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THE LATEST

1 2 “Strain Resistant”Medical and legal perceptions

inhibit much-needed studies on

the benefits of marijuana.

By LISSA TOWNSEND RODGERS

1 8 “Reid’s Legacy”Nevada’s most prominent leader

wields influence in presidential

race. Politics by MICHAEL GREEN

Plus … WWE puts Money in the

Bank, NHL gets closer to Las Vegas

expansion, Seven Days, Ask a Native

and The Deal.

NIGHTLIFE

2 5 “So Dirty, Yet So Clean”Dirtybird’s Claude VonStroke looks

back on rave culture and ahead to

the future. By KAT BOEHRER

Plus … Seven Nights, Q&A with

DJ Richie Hawtin, Ground Control

at EDC and photos from the week’s

hottest parties.

DINING

5 3 “More Than Skin Deep”Tao Group’s New York import

Beauty & Essex is no pawn, but

a major player in the Cosmopolitan’s

dining revamp. By AL MANCINI

Plus … Dishing With Grace, what’s

cookin’ at Topgolf and Cocktail Culture.

A&E

5 9 “Sound, Lights, Success”How The Foundry provided SLS

Las Vegas with the necessary

ingredient the struggling resort was

missing. By MELINDA SHECKELLS

Plus … Seven’s 14, painting

under the influence and taking

a swipe at Snapchat.

6 4 “Rock Steady”Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart

mug their way through the passable

Central Intelligence.

By GEOFF CARTER

SEVEN QUESTIONS

7 4 Actor Will Arnett on hosting the 2016

NHL Awards, BoJack Horseman’s

third season and what Gob Bluth

could learn from Criss Angel.

FEATURE

“Betting on Macau”Despite a downturn in China’s economy, Las Vegas casino giants are still bullish on the Far East gambling industry. By MELINDA SHECKELLS

Plus … A Q&A with the development director of Cotai’s Wynn Place and seven fun facts about Macau.

J U N E 1 6 – 2 2 , 2 0 1 6C O N T E N T S

Cover photo courtesy

Studio City Macau.

20Galaxy Macau interior.

PUBLISHED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE OBSERVER MEDIA GROUP

Vegas Seven, 702-798-7000, 302 E. Carson Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89101

Vegas Seven is distributed each Thursday throughout Southern Nevada

c 2016 Vegas Seven, LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without the permission of Vegas Seven, LLC is prohibited.

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P U B L I S H E RMichael Skenandore

E D I T O R I A LEDITORIAL DIRECTOR Nicole Ely

MANAGING EDITOR Genevie Durano

SENIOR EDITORS Paul Szydelko, Xania Woodman

SENIOR EDITOR, A&E Geoff Carter

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Hubble Ray Smith

SENIOR WRITER Lissa Townsend Rodgers

STAFF WRITER Emmily Bristol

CALENDAR COORDINATOR Ian Caramanzana

S E N I O R C O N T R I B U T I N G E D I T O RMelinda Sheckells (style)

C O N T R I B U T I N G E D I T O R SMichael Green (politics), Al Mancini (dining),

David G. Schwartz (gaming/hospitality)

A R TCREATIVE DIRECTOR Ryan Olbrysh

SENIOR DESIGNER Cierra Pedro

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Krystal Ramirez

V E G A S S E V E N . C O MTECHNICAL DIRECTOR Herbert Akinyele

ENGAGEMENT EDITOR Zoneil Maharaj

SENIOR WRITER, RUNREBS.COM Mike Grimala

WEB PRODUCER Jessie O’Brien

ASSISTANT WEB PRODUCER Amber Sampson

P R O D U C T I O N / D I S T R I B U T I O NDIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION/DISTRIBUTION Marc Barrington

ADVERTISING MANAGER Jimmy Bearse

S A L E SBUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Christy Corda

DIGITAL SALES MANAGER Nicole Scherer

ACCOUNT MANAGERS Brittany Quintana, Steven Kennedy

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DIRECTOR OF SALES, BILLBOARD DIVISION John Tobin

I N T E R N SJasmina Salas, Ally Tatosian

Ryan T. Doherty | Justin Weniger

PRESIDENT Michael Skenandore

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CONTROLLER Jane Weigel

LAS VEGAS’ WEEKLY CITY MAGAZINE | FOUNDED FEBRUARY 2010

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➜ IT’S BEEN JUST over two years since Nevada began turning its medical marijuana program from a legislative abstraction to a concrete reality. Today, Las Vegas has two dozen dispensaries and more than 18,000 people in our state possess Nevada medical marijuana cards. And it’s not just Nevada: More than half of the states in the country have legalized medical marijuana, with the governors of Louisiana and Pennsylvania both signing legislation within the past two months.

