern!
@LanceBurtonMM I sat next to David Brenner at the premier of Love at The Mirage. Nice man. I was a fan since the ’70s. Remember him hosting The Tonight Show.
@MrGeorgeWallace This is bullshit. I was gonna do a set at Ivan’s Laff Barn in Crimea this weekend.
@UNLVRebellion The @mountainwest just told us that Khem Kong is not allowed in the building tonight. We have seats for him, yet they said: “It’s too big.”
@ToddFuhrman Louisville a 4 seed is the biggest joke I’ve ever seen. Top-4 talent and would be chalk in every Midwest regional game.
@Chriswood_5 100% loyal to Coach Rice and staff, the team and program. I am here to stay. Can’t wait to come back strong next year and compete. #Reb4Life
Share your Tweet! Add #V7.
THE LATEST
NATIONAL
Let Them Eat Kale
Extreme dieters are ruining dinner parties for everyone else By Richard Kirshenbaum, The New York Observer
VEGAS SEVEN
20
“So what do you serve?” I ask. “I once tried tofu, but women don’t like it because of the estrogen. Julio [not the chef’s real name] does a roasted, Italian-style vegetable dish drizzled with balsamico and olive oil. People adore that.” I took in the creamy yellow walls, perfectly adorned with Scalamandre silks and satins in shades of egg yolk and freshly whipped French butter. “What would you like to serve if you could?” “If I had my way, I would do what [a legendary socialite known for her stick-thin fgure] used to do in the ’80s,” she said. “I would just serve designer meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Everyone just loved it.” “So why not now?” “I tried it once, and no one touched a thing except for [a former leading politician] who had two portions. Sadly, those days are long over,” she sighed. “No more crusty French bread, seafood souffés, lamb chops with mint jelly or flet mignon with a dollop of butter.” I asked her if she thought people were missing out. “Of course, I do. No one’s glowing or
juicy anymore. Just take a look at their skin,” she whispered. “They’re all sandpaper. They all look like prisoners on furlough—every last one of them.”
***** THE OLD ADAGE that you can never be
too rich or too thin has had a renaissance on Madison and Park. Competitive and restrictive eating and exercise regimens have transformed power players into power rangers. Cross training, spinning, boxing, yoga and martial arts are the tools of the trade along with nuts, seeds, berries and juices. Fat is considered a weakness. “People I know are vaporizing right before my eyes,” my second wife whispered over a belated holiday meal at her home. I often refer to her as my second wife, as she is one of Dana and my closest friends, but thankfully, her husband gets the American Express bills, not me. “I feel everyone’s constantly at an ashram,” she shrugged, taking a paperthin slice of holiday turkey off the platter her chef prepared. “People are starting to look like bobbleheads.”
“You’re certainly known for your fgure,” I offered. “Thank you,” she said. “You know, I work at it, but it’s getting to the point where it’s no fun anymore.” “How so?” “You also have to enjoy life. People describe others as obese if they are only 12 to 15 pounds overweight. And it’s not like everyone looks so good so thin. You start seeing the drawn, leathery skin. I call it ‘pointy face.’ They look 10 years older.” “It is crazy. If a centimeter of fat hangs over the belt, your husband is fling for divorce,” I said, sadly. “How do you feel about that?” “Not my problemo,” she shrugged. “That’s because you’re disciplined,” I toasted her. “The bread basket is over,” she declared. “Welcome to lollipop-head land.” According to a recent study, two-thirds of the U.S. population is overweight or obese. But not in the 10021 ZIP code. “It really is one of the great ironies that in the olden days fat people were rich and poor people were skinny,” a leading nutritionist told me. “Now the higher the income area, the lower the weight.” “Do you think it’s also about fashion?” “It’s really about everything,” she said. “By the way, veggies are a great replacement for bread when you’re eating hummus. And two almonds in the morning quell hunger.” I nodded. “Do you think people are taking all this too far?” “Everyone needs certain nutrients, but underweight is better than overweight in my opinion. And from what I know, they don’t even make couture
gowns over a certain size, so it pays to be thin if you’re in that crowd.”
***** “THIN IS THE NEW LUXURY,” the über
svelte and ft real estate developer remarked on the terrace of his recently developed multimillion-dollar penthouse. “In my father’s day, there were the social X-rays. The women looked after their weight, but the men were large,” he said. He reeled off two ’80s titans of nouvelle society, one a fnancier in New York and the other a legendary magnate in Beverly Hills. “They could eat prodigious amounts of food. Their girth was considered powerful. “Today, the new successful men are careful about their weight and want to be thin. Old-school fat is considered slothful. Old school was prime rib; new school is parmesan-roasted kale.” “But what do you really crave now and then?” I asked. “The roasted carrots from ABC Kitchen.” Certainly, I know chef Dan’s culinary skills. “He’s the best,” I agreed. “But don’t you ever want a good, old-fashioned cheesecake?” “No, do you?” he asked, as if I had suggested dropping bath salts at a rave. “Actually,” I leaned in, “when I need a fx, I have a seven-layer cake shipped in from the Five Towns.” “I wouldn’t do that. Just like people used to frown on smoking, now they frown on bad eating,” he advised, giving me the tour of the planted terrace replete with Palladian-style French
ILLUSTRATION BY DALE STEPHANOS
March 20–26, 2014
“HOW CAN ANYONE THROW A DINNER PARTY TODAY?” ¶ A noted hostess bewailed the current state of culinary affairs in the drawing room of her regal Park Avenue duplex, in one of the grandest of grand co-op buildings. It was ever so expansive yet artfully understated, with parquet de Versailles foors dutifully waxed into the kind of dull patina old money truly understands. ¶ We were having late-afternoon cocktails as the sun dimmed through the sheers, and she waxed poetically about the dire straits of entertaining today’s power couples versus the glorious dinner parties of yore. ¶ “Let’s say you have six couples for an intimate dinner,” she said. “Nowadays, this one has a nut or shellfsh allergy. This one is now a vegan. The wife is a vegetarian but eats cheese. The other couple eats no dairy. The new thing I hear is this paleo craze, where people want to eat like a caveman. Someone’s assistant even called my chef to inquire as to whether it was sockeye or farm-raised salmon,” she harrumphed. “Can you imagine? It’s gotten to the point where I should just put out a stack of takeout menus.”
