Category Archives: food

Feel No Pain: Get Uncork’d in Las Vegas

For the next four days you can attend the largest foodie event ever held in Las Vegas, if not the Western world: Vegas Uncorked, sponsored by Bon Appetit.

The event officially kicks off at 4 p.m. today when French superchef Alain Ducasse performs the champagne uncorking with a saber at his Mix restaurant and lounge atop The Hotel at Mandalay Bay.

The festival takes place May 6-9, with the signature event being a “Grand Tasting” ($175) on May 7 at the Garden of the Gods in Caesars Palace.  That event will feature chef Hubert Keller serving.

Not everyone has the chance—or wherewithal—to dine at the restaurants of chefs such as Joël Robuchon, Guy Savoy, Bobby Flay or François Payard, but they all will be there (along with about 60 other celebrated chefs) displaying and offering up their delicious wares.

Among the events on May 8 are the Ultimate All-Star Interactive Luncheon ($195) at Encore; Culinary Theater: All the Kitchen’s a Stage ($95) at RM Seafood; and the Wine Immersion Experience ($75) at Bellagio.

The lineup of celebrated chefs who have Las Vegas restaurants includes Bobby Flay, Wolfgang Puck, Paul Bartolotta, Julian Serrano, Todd English, Luciano Pellegrini and Charlie Palmer.

Tickets are going fast; please go to www.vegasuncorked.com for further information.

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Harrah’s Entertainment Expands Rewards Program to Nongamblers

Each day in Las Vegas tens of thousands people spend oodles of money on nongaming activities.   Knowing this, Harrah’s Entertainment has recently come up with a new revenue enhancing idea- expanding their rewards programs to nongamblers. 

Customers signed up on the programs can now earn a reward point for every dollar spent in stores and restaurants at Harrah’s casinos.  Although the largest chunk of overall casino revenue is generated by gambling, that amount is falling as other segments, including rooms and drinks, is growing at warp speed.

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Project Dinner Table Launches in Las Vegas

There is no shortage of delicious, multi-course meals or acclaimed chefs to prepare them in Las Vegas, yet now a new dinner series is bringing something different to the table.

Project Dinner Table debuts April 24 and aims to showcase Las Vegas produced ingredients in a unique setting.  The inaugural meal invites discerning, community-minded diners to take one of about 150 seats at the table—yes, the table; there is only one but it’s very long—and enjoy a six-course meal at the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension’s Orchard in North Las Vegas.

The menu is prepared by Sensi chef de cuisine Roy Ellamar and includes a salad using Overton-based Quail Hollow Farms greens, grass-fed beef (from Bar 10 in northern Arizona) served with vegetables grown at the Las Vegas Gilcrease Orchard.

Part of the proceeds from the $150-a-plate meal will support Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada, and the venue and chef will change with every monthly installment of the series.

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Cheap Beer Buzz Comes to Las Vegas

Nothing beats sweltering 110-degree days in Las Vegas and chugging down cold suds.  7-Eleven is banking on it.  The third largest beer retailer is rolling out their store-brand beer at a budget price- but, they say, with a premium taste. 

The Game Day beer launch, happening this month at 7-Eleven stores nationwide, takes advantage of the current economic downturn, hoping a long, cold one is the elixir for sagging beer sales. 

Game Day beer follows the introduction of the Yosemite Road private-label wines in 7-Elevens last year. 

Game Day comes in two varieties. Game Day Light is 3.9 percent alcohol by volume and 110 calories per 12 ounces. Game Day Ice is 5.5 percent alcohol and 155 calories. The price is between $6.99 and $8.99 for a 12-pack, depending on local taxes and distribution costs, and 24-ounce singles are available for between $1.49 and $1.89. 

The beer is being made by the 150-year-old City Brewery in La Crosse, Wis., one of the country’s largest contract brewers.

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Las Vegans Relish Vegan Restuarants

It’s not easy finding really good vegan food hotspots in Las Vegas.  So, here’s seven good ones for your discerning vegan palate:

Rainbow’s End  This market and café is full of natural foods and has a wonderful vegetarian/vegan café. The most popular dish—for more than 30 years—is the Green Goddess pita sandwich ($7.49), which features avocado, cucumber, tomato, grated carrots and beets, onions, Vegenaise and cheese. There are some wickedly tasty desserts, too, including a sinful organic peanut-butter chocolate pie. Café open for breakfast and lunch 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. and noon to 5 p.m. Sat.; market open 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon.-Fri, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sat. and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun.; 1100 E. Sahara Ave., 702-737-1338.

Go Raw Café  Considered by many the only truly vegan kitchen in Las Vegas,  this restaurant lives up to its name by serving cuisine made of raw ingredients, such as the Gimme the Beet “Cheese” Burger ($10.88, with fries), which consists of beets, carrots, sunflower seeds and parsley served on living bread with handmade ketchup, mustard, mayo, onion, tomato, lettuce, sprouts, avocado and almond cheese. 2910 Lake East Dr., 9 a.m-9 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun., 702-254-5382, and 2381 E. Windmill Lane, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun., 702-450-9007.

Red Velvet Café  This Las Vegas vegan hot spot is known for its amazing food, stylish décor and friendly atmosphere. The extensive menu, featuring dishes such as spaghetti and meatballs vegan-style ($10.99), will satisfy the pickiest eater. 7875 W. Sahara Ave., 10:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 702-360-1972.

Samosa Factory Indian Cuisine  Samosa claims to serve the best vegan and vegetarian food in Las Vegas, and it certainly offers affordable food with great taste. See for yourself, with dishes such the Baigan Bharta, charbroiled eggplant with onions and tomato, or the Veggie Kofta Curry, which includes opo squash, chickpea flour and garlic. All of these dishes are served with basmati rice and cost $11. Lunch 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Mon.-Fri., dinner 5-9 p.m. Mon.-Thurs. and 5-10 p.m. Fri., noon-10 p.m. Sat.; 4604 W. Sahara Ave., 702-804-0293.

Paymon’s Mediterranean Café & Lounge  This is a vegan-friendly place, but you might call ahead to make arrangements for your meal. Try the lentil soup ($2.95 cup, $6.25 bowl) and the rich hummus for lunch. 4147 S. Maryland Parkway, 11 a.m.- 9 p.m. (lounge open to 1 a.m.), 702-731-6030; and 8380 W. Sahara Ave., 11 a.m. 1 a.m., 702-731-6030.

Panevino Ristorante & Gourmet Deli  This alluring restaurant is very vegan-friendly. They make a delicious wholewheat penne with vegan sauce ($22), and it even has homemade vegan desserts.  The catch? You will need to call at least 24 hours ahead of time to make arrangements for a vegan meal. That may be a pain, but the great part is being able to dine your way while enjoying the company of your non-vegan friends. 5-10 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 246 Via Antonio Ave., 702-222-2400. 

Whole Foods Market.  Yes, it’s a supermarket chain, but true vegans know the value of its offerings and convenience. Whole Foods not only offers a vast array of organic produce, but its deli has great variety for vegan meals, including a salad bar—making this an ideal place to get a quick bite and pick up the groceries. Four locations: www.wholefoodsmarket.com

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Tax Day Food Freebies

Restaurants step up to offer deals to make your day less taxing:

McDonald’s: Buy a quarter pounder or Big Mac, and get a second for 1 cent

Subway: Free cookie

Starbucks:  Free coffee with own mug

Taco Del Mar: Free taco with coupon www.tacodelmar.com

Dunkin’ Donuts:  Free donut with java

Jamba Juice:  Buy a drink, get one free Coupon for deal can be found here.

Boston Market:  Buy a meal, get one free

Cinnabon:  Two free cupcakes between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

PF Changs:  All orders 15 percent off

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$67 Million Memorial Day Weekend Party in Las Vegas

Lavish spending and, hopefully, getting a great return on the investment, is the whole idea behind the replacement of the porte cochere at Wynn’s Encore with Encore Beach Resort and Surrender nightclub in Las Vegas, including new outdoor seating for Switch restaurant as well. 

The changes, funded by Wynn Resorts Ltd., all kickoff starting on Memorial Day weekend.

The beach club features a 60,000-square-foot pool with 40-foot tall palm trees and three tiered pools.  Bungalows and cabanas are part of the chic design experience, along with a restaurant and poolside gaming tables.

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Company Kitchen & Pub Morphs into Las Vegas Lounge

Pure Management Group has announced its intention to convert Company Kitchen & Pub House at the Luxor in Las Vegas into Company Lounge, “a casual nightlife venue.” 

This is the second such change for the 11,000 square-foot venue, which opened in November 2007 as Company American Bistro. Originally helmed by Chef Adam Sobel (formerly of Restaurant Guy Savoy, currently executive chef of RM Seafood), the über-chic, ski lodge-inspired venue’s opening celebrity investor lineup included such Hollywood luminaries as Nick Lachey, Nicky Hilton and Wilmer Valderrama. Following Chef Sobel’s March 2008 departure—as well as that of Top Chef’s foam-of-famer Marcel Vigneron—Company briefly shut down to transform into the more approachable, American tapas iteration. 

