Water Falls in the Desert | Vegas Seven | April 20-26, 2017

FREE April 20–26, 2017 « EXIT INTERVIEW WITH HAKKASAN’S NEIL MOFFITT / POTTERCON MAGIC / BEST VEGAN BRUNCHES »

Water Falls in the Desert Earth Day

Celebrating with artful puddles, urban gardens and all things green

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200 S. 3rd Street Las Vegas, NV 89101 800.745.3000 Get your tickets now at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center Box Office or ticketmaster.com.

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ON THE COVER

Read Vegas Seven right side up and then flip it over and start again with Seven Nights, featuring after-dark entertainment and the week’s nightlife happenings.

THE ECO ISSUE Reflections on our city’s water source, capturing the beauty of the desert and living in harmony with the Earth Photography MIKE SNEDEGAR

SEVEN NIGHTS

FRIDAY, APRIL 21

Amping up for Downtown’s first Las Rageous festival Courtesy of ANTHRAX

TABLE OF CONTENTS

APRIL 20–26, 2017 TO DO

11 24/7

What to do around the clock.

BY SHANNON MILLER

13 Record Store Day Spin us right ‘round.

BY LISSA TOWNSEND RODGERS

14 Lake Las Vegas’ Extreme Makeover

A water-sports park brings action and a touch of nightlife to the lake.

BY ZONEIL MAHARAJ PLUS: The

Deal, PotterCon

FEATURE

16 A Watershed Moment Facing the reality of desert living.

33 Family Tradition

J. Kell Houssels Jr. shaped our city.

BY MICHAEL GREEN PLUS: Ask

a Native

BY KRISTEN PETERSON

18 In the Weeds

Gardens in our concrete jungle.

SPACES & PLACES

BY SEVEN STAFF

35 After the Rain

22 Less Is More

Ode to a minimalist life.

BY DIANA EDELMAN

BY GENEVIE DURANO

CONVERSATIONS

VegasSeven.com

38 Neil Moffitt

Jimmy Eat World Doesn’t Dread Nostalgia Read our interview with singer-guitarist Jim Adkins at vegasseven.com/jimmyeatworld.

PLUS: Eco-friendly

businesses, repurposing

How one nightlife exec turned puddles into art.

Says Goodbye

TASTE

25 One Bite

Salute’s Acqua Pazza.

BY GENEVIE DURANO

26 Hold the Bacon

The best vegan brunches in the Valley.

Exit interview with Hakkasan Group’s CEO.

BY MELINDA SHECKELLS

41 Lucky No. 7

What does “being green” mean to you?

BY WENDOH STAFF

FLIP SIDE

BY DIANA EDELMAN

28 Dish & Tell

Ugly fruits and vegetables and dining nose-to-tail.

BY MARISA FINETTI

PHOTOGRAPHY MIKE SNEDEGAR

SOCIAL INFLUENCE

31 Honoring

DTLV.com Behind the Music With live performances most nights of the week, local and national festivals, the Downtown music community continues to grow. Meet the bookers responsible for bringing sonic waves to our town on DTLV.com.

Seven Nights What to do after dark.

BY SEVEN STAFF

Caught in a Mosh Anthrax brings the thrash to Las Rageous.

BY JARRET KEENE

Muhammad Ali

Doing Downtown

I Am The Greatest shows the historic hero, gloves on and off.

Your Friday-night itinerary.

BY DIANA EDELMAN

BY KRISTEN PETERSON

32 Denim Day

OUR SITES TO SEE

Going With the Flo

The Rape Crisis Center hosts its annual fundraiser.

Now a solo act, Flosstradamus moves forward with a Wynn Nightlife residency.

BY MONICA ACUÑA

BY MONICA ACUÑA

RunRebs.com Meet UNLV’s New Athletic Director Desiree Reed-Francois comes to Las Vegas by way of Virginia Tech and will take over starting June 1.

SpyOnVegas.com The Hookup Find upcoming events, see highlights from the hottest parties, meet the DJs and more.

April 20 –26, 2017 vegasseven.com

7

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Photography MIKE SNEDEGAR

Ryan T. Doherty | Justin Weniger President Michael Skenandore Chief Financial Officer Sim Salzman Vice President, Marketing and Events Keith White Creative Director Sherwin Yumul Graphic Designer Javon Isaac Technical Director Herbert Akinyele Controller Jane Weigel

Letters and Story Ideas Comments@VegasSeven.com Advertising Sales@VegasSeven.com Distribution Distribution@VegasSeven.com

VEGAS SEVEN 701 Bridger Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89101 702-798-7000 Vegas Seven is distributed each Thursday throughout Southern Nevada. Š 2017 Vegas Seven, LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without the permission of Vegas Seven, LLC is prohibited.

Publisher

Michael Skenandore Editorial EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Melinda Sheckells MANAGING EDITOR, DINING

Genevie Durano SENIOR EDITOR, LIFESTYLE

Jessi C. Acuña ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Mark Adams EDITOR AT LARGE

Lissa Townsend Rodgers EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Shannon Miller EDITORIAL INTERNS

Daphne-Jayne Corrales, Heather Peterson Senior Contributing Editor Xania V. Woodman (Beverage) Contributing Editors Michael Green (Politics), David G. Schwartz (Gaming/Hospitality) Art CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Benjamin Ward SENIOR DESIGNER

Cierra Pedro STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Krystal Ramirez VegasSeven.com DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL CONTENT

Zoneil Maharaj EDITOR, DTLV.COM

Jessie O’Brien WEB EDITOR

Amber Sampson CONTRIBUTING WRITER, RUNREBS.COM

Tyler Bischoff Production/Distribution DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION/DISTRIBUTION

Marc Barrington ADVERTISING MANAGER

Jimmy Bearse Sales BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Christy Corda DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL SALES

Nicole Niazmand ACCOUNT MANAGER

Brittany Quintana, Mimi Tran ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Robyn Weiss DIRECTOR OF SALES, BILLBOARD DIVISION

John Tobin

THE BITES

THE BEERS

THE CHORDS

AMERICAN FOOD 24/7 LIVE MUSIC FRI - MON HAPPY HOUR 2-5PM � 2-5AM DAILY downtowngrand.com

@freedombeatlv

(855) DT-GRAND

TO DO

What to do around the clock in Las Vegas

Get your “om” on during Sunset Silent Savasana Yoga.

By Shannon Miller

THURSDAY 20

PHOTO BY KRYSTAL RAMIREZ

Commonwealth hosts Jack N Cake with DJs Byra Tanks, Bad Antikz, Zack The Ripper, Prenup, Paradice and Shaun Saville, plus special guest Gladez. Enjoy passed cupcakes with shots of whiskey and midnight dance performances. 9 p.m., 525 E. Fremont St., commonwealthlv.com KUNV 91.5 FM presents RebFest, a free music event featuring Coachella-bound indie rockers Caveman alongside a lineup of local bands including Brumby, Chop 808, Coastwest Unrest and many more. Soak up the spring vibes before it gets too hot outside. 2–7 p.m., UNLV’s Student Recreation and Wellness Center field, unlv.edu Sunset Silent Savasana yoga takes over the main pool at Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa. Bring a water bottle, a yoga mat and an open heart for one of the most unique yoga experiences out there. And show up early—the pool area is expected to start filling up by 6:15 p.m. 7 p.m., facebook.com/silentsavasana

Los Angeles artist John Bauer conducts a free, all-ages screen printing workshop in the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art lobby. Stick around for Bauer’s lecture on his career and creative process. 4 p.m., $2–$5 suggested contribution, at UNLV, unlv.edu FRIDAY 21

Spoken word artists Keith Brantley and LaBlaque host a poetry open mic for National Poetry Month, featuring performances by a diverse group of local wordsmiths. 7:30 p.m., West Las Vegas Arts Center, 947 W. Lake Mead Blvd., artslasvegas.org Pirate Fest Las Vegas is back for a weekend of pirate-themed activities (including a cardboard boat regatta), food vendors and entertainment.

Pirate garb encouraged; steampunk and fairy attire welcome, too. Through April 23; Friday, noon–10 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m.–10 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.–8 p.m.; $10–$15 per day, $20–$30 weekend pass, Craig Ranch Regional Park, 628 W. Craig Rd., piratefestlv.com

In The Realistic Joneses, neighbors share much more than identical homes and the same last name.

See the opening of A Public Fit’s collaboration with the theater program and Performing Arts Center at the College of Southern Nevada. 7 p.m., $20–$25, Backstage Theatre at CSN, 3200 E. Cheyenne Ave., apublicfit.org The Curt Miller Quintet provides a midday treat Downtown with jazz favorites played by local musicians, all of whom also perform nightly in showrooms on the Strip. Noon–1 p.m., Lloyd D. George Federal Courthouse Jury Assembly Room, 333 Las Vegas Blvd.

South, artslasvegas.org The Black Mountain Institute at UNLV and The Believer magazine present American Dreams: A Festival, bringing renowned writers such as Carrie Brownstein, Luís Alberto Urrea and Dave Eggers to town today and Saturday. Hear talks and meet authors and attendees seeking to better understand America—both its legacy and its future. Locations vary, prior registration encouraged, blackmountaininstitute.org. For an in-depth preview of American Dreams, go to vegasseven.com/americandreams

April 20 –26, 2017 vegasseven.com

11

24/7

Swedish singer Tove Lo lands at Brooklyn Bowl fresh off her set at Coachella, where she caused a bit of a stir by flashing her breasts during a performance with Wiz Khalifa. Talk about “Talking Body” ... 7:30 p.m., $28–$55, at The Linq Promenade, brooklynbowl.com/las-vegas SATURDAY 22

Celebrate Earth Day with GREENFest at Downtown Summerlin. Nearly 150 exhibitors will display products and offer information on and creative ideas for green technologies. The celebration also features entertainment, arts and crafts booths, food and a beer and wine garden. 9 a.m.–5 p.m., Downtown Summerlin, greenfestlv.com Put on your cocktail attire for the 10th Anniversary Gala for Southern Nevada Children First, featuring live jazz, The contestants at Animal Foundation’s Best in Show are available for adoption after the event.

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April 20 –26, 2017 vegasseven.com

artwork, a silent auction and cash bar.

Commissioner Lawrence Weekly hosts the celebration of the nonprofit organization’s continued support of homeless, pregnant and parenting young adults. 6 p.m., $75, Dallas Ballroom inside Texas Station Gambling Hall & Casino, sncf10yeargala.auction-bid.org

Funds raised for Aid for AIDS of Nevada’s 27th-annual AIDS Walk will support those living with HIV/AIDS in Southern Nevada.