There are even moves happening on the federal level: Last month, the Senate and the House passed the Veterans Equal Access Amendment, which permits veterans to use medi-cal marijuana and openly discuss it with their doctors. The law is expect-ed to become effective on October 1, advocates say.

“By Washington standards, this is-sue has progressed relatively rapidly, but for patients, it's moving at a snail’s pace,” says Mike Liszewski, director of government affairs for Americans for Safe Access. “We know we have a strong and bipartisan majority of support on the House floor on medi-cal cannabis issues, thanks to the suc-cess of the veterans amendment and the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment

protecting state programs,” he says, but notes that while “medical can-nabis is no longer a ‘third rail’ issue in Congress,” some of the senior sena-tors are still resistant.

Cannabis’ potential to help vet-erans was also discussed at a recent UNLV panel on medical marijuana research. Dr. Sue Sisely has been working for seven years toward con-ducting a study on how cannabis can help vets with PTSD. She pointed out that the government makes it “next to impossible to study cannabis,” re-quiring the approval of five govern-ment agencies (researching heroin or crystal meth only involves three). The Public Health Service alone delayed her application for three years and, as Sisely says, “During that time, 24,000 vets committed suicide.”

“I’m not pro-cannabis, I’m pro-research,” she explained in an interview afterward. “We have al-ready thousands of controlled trials published in peer-reviewed journals confirming that cannabis has a va-riety of therapeutic benefits, but we don’t really know how to harness it.” Sisely has been providing medical care to veterans for more than two decades, and they were the ones who brought the idea of medical mari-juana to her—something she resisted

at first. “I was very judgmental and dismissive. But luckily, the veteran community never gave up on me,” she recalled. Gradually, she changed her attitude: “Hearing from their loved ones who were saying ‘I got my husband back’ or ‘I got my dad back.’ You just couldn’t ignore it. Over time, it was like a mountain of anecdotal evidence suggesting at least this war-ranted more study.” The new legisla-tion won’t help move her research along, but she is cautiously optimis-tic, saying that, “It may help reduce the stigma in the VA system, if we can allow for open dialogue between doctors and veterans.”

Another speaker at the panel seek-ing an open dialogue was Eugene Monroe, an offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens and a member of the Gridiron Cannabis Coalition, an organization whose goal is to convince the NFL to allow the use of medical marijuana to treat pain. “Players are in pain every day, every play. And we have to stay on the field. It’s our job,” Monroe explained. “So NFL teams have to find a process that will allow us to continue to perform and push through this pain. And it’s done by pharmaceuticals, it’s done by prescribing different opioid drugs—hydrocodone, oxycodone, oxycon-tin.” Heavy hitting and the heavy medicating that follows can have long-lasting negative results. Monroe points out that “we’ve seen former players speak openly about their ad-diction issues with these pills,” and he hopes that the NFL will permit can-nabis as an alternative.

The idea that medical marijuana can decrease the use of opioids is gaining support. A 2014 study by Johns Hopkins University found that states where it is legal to use medi-cal marijuana to treat pain have a 25 percent lower incidence of death from prescription drug overdoses. A study released by the University of Michigan earlier this year indicates that two-thirds of patients who use medical marijuana reduce their use of prescription pain medications. As opioid addiction and overdoses continue to be a national issue, the Centers for Disease Control has is-sued new guidelines urging pain management doctors to not test patients for marijuana or dismiss patients who use it.

With recreational marijuana on the ballot in Nevada and likely to appear on ballots in Arizona and California and a number of other states this No-vember, public attitudes toward can-nabis use are changing. But until the medical and legal communities alter their perceptions, it will continue to be a struggle for researchers and, more importantly, for patients.

News, deals and enjoy

a little Money in the Bank.THE LATEST

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Resistant Strain

Medical, legal perceptions inhibit much-needed

marijuana studies By Lissa Townsend Rodgers

THU 16 Hey, nerds: While everyone

else is out at the Electric Daisy

Carnival, you can make your way to the

Las Vegas Convention Center, 3 p.m. to-

day through Sunday, for the Amazing Las

Vegas Comic Convention. You’ll find com-

ic artists, cosplay, parties, the whole en-

chilada. AmazingLasVegasComicCon.com.