A PMG representative reports that the Company Lounge schedule has cut back from the resto’s Wednesday through Sunday, 5 p.m.-late, to just “Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings.”

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Recipe Bandido Steals Away in Las Vegas

Rodd Wilbur isn’t your ordinary chef.  In fact, he’s not a chef at all.  But what he “relishes” – he prefers “cloning” – the secret recipes for popular dishes made by restuarant chains like McDonald’s, Applebee’s and KFC.  Then, to make some scratch, he writes books to show how you too can make the yummy stuff. 

Wilbur started with the Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookie theft, coming up with a recipe that was a variation on the Nestlé Tollhouse classic and tasted remarkably close to Debbie Fields’ moneymaker. Then he moved on to more savory exploits. For his second recipe, he reverse-engineered the Big Mac. That special sauce? It’s basically Thousand Island dressing! 

A former TV news reporter, Wilbur, a Summerlin, Nevada resident, now works full-time cloning recipes for his cookbooks, which are for sale on QVC and have been featured on Oprah and Live with Regis and Kelly. He’s really not a chef or an innovator; he’s a casual-dining cloner, and success means tasting just like the real thing. 

“I want it to be exact,” Wilbur says as he gets to work on recreating a batch of cous cous salad from the Houston’s chain of restaurants. “I don’t want to make it better; I don’t want to make it worse. I don’t want to make it less fat. I don’t want to do anything to it except exactly duplicate it.” 

So far, Wilbur has exactly duplicated enough recipes for nine cookbooks. His 10th, 17 recipes shy of completion, should be out in September. The book will be called Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3. “Alternate title: The Greatest Cookbook Ever Written,” Wilbur jokes. 

Since publishing his first cookbook in 1993, Wilbur has sold close to 5 million copies of his cookbooks, all of which tackle well-known recipes from fast food or casual dining chains and break them down for cooks to re-create at home. 

His 1,000th recipe — the one most requested by visitors to his website — was Olive Garden’s chicken and gnocchi soup, or as Wilbur describes it, “really good shit.” 

Flipping through the pages of his books is like looking at a greatest-hits menu from chain restaurants: Buffalo Wild Wings’ Caribbean jerk sauce, the Cheesecake Factory’s Bang-Bang Chicken and Shrimp, Chili’s lettuce wraps, KFC’s biscuits. 

And Wilbur has all kinds of tricks for figuring out what goes into the dishes that people crave. Sometimes he asks for a seat at the bar or near the kitchen, so he can watch how desserts or dishes are assembled. Other times he claims to be a strict vegetarian or vegan, so he can find out if a dish contains chicken broth or animal fat. When Oprah Winfrey challenged him to create the Jack Daniel’s grill glaze from TGIFriday’s before appearing on her show, Wilbur faked an allergy so the restaurant would give him a list of the ingredients. 

Wilbur just loves his role of playing recipe investigator, hunting for clues and then putting the recipe pieces together until he’s completed a culinary puzzle that tastes fresh off the line.

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Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas Announces New Restaurants, Celebrity Chefs

If Las Vegas isn’t already home to the finest restaurants and chefs in the world, now there’s more of ‘em! 

The restaurant lineup at the sleek new $3.9 billon Cosmopolitan hotel-casino of Las Vegas has been announced.  Four of the five have strong New York ties; the other will be operated by acclaimed Los Angeles chef David Myers of the restaurant Comme Ca. The others: Bruce and Eric Bromberg’s Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill,  Costas Spiliadis’ Estiatorio Milos, Scott Conant’s Scarpetta (Conant was previously attached to Fountainbleau), and Steakhouse STK.

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Las Vegans Toss Energy Drinks for Blissful Sipping

Do you find it hard to be clearly focused when hyped up on energy and caffeine drinks, all the while our zany world is spinning at Mach 1?  The uncontrollable jitters make it hard to accurately text on your cell phone while clubbing.   And, if nothing else, it’s just plain hard on your ol’ ticker. 

Rejoice!  Ex Drinks has come to the rescue.  Headquartered in Henderson, Nevada, the company now has a relaxing natural fruit drink called Chill. 

“The relaxer drink category is the latest and newest growing category,” says Deborah Behr, managing director of Ex Drinks. “We do have America’s first relaxer beverage. We were the first ones to bring it in the United States. The concept in it is exactly that: to have something to kick back and unwind; put your feet up.” 

Containing chamomile, valerian, lemon balm and vitamins, Chill comes without the artificial flavors, colors and other additives often found in energy drinks. 

You can pick up a can of the refreshing liquid relaxation at Albertson’s in the Las Vegas Valley or visit their Web site at www.exdrinks.com for more information.

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New Daytime Partying Comes to Las Vegas

To many, partying into the wee hours of the morning in Las Vegas is just part of the seductive intrigue.  But, why not opt for a change to your modus operandi and try an opulent brand of new daytime partying? 

The 9 Group, renowned for superb dining, nightlife and lifestyle experiences, presents a provocative and innovative new dayclub affair known as High Society at Nove Italiano in the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, premiering 1 p.m. Sunday, April 11.   

Creating a posh atmosphere filled with life’s little luxuries in the middle of the afternoon, High Society offers partygoers a place to mix and mingle among Las Vegas’ nobility while indulging in high-end libations, decadent brunch and vivacious entertainment.   

Upon entering, Nove Italiano will envelope guests in a complete sensory experience – from sophisticated interior decor, to aromatic food and thirst-quenching beverages, to the incomparable energy created by resident DJs Zen Freeman and Mark Stylz spinning on the turntables.  Atop the Palm’s sky-scraping 51st floor, Nove Italiano’s guests will indulge in some of the city’s most spectacular views, and enjoy ever-changing exuberant entertainment, including roaming live musicians and a live painter offering complimentary tableside guest portraits. 

The brunch menu at High Society combines rich tastes and traditional favorites at various stations including the salad, fresh fruits and fish stations, as well as a build your own frittatas station. Fare also includes warm items on the griddle or hot plate such as Italian sausage and pepper hash, crispy pancetta and chicken apple sausage, a variety of poached eggs served with crab cake, spinach and bearnaise sauce, pancetta, ciabatta, drizzled with a Hollandaise sauce or long cooked greens mixed with a fontina cheese and fonduta. Other warm items include a variety of pizzas and Panini sandwiches. Guests can pair brunch with $99 bottles of champagne and half bottles of spirits. 

High Society will start at 1 p.m. every Sunday at Nove Italiano. The buffet brunch is $30 per person. Guests must be 21 years of age or older to attend. Admission is free and table reservations are strongly recommended. For more information, VIP tables and bottle reservations, visit www.novelasvegas.com  or call 702-942-6800. 

Nove Italiano is open for dinner Monday through Thursday from 5:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 5:30 p.m. – 11 p.m.  For additional information, please visit www.novelasvegas.com or call 702-942-6800.

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Three-Day (!) Wine-O Festival Kicks Off in Las Vegas

The 36th annual UNLVino wine tasting extravaganza in Las Vegas  is back, starting on April 8, for an incredible three days of non-stop Champagne, sake and wine tasting action, and also to drum up some much appreciated funds for UNLV’s William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration’s Food and Beverage Management Department. 

To kick it off, UNLVino presents Bubble-Licious, a celebration of all things sparkling at Caesars’ brand new Garden of the Gods pool complex. 

Here are the three locations and times: 

Bubble-Licious: Thurs., April 8, The Garden of the Gods, Caesars Palace, 7-10 p.m. 

Sake Fever: Friday, April 9, Palms Pool & Bungalows, The Palms, 7-10 p.m. 

UNLVino Grand Tasting: Saturday, April 10, Bally’s Ballroom, 2-6 p.m. 

Tickets are available here.

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Las Vegas Chefs Battle for Best Chef of the Year honors at James Beard Awards

Three Las Vegas chefs are battling for the coveted title of Best Chef of the Year Southwest in the 2010 James Beard Awards, and several other Strip chefs are represented in the Oscars of the food industry, as well. 

The finalists were announced last week in New Orleans, and the winners will be announced May 3 at New York’s Lincoln Center. 

The three Best Chefs of the Southwest finalists are the off-Strip Saipan Chutima from Lotus of Siam, Claude Le Tohic from Joël Robuchon at MGM and Rick Moonen from RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay. 

Michael Mina from MGM, Mandalay Bay, Bellagio and Aria is recognized twice in the prestigious awards: His RN74 in San Francisco is nominated for Best New Restaurant, and his self-named restaurant, also in the City by the Bay, is nominated for Outstanding Service, competing against Robuchon’s restaurant at MGM Grand.

Robuchon’s MGM pastry chef Kamel Guechuda is up for the Outstanding Pastry Chef of the Year. 

Chef Tom Colicchio, well known to foodies here for his Craft at MGM and as host of Bravo’s Top Chef, is nominated as Outstanding Chef of the Year for his original Craft in Manhattan. 

Two other New York chefs with outposts in Las Vegas will also battle in the Outstanding Restaurant Award category: Mario Batali, who has restaurants at The Venetian and Palazzo, has been nominated for his Babbo in New York City and Daniel Boulud from the Wynn for his Daniel in Manhattan. 