The community event is hosted by Penn & Teller and includes performances by Absinthe’s Melody Sweets, Broadway in the Hood and more! 7 a.m., $10 minimum donation, Town Square, register at afanlv.org Eight outfits duke it out at Battle of the Bands, with each group vying for a spot in the Life Is Beautiful Music & Art Festival lineup—and live voting by the audience decides who makes it. There will be merch, drink specials, food, games and, of course, an epic day of musical performances.

11 a.m.–8 p.m., Bunkhouse Saloon, 124 S. 11th St., facebook.com/lifeisbeautifulfest MONDAY 24

Taj Express: The Bollywood Musical Revue takes audiences on a live cinematic

journey with film, dance, costumes and music, all celebrating the Indian pop culture phenomenon. 7:30 p.m., $29–99, Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center, thesmithcenter.com

North Carolina’s Mother Earth Brew Co. teams up with Tenaya Creek Brewery for Mother Earth Day, a hoppy happening complete with live music, gourmet food and special one-off beers. Stop by during daylight hours to witness the mural painting. 1–10 p.m., Tenaya Creek Brewery, 831 W. Bonanza Rd., tenayacreek.com

Need some assistance with getting your bod beach ready? The Juice Standard’s juice fasts are designed to do just that.

Each fast includes six 16-ounce bottles of signature juices, with three options (Standard, Green and Build-Your-Own) to customize your regimen to your taste.

Hours vary, available at three Valley locations, $59 per fast, juicestandard.com

SUNDAY 23

TUESDAY 25

In Animal Foundation’s Best in Show, hosted by Strip entertainer Jeff Civillico, more than 50 playful pups from Lied Animal Shelter will vie for the top title—and the audience’s love and affection. All ticket sales and contributions go toward the Animal Foundation, and each contestant will be up for adoption afterward. Noon, $10, Thomas & Mack Center at UNLV, animalfoundation.com

Earlier this month, Urban Turban launched its Tuesday-night vegan buffet, with 10 percent of every plate benefitting One Family Animal Sanctuary. With dishes including tamarind chutney and Mumbai veggie burgers, helping animals never tasted so good. 5:30–8 p.m., $12, 3900 Paradise Rd., urbanturbanusa.com

Growing up around the heavy metal scene, reality TV cameras and Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne would give anyone an interesting perspective. Check out Kelly Osbourne’s new book, There Is No F*cking Secret: Letters From a Badass Bitch, on shelves today. $27, penguin.com Wendy Chambers’ Exploratory Surgery exhibit, which opens today, investigates the material connection between painting and the human body. 10 a.m.–8 p.m. Tue.–Fri., 9 a.m.–6 p.m. Sat., Winchester Cultural Center Gallery, 3130 McLeod Dr., clarkcountynv.gov WEDNESDAY 26

Dick Capri and Steve Solomon throw down for an unforgettable night of stand-up during Battle of the Broadway Comedians. 7 p.m., $35–$40, Troesh Studio Theater at The Smith Center, thesmithcenter.com 7 Looking for more stuff to do?

Go to vegasseven.com/calendar.

PHOTOS BY 1CHI PRODUCTIONS AT PET’OGRAPHIQUE

TO DO

THE DEAL BY ANTHONY CURTIS

9/6 Beats 8/5 REGULAR READERS OF THIS COLUMN

Spin Us Right ’Round Record Store Day offers rare discs, deep cuts and a sense of community

By Lissa Townsend Rodgers Photograpy Krystal Ramirez When Record Store Day began in 2007,

it was an attempt to rescue beleaguered independent shops and sustain the dying vinyl format. A decade later, it’s become more of a celebration than a wake, as music fans bust down the doors of their local record store every April to be first in line to score limited-edition releases, rare reissues and some really sweet merch.

This year’s Record Store Day is April 22. Participating Las Vegas record stores include Downtown’s 11th Street Records, both Zia Records outposts and both Record City shops. Participating artists truly run the gamut, from Thelonious Monk and Son House to the Beatles and the Doors to Madonna and Miley Cyrus to Sublime and the Sword.

The big-name releases this year include rare vinyl by rock icons Prince and David Bowie—from the former, six 12-inch singles; from the latter, a rare

boxed set of early demos and a live 1974 recording entitled Cracked Actor. Other acts releasing live material include the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Ben Folds and Steve Earle.

The Cure offers greatest hits discs in both electrified and acoustic versions, while the Black Lips embrace a dead format with their cassette boxed set. An album of old Runaways cuts from before Joan Jett dyed her hair black will take you back and Johnny Cash’s children’s album—yes, that happened—will take you back even further.

Of course, there’s the discs that only a true fan could love—a compilation of sound effects from Dr. Who, the Space Jam soundtrack and Corey Feldman’s new single “Go 4 It” (featuring Snoop Dogg). Non-musical treats include everything from a Run the Jewels tote bag to a Star Wars turntable. And, on the Las Vegas tip, Zia stores will be selling You Heard Us Back When, their 11th annual RSD compilation of regional artists: It’s only $3 and profits go to local charities, so everybody wins.

When speaking of Record Store Day, indie icon Nick Cave once said, “The relatively mild exertion of getting off your fat, computer-shackled ass and venturing out to find the object of your desire, the thrill of moving through actual space and time, through row upon row of records, and the tactile ecstasy of fondling the quested treasure—all this will augment and enrich the mental associations the music invokes in you for the rest of your life.” So, on April 22, get up, get out and get shopping! 7

know that I make periodic references to the return on video poker machines, usually by citing numbers like 9/6, 7/5, 6/5, etc. Let’s take a look at what those numbers mean.

When you walk up to a slot machine and put your money in, you don’t really know what you’re up against in terms of the house advantage. You have an idea based on regulations, your own experiences, things you’ve heard and read.

But without access to a machine’s “PAR sheet,” there’s no way to get the full story. But that’s not the case in video poker.

On a VP machine, all you need are the payouts posted on the glass to be able to determine both the long-term return on the game and the optimal way to play every hand that you’re dealt. Of these two considerations, knowing how to pick the games with the highest returns is the easiest way to improve results regardless of your skill level.

While it can get complicated at the higher levels of analysis, it’s actually surprisingly easy to identify the better games. Simply look at the column of payouts associated with betting a single coin and note the numbers corresponding to a full house and a flush. For example, the full house might pay “9” (coins) and the flush “6.” That schedule is referred to as “9/6 Jacks or Better,” “9/6 Double Double Bonus” or 9/6 whatever game you’re playing. A schedule that pays “8” for a full house and “5” for a flush is referred to as an “8/5 game,” and so on.

While the level of the royal flush is also important, the full house and flush are the only important numbers that distinguish one schedule from another in the majority of games most commonly encountered—Jacks or Better, Bonus Poker, Bonus Poker Deluxe, Double Double Bonus and Triple Double Bonus.

Note that this rule doesn’t fully apply to Double Bonus, which also varies by the payout for a straight, and it doesn’t apply at all for Deuces Wild games.

For every reduction of a single pip— e.g., a 9 to an 8 or a 6 to a 5—you lose about 1 percent back to the casino (a little more or less, depending on the game).

Hence, in a game like Jacks or Better, where you’ll find schedules from 9/6 all the way down to 6/5, you’re comparing 15 pips (9+6) to 11 (6+5)—a four-pip difference that costs you about 4 percent.

Once you understand what you’re looking for, you can begin to assess the games at the places you play. If you play 7/5 Double Double at a casino or bar but find an 8/5 or 9/5 game elsewhere, it makes sense to re-evaluate where you take your patronage. Promotions beyond base return percentages can also come into play but, all things being equal, going with the highest-returning pay schedule yields the best deal. 7 Anthony Curtis is the publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor and lasvegasadvisor.com.

April 20 –26, 2017 vegasseven.com

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TO DO

Lake Las Vegas Water Sports Montelago Village at Lake Las Vegas Grand opening party: April 29 Spring hours: 11 a.m.–5 p.m. lakelasvegaswatersports.com Instagram: @lakelasvegaswatersports

By Zoneil Maharaj

Photography Krystal Ramirez

f you haven’t been to Lake Las Vegas in a while, it’s time you pay the Henderson gem a visit.

Lake Las Vegas Water Sports, which currently offers activities such as kayaking, paddleboarding and flyboarding, is transforming the lake into an extreme sports playland. Starting this summer, the company will add cable wakeboarding with jumps, boxes and rails, along with a floating skate ramp—a partnership with skate and streetwear giant Diamond Supply Co. They’re also converting the brick ledges and benches at the village waterfront into more of a hangout spot for afternoon picnics.

“We’re bringing life out here again,” says Lake Las Vegas Water Sports owner Trevor Pope. “A lot of people that live in Las Vegas don’t even know this is out here.”

Pope hopes the new activities will turn the lake into a go-to destination for locals and tourists alike. To aid with that, he recently brought in David Hadden, a Hakkasan Group VIP marketing guru. Through Hadden’s nightlife network, the two plan to host DJs and concerts on a new floating stage.

“It’s going to be a whole different kind of experience,” Pope says.

While the new activities may skew toward a younger demographic, there are a variety of experiences anyone could try. For those looking for a more relaxing activity, stick to paddleboarding, kayaking or bike rentals.

Want some three-wheeler action? Take a Slingshot, a motorcycle–meets– ATV mash-up, for a spin. For the ultimate joyride, hop on a jet-propelled flyboard and blast 15 feet—or up to 50 feet for the initiated—in the air. You’ll feel like Superman, until you wobble and belly flop onto the lake. (Pro tip: Dive into the water as you’re falling to ease the blow.)

“My goal is to show people how much fun they can have in the water,” Pope says. “A lot of people don’t think you can do all this in Las Vegas because it’s a desert.” 7

My goal is to show people how much fun they can have in the water.

If Hogwarts Had Booze PotterCon puts the beer back in butterbeer

By Mark Adams If you’re disappointed that the Butterbeer at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme parks is nonalcoholic, you might want to grab your wand and start practicing your swish-and-flick. PotterCon, billed as “the official day-drinking and mingling destinations for witches, wizards, squibs [in the Harry Potter universe, non-magical folk born to magical people] and magical creatures,” is bound for Las Vegas this summer.

“PotterCon isn’t just a celebration of a series that meant to a lot to us when we were kids—it’s a celebration of a series that still means a lot to us now as adults,” PotterCon founder Margaret Kaminski says. “If we’re going to be debating microscopic plot holes and reviewing over a decade’s worth of memories, we may as well have a stiff magical drink in hand.”

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April 20 –26, 2017 vegasseven.com

After events in New York City and Memphis in 2016, the gathering expanded to a handful of other cities this year—Las Vegas will be the 10th to host the boozy fan extravaganza, which lands at House of Blues inside Mandalay Bay on June 25.