FRI 17 Ringling Bros. and Barnum &

Bailey are in town—sans ele-

phants, which recently retired from

performing—7 p.m. at the Thomas &

Mack, with shows Thursday through

Saturday. The big cats are still working,

though, as are the talented and daring

human performers. UNLVTickets.com.

SAT 18 What to do when it’s too hot

out to run during the day? Run

at night with a few hundred of your best

friends. Henderson calls it the Glow

Worm 5k Fun Run, and it happens at 8

p.m., Equestrian Park South. The first

350 people to sign up get stuff that

glows in the dark; everyone else has to

supply their own. CityofHenderson.com.

SUN 19 Homicide in Clark County is

way up in 2016 compared to

last year. Some of the Metro officers who

investigate such crimes will be at the

Mob Museum, 2 p.m., to tell you a little

about how they go about their jobs. Kind

of like CSI, only real. TheMobMuseum.org.

MON 20 Christopher Tsouras is a local

photographer whose stark

images of urban and industrial landscapes

from around the Valley echo themes we’re

all too familiar with from the war on ter-

ror. It’s a thought-provoking juxtaposition

and worth a visit to the Centennial Hills Li-

brary. Through June 28, LVCCLD.org.

TUE 21 The Valley’s human inhabit-

ants can just crank up the air

a notch to deal with the temps, but how

do the lower beasts deal? That’s the

subject of a cool program at Springs

Preserve called Desert Survivor, which

pits animals against one another to see

which is the toughest. 11 a.m. daily

through Aug. 21. SpringsPreserve.org.

WED 22 Summer is young, and it’s

time to get creative about

entertaining the tots. A free movie

ought to do nicely. Summerlin Library is

showing family-pleaser Cinderella, the

2015 version, at 11 a.m. LVCCLD.org.

Seven DaysThis week in your cityBy B O B W H I T B Y

Macau’s City of Dreams.

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opposed to being what you go there for,” Kelley says.As for the nightclub crowd, it’s possible that the

next generation could adopt, but the bigger issue is the low number of hotel rooms: Macau has one-fifth the number of rooms as Las Vegas.

“In Las Vegas, there is an abundance of hotel rooms,” Kelley says. “People can come, get a hotel room, stay the weekend and go to the clubs. Here, if you want to come over to Macau from Hong Kong and go to the club, you might not get a room. No one wants to go to a club all night and then have to ride the ferry back home.”

A firm believer in nightlife’s potential, Ho oper-ates Club Cubic at City of Dreams and most recently partnered with Spanish brand Pacha to bring the first Western nightclub brand to greater China.

“If you look at the demographic of people [in Macau] that go to nightclubs, it’s not enough,” Ho says. “But if you could do what Vegas did, which is attract [visitors from] the West Coast for weekends … then you really have sustainable businesses. Macau is kind of a proxy for Southern China, so [with] connectivity improving over the next few years, that will be even more exciting.”

Markus Schulz, one of a pantheon of DJs who are be-ing booked at Pacha, along with Paris Hilton, Redfoo, Fat Boy Slim and Steve Aoki, frequently spins in Las Vegas.

“It reminds me of the way Vegas felt before the big boom happened,” Schulz says. “This is still a very fresh scene here. Because there are people who are experiencing this for the first time, you want to give them something theatrical to take away from it.”

T h e F u t u r eabout 80 percent of Macau’s visitors come from mainland China, followed by Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. A big factor in its future is China’s growing mid-dle class, which is much more connected and savvy about travel, food, entertainment and shopping. And casinos are moving in on this growing customer base.

Horton says Sands China uses social media to market to these customers with deals on food and beverage, shopping and hotel stays. Kelley says Gal-axy is also going after a wide variety of customers with tech-savvy gaming, such as electronic baccarat and stadium-style tables.

Wynn, Sands and MGM have big openings planned on Cotai in the next 16 months, and they will reflect concepts geared toward the growing middle class. The floral-themed Wynn Palace is scheduled for fall and will offer an 8-acre Performance Lake and SkyCabs system that will take guests to the hotel.

The Parisian, set to open in September, is Sands’ ver-sion of the Eiffel Tower—because no “Strip” would be complete without one. “It’s 3,000 rooms, which will bring [Sands China] up to 13,000 rooms here in Ma-cau,” Horton says.

The 1,500-room MGM Cotai, scheduled to open in early 2017, features architecture by Kohn Pedersen Fox, designers of Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas. It’s based on the aesthetic of three stacked Chinese jewelry box-es, glistening in rose gold, white gold and yellow gold.

