I was wrong. Michael Jackson finally got a showroom in Vegas! In fact, the Joint at the Hard Rock was Jackson packed. Okay, I wasn't entirely wrong: nobody was paying money to see Jackson only to buy his old stuff.

New York based Mario Batali, winner of the 2005 James Beard Award for "Outstanding Chef of the Year," proved one of the last celebrity chefs to enter the Vegas market. But he did so with a vengeance this year, opening two restaurants, B & B ristorante and Enoteca San Marco, at the Venetian. Reached by phone he notes his choice of Vegas turns out to be no accident. "On close inspection of the rest of America the only scene that is close to like New York is Las Vegas. All the rest either go to bed too early or the don't start early enough or there just isn't enough people around to create the buzz we want."  Here is his list of top 5 cities for foodies.

 

1. New York

2. Portland and Seattle

3. New Orleans

4. Las Vegas

5. Philadelphia

 

As for Los Angeles, Batali notes: "The only reason we did a restaurant in Los Angeles is because my partner is Nancy Silverton, and I know she has the right spirit."

 

I am off to the Michel Jackson auction at the Hard Rock but expect more from this interview to appear on the Buffet.

photo by Evan Agostini/ImageDirect

Something is wrong at the Hard Rock. On Saturday night, on the usually busy Memorial Day Weekend, we easily found a parking spot in the Hard Rock garage. Normally, we don't try the garage at the Hard Rock even on weeknights. Inside, there was no bulge of people blocking the hallway waiting to get into the Pink Taco nor the usual pack of folks in front of the bathroom doors in the passage to the main casino.

 

The Hard Rock was once the hottest resort in town. The Palms aspired to compete with the Hard Rock back in 2001, and few, including me, expected that to work out. Now, it would be foolish to mention The Hard Rock and The Palms in the same sentence. The Hard Rock seems to have fallen at this point to a hipness quotient roughly equal to the Rio (post-Prince). In the past year or so the Palms has opened the fantasy tower suites, a recording studio, Moon, Playboy Club and the concert venue Pearl. The hot CineVegas film festival is about to return there. Meanwhile, the Hard Rock has simply become a year or so older.

 

A lot of this has to do with departure of owner Peter Morton, and a moribund new ownership making no discernible impact on the property. But if the Hard Rock doesn't get back in the game soon, Vegas will pass by this once vital resort, and it will become a time capsule to former glory. Let's face it, even the Hard Rock's music theme seems to be aging rabidly in a post-guitar era of nightclub DJs.

 

But there is one thing that still works for the Hard Rock: Beacher's Madhouse. In the otherwise mellow casino, the Madhouse was so packed on Saturday night that security at first blocked my entrance ("Line for people on the list starts over there."). I was let in after a few folks stumbled out. The Madhouse is always the hottest event in Vegas on the night it takes place, and that hasn't changed. This was the first Madhouse under the new owners. Considering how empty the rest of the casino seemed, I would consider doing Madhouse every week, instead of once a month. Because no matter how rundown the Hard Rock is starting to appear, Beacher somehow retains his magic for creating one of the wildest events in Vegas: sexist, crude, obnoxious and tasteless in every way. The Madhouse could only work in Las Vegas. That is the key to Beacher's magic. Certainly, David Saxe of V: The Ultimate Variety Show has as good an eye (if not better) for real talent. But Beacher's genius is not for what happens on stage (the fake Britney, the silly contests, the occasional comedian, the go-go dancers). Beacher's gift is for buzz and for creating an overall event that feels like the wild Vegas party you could never get invited into as a regular tourist. You leave the Madhouse knowing you are having a Vegas vacation. And, to a casino that feeling is priceless as it leads you direct to the slots and tables.

 

This Madhouse show was a practice soft opening. The big Madhouse return happens at the end of next month. Still, it is great to have Beacher and his crew back. It reminds me of the days when the Hard Rock and the Palms had some fierce competition for the young and rich LA tourists who were just discovering Vegas. I hope the new owners get on the ball soon, because competition like Beacher always makes Vegas a more exciting place to live.
(Photos by Sarah Gerke)

I have been mesmerized by "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon" by Crystal Zevon. The book is a warts and all authorized biography of her ex-husband the late, great songwriter Warren Zevon. Before he died in 2003, near the end of his life, Zevon was a regular performer at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay. But Zevon also had wilder years during which he visited Vegas. So, I spoke yesterday to Crystal Zevon who remembers first coming with Zevon to Vegas in the early 70's when he was the bandleader for the Everly Brothers as well as her marriage here to the Excitable Boy a few years later.