“ISN’T THAT DARLING?” one of the
grande dame socials remarked, peering at the cylindrical tuna tartare and avocado column topped with the waffe-fried potato chip. “It may look wonderful, but be careful,” another dinner partner commented, “Tuna is high in mercury.” It was going to be a long evening, I thought as the black-tie gala got underway. The packed evening at the Plaza underscored New York’s robust charitable circuit, where much good was being done while much-photographed women were allowed to also break out their latest couture and big stones. After the customary speeches, a famous entertainer gave a mini concert, making a fee but still getting accolades for doing a charity beneft. “Is there a vegetarian plate?” I asked the server as she tried to foist a Flintstone-size side of beef in front of me with a dauphin of Lyonnais potatoes. “Why that’s clever of you to ask. I have to think of that the next time,” the grande dame added, her Plymouth Rocksize canary diamond coming dangerously close to shattering my wine glass. “Are you vegetarian?” she inquired. “It seems the trend these days.” “I’m a pescetarian,” I explained, “who likes his vino.” I motioned to the server for a pour of white wine. “Well, you can always do what I do,” she said. “Eat a little snack beforehand. My late husband taught me that trick; a piece of low-fat string cheese saves the night. Look around. Hardly any of the women eat anything, because they don’t want a poof in their gowns, and the men have all been ordered to stay away from red meat because of high cholesterol.” Around the room, people were either observing their main course or politely pushing the food groups around. “It’s such a waste of food, especially for a charity involved with the homeless and the hungry,” she acknowledged. “But for $15,000 to $50,000 a table, you have to serve beef.”
***** LATER THAT MONTH, Dana and I braved
the elements to celebrate a friend’s
a wedding or bar mitzvah?” “We always bring our own food,” he said matter-of-factly. I was fascinated. “You bring your own food to someone else’s event?” “We bring nuts, berries and pack a green juice. For dessert, 100 percent cacao bar.” “Where do you bring it?” “In [my wife’s] purse,” he said with the seriousness of a trial lawyer. “She doesn’t carry an evening bag?” “At a dressy event when she cannot bring a larger bag—a mommy tote—we stop for dinner.” “And how do you eat if you bring the tote?” “We dig into the bag when no one’s looking. No one knows,” he said. “Why don’t you just order the vegetarian plate?” “The vegetarian plate will undoubtedly be some bad kind of carb, rice, white potatoes and pesticide-sprayed
“No woman wants a man who’s skinnier than she is. Why? So he can make my ass look fat? I don’t find that attractive at all.” must be something else going on?” “Of course. It’s competitive. It’s all about control. You try to control every aspect of your life, and you want to be the best you can be.” “And better than everyone else?” I asked. “How did you know?” he asked. We fst-bumped. “I’m not as crazy as some of those paleo dudes,” he added.
***** FINDING A PALEO wasn’t hard. I just
looked down my own dinner party list and called to speak to a friend who, for more than two years, has done a total transformation, or “mans-formation,” as I prefer to call it. I met him after his CrossFit workout at one of the only fve restaurants he would eat at in the entire city of New York. At a table at ABC Kitchen, he ordered split pea soup, and we had an honest conversation about the new rules of the über disciplined. “So,” I said, “you look even more buff since the last time I saw you.” “Super-ripped.” I got right down to business. “So now tell me what you do if you’re invited to
vegetables from a big-box retailer, or they try to pass off green beans or asparagus in faux butter from not grassfed cows. No one in my family would eat that, not even the dog.” “Do your hosts ever get insulted?” I asked. “I’m insulted,” he fumed. “It’s all processed butter, grain-fed beef and farm-raised fsh.” “Do people ever tell you you’re too extreme?” “All the time. They’re just out of shape and jealous,” he shot back. “Do you think what you’re doing is restrictive?” “It’s neither competitive nor restrictive,” he said, fexing his superripped bicep in his wife-beater a la Jake LaMotta. “I look at eating as fuel. Eating is not social. It’s a fuel event.” “So what do you do at a small dinner party?” “We either decline, eat beforehand or I bring my own food and cook it. I did that in Paris recently at a very swanky party, I might add. I went right into the kitchen and made a giant vegetable omelet. Everyone was obsessed with it. The caterers were upset.” “Were you embarrassed?”
“I would never be embarrassed. I’m embarrassed for them and the way they eat.”