In Cotai, MGM will add a theater with twice-daily shows. “This theater is going to have seats running on hydraulics,” Rogers says. It can be configured for any-thing you want to host in seven minutes. So we could have a DJ and a nightclub and roll in bars. Then, we could have it set up for a UFC fight.”

While a Las Vegas approach might not be the Band-Aid because of fundamental cultural differences, Ma-cau will most likely become a lot more like Sin City in the coming years. Even considering those differences, Ho still has his blocks stacked in island formation when asked if he’d consider moving to the U.S. market.

“I think we’re always open-minded,” he says, not-ing that at one time he and Packer considered buy-ing The Cosmopolitan. “It would be cool to have something in Las Vegas, but … it’s still probably not the right time. We’ll keep our eyes peeled. The north-ern side of the Las Vegas Strip is being developed [by] Genting and Alon, so we’ll see how that plays out.”

T H E F E E D E R M A R K E T  Much like Las Vegas has Los Angeles as a feeder market, Macau has Hong Kong. Take a look inside the Electric City’s art, food and hotel scene—including a guided tour of Hong Kong’s legendary Peninsula Hotel at VegasSeven.com/HongKong.

A Look at Wynn Palace➜ Roger Thomas hit it out of the park with the design

of Wynn Macau in 2006 and Encore Macau in 2010.

Now the executive vice president of design for Wynn

Design & Development embarks on one of his biggest

projects to date, the envisioning of Cotai’s Wynn Pal-

ace. Thomas shares how he continues to create unfor-

gettable moments in the East.

How is designing for the Chinese customer different

from designing for the Las Vegas customer?

There are many cultural and historical factors in play. Just like we don’t like the number 13 here in America, [they] avoid the number 4. In America, we love to use white flowers. In Southeast Asia, that’s what’s used in funerals. Also, in China, you have an opportunity for [guests to really appreciate] the history of Chinese design, art and architecture. When you use or reference those elements, they are received with a more educated eye. It’s the history of the country and culture they have learned.

When you embarked on the Wynn Macau project

many years ago, were you well versed in Chinese

design or did you study them? I had to study. I approach things historically, since my background is in art history. I needed to learn a lot about Chinese art. I have a long history of appreciating it, but I wanted it to become deeper. I read books. I went to museums. I was traveling in China and we didn’t have a hotel there, so I was staying in as many different hotels as I could to broaden my experience. The history of hotels in Asia, because it’s grown so rapidly in our time, is a much more modern and progressive. It offers more luxury and thoughtful amenities than most American hotels contemplate.

Will Wynn Palace resemble previous projects?

It is a completely original design. I haven’t referenced any of our former work. Steve [Wynn] asked that the founding inspiration of Wynn Palace Cotai honor China. I can’t design a Chinese hotel; to do that authentically, I would need to have been born Chinese. I am a great student of the history of Chinoiserie. I decided for this assignment to reinvent Chinoiserie for the 21st century. Take all of those influences that I have so loved and treasured in learning about China [and use those] for a new inspiration of Chinoiserie.

What art will be on display? The Buccleuch vases are going to have a very important position. We’re also sending—because we think it’s such a delightful reference to great Chinese ceramics—the Viola Frey Amphora over as well.

[Jeff Koon’s] Tulips are halfway to Macau. They’re at their original point of manufacture in Germany because when you mount and unmount them, it [is] recommended [to] fine-tune the mounting mechanisms. They’ve received a new protective polish coat.

I’ve collected wonderful tapestries, screens, incredible embroideries. … China is rich in great art. We’ve put together a stunning collection of treasures. –Melinda Sheckells

Parisian Macao rendering.

UPCOMING SHOWS

JUST ANNOUNCED

THIS WEEK

THURSDAYJUNE 16

BORGORELOUIS THE CHILD

MANILA KILLA

& MANY MORE

FRIDAYJUNE 17

KANSAS

FRIDAYJULY 8

TED

NUGENT

FRIDAYSEPTEMBER 16

BOYCE

AVENUE

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18

LUKAS GRAHAM

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NIGHTLIFE

➜ WATER IS YOUR FRIEND. Especially when you’re dancing for hours on end in desert heat. But it’s not uncom-mon for festival attendees to neglect hydration amid the deluge of sensory overload that is EDC Las Vegas. Fortu-nately, Laura Newton and her Ground Control minions have your back.

“We like to make it rain free water,” Newton says. “Last year, it was 114 de-grees. They’re in Vegas. I can’t imagine they’re eating healthy and staying sober in their hotels. They’re partying beforehand. They’re going to pool par-ties and being in the sun dehydrates you. And then dancing for hours.”