The interactive event features a live Sorting Ceremony (placing attendees into “houses”—dormitories at the fictional Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry), trivia, costume contests, Harry Potter–themed skits and even fortune–telling stations.

While patrons at the 21-and-over event will have the opportunity to order some spiked potions, they’ll be wise to exhibit their best behavior—a House Cup competition, just like the one at Hogwarts, completes the Potter party.

“This event is truly for fans, by fans. PotterCon exists because we wanted to go to an event like this, one where we could get together with the people who care as much as we do, throw back some Butterbeers and party like witches and wizards for a day,” Kaminsky says.

So dust off your dress robes and study up on those spells! 7 Tickets to PotterCon start at $15 and go on sale at 10 a.m. on April 21 at ticketmaster.com, houseofblues.com and mandalaybay.com.

800.274.5825 | thed.com | 301 Fremont Street | Las Vegas, NV 89101

A Watershed Moment Facing the of

reality

desert living

By Kristen Peterson

Photography Krystal Ramirez

THE ECO ISSUE

I

n Las Vegas artist Matthew Couper’s ominous oil painting “Mother’s Milk Aquifer,” the story of the Southwest’s relationship with water is represented in the form of 12-footlong American currency.

Gorgeous, atmospheric, conflating classical and contemporary, it pulls the viewer into a twisted Narnia, one that’s less fantasy and more reality. In it, we see a potential future, if not the present.

The Spanish colonial–style painting, featured in the Nevada Museum of Art’s Tilting the Basin exhibit, now on display in the Arts District, is loaded with Couper’s style of symbolism feeding the narrative. Colored drinking straws, spouting red liquid, stem from the desert landscape. Vegetation is sparse. A tree, having been toppled, has only its trunk and dead branches, and a philosopher wearing a robe has a justice building as a head.

An American flag is tucked under his arm. In the center, an emaciated wolf drips water from her full and dangling teats.

“I feel the lean of the fatalistic here, the glittering testament to the man-made in the middle of an arid desert,” the New Zealand–born artist says in a statement to the museum. “Coupled with the threats of water running out, you’re living on the edge of the precipice here, which evokes a specific, urgent kind of artwork.”

To anyone who’s read Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Water Knife, a 2015 dystopian thriller set in the desert Southwest where water thieves, desperate citizens and officials battle for the H2O, this painting could almost be torn from its pages. Water is currency in the futuristic book that characterizes a mad, bloody and unethical battle for resources in a world depleted of them. In it, the Southern Nevada Water Authority fights to continue Las Vegas as a lush wonderland even while others thirst. One character is loosely reminiscent, accurately or not, of the controversial Pat Mulroy (the former general manager of the water authority from 1993–2014).

* * * * *

H

yperbole aside, the fictional tale mirrors our very real fears about water— driven by drought, suburban sprawl and a giant bathtub ring in our man-made lake. But the question of whether Lake Mead and the Colorado River will run out of water—emptied by growth, apathy, lack of snowpack from the Rockies and global warming—recurs in debates by scientists, politicians, water experts and academics.

Since the beginning of time, the Southwest’s story has always been about water, from its inception and subsequent transformations over billions of years—ocean to wetlands to eventually desert with natural springs and aquifers.

Natives learned to irrigate and work within the water system. But westward expansion had the government championing settlements out West as farmers were struggling with the flooding and unpredictable Colorado River. After years of considering how to harness the water for reliable use, Black Canyon’s walls were blasted in 1931 with dynamite and moxie to divert the water, while the Hoover Dam was constructed and a giant reservoir named Lake Mead was created. It prompted the evacuation of the town of St. Thomas and accelerated archaeological digs to record a lengthy history of habitats that would soon be under water.

The dam was marketed and celebrated as an engineering masterpiece. Man had controlled nature by abating the Colorado River’s famous flood and drought cycles. Communities could thrive at last, and new residents established themselves out West. Visitors came by the carloads to see the man-made desert lake and marveled at the construction of the outlandishly imaginative Depression-era project famous for its engineering prowess.

To maintain and control visits to the reservoir, Lake Mead was designated as a National Recreation Area.

But the headliner was the Hoover Dam—a robust project completed with boasting politicians, infighting between the states and massive labor at a time when the country was dealing with 25 percent unemployment.

Today, the once-full reservoir appears as if it’s screaming for help with its bathtub ring and empty harbors. It reminds one of Franz Kafka’s main character in A Hunger Artist. We slowly watch it disappear and weaken before our eyes.

M

* * * * *

ake no mistake, this town was built on illusion and fantasy. Las Vegas Strip– style manufactured realities filter into neighborhoods sold as Mediterranean-style landscapes that have nothing at all to do with the Mojave Desert. The fascination for building an otherworldliness captivated urban planner Ralph Stern, formerly a professor in the architecture department at UNLV, and longtime colleague Nicole Huber, who detailed the story of the ’90s boom in their book, Urbanizing the Mojave Desert: Las Vegas.

In an area fighting for limited water, we use this scarce resource as folly, whether as entertainment on the Strip, in man-made bodies of water or our sprawling neighborhoods. The Lakes offer waterfront homes and pontoons and docks.

Lake Las Vegas comes with gondolas and a faux Ponte Vecchio stretching out above the water. Steve Wynn’s planned $1.6 billion lake resort will further the illusion and affirm the idea that Las Vegas can create any environment here.

But its the neighborhoods, and not the Strip, that consume the bulk of the water allotted to us from a dwindling river, says Mulroy in a Brookings Institution video, praising the tourist corridor’s capture-and-reuse success.

Lake Mead’s water level has reportedly dropped more than 130 feet since 2000, with the Valley receiving about 90 percent of its water from the Colorado River. The Southern Nevada Water Authority,formed in 1991, established a water resource plan and more recently laid out plans for the controversial rural Nevada pipeline project. Restrictions came in the form of limiting residential and commercial fountains and landscaping as well as setting in place watering cycles— all of it a response to a drought and water shortage that many argue was

exacerbated by developer greed.

The desire for water even had an outdoor shopping mall in Summerlin importing water for its fountain in response to the restrictions.

Today there is almost a spectacle nature to our water loss and use. St. Thomas, the town evacuated and flooded, now exposed with only its foundations visible, is a destination.

It’s difficult to discern whether Hoover Dam tourists marvel more at the project itself or the water they’ve seen drop immensely since their earlier visits.

“We take water for granted,” says Mulroy, who is now with the Brookings Institution at UNLV. “Ben Franklin was right. You learn the value of water when the well runs dry, and human behavior has replicated that time after time after time.”

Lake Mead and Arizona’s Lake Powell contain 50 million acre-feet of storage when full. Both of them going down to quarter capacity—Lake Powell is currently at 48 percent capacity and Lake Mead is at 40 percent, according to the Bureau of Reclamation—is a “scary proposition,” Mulroy says, asserting that part of the problem is a community not identifying itself as citizens of a watershed.

“The impact of climate change is going to play itself out in the water arena. To turn your head and say it’s not going to affect us is insanity,” Mulroy says.

Creative SNWA campaigns with television commercials attempt to shame water wasters and assert that water saving is sexy. The SNWA says that the response to the PSAs has been successful. But still, plenty of us thrive apathetically in the Eden that propaganda for the Hoover Dam promised.

With melting polar caps and California’s worst drought in history on the books, the politicizing and debate over scientific research on global warming hearkens to the days of Galileo. Droughts and climate shifts have taken place over the past several billion years, and some refuse to believe that humans have an impact on today’s ecosystem. But at some point, the reality will clobber us. Fear and debate aside, resources are running out. At the end of the day, it comes down to individual responsibility and how much we allow ourselves to care. 7

April 20 –26, 2017 vegasseven.com

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In the

eeds W HOW GARDENS GROW IN OUR CONCRETE JUNGLE

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henever you need to stop and smell the roses, consider doing it at one of the grandest gardens in Las Vegas: the Bellagio Conservatory.

Five times each year, the massive glasshouse debuts a seasonal floral display seemingly spun from a daydream. Jerry Bowlen, executive director of horticulture at Bellagio, estimates 18,000 to 20,000 people visit the conservatory each day, and up to 25,000 on holidays. Currently, a Japanese spring has overtaken the garden—hydrangeas and snapdragons line the walkways, and preserved roses adorn a 35-foot Kabuki figure.

While the Conservatory seems to appear like magic to the casual visitor, putting it together is anything but. “There’s an old fairy tale that all this floor drops down in hydraulics, and then the new show pops up and we’re done. That is not the case,” Bowlen says.

To change out a display, it takes six days of 24-hour work for 120 horticulturists. The Bellagio staff doesn’t personally grow any-

thing; it imports most plants from a mass greenhouse in Southern Utah, which grows flowers months in advance so they arrive in full bloom. Other flora, such as the tulips, come from as far as Amsterdam.

For each exhibit, which lasts about two months, nearly 80,000 plants are used.

Maintaining all that might seem daunting, but for Bellagio’s full-time horticulture staff of 12, it’s a walk in the park. All flowers are hand-watered to avoid overspray, and the larger plants, trees and shrubs are maintained with drip irrigation. “Drip irrigation waters one gallon per hour compared to one gallon per minute,” Bowlen says. “That’s where you see the big volume of savings in water.”

As for those flowers that wilt, they’re turned into mulch and reused. Much care goes into the Conservatory to keep the environment and visitors happy. “We definitely want them to come out and leave and call somebody and say, ‘You gotta come see this,’” Bowlen says. –Amber Sampson

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THE ECO ISSUE

BELL AGIO BY KELLY MCKEON; CITRUS POOL BY CHRISTOPHER DEVARGUS

Gardens in the Sky

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ooftop gardening is a trend that started in places like Chicago and New York City, where room is limited and sprawl goes upward, not outward. On top of that skyscraper towering above traffic is unoccupied space where sunlight is plentiful.

The movement has taken off in the last five years, and now there are full-scale farms operating on roofs in large cities. (Brooklyn Grange, which has two locations in New York City, is the largest rooftop farming and intensive green roofing business in the country, generating more than 50,000 pounds of organic produce annually.) While the trend isn’t that popular in Las Vegas yet, places such as the Freight Farm vertical garden near Bunkhouse Saloon and the back patio herb garden at Evel Pie pizza shop hint at the growing interest.

Downtown Grand implemented a rooftop garden in 2016 to coincide with the launch of Citrus Grand Pool. The rooftop garden was meant to complement the pool’s citrus theme. Ten new lemon and lime trees have been planted, and herbs, veggies and fruits—to be used in the cocktail and food menus—are also sprouting. Sunbathers can find tomatoes, cilantro, mint, parsley and basil—all chosen specifically to withstand the heat—in the garden. Manager Kevin Glass says he often sees swimmers plucking a tomato right off the vine and taking a bite.