***** I WAS HAVING a holiday lunch at Da Sil-
vano with a friend who is an author and a well-known New Yorker cartoonist and just happens to be the proprietor’s wife. “No one eats bread anymore,” she said, shooing away the breadbasket. “Do you think people still eat?” “I think they do. They do when they come here,” she said. “Why, do you think I look fat?” “This wasn’t aimed at you. You look very thin actually.” I said. She looked visibly relieved. “Do you think men are the new women when it comes to dieting?” I asked. “This manorexic trend has to end,” she said. “No woman wants a man who’s skinnier than she is. Why? So he can make my ass look fat? I don’t fnd that attractive at all. Please, no woman wants to see a man with camel toe.” “Well, certainly that’s not something I have to worry about,” I said, taking a healthy-size forkful of the melanzane parmigiana. “I like a proper lunch with wine, of course.” “That’s why we’ll always be best friends,” she said. “Because you love food, and so do I, and I feel thin around you.” She peered at me. “Although you have lost weight recently.” “Yes.” I said. “It’s been a battle.” “Wait, do I look fat?” “No, you look thin,” I said. “Do I look fat?” “No, I just told you that you look thin, which made me think I was fat.” “What does one thing have anything to do with another?” “Because no woman wants to sit next to a man who’s thinner than she is.”
***** ALTHOUGH I HAD BEEN fairly certain
the idea of competitive longevity and its attending regimens were an NYC phenomenon, the next day, I few to Las Vegas for the famed Consumer Electronics Show, where a client was launching Lyve, a personal media solution. With 150,000 visitors descending upon the city, I took refuge in the glamorous Wynn Resort. After a night fight, I had a late dinner at Red 8. I discovered that every restaurant at Wynn has a vegan menu. Over the next two days, I sampled a breakfast of vegan blueberry pancakes and vegan sausage at Tableau and vegan chicken dumplings so realistic I would fy to Vegas just to have them. While the vegan chicken dumplings were the most exciting thing to happen to me in Vegas, I do still have erotic dreams of a strip steak, in a strip club on the Strip. That’s why people cheat—on their diets.
March 20–26, 2014
*****
birthday party at a club downtown. We knew it would be a good party, as the social butterfy and her real estate magnate husband have vast quantities of fun, among other assets. I sidled up to the bar and ran into a music industry mogul, a former Hamptons neighbor. “How have you been? You look great,” I said, noticing his vastly diminished size, his head outsized to his hips. “I lost 11 pounds—no wheat, no rice, no four, nothing white. I was a size 36 jean in college, and now I am a 31.” “What’s been the upside and the downside to the new sleeker you?” I asked, sipping on a white wine. “The upside is my girlfriend likes it. I feel better.” “And the downside?” “No more Italian food. That’s been the hardest, although my credit card bills are better since I stopped going to [a well-known, overpriced Italian eatery].” “Well, you’re so disciplined. There
21 VEGAS SEVEN
doors that some lucky highfier would soon inhabit. I marveled over the kitchen. “Yes, it has everything … and even a wine cellar,” he said, listing the latest top-of-the-line appliances and luxuries. “For the dinner parties where no one eats anything,” I joked. “If they’re smart,” he said seriously. “For successful men, do you think it’s about competition as well?” “Everyone wants you to know they’re dieting, juicing, working out six days a week. It creates an image.” “Of?” “Of don’t fuck with me.”
NIGHTLIFE
Made Monster makes their Las Vegas debut By Deanna Rilling
March 20–26, 2014
The Monsters Are Coming
ARE YOU TIRED of DJs mixing with their eyes glued to a laptop instead of using their ears? Sick of everyone playing the same pre-made mashup/bootleg? Always a fan of any excuse to dress up in a costume? Then Made Monster is for you! The duo of Ryan McKay and Chris Roberts—known to some already in the scene as DJs Red and Spryte—are artists to know for 2014. As they rise higher on the Beatport charts with each release and bring technical prowess to the booth, I’ve admittedly been pushing them hard to anyone who’ll listen; they’ll fnally debut in Las Vegas at Marquee on March 31 for the S.K.A.M. 10-year anniversary party. So read up on why you should stay out late on a school night and become a Made Monster minion.
29 VEGAS SEVEN
PHOTO BY SAMUEL WHITWORTH
Your city after dark, photos from the week’s hottest parties and Danny Avila gets wild
NIGHTLIFE March 20–26, 2014
Ryan McKay and Chris Roberts have it made.
VEGAS SEVEN
30
What about your productions do you think appeals to music buyers and subsequently helps you do well on the Beatport charts? McKay: There are defnitely some major labels that have been taking over the charts lately, especially in the higher positions. But we have people who are willing to buy the music; it doesn’t matter what label we’re on. Roberts: We’ve been lucky to develop a really strong fan base that is pretty religious about buying the stuff, so it’s been good. We try to keep the current sound in mind, but we always do our own thing regardless. That’s why a lot of our tracks fuctuate between genres. We just produce what we feel, and it runs the gamut and people respond pretty well to it. McKay: We’re not using a template. When “Animals” came out, our inbox was fooded with hundreds and hundreds of tracks that were copies using the formula and trying to repeat the same thing. We deviate from that completely. It’s rare to see a 2x4 setup in Las Ve-
“A LOT OF PEOPLE’S EDITS ARE PREMADE; WE’RE DOING STUFF LIVE ON THE FLY.” gas. Even if there’s more than one DJ, they’re still working off a pair of CDJs and one mixer. Roberts: We do a full 2x4, so that means two turntables, two CDJs, two mixers. It’s two full DJ setups back-toback, and we play literally over each other. So we switch off playing music about every 15 minutes or so, where one of us will be playing that chunk and then the other person goes over it with a capellas, tricks, live remixing, live bootlegging, stuff like that. A lot of people’s edits are premade; we’re doing stuff live on the fy. McKay: We’re getting fans who ask us, “Hey, do you have that track that sampled Suzanne Vega’s ‘Tom’s
Diner’?” But it’s something we did live, and that track doesn’t really exist. With our dual setup, it’s defnitely possible to have one person actively being able to mix on top of the other person—and that means you have to beat-match without visually looking at anything. That’s another part of it: We actually have to bring our ears back into the mix. Since Las Vegas is unfamiliar with you, how would you describe the Made Monster sound and concept to newbies? Roberts: Nowadays with all these festivals, it’s becoming more of a production—we still want the core
to be our music and the way we play, so we don’t want to get goofy with costumes—but we defnitely want to have a themed production. We have these two animated [zombie and robot] characters that are going to be a whole visual project for us. Currently we’ve been handing out LED horns to all the people who want to become monsters and other fun stuff. Like an “every night it’s Halloween!” kinda thing. But now since we’ve been developing this fan base, people are showing up [in costumes], like this group of girls that sewed their own monster costumes. McKay: We don’t just stick to one thing. It’s not like we just play heavy electro or epic sounds. If you haven’t seen us before you will hear something that you like. The showmanship and the 2x4 aspect of it and the fact we actually play live on top of each other, that’s probably the main thing. We actually do DJ. We go up there with four hands and they’re all actively engaged, not for cheerleading purposes. Check out the Made Monster podcast at SoundCloud.com/mademonster.