Free water at a festival—both filtered and bottled water, at that—isn’t exactly commonplace. Many festivals gouge

their patrons in the H2O department. But patron health is important to EDC promoter Insomniac. And Ground Control helps keep tabs on guests’ well-being. Ground Controllers are the near-omnipresent eyes and ears of Medical & Safety, an outreach team that prevents and diffuses crises. It runs like a well-oiled machine these days, but getting the program off the ground wasn’t easy. Newton was 19 at the time, and still living at home.

“My parents didn’t want me to go,” Newton says. “I just took the car keys and ran. I wasn’t going to party at a show. I had a team to run.” And teamwork made the dream work. Insomniac’s Beyond Wonderland SoCal saw the official debut of Newton’s crew, clad in their then-new

purple shirts with screen-printed angel wings on the back (and armed with mul-tichannel radios and bandages), in 2011. Hugs and high-fives were given, dead cell phones were recharged, kandi was exchanged, lost festies were reunited with their squads and, when necessary, drunks were even babysat.

“First and foremost, Ground Control makes sure that everyone’s having a good time,” Newton says. “They spend their entire shifts roam-ing around the festival introducing themselves to people, making their presence known and then looking for anyone who looks like they’re not en-joying their experience.”

If someone is sleeping, Ground Con-trol wakes them to make sure they’re

not passed out. Similarly, the merry do-gooders routinely check porta-potties for the unresponsive. Though initially a volunteer program, Ground Control soon began paying its employ-ees. Newton and company have since played the rave version of Baywatch at dozens of events all over the world.

“EDC Brazil was the most incredible opportunity that we’ve had,” Newton says. “Only three people on my Brazil team spoke English. So I couldn’t com-municate verbally with the majority. But we all still bonded. Language bar-riers are only a small part of culture—we all share love for music.”

Ground Control’s responsibilities are often fairly black and white: Help-ing attendees in need is the focus. And then there are gray areas. Sometimes, Ground Controllers witness quarrels between lovers, and there is debate about whether to intervene. And though illegal narcotics are technically prohib-ited inside the festival grounds, some partygoers still manage to ingest a rain-bow array of psychedelic substances.

“Safety is our priority,” Newton says. “It’s not our decision how to take care of a patient. We always have them checked out immediately if we feel they’re having a difficult time. We make sure that they receive the medi-cal attention they need. Sometimes, we tell white lies. If someone wants to know where the fairies are, we tell them the nurses are the fairies.”

Individuals can behave in interesting ways when they’re in altered states. In 2012, a video of an intoxicated girl get-ting intimate with a tree at Miami’s Ul-tra Fest went viral. While hugging trees may be good for your health, the girl in this instance may not have wanted to be the focus of tens of thousands of inter-net gawkers. Ground Control doesn’t want that to happen on its watch.

“We teach team members that it’s not OK for someone to photograph another person without their con-sent,” Newton says. “If we see people trying to photograph others, we ask them to stop. The girl from the Ultra video has a family and a career. We’d never want that to happen to us, so our team makes sure that they protect everyone else’s privacy.”

Ground Control considers itself the heartbeat of Insomniac. Just like an ac-tual heartbeat, Ground Controllers are rarely hard to find.

“If you’re looking for Ground Con-trol at EDC [or any other Insomniac festival], you can find them at the Ground Control Oasis—a cool, relaxing area where you can take a break and learn about our team, in front of all the first-aid tents, roaming in visible areas around the event and at all the water stations,” Newton says. “Their guest services cohorts are at the ADA access center, ADA viewing areas, lost and found and information booths.”

Interested in working with Ground Control? Email them at GroundControl @Insomniac.com. And either way, stay happy, healthy and hydrated.

Ground Control to Major Festival

Going to EDC? These do-good partiers totally have your back By George Peele

Look for the purple shirt: Ground Control to the rescue!

E D C W E E K

OLIVER HELDENSTHU 16 JUN

STEVE AOKIFRI 17 JUN

DADA LIFESAT 18 JUN

LIL JON DJ SETMON 20 JUN

JEWELNIGHTCLUB.COM \ OPEN MONDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY, & SATURDAY \ 702.590.8000

U P C OM I NG D A T E S

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THU 23 JUN

FRI 24 JUN

SAT 25 JUN

MON 27 JUN

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NIGHTLIFE

PARTIES

See more photos from this gallery at SPYONvegas.com

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[ UPCOMING ]

June 16 Hardwell spinsJune 17 Axwell ^ Ingrosso spinsJune 18 Calvin Harris and Generik spin

THE CHEAT SHEET

EDC WEEK FOMO MINIMIZERS➜ Missed out on your chance to party under the electric sky? Couldn’t afford a wristband? No worries—there are still tons of parties to hit up over the weekend, since more than 250 acts are in town anyway. Hit up these places to minimize your FOMO and maximize your fun.