There are many factors to consider before undertaking rooftop gardening, including wind, rain, cost, storage, the structural integrity of the building and acquiring the proper permits. But for city dwellers who may not have access to a convenient grocery store, produce an arm’s reach away is just one of the many benefits of growing greens high in the sky. –Jessie O’Brien

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19

Learning to Grow

–Shannon Miller

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THE GROVE BY KRYSTAL RAMIREZ, GREEN OUR PL ANET COURTESY OF ROGER BRYAN ELEMENTARY

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ould you believe that the largest school garden program in the country is based right here in our desert? Green Our Planet has funded more than 100 school gardens since it began in 2013, and it is credited with creating Nevada’s first garden-based STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) curriculum. Last year, Mayor Carolyn Goodman presented the nonprofit’s founders with the 2016 Compassionate Heroes Award for “their commitment to a more compassionate community.”

Not only do school gardens give teachers and students a fresh, hands-on take on STEM subjects, but they also offer kids the opportunity to spend more time outside. Green Our Planet connects the schools with a real farmer who shows teachers and students how to garden. The kids help create and maintain a space, which gives them a sense of accountability. “If you ask the kids, they’ll tell you you have to be patient, that we’re just learning as we go,” says Vanessa Galvan, a teacher and head of the garden team at Robert E. Lake Elementary School.

A garden cultivates patience, which makes it all the more rewarding when the time comes for the kids to harvest the fruits of their labor. The Chef-toSchool program coordinates with chefs from more than 60 restaurants to give cooking demonstrations at the schools. And the Farmpreneur Program teaches fifth-grade students how to create and run their own farmers markets, which, by the way, are way more lucrative than your typical lemonade stand—principal Leslie Brinks of Roger Bryan Elementary school reports a return of $7,800 from their school garden, installed less than a year ago.

Teaching kids how to garden is no easy task, but for Green Our Planet and the schools that see the benefits, it’s im- Shop for fresh local perative. “Our kids meet an produce grown by students hour before school every Fri- from Robert E. Lake and day, rain or shine, ” Galvan Roger Bryan Elementary reports. Green Our Planet Schools. May 4, co-founder Ciara Byrne cites 11 a.m.–1 p.m., Zappos, a teacher struggling with 400 Stewart Ave., an attendance problem who greenourplanet.com claims that students never miss school when they have garden class.

And the enthusiasm extends beyond the kids: “We’ve found that gardens help parents [who speak a second language] find a way to connect with the school through farmers markets, helping with the garden or painting murals,” Byrne adds.

Once a garden finds a home in a school, the positive impact on the students, the community and, ultimately, the kids’ connection to the environment takes on a life of its own.

M arijuana and A gricultural Innovation

THE ECO ISSUE

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here has been much discussion about the business end of the cannabis industry: money to be made, jobs to be created, laws to be rewritten. But marijuana’s biggest impact may be scientific, as grow facilities have also become laboratories where agricultural innovation and experimentation take place.

“That’s why I think a lot of the folks that work here are really excited,” says Armen Yemenidjian, CEO of Desert Grown. “If you have an idea, let’s try it out. No one has a monopoly on good ideas.”

Since every marijuana product sold in Nevada must be derived from a plant grown here, marijuana cultivators have been springing up all over the state. However, they are restricted to industrial areas and windowless buildings—you wouldn’t even know they were there unless you got close enough to smell. Once inside, past several security checkpoints, you find vast facilities with staff in coveralls and lab coats moving down long white hallways between climate-controlled rooms. And like any devoted gardener—or scientist—each has added their own twists to the formula.

Of course, the two chief necessities for growing plants are light and water. Electricity is the largest expense for many grows, as the plants require intense, high-wattage light, and that light creates heat, adding A.C. and ventilation costs to the bill. There has been some skepticism about the effectiveness of using LED lights for marijuana cultivation, but The Grove dispensary has been

using these bulbs with success—and savings. Elsewhere in Vegas, at Reef Dispensaries’ enormous plant-filled cultivation, much of the irrigation is done with water reclaimed from the grow rooms: Condensation is gathered into enormous vats and returned to the plants, an extra step to nature’s water cycle, if you will.

A plethora of computer monitors is ubiquitous at modern grows.

“Everything we do here is computerized,” Yemenidjian says. “They pull a report and it’ll tell us if a room overnight went above or below a certain humidity or a certain temperature. It’s making sure that every nutrient that’s sent to plants The Grove uses is measured.” Those nutrients are administered in LED bulbs, cutting house-made solutions added to carefully filtered electricity costs. water, which then flows to the grow rooms and the plants via an elaborate system of pipes. Not only does it allow Desert Grown to tailor its solutions for specific strains, but not having heavy, premixed bottles shipped in from elsewhere decreases environmental impact.

Cannabis is an industry that attracts iconoclastic thinkers, and it’s profitable enough for its pioneers to be able to invest in new ideas. Many of the innovations made in this space can be transferred to more conventional crops—a way for marijuana to benefit even those who never touch the stuff.

–Lissa Townsend Rodgers

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LESS IS MORE ODE TO A MINIMALIST LIFE

By Genevie Durano

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n our consumerist society, the engine that makes America run is an insatiable need to acquire more and more things. It’s an ethos that has never appealed to me, and I credit my parents for showing me, through their own example, that stuff just does not matter.

In college, I lived with just the bare necessities—a futon for a bed, a computer and a bookshelf. No TV. I didn’t own anything that I couldn’t get rid of at a moment’s notice. When I was 20, I lived for a year in Germany with nothing but clothes in a small suitcase and a mass market paperback of Les Misérables. I worked as a nanny, got paid weekly, and spent all my earnings traveling on the weekends.

What I craved was adventure, not material things.

I moved to New York City when I was 28, and that experience cemented my minimalist mindset—not by choice at first, but by necessity. Living in a 600-square-foot apartment as a newlywed, there was little room to maneuver, much less to store things I might not need. I became deft at finding novel uses for IKEA furniture— bookshelves became open shelving for clothing, as there was no closet; under-bed space was a premium spot for off-season items such as blankets and coats; luggage stacked together covered by a bright piece of fabric became a night table.

Instead of feeling restricted by the lack of space, I felt liberated.

I didn’t have the need to buy a new piece of clothing, because that would mean getting rid of something I already owned. Where would I store it otherwise? At one point, I joined The Compact, a social group and environmental movement founded in San Francisco, in which members pledge not to buy anything new for an entire year, with the exception of toiletries and underwear. This meant that if you needed something—a pot, a coat, shoes—you had to find it used or just do without. What this experiment taught me was how little I actually needed, and it opened my imagination to ways I can lessen my carbon footprint beyond mere recycling.

Of course, this is all very doable when it’s just you and your partner.

But then a baby came along, and with him, a mountain of gear that I never knew existed: strollers, diaper bag, baby bottles, snack cups, Wet Wipes, board books, teething rings and giant plastic keys to distract him on a long subway ride. By the time he was a toddler, it became a full-time job to constantly prune our belongings and explain to relatives back West that no, we don’t need another toy because we don’t have space for it. But then the baby got bigger and out went the diapers and the strollers, and things got back to a manageable level again.

By the time we moved back to the West Coast, we owned so few possessions that we couldn’t furnish a 1,400-square-foot rental.

At the same time, I was caring for my terminally ill mother. When she eventually passed, it fell to me to dispose of her belongings. It wasn’t much—but it was still a wrenching process. I then traveled to Asia to take my mom’s ashes home, a three-week trip in which I brought two things: a small backpack and the 2-pound box of ashes that I held on my lap for the 20-plus-hour plane ride. In life—and in

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death, it turns out—we don’t need much more than this.

Today I live in a 1,000-square-foot condo, which is still too spacious for my liking. I had not been nearly as disciplined as when I lived in New York, so last summer, I took to the KonMari method from The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Not to put too fine a point on it, but this decluttering process is indeed magical. (The premise is simple: You hold every object you own and ask if it sparks joy. If it doesn’t, off to Goodwill it goes.) Author Marie Kondo (or her translator) offers nuggets of wisdom like: “The question of what you want to own is actually the question of how you want to live your life,” or, “The place we live should be for the person we are becoming now— not for the person we have been in the past.” I have also dabbled in Project 333, in which you narrow down your wardrobe The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: to 33 items, including shoes and The Japanese Art of Decluttering and accessories, and that’s all you Organizing by Marie Kondo wear for three months. (Hey, coworkers—if it seems like I’m alMinimalism: Live a Meaningful Life ways wearing the same two yoga

by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan pants, it’s because I am.)

Nicodemus What all the experts don’t tell you, of course, is that the Clutterfree With Kids: Change Your work is never done. Just like losThinking, Discover New Habits, Free ing weight is only half the batYour Home tle, it’s the maintenance that’ll

by Joshua S. Becker bedevil you. Every day I am confounded by the amount of No Impact Man: The Adventures of a paper, receipts and packaging Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the material that passes through Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes my door. And I am not such

by Colin Beavan an ascetic that I’m immune to the power of purchasing. Just recently, I bought a Vitamix blender. It was not a spur-of-the-moment decision but months and months of agonizing, because an appliance that heavy and expensive felt like a serious commitment. What if I grow dependent on it? What if I become a smoothie snob and turn up my nose on blenders with less than 2 horsepower? This, of course, is my biggest fear with stuff: that it will own me instead of the other way around.

Living a minimalist life is a constant work in progress. I will falter many more times in the future, I’m sure, but for me, a life with less stuff is a life lived with intention. For now, I’ll drink those kale smoothies every morning and touch my blender in appreciation, ever so thankful for the joy it sparks. 7

Thinking of becoming a minimalist? Here IS some required reading:

THE ECO ISSUE

Good for Business, Good for the Earth Photography KRYSTAL RAMIREZ Want to get your clothes cleaned without having them soaked in a solvent that is likely a human carcinogen (according to the National Academy of Sciences)? Skip the toxic dry cleaning and check out Green Cleaners & Alteration Center (9555 S. Eastern Ave., greencleanerslv.com). Drop your duds here for some nontoxic dry cleaning that leaves clothes smelling fresh, and is far less harmful for the environment and customers than normal dry cleaning.

Cut down on your carbon emissions and pedal instead of drive.

Ebike Market Place (6585 Arville St., ebikemarketplace.com) saves your bikes from getting tossed when the battery dies by swapping out old lithium batteries, properly disposing of the waste and installing a new battery. Don’t have an ebike? Give yourself the gift of an ebike transformation. The company can install a motor and new lithium battery to get you moving faster, and pollutant-free.