NIGHTLIFE
PARTIES
MOON The Palms
[ UPCOMING ]
VEGAS SEVEN
52
See more photos from this gallery at SPYONVegas.com
PHOTOS BY AMIT DADL ANEY
March 20–26, 2014
March 21 Chris ‘Drama’ Pfaff hosts March 22 Chanel West Coast performs
NIGHTLIFE
PARTIES
HAKKASAN MGM Grand
[ UPCOMING ]
VEGAS SEVEN
58
See more photos from this gallery at SPYONVegas.com
PHOTOS BY TONY TRAN
March 20–26, 2014
March 20 Nervo spins March 21 Afrojack spins March 22 Hardwell spins
The frst that drew my attention was the recently opened Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar. This is the second Las Vegas location for this national chain, but I’d never dined at a Fleming’s before. After all, we live in one of the best steakhouse cities in America. And since Fleming’s prices aren’t that much lower than some of my favorite places on the Strip, why would I waste my time on a chain? Apparently, most Las Vegans don’t subscribe to my school of thought. When my wife and I arrived without a reservation on a Wednesday evening, I was told the restaurant was completely booked. We were fortunate to fnd a table in the crowded bar. I was impressed with the menu, which includes four different flet mignons and a pair of dry-aged steaks. (They also offer 100 wines by the glass.) But I had come for something different: Fleming’s offthe-menu three-course prix-fxe dinner. Available Monday through Thursday through April 13 to customers in the know, it starts with a pan-seared scallop with goatcheese polenta, followed by your choice of soup or salad, and a surf-
FLEMING’S PRIME STEAKHOUSE AND WINE BAR 407-0019, open for dinner 5 p.m.–10 p.m. Monday–Thursday, 5 p.m.–11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 4 p.m.–10 p.m. Sunday. Dinner for two $100-$200.
CRAZY PITA ROTISSERIE AND GRILL 778-3310, open for lunch and dinner 10:30 a.m.–9 p.m. Monday– Thursday, 10:30 a.m.–10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 10:30 a.m.–9 p.m. Sunday. Lunch or dinner for two $20-$30.
MCFADDEN’S RESTAURANT AND SALOON 834-4400, open for lunch and dinner, 3 p.m.–4 a.m. daily. Lunch or dinner for two $20-$35.
and-turf entrée of flet mignon and lobster tail for $39.95. If I had paid more for it, I may have complained that the scallop could have used some more caramelization, the lobster was a bit overcooked and
[ A SMALL BITE ]
BOULUD (AND HIS BURGER) IS BACK March 20–26, 2014
The details of chef Daniel Boulud’s return to Las Vegas have finally been confirmed. He will re-open his DB Brasserie
VEGAS SEVEN
62
(which closed at Wynn in 2010) in May in the Venetian. The contemporary French restaurant will occupy the space that previously housed Valentino. David Middleton, previously of Marche Bacchus, will serve as executive chef. In a statement announcing the opening, Boulud promised the restaurant “will buzz with people enjoying charcuterie, shellfish, my favorite French dishes and fine wines.” Among those dishes will be his signature DB Burger—generally credited as the first celebrity-chef gourmet hamburger—made with sirloin, braised short ribs, foie gras and black truffles. Other dishes on the menu will include the French classics with American influence he’s known for, such as poissons fumés, pissaladière and poulet croustillant, while the wine list will feature about 300 selections. - Al Mancini
Get the latest on local restaurant openings and closings, interviews with top chefs, cocktail recipes, menu previews and more in our weekly Sips and Bites newsletter. Subscribe at VegasSeven.com/SipsandBites.