Timothy Hollingsworth, former Venetian chef for Thomas Keller Brasserie and now at Thomas’ French Laundry in Yountville, Calif., has been nominated for Rising Star Chef of the Year. 

In other Las Vegas chef news, Todd English from Bellagio and Aria was nominated for Best TV Special for Food Trip With Todd English, as was The Venetian and Palazzo’s Emeril Lagasse who will go head-to-head with English in the TV category for Emeril’s Culinary Adventures: Napa

And architect and designer David Rockwell, who has masterminded numerous Las Vegas restaurants, Crystals at MGM’s CityCenter and the show Peepshow at Planet Hollywood, will be inducted into the Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America.

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Real Beer Floats – and more – in Las Vegas

Forget the root-beer– I mean, after all, when in Las Vegas party you should be partying with the big boys – or gals – right-o?  And that includes your beer! 

Combine your beer with dollops of real ice cream at the Yard House in Las Vegas ( Town Square, 6593 Las Vegas Blvd South) for a mere $7. 

Not an ice cream junkie?  Then take a play out of Yard House director of beverage Kip Snider’s playbook who likes to add Lindemans Framboise or Young Double Chocolate stout.

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Las Vegas Loses Celebrity Chef Restaurant Charlie

Las Vegas is once again losing one of its celebrity chef restaurants. Charlie Trotter has closed his two-year-old Restaurant Charlie in the Palazzo in Las Vegas. 

Trotter, who is a Chicago institution, won his first Michelin star at his seafood-centered Las Vegas restaurant. The sushi bar inside the restaurant, Bar Charlie, was selected as one of the nation’s best sushi spots by Bon Appetit last year. 

Alas, the finances just weren’t working out for the Las Vegas restaurant that gave a valiant performance.

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Off-Road Desert Racing comes to the Las Vegas Valley

Hundreds of racers are now busy preparing and testing their off-road race vehicles for the return of the 2010 SNORE/General Tire Mint 400, set to take place just 25 minutes North of Las Vegas on March 27, starting at 7 a.m.  

The Mint 400 is one of the top racing titles to win in off-road racing. 

The race course this year features the infamous Rock Garden, a treacherous section of course run over shale rock beds and small boulders, with ditches and “gotcha’s” strewn throughout. The last time the course ran through the Rock Garden was 23 years ago. 

The SNORE/General Tire Mint 400 will be at the Moapa Indian reservation at the Moapa Travel Plaza, Exit 75 (Valley of Fire Rd.) off of Interstate 15. Three special spectator areas have been set-up alongside the course in high-speed, action-packed areas for fans to view the race. The Moapa tribe will have shuttles running to these areas. There will be numerous food, beer and merchandise vendors set up at the Moapa Travel Plaza.
 
Over 250 entries are expected to enter the SNORE/General Tire Mint 400. 

 The race festivities start Wednesday, March 24 at 5 p.m. with a kick-off party at Hussong’s Cantina inside Mandalay Bay. Thursday March 25th , fans, racers and the Media are invited to be a part of the FanFest Meet & Greet on Fremont Street East (between Las Vegas Blvd and 8th St.) from 6 to 8 p.m. to meet the drivers, get their autographs, take pictures, and pick up some swag from the teams. At 8:30 p.m. on Thurs., March 25, General Tire will crown the 2010 Mint 400 Queen on the 1st Street Stage, located on Fremont Street and 1st Street, under the Fremont Street Experience. Friday, March 26 starting at 9 am and lasting throughout the day until 5:30 p.m., every race car entered in the race will parade down Fremont Street for Technical and Contingency inspection. The parade of race vehicles starts on 1st Street & Fremont Street, heads East under the Fremont Street Experience, crosses Las Vegas Blvd., and ends at 8th Street and Fremont. Saturday, March 27 at 7  a.m., race officials will drop the green flag once again for the start of the historic 25th Running of the 2010 SNORE General Tire Mint 400 off-road race. 

The historic race was started by Norm Johnson, former public relations director for the Del Webb Hotel, and was resurrected by the SNORE (Southern Nevada Off Road Enthusiasts) racing organization just three years ago. 

The 2010 SNORE/General Tire Mint 400 will be televised on the Versus network and set to air May 5, 2010.

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Willing to Trade Buttery Popcorn for a Granola Bar at the Movies?

The head of Sony Pictures said earlier this week that movie theaters should offer healthier snacks to help fight obesity and give audiences a broader range of food choices.

With the movie industry achieving record revenues last year, despite a record recession, Michael Lynton, chairman and chief executive officer for Sony, told theater owners at their annual ShoWest convention this week in Las Vegas that a survey by the studio at 26 theaters nationwide found that two-thirds of movie-goers said they would be likely to buy healthy concessions if available. 

The survey found that 60 percent of parents thought that healthier concessions would enhance the moviegoing experience and that 42 percent of parents would buy concessions at theaters more often if healthier choices were offered, Lynton said. 

“I don’t mean close the window for popcorn, soda and candy. Audiences love them and should always be able to buy them at your theaters,” Lynton said in the keynote address as the four-day movie convention opened. 

“I can almost imagine the Romans eating popcorn and drinking Coke at the Coliseum 2,000 years ago. Or the Greeks munching on Sno-Caps at the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens,” said Lynton. 

But “by bringing healthier snacks into your concession stands, you would be helping our country meet an urgent public health need,” Lynton said. 

According to Lynton, healthier food selections suggested by those surveyed include fruit cups, vegetables with dip, yogurt, granola bars, baked chips and unbuttered, air-popped popcorn. 

Lynton said the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, launched by former President Bill Clinton and the American Heart Association to fight childhood obesity, has offered to help advise theaters on healthier concession items.

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St. Patrick’s Day Overflows in Las Vegas

Las Vegas celebrates most holidays with room rate specials and bonus points on players cards.  But St. Patrick’s goes beyond neon, music and fabulous food. 

Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo at Planet Hollywood will be serving up Chocolate Irish Mochas and “Greena colada’s” along with $5 pints of green draft or Guinness.  Wear a kilt and find out what other specials there are beside green tortillas burritos and quesadillas. 

Another Planet Hollywood locale, Blondies Sports Bar and Grill, is offering a one of a kind event – the Glow Green party.  Wear white – and be sure it’s something you don’t mind getting marked.  You’ll have to fork over $20 for cover, but you’ll enjoy all you can drink draft.  Once you’ve tossed back a few, you can put your drunk drawing skills to work when the black lights go on and the highlighters come out. 

If it’s a true Irish moment you’re really wanting to have, stop by Fado’s Irish Pub on Eastern starting at 8 a.m. with Kegs and Eggs followed by music by Finnegan’s Wake at noon.  The party goes on with more musical groups and, of course, a wonderful selection of Guinness, Harp and fine Irish whiskey. 

But for some of us, one day to celebrate St. Patty’s just isn’t enough.  Not nearly.  So why not join the four-day block party at O’Sheas on the Strip?  There promises to be beer pong with Peepshow starlet Holly Madison, music by DJ Irish and later by the Sin City Sinners and $1 Irish Car Bombs and $4 Guinness on tap.    The party goes on until midnight March 20 with Blarney rock-bottom drink specials and events every day.

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Las Vegas Sweeps Nightclub & Bar Awards

The Oscar’s are reserved for the Hollywood film elite. But the nightclub and bar industry has their own brand of national awards annually in Las Vegas. 

This year, Steve Wynn’s XS nightclub at the Encore in Las Vegas was the big winner that swept all seven nightclub categories at last week’s 2010 Nightclub & Bar Awards at the industry convention at the Las Vegas Convention Center. 

XS won Mega-Club of the Year and New Club of the Year honors.  Tao, at the Venetian, won Nightclub of the Year. 

Much-decorated DJ Paul Oakenfold, who joined Rain nightclub at the Palms Hotel & Casino last year, won Resident DJ of the Year honors. The Palms also won Single Promotion of the Year for Midsummer Night’s Dream. 

The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas also took home the Ongoing Promotion of the Year. 

Finally, Blush Boutique Lounge, located inside Wynn Las Vegas, gave Wynn properties three awards including the prestigious win for Lounge of the Year.

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Artery-Clogging ‘Retro’ Bacon Sizzles Everywhere in Las Vegas

If you think bacon is merely a breakfast food in Las Vegas, think again.  The traditional artery-clogging breakfast compliment to eggs is being transformed into an anytime food. 

In Las Vegas, you can find milk and dark chocolate bacon bars, bacon chocolate-chip pancake mix, bacon-caramel toffee, a BLT made with a pound of bacon (the NASCAR Cafe) and, to wash it all down, a bacon martini (at the notorious watch-where-you-walk Double Down Saloon). 

But all this is just a starting appetizer for the popular piggy food… 

For example, at Retro Bakery at 7785 N. Durango Drive, bacon isn’t nutty, it’s maple-y — in the form of a maple-bacon cupcake. Owner Kari Haskell said the bacon craze inspired her to create the cupcake about a year ago; it has been on Retro’s daily menu for about six months. 