The RepurposeDriven Life

By Lissa Townsend Rodgers

Reduce, reuse, recycle. A mantra that evokes thoughts of writing on both sides of the paper or hauling bags of soda cans—a pain in the ass, but easy enough to do. But there’s also repurpose,

Get gorgeous … without the chemicals. At Detox Salon (500 E. Windmill Lane, detoxsalon.com), they’ve got the earth-friendly stuff down. Not only is it a clean-air salon with energy-efficient appliances and indoor greenery to make that filtered air even purer, it also delivers a chemical-free environment. That’s right—products here are organic and toxin-free. From hair color to shampoo to keratin treatments, they’re all kind to the environment and to you.

Clean up without the chemicals. Woman-owned and operated V & S Maintenance (vsmaintenance.com) is an entirely green eco-conscious cleaning service that focuses on health and sustainability. Natural cleaning specialists use chemical-free, pollutant-free products, meaning no toxic supplies or caustic fumes, resulting in improved air in the home and allergy relief thanks to some serious deep cleaning that’s environmentally friendly. –Diana Edelman From its recycling practices and eco-friendly products to its Organic Botox facial, Aminah’s Organic Skin Spa (6600 W. Charleston Blvd. Suite 126, aminahsorganicskinspa.com) is committed to being green. Known best for its Hungarian facials, all treatments use Eminence skin care products. Made from a farm that is wind- and solar-powered, the sulfate-, paraben- and herbicide-free line uses eco-conscious packaging and has partnered with Forests for the Future, which means for every product bought, the company plants a tree. Aminah’s is also endorsed by Certified Green Partners thanks to its sustainable efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.

–Jessi C. Acuña

wwhich is harder than it sounds when confronted with $900 reclaimed wood garden benches or impressive yet seemingly impossible projects, like turning a pinball machine into a desk.

A good place to start, as any T.G.I. Fridays knows, is artwork—we’re not talking about hanging old farm tools on the walls but pulling out your cool shit from drawers and shelves and finding a way to put it where you can appreciate it all the time. Zia Records sells frames that allow you to hang LPs or 45s without damage—why hide that original King Records pressing of James Brown Live at the Apollo or the slickly designed trivia question that is a Sigue Sigue Sputnik album? My kitchen has both skate decks and old casino signage adorning the walls, and the towel rack is a vintage Dragnet target game my dad had when he was a kid.

Another not-too-complicated repurpose can be turning something into a table. My coffee table is actually an old metal card file whose drawers used to hold medical information but are also the

perfect size for DVDs (it also goes nicely with the metal film reel holder I use to store 45s).

Many things can be turned into tables—wood pallets, slices of logs, Ouija boards, mirrors. Sets of wooden table legs are available at large hardware stores; for a more modern/industrial look, you can order metal legs from hairpinlegs.com.

There are a number of repurposing websites that can provide inspiration and/or instruction.

Check out myrepurposedlife.com for non-discouraging, shabby-chic projects such as turning a drawer into a cabinet and a nightstand into a desk with a chalkboard surface. A site more geared toward inspiration than instructions (though they have those, too) is recyclart.org—it includes everything from how to make a new tabletop out of tin cans to constructing a 10-foot robot out of vacuum cleaners. Another site is upcyclethat.com, which entices the crafty with ways to take that ladder, sweater, light bulb or steamer trunk and transform it into something new and useful. 7

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ONE BITE

TASTE

Go F ish

Imagine a place where the fish is so fresh all you need for its preparation are a few simple ingredients. This is everyday life on the coasts of Italy, but it is also the case at Salute Trattoria Italiana (in Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa, salutevegas.com), where chef Luke Palladino has re-created a classic Neapolitan dish called Acqua Pazza (literally, “crazy water”). Along with tomatoes, potatoes and olives, fresh fish (which varies day to day) is roasted, its belly stuffed with slivers of garlic, celery, fennel, Ligurian chilis, marjoram and parsley sprigs and seasoned with salt, pepper, olive oil and white wine. The dish ($38) is presented at the table, then taken back to the kitchen and filleted. Adventurous eaters opt to eat the fish from the bone, which the chef applauds. “You don’t realize how delicious fish is until you roast

By Genevie Durano Photography Cierra Pedro it whole, and the most flavorful part is near the bone.” We couldn’t agree more.

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Hold The Bacon

THE BEST VEGAN BRUNCHES IN TOWN HAVE SO MUCH MORE TO OFFER BEYOND MEAT

By Diana Edelman Photography by Kirsten Clarke

TASTE

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orget nibbling on a plate of fruit or ordering oatmeal at your next brunch. The late morning/early afternoon ritual that Vegas does oh-so-well isn’t just for bacon lovers. In fact, there’s an entire plant-based brunch scene waiting to be devoured.

By far, the most creative and healthiest option for vegan brunch awesomeness is found at Mandalay Bay’s Border Grill (bordergrill.com). Executive chef Richard Hoffmann knows what it takes to create sinful and sensational dishes to chow down on … without adding fake meats and cheeses.

For $39, Hoffmann and crew deliver little plates of Mexican brunch specialties made entirely of fruits, veggies and plantbased milk to keep you firmly rooted in the brunch scene while impressing your omnivore friends. We’re talking chilaquiles covered in a gorgeous tomatillo sauce, with just the right amount of spice; chia pudding in an almond/coconut milk topped with organic blueberries and lemon balm grown in-house; nachos with hearts of palm; arepas sans meat and cheese; and even salads with microgreens and the sweetest (and most expensive) tomatoes. Here, it’s chef’s choice what you’re getting, but you can rest assured, it will all be amazing.

Add bottomless booze and make it a true Vegas brunch ($15 for bottomless mimosas, or $20 to mix it up throughout the meal with mimosas and more). Brunch: Sat.–Sun., 10 a.m.–3 p.m.

COURTESY OF VIOLETTE'S VEGAN

Down the street at Wynn Las Vegas, Terrace Pointe Café (wynnlasvegas.com) serves up a magical breakfast worthy of brunch status from open to close (6 a.m.–3 p.m.). Grab a seat on the patio overlooking the pool and nosh on staple brunch items, such as French toast made with banana soy milk and topped with fresh berries and maple syrup, or opt for a savory dish such as the spicy tofu scramble with peppers, onions, beluga lentils and potatoes. Want more typical lunch items? Terrace Pointe has eats like a Super Food Salad packed with—you guessed it—superfoods such as baby kale, or quinoa lettuce cups with soy and veggies in a ginger lemongrass sauce. Wash it all down with bottomless sparkling wine, Bellinis or mimosas for an additional $22.

For a chill weekend brunch, head to plant-based VegeNation (616 Carson Ave., Suite 120, vegenationlv.com). Every Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., brunch is kicked up a notch thanks to the restaurant’s music director and co-founder of Soul Sessions, Tree Hill, who curates the weekly music that has included local acts such as Jessica Manalo, Sonia Seelinger, Cameron Calloway and Trice Be Phantommagnetic. Music aside, the Downtown community-based eatery serves up a killer dish: vegan chicken and waffles. If you’ve never had it, it’s the best in town and a must for any VegeNation brunch newbie.

Also check out the popular Buffalo Cauliflower Wings, cooked to tender perfection, or the Food Not Bombs Bowl, made with black bean chili, scrambled tofu and spicy potatoes, and covered with shredded vegan cheese and chipotle cream. Grab some two-for-one mimosas or Bloody Marys to make it a vegan boozy brunch. Sun., 8 a.m.–3 p.m.

Opposite page: Border Grill's FarmFresh Salad with lettuce, quinoa, heirloom tomatoes and grilled vegetables Above: Border Grill's Chia Blueberry Power Parfait and Chilaquiles

Also Downtown is Bronze Cafe at The Market (611 Fremont St., themarketdtlv.com). Set up shop inside or hang on the East Fremont patio for people-watching (and fresh-made mimosa drinking) at its finest. Brunch is served daily and features goodies such as a vegan shakshuka with vegan tofu scramble served piping hot in a tomato bell pepper sauce with a grilled garlic pita, or the Eggs Benedict Arnold, Bronze’s twist on the popular omnivore dish with a tofu scramble topped with sweet corn sauce, pico de gallo and toasted pepitas over sweet potato hash, roasted mushrooms and julienned poblanos and jalapeños. Daily, 8 a.m.–2 p.m. 7

If off-Strip is more your speed and you don’t want to deal with Downtown parking, locals favorite Violette’s Vegan (8560 W. Desert Inn Rd., violettesvegan.com) is the perfect place to end (or start) your week. The vibe is bright and airy, and the food nourishes from the inside out. Check out crowd favorites such as the Rise and Shine tofu scramble, which comes with a choice of bacon or sausage, bread and breakfast potatoes on the side; or the Breakfast Wrap Supreme, with scrambled tofu, seitan sausage, home-fried potatoes and Thousand Island dressing in a warm tortilla wrap, served with lightly grilled veggies. The top-selling California Dreamin' Bacon Cheeze Burger—a handcrafted burger with tomato, avocado, pickle and Thousand Island dressing, topped with tempeh bacon and melted Daiya cheddar cheese—will have you humming a happy tune. There’s even live entertainment starting at noon on Sundays. Brunch: Fri.–Sun., 10 a.m.–2 p.m. –Genevie Durano

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TASTE

DISH & TELL

UGLY VEGETABLES and FRUITS, DYING BREEDS and DINING NOSE-TO-TAIL

By Marisa Finetti

WHEN EARTH DAY COMES AROUND, we think of clean air, land and

water by way of such things as compact fluorescent light bulbs, bamboo flooring, low-flow flushes and composting, among other things. And for food, what comes to mind is sustainable, farm-to-table and organic. Clearly, we realize the benefits of eating “green,” with an emphasis on sourcing locally, yet what about the 6 billion pounds of U.S. fruits and vegetables that go unharvested or unsold each year? These, too, are just as tasty, so giving blemished pears, wonky carrots and other misfits the opportunity to be featured in a dish is one of the best things you can do for the planet. With that in mind, Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group has collected five recipes to inspire us to give these “ugly” fruits and vegetables a second look. Each recipe seeks to maximize the fruit or vegetable’s flavor, regardless of its less-than-perfect appearance. Check them out at bandbristorante. com, and the next time you see a bruised summer squash, take it home and grill it.