THU 16 Sure, the bassPOD may be at the Speedway, but tonight the low

end lives at The Joint for Bassrush Massive. Some of EDC’s most punishing dubstep acts such as Excision, Datsik, Snails, Delta Heavy and more are bringing the house down. Bring earplugs. (In Hard Rock Hotel, 8 p.m., HardRockHotel.com/TheJoint.) Found Events brings fast-rising San Diego house DJ/producer Harvard Bass to DTLV. Joining him is underground techno vet Craig Williams. These two names may not be familiar, but they’re welcome additions to the list of big-name DJs in town. (At Rumor Pool, 12 p.m., WideAwakeLV.com.) Still hungry for those bigger names? Hit up the Cosmopolitan for an all-day bender that begins with future house great Jauz at Marquee Dayclub and the unlikely team-up of Galantis and Loco Dice at Marquee. (At the Cosmopolitan 11 a.m., MarqueeLasVegas.com.)

FRI 17 Chart-topping rap is king at Brooklyn Bowl’s Drake vs. Kanye

tribute party. The rappers aren’t likely to make an appearance, but who knows? (At the Linq, 8 p.m., Vegas.BrooklynBowl.com.) Rap not your thing? Let Lisse’s soothing vocals in Morgan Page’s “Fight For You” calm you when he drops it at Light. (In Mandalay Bay,10:30 p.m., TheLightVegas.com.)

SAT 18 Sure, Martin Garrix is a regular at Omnia, but tonight, you can catch

him along with Russian house heads Matisse & Sadko while Devin Lucien mans the decks at Heart of Omnia. That’s three huge names—all in one megaclub! (In Caesars Palace, 10 p.m., OmniaNightclub.com.)

SUN 19 Take a dive at Drai’s Beachclub when Dutch DJ and producer

Quintino hits the decks. Then take a well-deserved breather and become a creature of the night at Drai’s Afterhours. The club makes a triumphant return with Frenchman Chris Garcia and friends. Give ’em a warm welcome. (In the Cromwell, 10:30 p.m., DraisNightlife.com.)

MON 20 Are you worn out yet? Cool off with two more pool parties. First,

take a dive with Steve Aoki at Wet Republic (at MGM Grand, 11 a.m., WetRepublic.com.), then the grand team-up of Skrillex and Diplo at XS Nightswim. These parties may not be relaxing in the literal sense, but you can wade in and listen to some of the hottest tunes such as Jack Ü’s “Mind (featuring Kai).” (In Encore, 10 p.m., XSLasVegas.com.) –Ian Caramanzana

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Restaurant reviews, news and praise for the espresso martini

He wanted something more than the grind of

‘afternoon tea, breakfast, lunch, dinner [and] midnight buffets.’

CHRIS VAUGHN | PAGE 56

DINING

➜ THE COSMOPOLITAN is in the midst of a dining reboot with the impending arrivals of Zuma, Momofuku, Milk Bar and something new from the Brombergs in the Blue Rib-bon Sushi space. The first major glimpse of Cosmo Dining 2.0, however, is Beauty & Essex by celebrity chef Chris Santos, which opened on May 16. The restaurant, which replaces the French bistro Comme Ça, is designed as a pawn shop-inspired retail store with a hid-den door that leads to the full bar, lounge and three dining rooms. My wife—an outspoken critic of places she sees as “gimmicky”—bristles at the schizophrenic concept, while I enjoy checking out the jewelry, musical instruments and quirky knick-knacks that are ostensibly for sale out front. Once we pass through the hid-den door, however, we’re in total agreement. This is a gorgeous, sexy restaurant with deli-cious food that somehow manages to stand out as unique even in our crowded culinary scene.

In a recent interview, Santos described the vibe at his new spot as a combination of “Low-er East Side New York grit” and something “kind of glam-y,” along the lines of 1970s David Bowie or T-Rex. While I don’t see a lot of grit in the dining area, the glam Bowie comparison is dead-on. Room partitions are made from ornate pendants strung from delicate chains. Wall panels portray embroidered peacocks, with feathers arranged in nearby vases. And the chandelier lighting is fragile and elegant. Like glam rock and its stars, the space is simul-taneously polished, sexy, mysterious and hip.