DIY MACARONS, MONTE CARLO’S NEW ROADHOUSE AND A SEAT AT THE FARM TABLE As far as I’m concerned, every day is macaron day, but according to Payard Pâtisserie & Bistro (in Caesars Palace, 731-7292), the delicate French cookie’s official day to celebrate is March 20. Payard makes some of the best in the city, in varieties from classic chocolate and vanilla to the more unorthodox raspberry lychee and coffee. Macarons are notoriously difficult to make because the shell of the cookie, composed of egg whites and almond flour, is so fragile. So Payard has created a take-home kit for ambitious bakers who are ready to prepare the ganache-filled treats themselves. Normally only sold online, the Makecaron kit will be available at the bakery on March 20, containing pre-made cookie shells that home macaron-makers can fill with ganache of their choosing. Fortunately, my favorite flavor, the green-hued pistachio, is already assembled for me at Payard, so I’ll skip the DIY kit and purchase them straight from the display case by the dozen—and I never need a holiday as an excuse. If you need an excuse to take a stroll down the Strip: the front of Monte Carlo is undergoing a major transformation, with three dining experiences soon to be all up in Las Vegas Boulevard’s grill. First there was Diablo’s Cantina, and Chicago transplant Yusho is on its way, but firing up its own grills right now is Double Barrel Roadhouse (222-7735, SBE.com). With garage doors on the patio that open the restaurant to the Strip, there won’t be a shortage of foot traffic, and inside there’s no lack of down-home food and drink choices, right down to the cocktails served in mason jars. The menu from former Osteria del Circo chef Michael Vitangeli focuses on Southern-inspired dishes, including a massive platter of wellconstructed barbecue nachos with pulled pork and soul-food sides such as collard greens and cheese grits. Locals favorite Honey Salt (1031 S. Rampart Blvd., 445-6100, HoneySalt.com) continues its commitment to community with the introduction of the Farm Table dinner series, taking place the second and fourth Mondays of each month. The beer- or wine-paired affairs will feature seasonal comfort food, with as much produce as possible coming from local farms, including Primetime Farms, Prime Color Farms and Grow Smart Gardens. (We missed the Irish-themed dinner on March 17, but the next comes quickly on March 31.) Sit at the communal table for $45 per person, with an additional $25 for wine or beer pairings. Grace Bascos eats, sleeps, raves and repeats. Read more from Grace at VegasSeven.com/ DishingWithGrace, as well as on her diningand-music blog, FoodPlusTechno.com.
PHOTO BY ELIZABETH BUEHRING
DINING
The bar with the Irish name but American bar fare.
the butter wasn’t clarifed. But given the price tag, I feel like I got a decent meal. And a small plate of lamb chops and a side of potatoes were considerably better. Returning to Town Square the next afternoon, I decided to grab a light lunch. Local chain Crazy Pita Rotisserie and Grill specializes in salads, rotisserie chicken and various Mediterranean pitas and skewers. The meat selections include everything from kefta (seasoned ground-beef patties) and lamb to shrimp and chicken. Just outside the door I found an employee offering free samples of the chicken. It was pretty good, and I was briefy tempted to make a meal of it. But I’d resolved to eat a little healthier today. So instead I opted for a vegetarian pita. While all the pitas come with fries, I upgraded to a side of hummus for an extra 99 cents. My wrap was huge, piled high with roasted eggplant dip, roasted caulifower and red peppers, olives and feta cheese. While I’m not usually a big fan of caulifower, it was delicious, as was my hummus. On my fnal day at Town Square, I visited McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon. I’d actually been in the place a few times already to grab a quick drink before or after a movie. All I remembered about it, however, were servers in extremely short skirts and a general frat-party vibe. This time I wanted to sample the food—which I mistakenly assumed would have at least a touch of Irish infuence. Unfortunately, it was packed with chicken wings, mozzarella sticks, quesadillas and other American bar fare. I stuck around long enough to have a “pickleback burger,” glazed with Jameson and topped with fried pickles, but wasn’t impressed enough to have more than a few bites. That last stop notwithstanding, I have to admit I enjoyed my time at Town Square. But I can’t imagine it ever emerging as a true dining destination.
DRINKING
ASK A SOMM SOMMS IN THE KITCHEN, CHEFS IN THE CAVES
Wine and food go together so naturally. Are there any sommeliers in the kitchens of Las Vegas restaurants? The relationship between head chef and sommelier is a special one. As lead sommelier at Cut in the Palazzo, I can just look at my chef and know what is going through his mind. Discussing the way a dish is prepared, arguing over courses and sampling pairings only leads to a chef’s nose in the glass and a sommelier’s hand on the knife. Walking into Chada Thai & Wine (3400 S. Jones Blvd., 641-1345, ChadaVegas.com) guests will fnd chef-owner-sommelier Bank Atcharawan either discussing grand cru vintages at the table or, like the Great and Powerful Oz, cooking behind the curtain. Since Chada Thai’s opening two years ago, Atcharawan has been named 2013’s Sommelier of the Year by Food & Wine, a Rising Star Chef by the Silver State Awards, and Chada Thai was named a top place to eat and drink in Las Vegas by Bon Appétit. So, what comes frst for Atcharawan, the glass or the knife? “A couple of years ago, there’s no doubt in my mind that the answer would have been wine. Nowadays, as I spend most of my time in the kitchen, my perspective has changed a bit. I have much more respect for food. The amount of work required to make one perfect dish is beyond what anyone who has ever cooked professionally can imagine,” he says. Atcharawan began to establish his place in the Las Vegas wine and food landscape while he was the general manager and wine director for his family’s world-renowned restaurant, Lotus of Siam. Since then, Atcharawan has harnessed his passions and experiences to make Chada Thai & Wine a meeting ground for Las Vegas’ food-and-beverage community. The scene on any given night at Chada Thai is sure to be full of winemakers, sommeliers and chefs indulging in Atcharawan’s delicious dishes and exceptional wine list with 250 selections. “I look up to one of the earliest people who steered me into wine, master sommelier Steven Geddes,
who himself made the transition from sommelier to full-time chef. The frst glass of riesling I served him was—if I’m not mistaken—a 1989 Langwerth von Simmern Riesling Auslese Erbacher Marcobrunn,” Atcharawan says. “I presented it to him blind, and he guessed correct. This is why I love riesling.” At present, 60 of Atcharawan’s selections are German riesling. As a role model, it doesn’t get better than Geddes, who retains the honor as the only working chef in the United States to simultaneously hold the title of master sommelier. At the age of 17, Geddes began cooking alongside André Rochat at Las Vegas landmark Andre’s Downtown. The opportunity launched him into working in other celebrity chef kitchens and wine cellars in the U.S. Currently, Geddes is director of operations for Charlie Palmer Group, which has the chef’s eponymous steakhouse in the Four Seasons Las Vegas. The sommelier community continues to cook and drink together, always inspiring each other to think outside the box. Atcharawan is masterfully following in Geddes’ footsteps, paving a path for the next generation of sommeliers in the kitchen and chefs in the wine caves. To be profcient in either career is impressive, but to accomplish both … well, that just signals a higher lever of gastronomic consciousness.