Day. But why? Consider meat purveyors such as Heritage Foods USA, which is promoting its efforts to save breeds of livestock that are nearing extinction. The most practical way to preserve these animals? Eat them. Unlike wildlife, endangered livestock are rescued when demand increases and farmers have the incentive to raise them. Rare to critically rare breeds such as Mulefoot hogs, of which there are fewer than 200 registered, are one such example. These and other breeds are winning the hearts and palates of eco-conscious diners, not only because they are raised humanely and sustainably without antibiotics and hormones, but because they are immensely delicious. The B&B group is an original supporter of all things Heritage and the rare-breed movement. Each week, 1,200 pounds of fresh pork cuts are delivered to Carnevino Italian Steakhouse (In The Palazzo, carnevino.com), B&B Ristorante (In The Venetian, bandbristorante.com), Otto Enoteca e Pizzeria (In The Venetian, lasvegas.ottopizzeria.com) and B&B Burger & Beer (In The Venetian, bandbburgerandbeer.com), along with a whole pig for B&B’s charcuterie program and other menu items. The breeds vary week to week, but typical are the Berkshires, bright and porky with a smooth texture and melt-in-your-mouth tenderness, and Red Wattles, extremely rare and prized for their tender, juicy, well-marbled meats and earthy, herbaceous flavors.

CHEW ON THIS: Of the 15 swine breeds raised just 50 years ago, eight are extinct, and most of the remaining purebreds are in danger of extinction.

Eating and preserving them makes an impact on the environment and local economy, saves the species and maintains a natural and balanced food chain.

Try the 20-ounce bone-in pork chop at Carnevino or the pork tenderloin terrine with quince, pistachio and celery at B&B Ristorante.

At Bazaar Meat by José Andrés (SLS Las Vegas, slslasvegas.com), the chef offers a few dishes such as The Classic beef tartare and Beef Rib Steak that feature older cattle, the way they do in his native Spain. Some of his cuts come from 8–10-year-old livestock, as opposed to the maximum 30-month-old beef we eat in the U.S. that’s stipulated by the USDA. Premium cuts primarily come from Holstein cows that were cared for by farmers at Mindful Meats in California’s Bay Area. This is a very sustainable form of beef—its environmental footprint is considered better than conventional beef and is also offset by the organic milk the cows produce during their lifetime. Dairy steak has a long culinary tradition in Spain. And why? Heavy fat marbling gives succulence, and older animals provide unsurpassed richness and flavor.

SPEAKING OF MEAT, let’s eat the whole animal, shall we? Some of

these forgotten delicacies were actually celebrated food of generations past.

Over time, we’ve opted for the prettier cuts—discarding the tripe, kidneys, tongue, trotters and head. But we are seeing a revival of nose-to-tail eating, where no part of the animal is left uneaten. Try the Mascarpone & Guanciale Mashed Potatoes at Carnevino; Roasted Veal Sweetbreads dusted with mushroom powder and pan-fried, served over creamy bacon polenta at Sage (In Aria, aria.com); braised beef cheeks with saffron rice and Japanese mushroom in a red wine–soy whiskey reduction (from its whiskey-pairing menu) at Sushi Samba (In The Palazzo, sushisamba.com); bone marrow flan with mushroom marmalade and parsley salad at CUT (in The Palazzo, wolfgangpuck.com); and Above: These calves liver topped with guanciale at Lupo (In Mandalay vegetables may look Bay, wolfgangpuck.com). bruised, but their Chefs and diners alike have started viewing their nutritional value consumption through the lens of sustainability. Start by remains intact. asking if the animal was raised humanely. After taking its life, the least we can do is make the most of it—season leafy Left: Calves liver steak greens with its neck bones or create flaky biscuits with at Lupo in Mandalay lard, for starters. Let your imagination go hog wild and Bay. waste not a bit of that precious life. Happy Earth Day! 7

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BRUISED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES PHOTOGRAPHY K ATE PREVITE; VEAL LIVER PHOTOGRAPHY KRYSTAL RAMIREZ

MEAT IS A FOOD SOURCE that Americans are urged to forgo on Earth

SOCIAL INFLUENCE

HONORING A HISTORIC HERO

By Kristen Peterson

I Am The Greatest proves Muhammad Ali was a righteous man—with gloves on and off

A

t the I Am The Greatest: Muhammad Ali exhibit at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, viewers immediately see two experiences that defined the boxer’s life. One is of a replica red Schwinn bicycle placed in front of a floor-to-ceiling image of Ali’s childhood home in Louisville, Kentucky.

The bike represents a Christmas gift from Ali’s father that was stolen after Ali parked it in front of the Columbia Auditorium gym where he was training.

The other is a 1937 poem about the horrific and grotesque lynching of black Americans by white mobs, pervasive throughout the South. Written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish New York City schoolteacher who’d seen an image of bodies hanging from a tree, the poem was made famous by singer Billie Holiday and was later recorded by Nina Simone and others. Its opening verse: Southern trees bear strange fruit / Blood on the leaves and blood at the root / Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze / I Am The Greatest: Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Muhammad Ali Without this poem and what it symbolizes, the Through September 30, story is not complete. In the exhibit, which features daily, 10 a.m.–8 p.m., images, newsclips and artifacts (including two $16–$18, Bellagio world championship rings and autographed boxing Gallery of Fine Art, gloves), there is a clear reminder of when Ali filed as bellagio.com/bgfa a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War in the 1960s. There have been two Americas—one for those who are white and one for those who are not. Not only was he famously against the Vietnam War, but he was well aware of the raging conflict in his own country. To put it in context: Ali was born January 17, 1942, one year after Emmett Till, a teenager lynched for allegedly whistling at a white woman, was born. Lynch mobs were still hanging black men, women and children from trees, while whites were fighting the desegregation of schools and public spaces, not wanting their world sullied by blacks.

Ali, who grew up in a segregated neighborhood, was 12 years old, infuriated and in tears after his bike was stolen. He reported the theft to a policeman,

who ran a gym and (famously) told Ali that before he could give the thief a whupping, he should first learn how to fight. By 1960—just six years later—Ali was a gold medalist at the Olympics in Rome, a celebrated athlete and star featured on national magazine covers.

After becoming the world heavyweight champion in 1964, defeating Sonny Liston, Ali announced he had joined the Nation of Islam and shed his “slave name,” Cassius Clay, to become Muhammad Ali, drawing even more attention to racism in America. Two years later, he filed for conscientious objector status during the Vietnam War and was maligned by white Americans embarrassed by his stance, while globally becoming a hero. After his 1967 conviction for draft evasion—stripping him of his titles and banning him from boxing for three years—was overturned in 1971, he returned to the ring and was no longer only a poetic and gifted trash-talking boxer; he was a courageous man who took on injustice in a very public forum. In 1974, he again became the world heavyweight champ, taking the title away from George Foreman.

The exhibit, on display through September 30, takes visitors through Ali’s early life, his boxing career, political and humanitarian efforts (he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005 from George W. Bush), celebrity status and role as a civil rights leader. His relationship with Elvis Presley is represented through a replica of the 1973 “The People’s Choice Robe” that Presley had made for him. Images of him with the Nation of Islam hang alongside his words of compassion. In video clips, we see him chiding sportscaster and friend Howard Cosell, watch his unparalleled moves in the boxing ring and learn about his trip to Iraq to meet with Saddam Hussein, leading to the return of 15 American hostages. Replica belts from his 1974 fight with Foreman in Zaire and his 1978 fight in New Orleans with Leon Spinks, as well as other memorabilia, bring back historic moments in sports. We see him appear on game shows, on award shows, in interviews and on trips to impoverished countries where he met with humanitarian leaders, including Mother Teresa.

The entire show, celebrating the awesome life of a legendary man, connects his six core principles: confidence, conviction, dedication, giving, respect and spirituality. Near the entrance is the phrase, “I am the greatest of all time.” Ali said that he made that statement before he even knew it. This exhibit explains how he came to be the greatest—both inside and outside the ring. 7

April 20 –26, 2017 vegasseven.com

31

SOCIAL INFLUENCE

ASK A NATIVE

L

ast week’s column about topless pools at Las Vegas resorts spurred another conversation, one related to the under-21 set. But it seems there are a couple generations of Vegas kids rather nostalgic about our long-gone Strip water park, Wet‘n‘Wild. One native millennial I know says she remembers two things in particular about the place: the 90s soundtrack and the preponderance of nipple rings on the male lifeguards.

Today, Cowabunga Bay and the new Wet‘n‘Wild draw those seeking watery thrills to the Vegas suburbs.

But the Strip’s O.G. aquatic playground was rather unique, plopped adjacent to the Sahara casino, in the middle of the adult action. Open from 1985 to 2004, the original 27-acre Wet‘n‘Wild was a Vegas Back in the day, kid’s dream, an amusement park perfectly suited to a hot desert city. A case could even be made that it was Wet‘n‘Wild, not The Mirage (which opened four years later), that ushered in a new era in Las Vegas history.

Wet‘n‘Wild may have been the first legit water park in Las Vegas, but it wasn’t the only option. Back in the day, there was Lake Mead, as well as the water slides at Warm Springs near Moapa, but both were quite a distance from town. Closer to home, lucky Vegas kids knew someone who knew someone—perhaps a parent worked at a casino, or an older sibling was a hotel lifeguard.

Things were a little looser back then, and that favorable connection often meant a summer of hanging by a stylish resort pool with the tourists, trying to score unattended cocktails.

Things changed in the late 70s, when Roulette Rapids opened along Boulder Highway, offering something more thrilling than just a pool: bright yellow concrete water slides pouring into a man-made hill (helmets required) and bumper boats!

Hot Child in the Summertime

By James P. Reza

Soon after, in the early 80s, the Cheyenne Campus of the Community College of Southern Nevada (now CSN) had “the hydrotubes”—a three-story staircase leading to two twisting, water-filled tubes ending in a refreshing pool splash. Ahhhh!

Also worth mentioning is the legendary Desert Surf. Located in the middle of the desert, where Decatur and Valley View boulevards now intersect, Desert Surf wasn’t a water park, but a skateboard park long before Clark County got involved in building skate facilities in its parks. Desert Surf also boasted a BMX track, proving that some Vegas kids were still happiest getting dusty.

Have a question or comment about Las Vegas past, present or future? Send them to askanative@vegasseven.com

DO GOOD

Jeans for Good THE RAPE CRISIS CENTER HOSTS ITS ANNUAL DENIM DAY FUNDRAISER

By Monica Acuna

32

April 20 –26, 2017 vegasseven.com

In 1998, the Italian Supreme Court overturned a rape conviction because the victim was wear-

ing tight jeans at the time of the attack. They decided that because they were so tight, she must have helped her attacker remove them, thus making the relations consensual. Outraged by the ruling, women in the Italian Parliament protested by wearing jeans to court, and were publicly supported by the California State Senate and other organizations. The anniversary of the landmark case has become known as Denim Day, and is observed every April as part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This year, the Rape Crisis Center, which is dedicated to raising awareness of and changing the attitudes surrounding sexual violence, will be hosting their annual fundraising event on April 26.