The first page of the menu is a collection of a dozen specialty cocktails. That is followed by a single-page wine list, a quartet of virgin cocktails and eight beer choices. Food offerings begin with an extended raw bar selection that includes ceviche, tacos, sashimi and steak. The fancy toast trend is well represented with five varied options. Other shareable offerings in-clude playful twists on Mexican, American and Italian comfort foods. And the entrée section features pastas, meats and chicken.

My first exploration of the menu was a meal for a midsize group, curated by Santos himself. I was so impressed, I returned with my wife just a few days later.

From the raw bar, tiny bite-size portions of tomato tartare with cooked quail egg on Par-mesan crostini are a beautiful vegetarian treat. But the real star of this section is the well-seasoned steak tartare served atop the type of crispy rice cake you sometimes find in sushi, accented with a bit of chive.

Three dishes from the appetizer section are also outstanding. Miniature empanadas packed with the makings of chilis rellenos have a moist crust and flavor-packed center. A mushroom pizzetta combines sweet whipped ricotta, slightly salty sautéed mushrooms and earthy truffle oil. And beer-batter lobster tacos are a demonstration of exactly how this beach staple should be done.

Not all of the small plates are home runs, however. Tuna poke in wonton tacos shells and an order of avocado toast with lemon

More Than Skin DeepTao Group’s New York import Beauty & Essex is no pawn, but a major player in the Cosmopolitan’s dining revamp By Al Mancini

Enter through the pawn shop and enjoy hand-cut steak tartare.

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cies in Las Vegas in 2014. In 2015, that number was cut in half, and in 2016, it’s being halved again.

“I am not here to say that the EDM bubble is bursting,” Minichino says. “There are still 5,000 people that go see the major EDM producers (at any given nightclub). We needed to be more strategic.”

Minichino and Kreeger realized that live entertainment could be the major attraction the resort needed. Inspired, SLS struck a partnership with Live Nation to transform Life into an intimate 1,800-capacity live music venue called The Foundry. The project timeline was just four weeks.

Now, four months after its Febru-ary opening—and following a flurry of sold-out performances from acts such as X-Ambassadors, Kid Cudi, Santigold, Buck Cherry, Awolnation and Adam Lambert—The Foundry is an apparent success.

“The feedback that we have got-ten from the fans and the talent—it couldn't have turned out any better,” Minichino says, noting that the venue’s first eight shows drew more than 15,000 people.

“These are all bodies that would not be coming here if we didn't have these events,” he says. “More people bring not only more drinks sold and dinner reservations made, but also energy and atmosphere. … It’s what helps drive restaurant covers, what

helps drive additional people to the casino floor, which helps drive hotel rooms. For every event that's booked, we have to understand how it's going to impact the property.”

Throwing high-impact parties is how Minichino built his career. His nightclub industry roots are deep, starting with Pure Management Group (when their portfolio included Coyote Ugly and Pure), moving on to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, and then to Angel Management Group’s nightlife and daylife stake in Atlantic City’s billion-dollar property Revel.

Minichino met Kreeger, former president of Revel, while they were both working the Jersey shore. In 2014, Kreeger returned to Vegas to ramp up SLS, right around the time Minichino was itching to come back.

“After being in Vegas for 10-plus years, it's a really tough market to move out of, because you get so used to everything,” Minichino says. “The opportunity to come back and work on a project where I had a chance to

make a strong, positive impact was fulfilling. This has really helped me transition into the role of a senior ex-ecutive who can visualize what's best for the property, not just one venue.”

In this case, what was best for the property was the addition of one venue. The Foundry’s program-ming—incorporating a wide range of musical styles—has been strongly embraced by locals.

“The Foundry’s crowd is about 50/50 local to tourist,” Minichino says. “When locals are exposed to all the amenities we have to offer, they fall in love. On Friday night we had Adam Lambert; Saturday night, we had Santigold; and then on Sunday night, we did a closing party for the Academy of Country Music Festival with Dustin Lynch, Jana Kramer and Old Dominion. It was sold out every single night. I can guarantee you that nobody that came here Friday was here on Saturday. Nobody here on Saturday was here on Sunday. This is a venue that can be welcomed

by any sort of music lover.”It’s easy to welcome The Foundry

into your life. It’s a terrific venue. It’s big at 20,000 square feet, but feels intimate because the stage is so large; at 25-by-65 feet, it fills almost the entire length of the room. While it’s mostly general admission, there are 12 VIP booths incorporated into the tiered, showroom-style design, and the bars are located on the sides of the stage—a godsend for any Vegas music fan who’s grimaced while quiet songs are ruined by the din of clinking bottles and people shouting out drink orders. Twenty state-of-the-art Danley Sound Labs speakers and eight amplifiers with output exceeding 100,000 watts pump out a pristine wall of sound. And there are five 75-foot LED screens providing an even closer look at the stage.