“I always had a blueberry-pancake cupcake,” she said. “I knew if I could take out the blueberry and add the bacon, I’d get a totally different sweet/salty experience. Think pancakes and bacon.” 

The cupcake is one of her top five sellers, Haskell said. “It’s either totally loved or totally hated,” she said. “It usually takes me giving one away to make people believers. And then they come back and buy six.” 

The Cupcakery, which has stores at 9680 S. Eastern Ave. and 7175 W. Lake Mead Blvd. in Las Vegas, has a cupcake called Trip to Graceland, made with chunky peanut-butter cake with banana-cream frosting, rolled in bacon and drizzled with honey. 

At Vosges Haut-Chocolat at the Forum Shops at Caesars, store manager Hayley Evans said some people have credited company owner Katrina Markoff with starting the craze with her milk-chocolate bar studded with bacon bits. The company has since added a dark-chocolate version, bacon mini-bars, bacon-caramel toffee and bacon-chocolate-chip pancake mix, plus a bacon truffle that’s available as part of a chocolate truffle collection. 

“They’re the top-selling products of our whole entire company” and also sold through retailers such as Neiman Marcus and Whole Foods Market, Evans said of the bacon products. “Every week they’re the top sellers.” 

The store also expects, in April, a new bacon-caramel-toffee ice cream and a bacon-caramel-toffee cookie, Evans said. 

All of which would be music to the ears of members of the Bacon Club at Advanced Technologies Academy. Yes, Bacon Club, which started in November last year with 104 members, according to Mike MacDougall, one of the founding members. 

“It was actually our history teacher who inspired it,” said club President Chad Palmer. Palmer and his friends wanted to start a club, but needed a focus. As they sat in history class one day, teacher Robert Henderson said, “out of nowhere, ‘Thank God for the man who invented bacon,’ ” Palmer remembers. And a club was born. 

“I think it’s cool, actually, that a food item can become so popular,” Palmer said. “There’s so many different things people can do with bacon.” 

At meetings, Palmer talks about bacon, and they hand out bacon and bacon-related foods, maybe get a coupon for a free Baconator from Wendy’s. 

Go online and the celebration of all things bacon really explodes in popularity. Several Web sites devoted to bacon (including www.BaconToday.com  and www.BaconUnwrapped.com ) and things that can be done with it, such as the Bacon Explosion, a woven mat of bacon strips enclosing a log of Italian sausage with a core of crumbled bacon (at www.bbqaddicts.com , which has both the free recipe and pre-made Explosions for sale), or Bacon Cups (at www.NotMartha.org ), which the creator says are ideal for filling with lettuce and tomato for a sort of breadless BLT.

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Top 10 Best Steak Joints in Las Vegas

Have you ever had a porterhouse aged for 260 days?  If you’re willing to put up the platinum to cover the costs, the Carnevino at the Palazzo in Las Vegas is willing to serve up the meal and in addition to the steak you’ll have Iron Chef Mario Batali’s pasta and access to one of the greatest Italian wine lists on the West Coast. 

Or maybe you’re more in the mood for skirt steak from Top Chef Tom Colicchio’s Craftsteak at the MGM Grand served with vegetables from the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market.  

But all the best places in town don’t come with a celebrity chef and television spotlight.  Nero’s at Caesars, formerly the Spanish Steps, offers Black Angus beef from Creekstone Farms and executive chef Eric Damidot prepares what could be the perfect Bearnaise sauce. 

Here are the top 10 steak joints in Las Vegas: 

1.  MOLTO MARIO’S ITALIAN STEAKHOUSE  The best steak in town? The answer is simple. If you’re a connoisseur of aged beef, order one of the 6-to-8-month-old, dry-aged beauties from Molto Mario’s Italian steakhouse in The Palazzo. At the Palazzo Las Vegas, 3325 Las Vegas Blvd. South, 702-789-4141. 

2.  CUT is all about variety in a lineup of carnivorous delights. For a price, it will put before you three cuts of the best steaks in the world: A-5 true Kobe (Wagyu) beef from the Kagashima Prefecture in Japan; prime, hormone-free, corn-fed sirloin from Nebraska; and 35-day dry-aged beef from Illinois. Those steaks are presented in raw form first, perfectly trimmed, and ready to tempt you off that low-cholesterol diet you’ve been struggling with. At the Palazzo Las Vegas, 3325 Las Vegas Blvd. South, 702-607-6300. 

3.  CRAFTSTEAK The trouble with ranking Craftsteak in any steakhouse competition is you could eat here forever and never think about ordering a piece of beef. The vegetables (many trucked in from the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market) are some of the most pristine anywhere, and chef Matt Seeber has a fine way with fish as well — making this a steakhouse even vegetarians can love. At the MGM Grand, 3799 Las Vegas Blvd. South, 702-891-7318. 

4.  DELMONICO Along with Prime in the Bellagio, Emeril Lagasse’s bastion of beef in the Venetian was among the first of our great meat emporiums. As with Carnevino, all of this top-shelf beef (and Cajun specialties like killer crab cakes and N’Awlins gumbo) are available at lunch. Sometimes the Bam Man can go overboard with his caloric creations, but there’s no denying the perfection of his dry-aged rib eye, matched with one of super-sommelier Kevin Vogt’s wines from the Wine Spectator Grand Award list. Caesar salad lovers should note this one is made tableside (the way it should be), and is one of the best versions around. At the Venetian, 3355 Las Vegas Blvd. South, 702-414-3737. 

5.  STRIPSTEAK  If butter basting is your thing, then Michael Mina has got the cut for you. The conceit here is to sous-vide (vacuum poach) the meat at a low temperature before finishing the cuts over a wood-burning grill. This results in a rib eye or porterhouse that is as tender as these cuts can get.  At Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South, 702-632-7414. 

6.  PRIME The guy whose name is on the door — Jean-Georges Vongerichten — comes to Vegas about as often as I go to a monster truck rally, but this place has bred some serious talent over the years — including molecular wizard Wylie Dufresne and Kerry Simon. Rob Moore (now at Jean-Georges Steakhouse in Aria) has supervised the stoves over the past five years and even with his departure, you can be assured this place will rarely miss a beat. It may be the most expensive steakhouse in town, but it is also the most beautiful, and the six-peppercorn-encrusted strip steak (and the short ribs and the veal chop), along with outstanding side dishes, keeps Prime in the pantheon of perfection. At Bellagio, 3600 Las Vegas Blvd. South, 702-693-7223. 

7.  NERO’S  Once called the Spanish Steps, a steakhouse has been located on this corner of the sprawling Caesars casino as long as we can remember. Now called Nero’s, it serves some of the best dry-aged steaks in town. The Black Angus beef comes from Creekstone Farms — one of the top purveyors of hormone and antibiotic-free beef in the country — and are better by far than the steaks in better-known places. The New York strip competes with the best in town, but we love the chateaubriand, served with a nice vegetable assortment and a perfect Béarnaise sauce that is so good, you know there’s a Frenchman — in this case corporate executive chef Eric Damidot — behind things in the kitchen. At Caesars Palace, 3570 Las Vegas Blvd. South, 702-731-7731. 

8. SW STEAKHOUSE The room has never been one of our favorites — huge, open and with all the charm of a bus station inside the Wynn — but there’s no denying the succulence of the steaks, or of chef David Walzog’s tasty sides. That big open space and stupid, intrusive Lake of Dreams light show does nothing to deter the crowds though, which show up every night for dinner. Before coming to Las Vegas, Walzog made his name at Strip House in New York, where he perfected his potatoes rosti, signature creamed spinach, truffled creamed corn and lots of other things to make your heart beat faster. At Wynn Las Vegas, 3131 Las Vegas Blvd. South, 702-248-3463. 

9. N9NE Military-jet afterburner decibel levels and wall-to-wall poseurs do nothing to deter the throngs who pack this place nightly in hopes of spotting an Ashton here or a Gaga there. The food is secondary to the scene, but doesn’t have to be. The Kobe burger is top drawer, and the kitchen is justifiably proud of the crab-stuffed ‘shrooms, fried rock shrimp, colossal lump crab cake and braised beef ravioli with melted root vegetables. We also love the super-charred steaks (grilled at 1,200 degrees) and could spend all night sitting at the bar watching hotties do their celebrity-spotting in between bites of our sirloin. At the Palms, 4321 W. Flamingo Road, 702-942-7777. 

10.  THE STEAKHOUSE AT CIRCUS CIRCUS  Another forerunner of our plethora of prime rates a wave for longevity (24 years), dry-aging its beef on premises, and for cooking the steaks just right over super-hot mesquite charcoal. Its biggest drawback is that you have to walk through the seedy, low-rent, no-tell-motel smells of the Circus Circus to get to it. Once inside, all of that will be forgotten as you tuck into a superior steak, in clubby, masculine surroundings, for 10 bucks less than the same piece of meat costs in swankier digs. At Circus Circus, 2880 Las Vegas Blvd. South, 702-794-3767.