The RCC invites the community to participate in Denim Day in two ways. First, by encouraging local businesses to allow employees to wear jeans to work if they make a $5 donation. Second, through a $60 luncheon and silent auction at Fashion Show. This year, Kona Grill is catering the lunch, which includes a denim-themed fashion show with Guess outfitting the models.

For the second half of the program, Macy’s is sponsoring a “Survivor and Champion Runway Show.” Over a dozen rape survivors are expected to

grace the stage, along with volunteers and “champions,” including a representative from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and members of the media who cover the issue in a manner that avoids the current victim-blaming culture.

“Sexual assault is about power and control, so the best thing you can do for any survivor is return their power and control back to them,” says Daniele Dreitzer, executive director of the RCC. “We figured what better way to do that than to allow [survivors] to walk this runway in a very public way … and just for them to feel that support and recognition from a huge crowd of people.”

Dreitzer hopes to raise $35,000, surpassing last year’s $27,000 mark. This would help the nonprofit continue to fund services such as its 24/7 crisis hotline and hospital response as well as counseling and advocacy during the legal process. In 2016, the crisis center’s staff and volunteers responded to over 700 people and fielded 9,611 calls and web visits. The goal of the center is to provide help, hope and healing.

Moving forward, Dreitzer believes, “Our emphasis and ability to work more on prevention [will be key].”

Denim Day Luncheon April 26, 11:00 a.m.–1:30 p.m., Great Hall at Fashion Show, $60 (not available day of), rcclv.org.

WET ‘N WILD COURTESY OF THE L AS VEGAS NEWS BUREAU

Vegas kids knew how to stay cool

SOCIAL INFLUENCE

POLITICS

By Michael Green

Family Tradition LIKE HIS FATHER, KELL HOUSSELS JR. SHAPED OUR CITY

J

Kell Houssels Jr. died recently. His name may be vaguely familiar, and it should be much more so. When Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson take public positions on or in the Republican Party, or MGM Resorts International strongly endorses Harry Reid and then helps fund a think tank he will head with John Boehner, Houssels had something to do with it.

Now, this doesn’t mean Houssels was overly political, though he certainly had opinions. He was elected to one term in the Nevada State Assembly in 1950 and got a bellyful of politics just from that. But his and his family’s influence on gaming and our community, and thus our political culture, has been lasting and important.

John Kell Houssels Sr. was one of the pioneers of gambling when Nevada legalized it in 1931. He co-owned the Las Vegas Club, and later El Cortez, Showboat and Tropicana, as well as investing in several other properties. He diversified into transportation companies, a beverage distributor and restaurants, and dipped into politics, to the point that critics attacked the “Houssels machine,” which supposedly was all-powerful in city affairs during the 40s.

His son, Kell Jr., moved here at age 8 in 1930 and attended the Fifth Street School before going away to boarding schools and academies. Kell Jr. welcomed the chance to escape Las Vegas during the summer: When it was hot, one of his duties was to hose down the family home to cool it off.

Young Kell, who became known as Ike, attended West Point and Stanford Law School and came home to practice law. He did it well but didn’t really enjoy it, and soon joined his father in the gaming business. As Kell Sr. aged, the younger Houssels took on a bigger role at the Tropicana and, later, the Showboat. He was one of the builders of the Union Plaza Hotel, meaning Houssels had the distinction of being among the first to be heavily involved in Strip, Downtown and locally oriented casinos.

When the state changed licensing rules to encourage corporate investment, and other jurisdictions made gambling legal, Houssels and his board of directors jumped on the opportunity. The Showboat expanded to Atlantic City, an Indiana riverboat and Australia. The Showboat corporation proved successful enough to be sold in 1998 to Harrah’s, now Caesars Entertainment, for more than $1 billion.

As his father had been, the junior Houssels had long been involved in horse racing and real estate, and he joined his sons in an investment firm. His leg-

acy in gaming would have been secure if all he had done was bring the Folies Bergere to the Tropicana—it was the longest-running show on the Strip, closing just before its 50th anniversary—or support the Showboat becoming a center for bowling, just as that sport hit it big. But Houssels Jr. did more.

He was one of the founders of the Nevada Resort Association, and later served two terms as its leader. The NRA (the initials are a bit ironic) helped unify the hotel owners—sometimes against the Culinary Union, especially in the days when the Culinary was tied to the mob and some other dubious characters, but sometimes in tandem with the unions. And it helped consolidate the hotels’ power in dealing with government agencies. Whether or not you like that, it’s important.

He was also one of a group of second-generation casino operators who have helped Las Vegas grow. Michael Gaughan went directly into the business where his father, Jackie, was a pioneer. Houssels followed a trajectory similar to that of Bill Boyd, who became an attorney and then joined his father in the trade. The fathers were important to gaming and Las Vegas history, but the sons demonstrated that they could do quite well on their own, thank you.

They also felt invested in the community. The Gaughans and Boyds have done their part. Houssels married a dancer who was part of the Szony & Claire adagio act in the Folies Bergere; Nancy Houssels supported creating a ballet company, and so the Houssels have been a key part of the Nevada Ballet Theatre for its nearly half-century of existence. The couple were among the founders of The Smith Center, and they have served on more boards and given to more causes than we have fingers and toes to count.

After his parents died, Houssels offered the family home that he once hosed down to UNLV. It was moved onto the campus, and today it is the home of the Center for Social Justice, as well as a throwback to—and reminder of—older Las Vegas. The home was built in 1933, and the elder Houssels was on the board of the original land foundation that helped UNLV acquire its acreage.

J. Kell Houssels Jr. helped bring respectability to the gaming industry in which he and his father spent their lives. Its success in spreading across the country and around the world had something to do with their success as well— as does Las Vegas’ successes. 7 Michael Green is an associate professor of history at UNLV.

His legacy in gaming would’ve been secure if all he had done was bring the Folies Bergere to the Tropicana or support the Showboat becoming a center for bowling, just as that sport hit it big.

April 20 –26, 2017 vegasseven.com

33

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SPACES & PLACES

AFTER THE RAIN HOW ON E ENTERTAI N M ENT EXEC TURN ED PUDDLES I NTO ART

By Diana Edelman Photography Mike Snedegar

April 20 –26, 2017 vegasseven.com

35

SPACES & PLACES

P

hotographing puddles is nothing like working with major talent and influencers to bring them to Las Vegas. Just ask Mike Snedegar—he does both.

The entertainment marketing director for Tao Group spends his days (and nights) hanging out with influencers and celebrities and arranging their appearances at Tao venues around town. When he’s not doing that, he’s equipped with his camera (either a Canon 6D, Sony RX100 M II or his iPhone 7 plus) and chasing storms. Well, the aftermath of them.

Snedegar has had a lifelong interest in photography, but it wasn’t until 2010 that he began to really dive into the world behind the lens. In the wake of the Haiti earthquake, he joined Generosity Water and headed to the Caribbean country to raise awareness about the clean water crisis, camera in hand.

“I took a lot of images of Haiti and the aftermath and how [it was] rebuilding,” he explains, recalling the tent cities he visited and the peril in which Haitians were living after the destruction. “I took those photos and brought them back and raised money for Generosity Water.”

The entertainment executive’s world shifted after that experience.

“It was a turning point for me,” Snedegar says. “I started to get into photography more seriously.” Soon, he was spending his free time exploring Las Vegas, shooting Red Rock National Conservation Area and Valley of Fire State Park and taking “thousands and thousands” of photos.

One night, he was shooting in Downtown following a storm.

“I walked by a reflection of one of the signs in the water that had collected in the street.

I took a picture and I liked it,” he recalls. “I thought of it as a different way to see Vegas and Downtown.”

After that, he began going into different parts of town to search for puddles to shoot.

Soon, people took notice and started to request prints of his puddle photos, while his Instagram climbed to more than 30,000 followers. Now the exec is introducing his art to the world courtesy of his new website, mikesnedegarphoto.com, and he also has a Vegas-centric photography book in the works.

As for his favorite puddle photo? Having taken hundreds of watery city images, it’s hard for him to narrow it down. But he tries: “I have a few of El Cortez I love, and one of the High Roller at The Linq when the sun was setting.”

Follow Snedegar on Instagram: @mikesnedegar

36

April 20 –26, 2017 vegasseven.com

IT’S 4 P.M.

NEIL MOFFITT Says Goodbye In an exit interview, the former Hakkasan Group CEO discusses his departure and the company’s impending merger with hospitality giant SBE

By Melinda Sheckells Photography Andrew Sea James

on Saturday and Neil Moffitt is standing in his office high atop the Hakkasan Group’s headquarters in southwest Las Vegas. The afternoon light blasts through the panoramic windows forming pyramid-like shards of color on the superwhite bare walls. The Strip, with castles, skyscrapers and cartoonish architectural forms, extends far across the horizon in the distance.

It is the time of day known as the golden hour, when everything looks surreally beautiful thanks to the sheen from the setting sun—and, of course, from the gauzy veil of eternally churning dust.

This could be a scene from any regular day in the life of the top executive of a global hospitality company with more than 7,000 employees—except today is quite an extraordinary one for Moffitt. There are no phones ringing. The art that once adorned the walls is gone. The computer is disconnected. All that remains is a singular black frame encasing a flyer for a Godskitchen event from the early 2000s, a party he created before coming to Las Vegas.

These are the last moments of Moffitt’s tenure as CEO of Hakkasan Group and some of the final hours he will be spending in Las Vegas for the foreseeable future. In a day’s time it will be announced that he’s resigning from the position he has held for five years.

His motivation for leaving is purely personal and his tone is reflective, relieved and content.

“The last eight months have been extremely difficult for me. Last year was a big turning point. My dad called me up and said, ‘I’ve [got] 30 days to live, son.’ I was in the back garden of a villa in Saint-Tropez,” he says. “I am the guy from project housing [in] Coventry [in England]. I would love to tell you I was born with a billion dollars. We’re a very humble family.

And there I am in my big fancy villa thinking I’m a big shot. It was literally like I got whacked over the head with a hammer.”

Moffitt was soon faced with the fact that all of his connections, money and success couldn’t change the inevitable.

“I raced home and, typical me: I can fix it. I can find someone, I can do it, and we can do this. Let’s not give up. We got him on a [drug] trial—I called [in] all the favors in the world. But he still lasted [just] 30 days. The day I found out my father died was the day I found out that my wife was pregnant. I really thought long and hard about what the future held for me.”