PHOTO BY JAKRAPAN ATCHARAWAN
By Lindsey Whipple, Advanced Sommelier
A&E March 20–26, 2014 VEGAS SEVEN
68
It’s surprising to hear, because it sure as hell wasn’t noticeable from the crowd that night, March 8: NASCAR Weekend had sapped the audience. Tables up front were sold out, but the back rows of the lower level weren’t full. It didn’t seem to matter to Wallace, who worked the room with precision and ease. He was on a roll, too. His act stretched well past the planned hour, past the 90 minutes you’d expect out of a Strip show, to nearly two hours of material. Like a genial uncle on Thanksgiving, Wallace runs his set somewhere between living-room chops-busting and church revival. That’s not a metaphor— there’s a long stretch of show where he brings up ministers in the crowd to salute them. That night, one of them sang gospel songs as Wallace drifted offstage. It felt like a priest could pop out from behind your seat and smack you if you weren’t paying attention. After the extended performance and his nightly meet-and-greet, Wallace is in that backstage armchair, thinking of missed joke opportunities. There’s the one about the mayor of Sochi saying there were no gay people living there (“Did you see those decorations from the opening ceremonies? There’s no gays over there? There might be no gays, but they got a big-ass closet.”). And he’s annoyed Bern Nadette Stanis—Thelma from Good Times—was in the audience, and he didn’t realize it in time to introduce her. Since 2004, Wallace has been a fxture at 10 p.m. on the stage of the Flamingo’s Donny & Marie Showroom. On March 21, he celebrates the decade anniversary with a furry of local entertainers, including Gladys Knight, Donny & Marie, and Wallace’s longtime pal, Jerry Seinfeld. The day before, Wallace will appear in an episode of Seinfeld’s web series, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. (There’s also a Comedians in Cars Having Sex porn parody coming out. Wallace said he can’t do that one because “people will think I’m wearing a belt.”) The night of the celebration, Seinfeld will play across the street at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The two performances offer a kind of symmetry to Wallace’s 36-year career. He came up with Seinfeld in New York in the late ’70s, bouncing from club to club, sometimes six in a night. “When me and Jerry frst started, we just wanted to work Las Vegas. We were going to kill off Shecky Greene and Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra and Anthony Newley. [When you’re a kid], you talk a lot of shit,” Wallace says. “Five years ago, I realized I reached my dream. Jerry’s across the street and I’m over here. Now I’ve got to get another goal. I like the careers Redd Foxx and Rodney Dangerfeld had. They did it when they were older. [Don] Rickles, up the street kicking ass.” When Wallace landed in Las Vegas in 2004, Rita Rudner was the only other comic doing a residency. He had to do something to push the show, so he
George Wallace with Aretha Franklin.
