Two Way Hard Three | Las Vegas Casino & Design Blog

Mike, great photos and report. A few questions:
In photos 2 and 11, what is "First Food & Bar" at Palazzo that warrants a sign on the outside of the building? Is it the name of a restaurant? If so, I don't see how it will draw tourists in.
I can't get over the acres of glass at CityCenter. Good thing the property faces east for the most part.
The Mirage lagoon in photo #6 looks better than I ever remember it.
#7--I didn't know Adelson had copied Wynn's umbrella theme.
#21--ARIA's entrance will make a dramatic statement when the project is done and the construction stuff is gone. It looks good.
#25--Planet Hollywood cheapens the neighborhood, imo.

Thanks for the link to John Curtas' blog. Since restaurants are one of the things I like most about Las Vegas, I'll start following his blog.
The last time I was at Wynn, Corsa was still operating. The area where you had lunch was primarily a cocktail area and only used for dining as an overflow when the dining room was full. I like the open-to-the-casino look for lunch (same with Red 8), but I want to be away from the casino noise and smoke at dinner.
By the way, Stephen Kalt, whom Steve Wynn replaced with Alex Stratta, has just opened Fornelletto at Borgata in Atlantic City. It wasn't open when I was there in May, but the menu and description make it sound very similar to Corsa Cucina / Stratta.
Thanks again.

First Food has a little bit of opening buzz - it's run by Sam DeMarco, who you may remember from 'Sam's American' at Bellagio.

http://www.firstfoodandbar.com/#/about/

John Curtas is a Las Vegas treasure.

Hunter, thanks. Yes, I remember Sam's American and liked it more than Fix. I'm still planning to return to Las Vegas after CityCenter opens to see and experience all the changes since November, 2006.
I see Venetian has some attractive deals from $129. You can get a 1,400 sq ft Piazza Suite for $249 a night including "Phantom" tickets and restaurant discounts. Times have changed.
http://www.venetian.com/Pages.aspx?id=3649

Posted by mike_ch

Detroit: First Food & Bar is, well, not sure. I suppose it sits somewhere between Society and Burger Bar. However, it sits in a rather invisible location of the Palazzo, technically on the shopping level but not really within an effective draw distance of people who are in the hotel. It's just inside the new doorway from the TI bridge. A lot of people don't even approach Sheldy's from the TI bridge, and those entering Palazzo from the bridge with Wynn or through the Venetian aren't likely to see this place.

It reminds me of the Vivid Nightclub, the Velvet Room or whatever it was called, and all other attempts by LVS to put a commercial outlet into these spaces connecting the casinos with other casinos. Most people just don't notice them and keep going until they reach the casino or mall and once they're "there" they think of what they're going to eat.

First Food is in a hallway connecting the outdoor bridge with a space that is very transitional between Venetian and Palazzo, at Barney's New York. You walk through those "Shoppes at Palazzo" doors that I've been taking shots of for months now, walk into a Palazzo-decorated hallway with First on your left and nothing on your right, continue walking and eventually find yourself at the very very end of the Venetian GCS mall, with the end of the canal and the boats turning around and the big hallway room of Palazzo just to the left. You turn left and walk past the entrance of Barneys and step into the big room with the waterfall that begins the Palazzo.

This is the kind of thing that your Wynns and Disneys of the world would be furious about, because the theme swaps from Palazzo to Venetian to Palazzo as you walk, and if you head right toward the Venetian's mall instead of instead of left toward the Palazzo's mall you could actually walk through doors that say "The Palazzo" and wind up in the Venetian instead. There isn't any real direction there except a huge archway over the path to the left that says "The Shoppes at The Palazzo." I suppose that is to be your hint on where to go. That and you probably noticed which direction the buildings were when you entered.

It's really a continuation of what Palazzo has been trying to figure out since announcement: Does it want to be it's own place or does it just want to be More Of The Venetian? It seems to have settled on "we are our own place, but one that is quite reliant with being good friends with Venetian next door." I do not think you could as easily 'unbundle' the two like Mirage and TI (not that LVS would want to.)