CONVERSATIONS

Fast-forward nine months and Moffitt’s son Maverick is born to his wife Heidi, joining his two other children, 4-year-old Maxwell and 18-year-old Emily. It was this series of life-changing events that awakened a new spirit within the man who spent the last 14 years building a Las Vegas–based global nightlife/ daylife and dining empire. “It’s been a phenomenal roller coaster of commitment, passion, desire and sacrifice to get where the company is today, and I think my family bore the brunt of that.”

…

During his Las Vegas journey, Moffitt has learned many things and met many people. But it started with the offer of a ride on a private jet.

“In the early 2000s in Las Vegas, it was all about the Foundation Room at House of Blues on Monday.

[Michael] Fuller was on the decks and Derek Silberstein was a GM. That was the big one. There was Raw [at Luxor … and I was doing [events that tied to the festivals I created in Europe], Godskitchen and [also GlobalGathering]. It was my perfect excuse to come here. Just take three or four days and have a good time. “[During that time] an opportunity came up to be part of the TV show called The Club about Ice Nightclub.

I was in Los Angeles, and I had a call and they said, ‘Would you be interested in this TV show?’ I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ I thought it was a crazy idea. I was a festival promoter … not a club promoter. My ego was the size of a house. Someone said to me at the time, ‘Well, the guy will fly you in on a private jet.’ Wow, I’ve never been on one of them, sounds great. Welcome to Las Vegas. And he’s going to fly me in a private jet and put me up in a mansion.”

Moffitt ended up meeting with the owner of the distressed Ice Nightclub, calling in many of his DJ friends and ultimately flipping the switch on the venue. The plan afterward was to go back to Europe and carry on his festival business—until he met the late Craig Neilsen.

“I [started] doing consulting work for Craig Neilsen of Ameristar Casinos, a genius of a man who was willing to spend time with me. He was a quadriplegic, living in Canyon Gate Country Club. I learned a lot from him about leadership, and understanding that people’s opinions matter. I think that when you’re a quadriplegic and you very rarely get out, you have to listen to people’s opinions. He put everyone in a room and consulted

us on what we thought.”

It was Neilsen who awakened Moffitt to the changing tastes of the consumer. He saw that the next generation was not as interested in gaming, and there needed to be a new reason to attract them to his casinos. This was the era when The Light Group ruled Strip nightlife with Light Nightclub at Bellagio, but others were following suit—Tao opened and so did Wynn Las Vegas.

Moffitt’s eye was on the prize.

Armed with this knowledge, he began to build a team under the name Angel Management Group that first included Silberstein, Alida Roberts and Randy Davila, who suggested they start promoting a night at Tabu inside MGM Grand with hopes of sparking a relationship with casino executives.

“Now I’ve gone from being a festival guy, to running a club. Now I’m not running a club; I’m promoting Tabu. Come on,” he says.

Then it all fell into place 10 years ago with the opening of Wet Republic. “[Former president of MGM] Gamal Aziz designed it as basically an oversize Mo’orea in Tahiti—and then realized that American ladies don’t like to walk around with their boobs out. So what were they going to do?”

Moffitt says. “We took over the operation of the pool.”

Then came Studio 54, the eventual takeover of Pure Management’s venues and the partnership with Hakkasan Group to open Hakkasan Nightclub. This innovative concept put Moffitt at the helm of the fast-expanding company and in control of a global empire that would acquire the Strip’s other nightlife powerhouse, The Light Group, in 2014, among many other hospitality companies from coast to coast.

…

It was after a keynote speech last month at the Nightclub & Bar Show that Moffitt made the decision to step down as Hakkasan Group CEO. “I talked about the start of my self-employed business career, which is 1992 until today. And I remember when I finished the speech, I [thought] ‘it’s enough.’ And that really was the moment,” he says. “I left the stage empty. All the goals, all the ambitions, everything I’ve ever wanted, I’ve achieved and more. You have to be very honest with yourself at that point and say, ‘Where do I go from here?’”

Moffitt approached Hakkasan’s shareholders and everyone was supportive of his decision to liquidate his interest in the business. “At

midnight on April 13, I signed it,” he says. “I came in on Thursday, and it was my last day. I haven’t done the goodbyes because I can’t—it’s too emotionally difficult. I’ve got a press release going [out], and I’ve left it to the staff. I made a [personal and heartfelt] video.”

Just before Moffitt’s engagement at Nightclub & Bar, news of Hakkasan Group’s merger with fellow hospitality giant SBE was made public. He is quick to say this has nothing to do with his decision to leave.

“I’m a big proponent of the merger. I’m very proud that we’re putting these two companies together. If this is the last thing that I do for this company, it will be my greatest achievement,” he says. “Hakkasan has 60 venues across four continents with another 30 to welcome before 2020. SBE is a company with 25 hotels and 27 new hotels either under construction or in design. But it’s time for someone else; it’s time for a new group of people to take this

and former president and COO, and his successor, Hakkasan Group’s new CEO Nick McCabe.

“My expertise has been building this company from a team perspective, an executive perspective, the grassroots perspective and putting together the best possible group of people in hospitality,” Moffitt says.

“And if that’s my [professional] legacy, I’m happy with it. [Personally], I just want to be the best dad I can be while I’m alive. When I leave the earth, it’ll be with no money in my pockets and it’s not going to matter, is it? What’s going to matter is that my children are well-rounded and they’re ready to face the world without me. I am not currently interested in anything else. Family comes first.”

As Moffitt begins the next chapter, he is focused on a change of scenery that will take him to a new home in L.A., the fulfillment that will come with raising his young boys—“I want to drop them off to school, I want to pick them up”—and accompanying

“I love this city for many things. It’s been like a saint. It really took care of me, it’s developed me. It’s made me who I am today” company to the next level. They’re going to design hotel rooms, gyms, spas, restaurants, daylife, nightlife.”

In terms of insights into marrying the worlds of Hakkasan Group and SBE, he assures that the companies will grow in strength and that their flag will remain firmly planted in desert soil, while ascending to even bigger dreams.

“We wanted to do Hakkasan hotels; we were very close to doing it, but it’s a whole different infrastructure.

If you take what [SBE’s] got and what we’ve got and put it together, the sky’s the limit. The people who are going to head up that company have the passion and the determination to finish what they start. It’s everything a hospitality company wants in the world. The new merged entity is a legacy piece, and I’m very proud of it.

And importantly, I’m very proud of the people I’ve worked with.”

Moffitt name-checks many wellknown nightlife luminaries who influenced his time in Las Vegas, from the Ice Nightclub days to the present: Davila, Silberstein, Alex Cordova, Michael Fuller, Zee Zandi, Mike Snedegar, Gary Brooks, James Algate

his daughter as she gets ready to compete as an equestrian in the 2020 Olympics.

“I want to make sure I’ve worked as hard on my relationship with them and being a good dad as I did at building my business—that’s all that’s really left for me. I have no business goals, I have no monetary goals. I have one goal left in my life, and that is to be remembered as the best father.”

He also confidently says that he will never re-emerge on the Strip in a business capacity but Hakkasan may still see him again someday. “I might come back as a customer,” he notes with a laugh.

From flyer boy to glass collector to bar manager to festival promoter to CEO, Moffitt reflects that he owes it all to being a dreamer and Las Vegas, as the city that actualized the wildest of those dreams.

“I love this city for many things. It’s been like a saint. It really took care of me, it’s developed me. It’s made me who I am today,” he says. “For your dreams to come true, you’ve got to really be determined to not let anybody steal [them].” 7

April 20 –26, 2017 vegasseven.com

39

LUCKY NO. 7

CONVERSATIONS

We asked the WENDOH Media staff:

What does “being green” mean to you?

“Being green is attempting to leave as small a carbon footprint as my non-Prius driving, pseudo-recycling family of six-boxes-of-coconut-milk-aweek-devouring monsters can manage.” —Sim Salzman, chief financial officer “Showing up to vote.”

—Justin Weniger, the “Wen” in Wendoh Media “Being green is when you buy eight items at the store and you say, ‘no bag.’ Then you struggle to carry your candy, drinks and the one thing you actually went in there for. I gotcho back Earth!” —Adam Christopher Smith, production coordinator, Life Is Beautiful Festival “If you say ‘going green’ three times into a mirror, a Caucasian woman with dreads who reeks of patchouli, wears those weird toe shoes and carries a yoga mat will appear and hand you a glass of kombucha.” —Zoneil Mahraj, director of digital content “Kermit the Frog with an acoustic “Being green means skipping

guitar. Or one of those spacebabes with

the drive to lunch in Downtown

chartreuse skin and a chainmail bikini

and renting an RTC city bike

who was always coming on to Captain

instead.” — Lauren DelFrago,

Kirk on Star Trek.” —Lissa Townsend

manager, Life Is Beautiful Festival

Rodgers, editor at large

“It’s a term stamped on store tags so people can feel good about spending money there.”

—Shannon Miller, assistant editor

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YELLOW BRICK ROAD

Z-TRIP FRI, MAY 12 > POPTONE SAT, MAY 13 > B L U E O C T O B E R FRI, MAY 19 > SIX60 ROOTS OF CREATION / JOE MARCINEK BAND SAT, MAY 20 > TESTAMENT WITH SEPULTURA THU, MAY 25 > BEN HARPER + THE INNOCENT CRIMINALS FRI, MAY 26 > BOB SAGET SAT, MAY 27 > PINK TALKING FISH // A FUSION OF PINK FLOYD, THE TALKING HEADS + PHISH THU, JUN 1 > TREY SONGZ SAT, JUN 3 > M O D E S T M O U S E MON, JUN 5 > E A S Y S T A R A L L - S T A R S THU, JUN 8 > SOMO: THE ANSWERS TOUR WED, JUN 14 > PHOENIX WITH LEMON TWIGS FRI, JUN 16 > ZOSO - THE ULTIMATE LED ZEPPELIN EXPERIENCE SUN, JUN 18 > SISTER HAZEL TUE, JUN 20 > G A R Y C L A R K J R .

WED, JUN 21 > THE REVOLUTION - PRINCE S LEGENDARY BAND SAT, JUN 24 > T H E B L A C K S E E D S SUN, JUN 25 > S T R E E T L I G H T M A N I F E S T O FRI, JUL 7 > BRUCE HORNSBY + THE NOISEMAKERS SUN, AUG 6 > FLOW TRIBE + NEW BREED BRASS BAND TUE, AUG 29 > S I M P L E P L A N WED, SEP 6 > X - 4 0 T H A N N I V E R S A R Y T O U R FRI, MAY 5 >

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