WALLACE RUNS HIS SET SOMEWHERE BETWEEN LIVING-ROOM CHOPSBUSTING AND CHURCH REVIVAL. parked four trucks back to back. When anyone asked him why he did it, he’d come back: “You’re asking me about it, aren’t you?” That was the old advertising exec in him—his gig in a pre-comedy life—coming out, and it’s a habit he hasn’t gotten away from. To this day, Wallace shows his face at all the hotels, reminding concierges that he’s still at the Flamingo. It’s that kind of grinding that’s kept the show rolling. In the face of the Cirque marketing machine, big-ticket residencies and a metric ton of comedians now on the Strip, Wallace says he has to pound the pavement to stay in the game. It doesn’t seem like it should still take that kind of work. Especially not with a few billboards around town and a boatload of respect in the industry. Chris Rock, talking to Aisha Tyler on her Girl on Guy podcast, said last year, “George Wallace is like my idol. George Wallace sells out everywhere. George Wallace kills every night. Whenever a comedian, a friend goes, ‘Oh man, I had a bad set last night,’ I go, ‘Dude, only George Wallace kills every night. Is your name George Wallace? Because if your name’s not George Wallace, you really shouldn’t be complaining.’” When The View was taping a comedy
episode on March 5, each host got to bring on a comedian of their choosing. Whoopi Goldberg tapped Wallace. She wants to go on the road with him; he wants to open Whoopi’s Workshop on Broadway with her, where New York comics can go to work out new material. Wallace still travels back to New York every week on his dark days, to go to his Central Park West condo on the 31st foor of the Majestic, the one Seinfeld talked him into buying. “He said, ‘You’ve got to buy that place.’ I said, ‘You know how much that costs? In the millions.’ He said, ‘We have the money.’ That’s when I knew I had a good friend.” He only ever did one episode of Seinfeld, having seen too many longtime friendships fall apart from mixing business with personal lives. But he does want to stay active onscreen. He’s in Kevin Hart’s upcoming Think Like a Man Too, set in Las Vegas, where he has a role as a blackjack dealer. He also recently did an episode of the TBS sitcom Sullivan & Son, and is doing some work with the WWE Network. Wallace talks about wanting to reach a younger audience, keep his name out there and reinvent the brand. To that end, he offers free show tickets to college students and military. He’s a
beast on Twitter (@MrGeorgeWallace), where Rolling Stone put him on its list of the 25 funniest tweeters. His new book, Laff It Off—a collection of upbeat life advice that draws heavily on his act—has put him on the promotional circuit. (“Someone cuts you off on the freeway, laugh it off. They’re already in the hole. If you walk in and catch your parents making love, laugh it off—well, not that one. That’s disgusting.”) On top of that, Wallace’s USO gigs take him around the world. That kind of restlessness could extend to the future of his show. Wallace’s deal is up in six months, he says, and he’s not sure what his next move is going to be. It might take him to another hotel. He’s considered Hawaii—he’s even thought about Macau, because it “makes Las Vegas look like Atlantic City.” Either way, Wallace scoffs when he’s asked how long he wants to keep going, dealing with that cross-country gadfy routine. “Well, I don’t do anything, so keep going from what? I’m trying to get the show down to an hour-ffteen so I can get my ass off the stage. That’s my sex. That’s my drugs. When I see happy people, it makes me happier.”
GEORGE WALLACE 10 p.m. Tue-Sat, The Donny & Marie Showroom at The Flamingo, $54.95-$82.45, 777-2782. He appears on ABC’s The View at 10 a.m. March 25 and on ComediansInCarsGettingCoffee.com on March 20.
A&E
where. We were all over the country, and then we went around the world. We performed in Germany, the Netherlands, Australia … everywhere. But it was great. Before that we hadn’t toured for more than 25 years. It was kind of tough getting the songs together. We had so many to choose from, and we wanted a song list that would please all the fans. It took us two weeks to do that.
March 20–26, 2014
REID ’EM & WEEP: I love Hannah Reid, the lead singer of London Grammar. Not the kind of love that requires a restraining order— that would be weird. Let’s call it a genuine enthusiasm for the music Reid, guitarist Dan Rothman and keyboardist Dot Major produced in the last year. They got me with “Wasting My Young Years” from their Metal & Dust EP, and then further distinguished themselves with “Help Me Lose My Mind” (their collaboration with Disclosure). But they sealed the deal with their excellent debut, If You Wait. London Grammar plays Vinyl on March 22 ($15), and if you wait you’re going to miss them.
VEGAS SEVEN
70
ON SALE NOW: If the absence of Freddie Mercury means Queen is no longer “the champions,” then the addition of former American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert certainly makes them decent contenders. No mud on their face, no big disgrace. Original members Brian May and Roger Taylor—now billed as Queen + Adam Lambert— will play The Joint on July 5-6 ($49.50 and up). Their intention—which they pretty much guarantee in song—is to rock you.
What were rehearsals like? At frst, we didn’t know what to expect. I don’t think any of us knew what was going to happen. But when we started playing the music and getting into it, everything fell into place. It was amazing how it came together. Do all four of you take turns telling stories? Or is there a primary storyteller? We take turns, but Marlon tells the most. Marlon likes to talk.
Family Ties
The Jacksons dive into their storied past By Todd Peterson From ancient Greek oral history to viral YouTube videos, storytelling is as natural as breathing. It’s only ftting that the Las Vegas reunion of the Jackson brothers—one of music’s most-storied families—has debuted in RockTellz & CockTails at Planet Hollywood. Modeled somewhat on the long-running VH1 Storytellers concept, RockTellz is a platform for the Jacksons to entertain musically, pictorially and anecdotally. We recently caught up with Jackie Jackson, the eldest of the brothers, to discuss his new show with Marlon, Jermaine and Tito. The Jackson family last performed on the Strip 20 years ago for NBC’s special The Jackson Family Honors.
CONCERT
Was it an emotional experience to return to the Strip? Yes, defnitely. That was a long time ago, but just being back and getting ready for the show opened a food of memories for all of us. It’s also pretty convenient since you live in Las Vegas. That’s true. I’ve lived here for fve years, in the Lake Las Vegas area. Tito does, too. The four of you started performing together again for 2012’s Unity tour. Have you played together much since then? Oh, yeah. Well, the tour kept going [through last July]. We went every-
“Captain” Kirk Douglas and Elvis Costello share guitar duties.
Your last studio album was in 1989. Does this residency mean that the Jacksons will be releasing a new record? We’re defnitely working on it, and it helps we’re all in the same place. We’re recording at a studio in Las Vegas and hope to have something out by summer. Your RockTellz shows alternate with Meat Loaf’s. If someone had to decide between attending your show and his, what would you say to them? Go see Meat Loaf. He’s just great. He’s a good friend of ours.
ROCKTELLZ & COCKTAILS PRESENTS THE JACKSONS PH Showroom at Planet Hollywood, 8 p.m. Friday and Sunday and 9:30 p.m. Thu-Sat through April 6, $54-$129, Meet & Greet $400, 800-745-3000.