“It's a stage that belongs in a 5,000-person room,” Minichino says. “It really does give something back to the artist. They get to really feel the emotion of their fan base.”

While showrooms in casinos are nothing new, Minichino says the loy-alty that patrons have to live music is something he’s proud to be part of.

“There were people lined up at seven in the morning to see Adam Lambert,” he says. “The dedication of people wanting to see some of the live events that we've thrown at The Foundry is just remarkable.”

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"I am not here to say that the EDM bubble is bursting. There are still 5,000 people that go see the major EDM producers (at any given nightclub). We needed to be more strategic. "

LIVE AT THE FOUNDRY Clockwise from left: Adam Lambert, Gorgon City, Neon Cowboy and Santigold.

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You’re hosting the 2016 NHL Awards at

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, and you’re a

big hockey fan. Which players are you

excited to meet?

I don’t want to single anyone. Mostly, I don’t want to make it weird for them. I’m such a big hockey fan that hockey players are the one group of people I get sincerely star-struck by.

But if I have to pick, of the current

players, I’d be in awe to meet Sidney Crosby and Patrick Kane. I would probably be at a loss as to what to say to those dudes. My all-time hero is retired Wendel Clark, former Toronto Maple Leaf. That’s a guy I would seri-ously fan boy over. I’ve had the op-portunity to meet him before, but I’ve never done it, because I’m just too nervous to meet the dude.

Las Vegas could be getting an NHL

team soon. What do you think the

team’s name should be?

Of course, the Gamblers would be good. Maybe the Jackpots? The Las Vegas Strips? I don’t know if the Devils would be cool with this, but the Las Vegas Desert Demons could work. Or just the Roadrunners.

It would be great [for Las Vegas] to have

a team. With the new (T-Mobile) arena, if they could somehow convince the NHL to get a team there and with the prospec-tive move of the Raiders, overnight Vegas could become a very serious sports town in its own right. That would be great.

You hosted the Late Late Show last year.

How do you prepare for hosting gigs?

I do a lot of staring into the mirror and yelling at myself like a coach would. A lot of “Do you have it in you to be a champi-on?” “What are you made of?” I act like a real hard-ass coach with myself. You know, look for the eye of the tiger.

You’ve starred in Teenage Mutant Ninja

Turtles and your Netflix series Flaked,

both released this year, and have voiced

several characters, including Batman from

The LEGO Movie and the animated series

BoJack Horseman. Do you have a prefer-

ence between live action and voice acting?

They both scratch a different itch for me. One of the great things about working on BoJack or LEGO Batman is I can go in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. I can be dishev-eled and don’t have to get ready, and it’s great to create a character just using my voice. When I was working on the Turtles movie, I was running around, and I get to be more physical. When I was working on Flaked, I got to ride my bike around Ven-ice and be outside. Each one is fun and interesting for different reasons.

Do you ever find yourself doing the

Batman voice at home?

It is something I’ve been known to do. I usually drop into [that voice] when I need to get stuff done around the house with the kids. They respond bet-ter. I find the lower and slower I speak, the more power I have. Kinda like [in Batman voice] “Guys, it’s time to clean up your toys.” That really gets it done.

BoJack Horseman returns to Netflix

in July for its third season. What can

we expect?

We laid the groundwork in the first two seasons that took people on an unexpected ride. On the surface, it’s a droll look at the pitfalls and machina-tions of Hollywood. But once you get into it, you see there’s a lot more going on. It’s sort of a dissertation on depres-sion. In Season 3, we go deeper into what is really going on with BoJack, how he got to this place and how he can move on and live in this world.

How would Gob Bluth, your dim magician

character from Arrested Development,

stack up against Criss Angel?

Criss Angel is a more refined Gob. He has the routine down a little more. Gob is not the brightest dude. He un-derstands the showman aspect of his acts, but he hasn’t really mastered the magic. So if he spent a little more time mastering that, he might’ve had the career that Criss Angel has.

I would like to see them in a magic contest. I think Gob would win. Gob’s most successful trick was when he made a yacht disappear, so we’d need a large body of water.

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Will ArnettThe actor on which hockey players he’s too nervous to meet, BoJack Horseman’s

third season and what Gob Bluth could learn from Criss Angel By Nicole Ely