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Asian Festival & Tradeshow in Las Vegas on March 5

This huge Asian cultural event takes place in Las Vegas on Friday, March 5, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., to promote and celebrate the rich Asia Pacific Culture through entertainment and activities including a fashion show, Asian talent showcase, cultural performances, and live concerts by local and international talents, community recognition awards, and more. 

Hungry?  Eighteen food vendors will be on hand representing the authentic cuisine of the Asia Pacific will be serving mouth watering dishes to the crowd. 

AFT is an event that gives manufacturers, distributors and retailers a chance to meet and network with the consumers and attendees to promote and sell their products and services. 

The event is in Las Vegas at Town Square, 6605 Las Vegas Boulevard South.

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College in Nevada Offers First Dining Card

The College of Southern Nevada has launched its first Dine About Card to raise much needed funds for student scholarships and educational programs.

The $20 card is sponsored by Metro PCS and provides cardholders with exclusive monthly dining offers and discounts at a host of Las Vegas restaurants, ranging from fast food to primo gourmet dining. 

A sampling of participating restaurants include Hash House A Go Go, Pizza Hut, Panda Express, Sonic, Ricardo’s, La Scala Ristorante and Jamm’s.  A full list of restaurants is included with the card at the time of purchase.

The dining card is good through Dec. 31 and includes offers such as free appetizers, free desserts, two-for-one entrees or special pricing on specific menu items.

The card can be purchased at www.csnfoundation.net or by calling 702-651-5947.

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Celebrate National Pig Day in Las Vegas

The ‘lil deceased oinkers are finally having their long overdue special day in Las Vegas.   To celebrate, you’re invited to attend any of Famous Dave’s locations in Las Vegas and enjoy all the delightful squeals of National Pig Day on Monday, March 1.  For showing your concern, you’ll receive a free lunch-size pork sandwich for anyone who comes in wearing pink.

Each location will also will be holding a contest where the general manager will pick the best pig costume from 5 to 6 p.m., and the winner will receive a $100 Famous Dave’s gift card for having to go through the dress indignities.

Locations in the Las Vegas Valley are 1951 N. Rainbow Blvd. (702-646-5631), 4390 Blue Diamond Road (702-633-7427), 9695 W. Flamingo Road (702-871-5631), and 2630 E. Craig Road in North Las Vegas (702-399-8000).

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NASCAR in Las Vegas Will Exceed Super Bowl Fan Draw

The many NASCAR driver meet-and-greet events and deafening varooms befitting plenty of exciting dirt track racing action all started yesterday in Las Vegas.  By the time the marquee Sprint Cup Shelby American on Sunday is over, an estimated 300,000 people will have experienced the roar of racing in their ears and smell of gasoline enticing their nostrils.   That’s four times the attendance at the Super Bowl, according to Chris Powell, president of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. 

For the Sprint Cup race alone – the biggest event of the weekend – in 2009 about 140,000 spectators saw the race.  That’s down from about 152,000 in 2008 and the record attendance of 156,000 in 2007. 

Regardless of the ending attendance figure this year, the significant question is if those people can translate into record spending.  Most Las Vegans are hoping and praying it does, giving their languishing economy a much needed economic bump. 

Out-of-towners hold the key trump card to this weekend’s economic prosperity, comprising 70 percent of the race crowd invading Las Vegas. 

Attempting to lure more tourists to the track than prior years, race ticket prices at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway have been greatly reduced this year. With more people attending, hopefully, that will translate into more ancilliary spending on goods and services. 

Las Vegas hotels will undoubtedly be the major economic beneficiaries. The recessionary price levels of hotel rooms that have plagued Las Vegas for the past year have virtually disappeared, albeit temporarily. The Riviera, mirroring what most Las Vegas hotels are doing, is jacking their weekend’s room rates to a whopping $224 per night.  But next weekend the Riviera will zoom back down to their customary $79 level. 

Budget hotel are also raising their rates, as well the higher priced Strip hotels, such as Harrah’s that is sold out all weekend, and Wynn Las Vegas and the Hard Rock Hotel, both sold out on Saturday. 

VEGAS.com reports their Web site’s hotel room sales are up 30 percent. 

Rolling up the total revenue picture, excluding gambling revenue, the associated revenues from last year’s NASCAR weekend raked in $107 million, according to the Las Vegas convention and Visitors Authority. 

But that doesn’t come close to 2008 revenue, when the haul was $134 million. Most don’t think this year will equal that level. However, should the heavy rain that is anticipated to blanket Las Vegas intermittently on Saturday postpone Saturday’s Sam’s Town 300 race and cause the race to move to Monday, that might be just the silver lining needed to help close the revenue gap, keeping race fans in Las Vegas and extra day or two, perhaps aided in no small part by the dangling carrot of being able to see heartthrob racer Danica Patrick strut her stuff. 

Will this year’s racing events add up to yielding the top revenue producing weekend in Las Vegas?

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Free Food for Starving Las Vegas Residents that Pay Their Rent on Time

It’s seen prominently throughout Siegel Suites’ advertising in Las Vegas: “Live Here. Eat Free.” The free-food concept is simple. Daily food vouchers for a meal at the Golden Grill at downtown’s Gold Spike—which Siegel Suites owns—are given to tenants who pay their rent on time. Stay a week and it’s five vouchers; two weeks, 10.

Siegel Suites has 16 Las Vegas locations and gives away a whopping 15,000 free food vouchers a month. 

The program will also soon expand to the Barcelona hotel-casino, one of Siegel’s recent acquisitions, when that site’s restaurant is remodeled later this year.

As altruistic as free food may sound, it’s still a solid marketing tactic. Siegel Suites residents are introduced to a Siegel gaming property via the token hot dog or grilled cheese sandwich plate. Of course, giving away food and drink to lure in gamblers is as Vegas as neon. And it’s just one of many ideas that owner Stephen Siegel likely has for putting bodies in front of slots at the Gold Spike.

Siegel and his investors have put some serious cash into the Gold Spike, about $5 million and counting. It’s an effort that seems to have gone beyond a labor of love to more of a labor of, well, labor. Underneath every decayed layer peeled back at the old property, Siegel admits, lies another layer that could eat up more time and money.

The trials of renovating an old property have pushed back the project’s completion about six months, to the first quarter of this year.

The Golden Grill has been updated with a modern-diner look. The menu is standard American-grill fare: burgers, wraps and a $4.99 prime rib. But the Siegel Suites vouchers are tied to a limited menu tucked between salt and pepper shakers and sugar packets. The menu has a single offering for each day. Items tend to be less exciting—chicken fingers, BLTs and hot dogs to grilled cheese sandwiches and spaghetti with marinara—but still perhaps worth the price of a bus fare.

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Death by Chocolate in Las Vegas

Willy Wonka has nothing over Max Brenner, or should we say Oded Brenner, right, the real Max Brenner.

Brenner, the epitome of the consummate professional sweet tooth, whips up a cavity-inducing array of pure chocolate decadence including such entrees as chocolate pizza, chocolate quesadillas, chocolate s’mores and, if that is not enough to smash competition, their utterly chocolate extravagance called The Sticky Caramel Chocolate Concoction. 

The Israeli-based premiere chocolate-to-die-for chain of Max Brenner stores, owned by the Strauss Group, now has worldwide domination squarely in their sights, planning to open this summer an enormous branch store in the Forum Shops in the Caesars Palace mall in Las Vegas, facing the H&M flagship store. 

The chocolate bar alone will spread over two floors and 9,310 square feet including more than 200 seats and a bar with 12 stools and bar tables. The Las Vegas branch will also offer a chocolate shop and a room for private parties of events of up to 45 people. 

Another Max Brenner branch is also expected to open soon in Boston, in the Restaurant Row area. It will spread over one floor measuring 5,844 square feet in size and will include about 150 seats as well as a full-service bar with stools, a chocolate shop and, yes, even a chocolate restaurant. 

According to Giora Bar-Dea, CEO of Strauss-North America:  “This year we began implementing our strategy to build Max Brenner as an international brand.  The opening of new branches in central Las Vegas and in Boston is aimed at introducing the brand in the West Coast of the United States and strengthening our international exposure, with the goal of opening additional branches in the continent.” 

About $5.35 million was invested to open both branch stores. 

The new branches will join the chain’s 30 branches worldwide: two in Manhattan, 18 in Australia, two in the Philippines, two in Singapore, and six in Isreael, the company’s headquarters, which houses 15 staff people, led by founder Oded Brenner. 

The Max Brenner chain was established in 1995 by Oded Brenner and Max Fichtman, and is now owned by the Strauss Group after it was acquired by Elite in 2001. The chain’s global sales turnover is $32 million annually.

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Down Goes Hawaiian Tropic Zone in Las Vegas

The Hawaiian Tropic Zone, located inside the Miracle Mile Shops in Las Vegas, known for its great drinks, wild parties and innovative promotions, has succumbed to bad economic times. 

Sadly, the restaurant, bar and lounge will close in the wee hours this Sunday morning.   No news forthcoming on exactly what will fill the physical void or when.

The Hawaiian Tropic Zone in Las Vegas opened its doors in January 2008.