Though it doesn't have quite the same symptoms, Encore suffers a lot of the same problem, straddling the fence between A Second Property (Really!) and simply being Even More Wynn Las Vegas. That confusion is even present in the name, as without a near-identical Wynn sitting next door 'Encore' wouldn't make any sense.

Planet Hollywood passes as acceptable for the neighbourhood when you see the whole thing in motion. The amount of large images they spread out on their building (such as the Peepshow graphic in the centre) can be annoying, but in day and age where Luxor now has gigantic "YOUR AD HERE" spaces on three sides of the building, it's really more of a petty complaint.

Checking John Curtas' blog and seeing the connection to KNPR brought back another great memory. When Emeril's at MGM Grand first opened, I enjoyed it and always requested the same server, David Bert, who was excellent and also a source of information for all things Las Vegas and Nevada. I enjoyed his "Along The Way" on KNPR. I need to check KNPR's website to see if it's still on.

Posted by mike_ch

Okay, correction time: There actually is a sign pointing you where you're going between First Food and Palazzo. Two, even. Guess I ignored them because I walk these places by instinct most of the time anymore.

First's draw is as a 21hr restaurant bar. Perfect for a late night/early morning burger after a hard night of drinking. However, it is located in a deadzone with very little foot traffic. This concept needs to be adjacent to the casino floor (where security is already in place) in order to work. I am not sure what LVS can put in these dead areas of the mall. At one time they had plans for a nightclub on the top floor of the mall and maybe that would have brought in foot traffic.

Such deadzones run throughout Palazzo and I'm not sure what the architects were thinking. Specifically, the lower level sportsbook, del toro area which used to have the 44 club. It took me two days of actual searching to find it when I first stayed there. Also, the Venetian has a deadzone outside where the where the nightclub used to be located. These areas really need specific tenants to draw in people and LVS has not done a good job at finding the right ones.

Stratta is actually a pretty decent lunch place, although it pales in comparison to the other dinner options at Wynncore. It takes some effort to find upscale lunch options since the better restaurants try to preserve their star ratings by only being open for dinner.

The Mandarin is really looking nice. Without a casino I wouldn't normally consider staying there, but I might actually try it sometime. Hope they get Veer wrapped up before Aria opens. The cranes will ruin the view at the opening.

Also, it sounds like Vdara will be opening a couple months before Aria. Given its location, does anyone know if there will be a backdoor entrance to Bellagio? I'd hate to stay there for the opening and find myself blocked from any strip access.

Posted by Hunter

I believe Vdara opens Oct. 1st or thereabouts - before any other part of City Center. I think The Crystals open next, then ARIA/Mandarin/Veer in December.

MGM Mirage describes Vdara as 'physically connected' to Bellagio - I expect you'll be able to walk between the properties and also catch the City Center people mover at the Bellagio station, nestled between the Spa Tower and Vdara.

The tower crane on Veer East has been taken down as of a few days ago. The remaining glass just needs to be put in place by Veer West's crane and then interior work will commence.

Posted by mike_ch

parchedearth: Sad to hear, but I'm not particularly interested in the most high falutin' meal possible. I was perfectly honest above: I'm just trying to get out of the coffee shops and buffets, and while I'm not opposed to dinners, I wouldn't really want to spend more than $50 for a solo meal if I can help it. In that regard it helps that I don't drink alcohol at all, which is something that puts me at odds with most any food critic in the world who feels that a wine or spirit of some kind is essential to just about any dish.

I've just closing out a 3 week stay at my place out here and your mention about City Center sidewalk being dirty. I saw it too and its absolutely trashed. Every step a person takes in front of you kicks up dirt. Not the mention the piles or trash, mostly escort service cards and free drink offers from various bars in town. Also take a drive through the road to enter Treasure Island, the road that Y's into Mirage's side entrance and Treasure Island self park. There is a wall opposite where all the cabs line up for Treasure Island and I felt like I was back in Cleveland Ohio, just filthy walls. There is some sort of iron gate that looks like a car smashed into it and its just sitting their unrepaired. Supposedly the city has a night crew that cleans all streets and for the most part they do a great job given, but the property owners are really slipping (MGM companies). You remember years ago the property staff were out there polishing the brass hand rails always cleaning the glass doorways and now they're loaded with greasy fingerprints and they let the brass just tarnish. They just don't give a crap anymore about keeping it up, they figure we'll just replace it when it goes bad.