Elvis Costello and the Roots Brooklyn Bowl, March 16
To celebrate the opening of Las Vegas' newest concert venue, these genre-mixing masters took the stage in the wake of last year's collaborative effort, Wise Up Ghost. The show was split almost evenly between songs from that album, and tunes from Costello's extensive catalog. The Roots seemed to meet Costello more than halfway on new tunes "Come the Meantimes” and "Walk Us Uptown,” which were stripped of some of their funkiness from Wise Up, but showcased the band's musical multiplicity. Costello classics such as "Watching the Detectives,” "Alison” and show closer "Pump It Up” thrilled the crowd, but it was on the Specials' reggae hit "Ghost Town” and Wise Up's dark grind "Cinco Minutos Con Vos” (with guest vocalist La Marisoul) where Costello and the Roots fully melded in this unique pairing. ★★★★✩ – Sean DeFrank
COSTELLO AND THE ROOTS BY WAYNE POSNER; THE JACKSONS BY ERIK K ABIK
ANTE UP, Y’ALL: Crossover success doesn’t come easy, but country-pop trio Lady Antebellum seems to have one boot in Nashville and the other boot scooting up Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, eager to dance away with the hearts of Top 40 listeners. The band’s recent hiatus resulted in a baby daughter for lead singer Hillary Scott and a handful of new tunes (including “Compass”) for the deluxe reissue of last year’s hit album, Golden. Lady A’s Take Me Downtown tour comes to the Mandalay Bay Events Center on March 21 ($40-$90), and they’re not just sticking to their own hits; recent shows have included covers of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” and Avicii’s “Wake Me Up.”
Marketplace
SEVEN QUESTIONS
The chef behind Rx Boiler Room and RM Seafood on where he goes for cheap eats, shopping organic and the burger joint he can’t resist
March 20–26, 2014
By Felicia Mello
VEGAS SEVEN
86
Conspicuous consumption seems to be a big part of the Las Vegas foodie culture. Is it possible to eat as well for $10 a plate as you can for $100 a plate? I know you can—and I mean that you’re eating clean food, not processed bullshit. I love to cook at home. Sunday is my sacred day. I make plan-overs; I’m planning to have these [meals] for the rest of the week. If I’m going to fre up my barbecue, I might as well get a bunch of veggies and cook them. So if I come home on Tuesday and I’m starving, I’ve got grilled asparagus, portobello mushrooms, I’ve got artichokes that I’ve marinated. I’ll buy a pork butt, cheap, and slow-cook it—marinate the hell out of it, use tons and tons of garlic. And then you’ve
got pork for the week—you can make tacos out of it, you can stick it on a salad. What’s your favorite restaurant in the Valley to dine on the cheap? I’d frst and foremost dive into Chinatown. I like going to China Mama—it’s legitimate Chinese food. The atmosphere sucks, so go in there knowing it’s going to be cheesy. You can also go to Chada Thai & Wine; it’s open until 3 in the morning. Honey Pig is a lot of fun, because it’s very social—everybody’s forced to eat over the garbagecan lid in the center. You can drink cheap beer and sochu, which is like sake on crack. Five people can [eat] for $150. Echo & Rig [in Tivoli Village] is pretty decent for the
price on meat, because they do all their own butchering and they pass [the savings] on to you. I always say to them, “How can you stay in business with these prices?” Let’s say someone wants to take a date to an upscale restaurant, like Rx Boiler Room, but they’re on a budget. What are some ways they can economize while still enjoying the experience? So, we’re not going to kill the guy. You can get a lot of small plates á la carte. He’s going to order some bacon-wrapped bacon-n-egg, some chickenpotpie nuggets. And if things are going well, let’s bring this date to Round 2 and get some buffalo-fried oysters. They’re not that expensive. Then you
As a big advocate for sustainable seafood, where’s the best place in town for the average person to shop? You can get some decent fsh at Whole Foods. You can go to the markets on Spring Mountain in Chinatown, like 99 Ranch. I used to live in that neighborhood and shopped there when I was doing a chapter in my cookbook. You can get some decent salmon, but if you really want to know where your fsh comes from and get information, Whole Foods is great for that. Is it worth it to consistently buy organic produce? Not necessarily. Sometimes it’s just about going local. Some people can’t be certifed or legally call themselves organic yet, but they’re doing everything right. If you go to a grocery store and want to save money, buy seasonally. Or buy at farmers markets. It’s spring, so you’re going to fnd fava beans, pea shoots, asparagus, wild leeks and wild spring garlic.
If you’re going to spend [extra] money on something, buy some liquid aminos and applecider vinegar, and mix those together with faxseed oil. You put that on anything raw, chop it up and mix it with some greens, some seeds, and you’re eating high on the hog, man. How do you get a picky eater to expand his or her palate? Peer pressure is always No. 1. Tell them that they’re in the best place possible to step out of their comfort zone. That happens all the time in my restaurant. I get people really proud of themselves and high-fving, because they just had their frst oyster. I promise them I’ll buy it if they don’t like it. But then you stand there and intimidate the shit out of them. Safe to assume a chef with your background doesn’t eat much fast food? I have a soft spot in my heart for In-N-Out Burger. I go in there even if I have my chef’s coat on. I don’t care. I order a Double-Double and a fry, and I drink it with water because I can’t drink soda. If I’m going to drink something that’s sweet, it better have bourbon in it.
PHOTO BY RONI FIELDS
Rick Moonen
might want to go to fsh tacos after that. And you’re going to want a second cocktail, because the frst one was stupid good, and that’s just the way it is.