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Eva Langoria Parker to be honored for Latin Chamber of Commerce Business Leadership Award in Las Vegas

Eva Longoria Parker, entrepreneur and owner of two new, successful CityCenter ventures, Beso steakhouse and Eve nightclub, will host the Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce 35th Installation Gala on Saturday, Feb. 20 at Eve in Crystals at CityCenter in Las Vegas.  Red carpet starts at 6 p.m. for media. 

Part of the official swearing-in ceremony of the 2010 Board of Directors. Luis Valera, Chairman of the Board, will share his vision for 2010 and present Longoria Parker with the first-ever “Premio de Oro – Distinguished Leadership” award. The award recognizes Longoria Parker for her success as the Las Vegas Strip’s sole Latina restaurant and nightclub owner and for her commitment to expand opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses. 

In addition, the City of Las Vegas and Clark Country will declare February 20 as “Eva Longoria Parker Day.” 

Following the proclamation ceremony starting at 6:45 p.m. and award presentation at 7:45 p.m. for media, Longoria Parker will host an after-party celebration at Eve nightclub. Eve event is open to the public.

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Las Vegas Foodies Offered 50 Percent Discount

One of the focus areas of Las Vegas Backstage Access is fine dining, so it’s a big deal when supermarket food can be purchased at a 50 percent saving– that leaves more money in the budget for dining out at lots of cool Las Vegas restaurants! 

Today, Friday, from 7 p.m. to midnight at the Star Theater in the Greek Isles Hotel, 305 Convention Center Drive a launch party is being held for the Las Vegas Food Co-op, operated by The Verve Foundation, where multiple vendors offer a monthly menu of food items at a tremendous value.  There are no membership fees or monetary qualification to join.

The free kickoff party features The Sturdy Band, Imagine Dragons and A Crowd of Small Adventures.  A cash bar and menu is available. 

Food can be ordered online at www.thevervefoundation.org with credit cards.  Or, to pay with cash or food stamps, people may call the foundation office at 702-425-3951. 

Food orders placed can be picked up the last Saturday of each month at the foundation’s Las Vegas warehouse, 7850 Dean Martin Drive, Sutie 503.

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Harrah’s Entertainment in Las Vegas Going… Retail

Harrah’s Entertainment is reportedly seeking a building permit for a three-story, 72,000-square-foot Strip-front build-out on the southwest corner of Paris Las Vegas. That space, which now has a fountain and an outdoor dining area, would get a retail store, new restaurants and a nightclub.

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Ready, set, GO to Denny’s for FREE Grand Slam tomorrow!

Denny’s is doing it again.  They’re offering their FREE Original Grand Slam®, Tuesday, Feb. 9, from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. everywhere.  (And don’t forget to visit Denny’s for a Free Original Grand Slam® on your birthday.)

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Las Vegas’ New Art Junkie Mecca?

Believe it or not, Las Vegas does have a Downtown Arts District.  Yesiree, and, not only that, but they are offering up a second showing of cultural artsy-fartsy festivities with the inauguration of Third Friday this Friday, Jan. 15, starting around 6 p.m., running until approximately midnight. 

Following the footsteps of the economically challenged First Friday, now Las Vegans have the added opportunity to browse art galleries, enjoy the bands and mingle amongst fellow art fanatics twice a month — doubling the pleasure and doubling the fun- if not immediate income to producers. 

Taking place on the same Las Vegas streets and benefiting the same cause, Third Friday may be similar to First Friday in many ways, but it’s projected to vary slightly. 

While Cindy Funkhouse, of the Funk House and Fallout galleries, runs the beginning of the month installment, Cion Noble of the Box Office gallery and venue is coordinating this middle-of-the-month run. 

Hans Cewe , one of the owners of the Gypsy Den — a vintage boutique and art gallery which also triples as a music venue — is happy to see the rise of another event to bring people Downtown Las Vegas, hoping thing will expand from there. 

The Gypsy Den, also run by Cewe’s daughter Katie, will be offering up it’s stage to local bands for the night, with the lineup so far including local acts Vitamin Overdose, Close to Modern and The Marquees. 

Third Friday’s main focus is not merely on the patrons it brings Downtown, but also on the various artists involved. 

“It’s basically going to be a networking opportunity for creative people,” says Noble. “The theme is to network… I don’t anticipate vendors and crafts in the first couple of months — I’d like to see it grow into something that’s similar to First Friday eventually.” 

The mix of “creative people” so far set to ring in Third Friday’s opening night at the Box Office includes Cameron Grant, rock and blues bands Black Cherry Blue, Flux and JD Vittles, as well as a comedy improv and musical open mic event hosted by LV Freeze. 

In keeping with the idea of supporting Las Vegas arts, Funkhouse isn’t viewing the second installment as a threat. Instead she’s offering her support, “merely as a participant,” and opening her galleries’ doors — although she says the art on the walls will be the same as what’s viewed the first weekend of the month. “It’s not practical to change our show out every two weeks, that’d be too much work,” explains Funkhouse. 

If Third Friday catches on, perhaps the struggling downtown Las Vegas can look forward to a more regular crowd. Who knows, maybe a little more culture in our Sin City lives, with good eats, is a good thing.

Here’s a map of area, showing central Box Office.

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Guy Fieri’s ‘Roadshow’ Rocks into Las Vegas Today

It must be the pits constantly traveling around the country, especially at the holidays.  But for the Food Network Star (“Diners, Drive-In’s and Dives”) at least it’s old home week in Las Vegas today.   High-energy spiky-haired chef/restaurateur/author and TV personality Guy Fieri, a UNLV alum that loves the university, will be bringing his 16-person road crew and their $150,000 stage/demo kitchen to put on his audience participation rock ‘n’ roll style “Guy Fieri Roadshow” to the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas at 8 p.m. today. 

Los Angeles-based DJ Cobra will spin all the punk, rock and metal music. 

The tour kicked off in Lowell, Mass., on Nov. 17 and by the time today’s Las Vegas date wraps, it will have hit 21 cities in 30 days. 

At each stop of the tour, Fieri teams up with local chefs and culinary students to celebrate the alluring combination of food, drink and fun.  In Las Vegas, his opening act will be executive chef John Gremo of UNLV’s hotel college, who was a colleague of Fieri’s during their student days at the university. 

For his segment of the show, Gremo will prepare pan-seared Nantucket diver scallops served on wild mushroom and fennel ragu, topped with truffle oil, roasted red pepper, roasted tomato capers and a tomato tapenade and covered with wild greens and assorted micro greens.   Hungry yet? 

Accompanying Gremo will be some his culinary students, UNLV mascot Hey Reb and a few UNLV cheerleaders.  

Assisting at the show will be students in the ProStart culinary programs at Silverado High School in Las Vegas and Carson High School in Carson City, California.  The students will prep food ingredients before the show, and help out behind the scenes during it. 

Tickets are from $35 to $150.  For more information, please call 702-632-7600.

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Go Ahead, Splurge on a $750 Cupcake in Las Vegas

Forget about having a dinner fit for king- how about just ‘settling’ on a $750 cupcake in Las Vegas? 

The Sweet Surrender cupcake and candy store opened today in The Palazzo in Las Vegas.  It brings together remarkable pastry chefs and the finest ingredients to create irresistibly indulgent treats. Cupcakes, cookies, lollipops, toffee, licorice, hard candies and dipped treats, are just some of their many indulgent treats to satisfy any discerning sweet-tooth. 

The shop’s variety is wide and sweet-tooth satisfaction endless with the crème de la crème of Sweet Surrenders offerings being only for the most passionate cupcake lover: the $750 Decadence D’Or.  It’s a sumptuous cupcake, handcrafted from the most exclusive, rich, and enterprising ingredients around the globe.  One luscious ingredient is the Palmira Single Estate Chocolate derived from the rare and fragile Porcelana Criollo bean and cultivated to its fullest state of richness exclusively at the Valrhona plantation in Venezuela.  Complementary to the Palmira Single Estate Chocolate is Tahitian Gold Vanilla Caviar- the world’s most labor-intensive agricultural crop.  This fruit, after it is ripened for nine months, then hand-harvested, cured, sweat, dried, and hand-split, is obtained only by tedious manual extraction; it is truly a delicacy, both in taste and exclusivity. Topping the Decadence D’Or is the masterfully smooth Louis XIII de Remy Martin Cognac, 100 years in the making, and edible, metallic gold flakes, each painstakingly hand-placed.  Finally, once baked to perfection, this grand dessert is encased in a stately, hand blown sugar Fleur-de-Lis and presented on a handmade exclusive elegant crackled-gold glass curved plate and bowl. Your palette never had such a royal treatment! 

Chef Long Nguyen, executive pastry chef of The Venetian and The Palazzo is the visionary genius behind all the exotic cupcake flavors and Chef Johann Springfield, head baker makes the cupcakes a reality.  In addition to the exclusive specialty cupcake Decadence D’Or Sweet Surrender carries: Red Velvet, Lemon Strawberry, Chocolate Ganache, Carrot, Black Forest, Strawberry, Coconut and Chocolate Fudge cupcakes. 