As far as Stratta, I personally liked it better when it was under the direction of Stephen Kalt with the Corsa Cucina name. He was always on hand as it was his place, now my assumption is Alex is tied down to his gourmet room so its his in name and recipe, but I'm not sure how much hands on he's there given his Alex restaurant responsibility. I have to say too about Stratta's place and this goes for Wazuzu too that the mid line restaurants have really slipped on their service. Normally the beverage person was always on the ball refilling drinks and just keeping an eye on things while the waiter just took the order and delivered the order, now with cutbacks it seems the server handles more of the responsibilities now and you're finding out that some of these servers aren't so great when they don't have a beverage person to fall back on. My Stratta and Wazuzu servers were nothing to praise about. Stratta's rigatoni and meatballs is good, the pesto pizza I wasn't so much a fan of nor the spinach ravioli appetizer.

Posted by mike_ch

Phil, you hit it right on. The next StripMunch is actually going to cover Society next time and a large part of that was the change in service. Lunch on public opening day was miles beyond what dinner was just recently.

I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to hit up these places and in what order. I was planning to leave midstrip for last to give CityCenter time to get cookin' but if I stay up north then I'm going to be eating out of the Wynncore for quite a long while. Might be time to head south.

FYI detroit, the new Steven Kalt restaurant at Borgata in AC was doing soft openings last week when I was there. I asked the guy and he said that the grand opening is today, July 4th. Can't wait to get back and try it. I really liked the cavelike space that the old restaurant had. Also, this is the restaurant that the latest Hell's Kitchen winner,Danny, is working at. I asked about him and they said he was a Suis Chef.

When my fiancee and I dined at Alex, my buddy and his girlfriend dined at Stratta. Apparently he was told that they use the same kitchen for both places -- which from both a logistical and quality point of view I find difficult to believe. Can anyone confirm this?

Posted by Hunter

I've been in the kitchen at Alex and you can see the Stratta kitchen from the dining room - they do not share.

Yeah, Stratta has almost an open show kitchen which is nowhere near Alex.
http://www.wynnlasvegas.com/pdf/WLV_floorplan_02-19-09.pdf

This info comes from dealers at Wynn LV, so take it however you like. High rollers are supposedly being required to stay and play at Encore in order to be comped. Play at Encore is way below that at Wynn (and you know how much I like Encore, so this is not something I'm happy to report). Also, management has allegedly starting cutting itself in on tips rec'd by cabana boys, spa attendants, etc. To whatever extent this may involve Culinary Union employees, it merits further inquiry.

Posted by mike_ch

Yep, anyone who has watched that Rehab TV show (though it's probably scripted to hell) knows what they have to deal with.

Strangely, despite the sometimes rowdy clientele, employees at the Hard Rock are some of the nicest I've seen in a casino. Last concert I went to there a security guy offered a father up front to take the son out for I guess a restroom break or something. Some minutes later the security guy returned with the man's son who now had a whole bunch of vending machine goodies with him.

They'll also toss out small bottled waters between acts, at least until until the first jerk who throws water into the air on the crowd and ruins it for everyone. Overall, fairly nice to people who spent 4-6 hours (depending on how soon you got in line) hanging around and not gambling or spending money.

Posted by mike_ch

I posted the above in the wrong topic. Meant to go in Open Discussion regarding David McKee's link about the Hard Rock.

Too many tabs open at once! Sorry. (slinks away)

Thanks Mike. I always enjoy your stripwalk and will now look forward to stripmunch as well.

Yeah, love the name "StripMunch." And it's perectly titled for the angle of "get[ing] out of the coffee shops and buffets..."

A Vegas friend who doesn't get to the Strip often commented on Veer Towers. In his subjective opinion, he said they ruin the appearance of CityCenter, but he also said it looked like some modifications were being made to the exteriors.
Does anyone know whether Veer is changing anything such as the color of the glass?