Sweet Surrender, located on The Palazzo casino floor next to guest elevators, is open Sunday through Thursday 10 a.m. through 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. through Midnight.  Special orders can be placed directly by calling 702-607-0753.

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Michelin Three-Star Chef Masayoshi Takayama to Open First Las Vegas Restaurant

Michelin three-star chef Masayoshi Takayama — who opened Ginza Sushi-ko in Los Angeles in the ’80s, transplanted his temple of sushi from a mid-Wilshire Los Angeles strip mall to a second-floor aerie off Rodeo Drive (where Urasawa is now) in the ’90s and moved to New York to open Masa and Bar in 2004- is set to debut his first Vegas venture on Dec. 17: another Bar Masa and Shaboo, a shabu-shabu restaurant. 

He joins fellow three-star chef  Pierre Gagnaire of Paris (who opened Twist, his first restaurant in the U.S.) as well as Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Michael Mina, in the $8.5-billion CityCenter on the Vegas Strip.   

“It’s a new, gigantic building where I get to create my idea, my style,” Takayama says. “It’s more than the food. Very different from Ginza Sushi-ko style.” 

It’s also very different from Bar Masa in New York; the Las Vegas outpost — inside the Aria Resort & Casino — is about three times the size, decorated in high Strip style with 15-foot doors of teak and copper, curved red leather banquettes and arched ceilings. 

Takayama calls it coming full circle. On his first trip to Los Angeles from Tokyo, he got off the plane and drove directly to Las Vegas to see “flat land.”  

The menu for Bar Masa in Las Vegas will recall the one in New York, with Japanese small plates such as spicy cod roe pasta with purple shiso flowers; duck with foie gras; sizzling spicy octopus; or grilled eel with rice. (He says his fish will still be from the Tsukiji market in Tokyo.) 

The more-intimate 52-seat Shaboo is located inside Bar Masa, serving omakase (tasting menu) shabu-shabu at tables equipped with individual induction heating elements for cooking beef flown in from Chiba prefecture.

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New Store Openings Continue at CityCenter in Las Vegas

CityCenter, the largest $5.8 billion completed construction project in the U.S. this year, continues with gala Las Vegas store openings and special events.  40% of available space is reportedly currently occupied. 

Openings Today, Dec. 3:  

Huge high-class retail Crystals venue opens including Beso (Eva Longoria Parker’s restaurant), Mikimoto, CENTERPiece Gallery, H.Stern, Tom Ford, Marni, Bvlgari, Robert Cavalli, Nanette Lepore, Cartier, Assouline, ILORI, Porsche Design, Tourbillion, Tiffany & Co., de Grisogone, Louis Vutton, Bottega Veneta, Bally, Paul Smith, The Cup, Rodney Lough Jr. Wilderness Collection Gallery, Phillip Plein. 

Opening Dec. 16: 

Aria, the centerpiece 4,004-room hotel casino, opens plus Kiton, Kiki de Montpamasse, Brasserie PUCK, Van Cleef & Arpels, The Pods by Wolfgang Puck, Carolina Herrera, the GALLERY featuring Dale Chihuly, The Art of Richard MacDonald, T.E. Pub 

Opening 2010: 

Mastro’s Ocean Club, Ermengildo Zegna, Emilio Pucci, Prada, Christina Dior, Hermes, Versace, Miu Miu

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Sammy Hagar to Open New Cabo Wabo Cantina in Las Vegas on Dec. 4

Legendary rocker Sammy Hagar will personally rock the red carpet at Cabo Wabo Cantina in Las Vegas on Friday, Dec. 4 at 6:30 p.m. with a grand opening fiesta and live performance with his band, The Waboritas.  

The rock and roll event is open to the public. Complimentary tickets will be given out to the first 400 lucky fans beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, December 4 at Cabo Wabo Cantina. 

Cabo Wabo Cantina, located at the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, is Hagar’s newest flagship U.S. location for the legendary rock and roll restaurant. The two-level, 15,000-square-foot Cantina brings the best of Cabo San Lucas to Vegas combining Hagar’s signature blend of killer margaritas, flavorful Mexican food and rock ‘n’ roll style. Cabo Wabo Cantina is open daily at 11 a.m. 

For more information visit www.cabowabocantina.com.  More information about Hagar and his famous tequila can be found at www.redrocker.com and www.cabowabo.com.

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CityCenter Unveils Vdara Hotel and Spa in Las Vegas Today

MGM Mirage and Dubai World marked the unveiling of their CityCenter project today with the opening of the luxurious Vdara Hotel and Spa. 

Executives cut the ribbon on the 57-story, 1,495-suite luxury property shortly after 10:30 a.m. today. 

The hotel’s suites come in one- or two-bedroom variations, ranging from 500 square feet to 2,000 square feet, each featuring gourmet kitchens and washer and dryer units among their amenities. 

Other amenities in the non-gaming Vdara Hotel include an 18,000-square-foot spa, Asian fusion restaurant Silk Road and direct access to the Bellagio’s casino floor. 

Vdara has partnered with Vanity Fair for its private grand opening celebration tonight with appearances by actor Orlando Bloom, actress Rosario Dawson and photographer Sebastian Copeland. While VIPs will fill the hotel tonight, Vdara won’t welcome its first public guests until Wednesday evening. 

Following Vdara’s opening will be the unveiling of the high-end retail and entertainment district, Crystals, on Thursday, then the opening of Mandarin Oriental will be Friday. 

CityCenter’s crowning jewel and only gaming property — the 4,004-room Aria Resort and Casino — will round out the month with a Dec. 16 opening. Residential occupancies at Veer Towers will begin January 2010 while the Harmon will open in late 2010.

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Historic Binion’s Hotel in Las Vegas to Close

Another legendary landmark Las Vegas hotel has put up a permanent no vacancy sign. Binion’s announced Monday it will shut down its 365 rooms on Dec. 14. The casino and other operations, though, will reportedly remain open. 

Binion’s officials have said the reason for shutting down the hotel operations was because of the ever slumping economy which has forced room rates to drop and vacancies to rise. 

Even though the casino will stay open, there’s no question the decision will be a blow to a downtown that has struggled — even during the talks of revitalization. 

It’s been a staple on Fremont Street for more than half a century. Word of the closure spread quickly. 

Binion’s original coffee shop and Keno operation will also close, but the entire casino operation — including the Sports Book and the famed poker room which hosted the World Series of Poker from 1970 to 2005 — will stay open. 

But the hotel closure could impact gaming. 

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is trying to help Binion’s owners and lenders hammer out a deal to keep the hotel open. He said he does not think this will impact his plan to revitalize downtown. 

“Once you start saying you’re not going to do those things, then you recede. Vegas is a very funny place. We go through these ups and downs. We’ve been here before, perhaps not to this level, but I don’t blame this on Las Vegas. Las Vegas has the infrastructure in place. We’ve got the best hotels, restaurants, shopping and entertainment,” Goodman said. 

Goodman said it’s hard to find investors to come in with fresh money to refurbish rooms, but he’s not giving up.  “We have to keep pushing forward, now more than ever,” Goodman said. 

About 100 people will be laid off when the hotel closes. 

Anyone who has a reservation after Dec. 14 is being referred to Binion’s sister property across the street, The Four Queens. 

Most of the restaurants, including the famed Binion’s Ranch Steakhouse, will remain open.

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Huge CityCenter Project Prepares for Las Vegas Public Unveiling this Week

The cost: $8.5 billion.  The decision: Let it ride- open the doors to the public!  

The much anticipated CityCenter project in Las Vegas- the largest construction project in the U.S. this year – is taking its opening public curtain calls this week.  

Updated Public Opening Schedule: 

Dec. 1 – Vdara Hotel & Spa opens

Dec. 3 – High-end retail shops, entertainment venues open, featuring Crystal

Dec. 4 – Mandarin Oriental luxury hotel opens

Dec. 16 – The project’s centerpiece, Aria Resort & Casino opens 

Since March, Las Vegas Backstage Access has written extensively on the project, covering it from all angles.  Please check out our articles on March 4 & 25; July 13, 16 & 28; Sept. 3, 17 & 25; Oct. 13 & 18; and Nov. 9, 14, 18 & 19.

C’mon over to Las Vegas and check it out!

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Mist Lounge in Las Vegas to be Resurrected as Gilley’s Saloon in TI

The cozy Mist Lounge in Las Vegas, located just off the Treasure Island casino floor, has closed awhile back, ending its memorable six-year run.   Now, a new nightclub and restaurant is planned in its space. 

The Lounge has been sold back to former Frontier, now TI (Treasure Island) owner Phil Ruffin, who plans to create his hallmark sawdust-on-the-floor country nightclub Gilley’s at TI in the former Mist Lounge space. 

TI Vice President of Hotel Sales & Marketing Don Voos confirms that Mist will indeed become home to the rebirth of the nostaligic, countrified Gilley’s Saloon– with a little help from its neightbor, Pizzeria Francesco’s that will be demolished  and merged in with the new space. 

“We will be building a new Gilley’s Saloon & BBQ restaurant,” says Voos.

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FREE Beer Tastings in Las Vegas

Here’s a super holiday savings deal you can’t beat:  Free beer tastings are held from 7 to 8 p.m. every Wednesday at Lee’s Discount Liquor, 7411 W. Lake Mead Blvd. in Las Vegas. 

It’s a chance to experience global beers.  Light snacks are provided. 

For more information, please call 702-804-7400.   Please tell them that Las Vegas Backstage Access sent you.

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Wanna Learn to Roll Sushi in Las Vegas?

If you’re like us at Las Vegas Backstage Access, you love dining on sushi, it’s just that if you partake often it leaves a big dent in your wallet.  Well, here’s your opportunity to learn to roll sushi and save money in the process. 

Hachi located inside of Red Rock Resort, 11011 W. Charleston Blvd. in Las Vegas is offering a sushi rolling class at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 19 for $85 per person, plus tax. 

You’ll be learning from the best- executive chef Linda Rodriguez, and her husband and chef de cuisine, Martin Swift, and head sushi chef Fernando Luna of Hachi, who will combine to teach the yummy class. 

Rodriguez was the first female chef to have studied under famed chef Nobu Matsuhisa. 

The two-hour class will offer each participant his or her own work area with all ingredients conveniently at arm’s length. 

For more information or to make a reservation, please call 702-797-7054.

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The Venetian & The Palazzo Welcomes the Emeril Lagasse Foundation’s 5th annual Carnivale du Vin Saturday night in Las Vegas

The Venetian and The Palazzo in Las Vegas welcome the Emeril Lagasse Foundation’s 5th annual Carnivale du Vin charity event this Saturday evening, Nov. 14. 

Ranked by Wine Spectator as a “Top Ten U.S. Charity Wine Auction,” the Carnivale du Vin celebration brings together the best in celebrity chefs and winemakers who serve a once-in-a-lifetime dinner to esteemed sponsors and guests. This group showcases its passion through unique culinary pairings with the season’s finest offerings. 

Held at the Venetian, the festive night will feature a live auction with rare wines and unique travel and lifestyle experiences as well as musical entertainment by the Neville Brothers. 

Ticket prices are $1,000 each and may be purchased online at www.venetian.com or by calling The Venetian Box Office at 702-414-7470. 

Celebrities expected to attend the event include: Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, Mario Batali, Charlie Trotter, Daniel Boulud, Michael Mina, Bradley Ogden, Kerry Simon, Charlie Palmer, Joe Bastianich, Karina Smirnoff, Rob Goldstein, Sammy Hagar, and the Neville Brothers. 

If you would like a pro article on this event, interview coverage and/or pro photography, please leave us a note responding to this announcement and someone from Las Vegas Backstage Access will be back to you promptly.

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Tenaya Creek Brewery in Las Vegas to Host Special 10-Year Anniversary Party on Nov. 14

The Tenaya Creek Brewery, 3101 N. Tenaya way, will celebrate its 10th anniversary on Nov. 14, beginning at 4 p.m. 

If you’ve never visited this classy pub tucked away in northwest Las Vegas, you’ve been missing out.  Besides, their onsite microbrewery will whet your whistle like no other. 

The event is limited to the first 125 people and the people will be closed to the public.  A ticket will be required to enter. 

The evening is very special, featuring a special tapping of the brewery’s 10-year anniversary double alt beer, along with dinner catered by the yummy Memphis Championship BBQ. 

Tickets are $50 per person and include a 10th anniversary glass, three Tenaya Creek draft beers and dinner.  

There will even be a free designated drive service available during the event.  

All proceeds are going to a good cause- benefiting the Las Vegas injured police officers fund. 

For more information, please call 702-362-7335

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Betcha Can’t Down this Las Vegas Rippa of a Burger!

Designed like an artsy roadhouse (or are all longhorn skulls just blown glass?), this eco-friendly Las Vegas burger joint serves juicy piles of dry-aged, hormone-free Hereford beef with never-frozen accoutrements: homemade pickles delivered daily, from-scratch ketchup, and farmstead cheeses (American, Cabot cheddar, Brie, goat, and you-name-it). burger

Their saloon-style bar innovatively serves up Vitamin Water cocktails or, if all that heath-food c__p is not for you, take a guzzle of their booze-loaded milkshakes with straws made from a biodegradable corn-based polymer — along with the shake, the straw will go straight to your hips.  And the good thing about it all- their food has no MSG- and they have wheelchair access. Imagine that. 

But the good gets even better.  They have recently issued a gastronomic challenge of unmatched giganto proportions: Finish their four-pound Extreme Burger with fixings and the pound of fries that come with it in an hour and the burger will be renamed for you.   Think of it like streets being named for the deceased… 

Recently, competitive eater Ron Koch of Las Vegas reportedly finished the meal – lounging with a respirator now – in 27 minutes, having it promptly and aptly named the “Undertaker.”   It included six patties, weighing a half-pound each, cheese, bacon, Portobello mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles, burger sauce, spicy mustard, herb mayo and ghost peppers (aka naga jolokia peppers, confirmed by Guinness World Records to be the hottest chili in the world) and served on a sweet egg bun no less. 

But all records are meant to be broken, right?   Their new challenge features 11 patties (if the math is right, that’s a little shy of eight pounds) and consume not one, but three pounds of greasy fries of the good cholesterol kind.  Down about 11 pounds of food in an hour and the burger will be renamed for you – - or perhaps you could negotiate your choice of headstone at the grave site of your choosing?

The good news is that even if you don’t finish in an hour or all of it, the bill still will total $30. 

Now, really, is this an epic feast your arteries can be denied? 

To test your eating prowess, just head down to LBS Burger restaurant located inside the Red Rock Resort, 11011 W. Charleston Blvd., in Las Vegas. Call if you dare- 702-835-9393.

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Only the Taliban Views This Type of Las Vegas Air Show

…and it’s a whole lot of pain mixed in with terrible shock and awe!

This Saturday and Sunday, more than 100 of the best fighter planes in the world will loop, swoop and dive in the sky over Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, performing as part of the Aviation Nation 2009 show.

Their eighth consecutive Las Vegas air show is expected to draw more than 100,000 spectators to the base, making it the largest free public event in Nevada this year. 

Queued up on the runway will be aircraft ranging in age from a World War II-era PT-17 Steerman biplane to a new F-22 fighter jet. Other notables include the A-10 Thunderbolt II, C-17 Globemaster III, the Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet and the Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16. 

The Air Force Thunderbirds are expected to steal the show again with a brand new maneuver: the diamond-loop takeoff, performed in four new Block 52 F-16s. 

“We get airborne, retract the gear and essentially go straight into a loop and maneuver into the diamond formation,” explains Lt. Col Greg Thomas, the Thunderbirds’ squadron commander. “It’s something the Thunderbirds have never done, and it’s something that most teams can’t do because they don’t have the power we do.” (Each Block 52 packs 29,000 pounds of thrust.) 

The military will be joined by three civilian acts: the Horsemen P-51 Demonstration Team, the Patriots Jet Demonstration Team and California resident Bill Reesman in his MiG-17. 

The show will feature more than just roaring air maneuvers.  Ground displays will depict the history of American aviation and America’s military might, showcasing several military aircraft fresh from Iraq and Afghanistan battlefields. 

Food, beverages and novelties will be available for purchase. 

Free round-trip shuttle bus transportation will be available to and from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The public will not otherwise be allowed entry into Nellis Air Force Base.

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Sneak Peak into Las Vegas’ Kingdom of Haute Opulence- CityCenter

Time is getting close for the long-awaited opening of extravagant and opulent Las Vegas entertainment and retail businesses galore.    Not just ordinary businesses, but the most haute and opulent on the planet!

If you ever wanted to know what it’s like to be up close and personal with $8.5 billion of opulent entertainment and retail establishments, then don’t miss out this December when CityCenter gradually opens up in Las Vegas. 

With the economy tanking and only slowing recovering, most experts agree that further business casino and hotel developments down the Las Vegas Strip or adjoining properties will be on a hiatus for at least five years, more likely 10 years. 

Las Vegas Backstage Access has written on the many unique CityCenter planned developments, but now has further updates to share.   As casino area slots are being tested, finishing touches are being applied at the Aria casino-hotel tower.   

Some restaurants are on the second floor at Aria, near Elvis Theater, or located in The Crystals, the nearby 500,000-square-foot retail, entertainment and dining district- a city within a city. 

Oversize Elvis belt buckles cover the exterior of Cirque du Soleil’s Elvis Theater.  Reportedly, a “big splash” for this is planned for Jan. 8, which would have been Elvis’ 74th birthday. 

In terms of artwork, there is Maya Lin’s depiction of the Colorado River made out of recycled silver.    Henry Moore’s woman and child reclining is also auspicious, purchased for about $5 million and now worth about $7.5 million– that’s just some of the $40 million spent on CityCenter’s artwork. 

A prominent attraction at The Crystals, is Mastro’s Ocean Club, which is housed in a “tree house,” over the main floor, the 14-foot ice sculpture that magically re-form after a 90 percent meltdown and CityCenter’s version of Rome’s Spanish Steps. 

There is something for everyone at CityCenter.  It will surely be the Las Vegas center of attention for a very long time.

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