 

"I remember when he was playing with the Everly Brothers at the Landmark. He called me at home in the middle of the night and said you have to come to Vegas. At the time I had two foster children, and so, in the middle of the night, I found a babysitter and drove across the desert. When I got there it was 10 am. There was a note at the desk to meet him at the pool. He was down at the pool with a strong Bloody Mary in hand. He decided to prove how much he loved me because I came. So, he climbed to the top of the high dive. He was terrified but he jumped to show me he was willing to fall from great heights for me. That was a typical Warren thing where he would have to prove whatever. This was the time he wrote 'Mamma couldn't be Persuaded.'

 

"We got married in Las Vegas, too (May 25, 1974). We got married when things career wise were very up and down. Warren came in one day to our kitchen in Hollywood and he literally got down on one knee and proposed to me. We were afraid we might change our minds if we slept on it. So, we took acid and drove across the desert with a couple of our friends.We checked into the Stardust because his dad used to stay there. We got married at The Chapel of the Bells. We had to go find something borrowed and something blue and all of that. We felt wonderful. We were on acid. Then all of the sudden he got very serious and said that this wasn't good enough for my wedding. There wasn't even a ring. But I thought everything was perfect even not having any sleep. Until then it had been very romantic. But there wasn't a ring. So, Warren went into the bathroom. I don't know exactly what he did. But he was wet when he came back. He had a washer in his hand that he put on my finger. We thought the marriage would last forever."

Memorial Day Weekend is becoming a major weekend in Vegas. The Review-Journal reports the major hotels on the Strip are near capacity and that 295,000 tourists are expected. But whereas Vegas has become a destination for New Year's Eve, Memorial Day weekend remains an event driven celebration. Here are my picks out of the many holiday offerings:

May 25: Liza Minnelli is back for another run at the Luxor through Sunday. I was not a fan yet was blown away by a show she did last year. She remains one of the last links to old Vegas still on the Strip. Another good choice for a vintage Vegas night is Don Rickles at the Golden Nugget downtown.

May 26: The return of Beacher's Madhouse to the Hard Rock after almost a year sabbatical is the place to be. Also, Tiger Wood's annual benefit Tiger Jam concert this year featuring Bon Jovi is going on at Mandalay Bay Events Center.

May 27: Robin Williams performs at MGM Grand. Also, if you have the scratch and can face the line, Tao at the Venetian offers Tao Beach, the latest hottest poolside party (where private cabanas take  the place of bottle service tables) followed by Erick Morillo.

Have fun. Play safe.

I will be turning 40 on May 28. I have made no plans except for some people I hope to see. But what to do? I do know that I will be spending the time in Vegas. So, I am putting myself in the hands of Vegas. Feel free to e-mail me your suggestions for a birthday in Vegas, or to place your ideas in the comments section. Also, please share any stories of your birthdays in Vegas past.

I remember going to Harry Morton's birthday party at the Hard Rock. I was not there as a guest, but as a reporter to cover Snoop playing the 21 year-old heir's birthday party. A rich businessman once even hired The Rolling Stones to play a private birthday concert at the Hard Rock. Rolling Stone, the magazine, wanted me to cover it and the president of the Hard Rock agreed to sneak me inside. I struck out. The businessman hired his own out of town security team.

I think my most memorable birthday in Vegas is when an editor assigned me to spend 24-hours in a topless bar. This turned into an endurance marathon because I was so sick. Happy 36! I am thinking less extreme this year. I am older now. Anyway, have a good holiday weekend everyone.

Anything, that attracts negative publicity to Las Vegas gets noticed here. Even by tourist destination standards, we are a town that lives by others' image of us. And, so the national attention being paid to the downtown flag controversy is getting as least as much attention as the controversy, itself  The Las Vegas City Council has ordered a Hummer dealership to take down a flag flapping a 100 feet in the air. Neighbors find the flapping sound annoying, and the city only allows for a 40-foot high flag. The owner of the dealership tells the Review-Journal (in an article that grimly mentions twice how Fox News and CNN are covering the issue): "The building's oversized, the sign's oversized. A 40-foot flag would not turn anyone's head to the flag." The flag or the dealership? The owner of the Hummer dealership doesn't necessarily sound 60-feet more patriotic but seems to argue the nature of selling Hummers requires an oversized flag.  Is that a display of patriotism or a marketing necessity?

Nonetheless, according to the Review-Journal, the city has been bombarded by e-mail from those offended by this perceived attack on the differential: 60-feet worth of patriotism. One enraged tourist quoted in the paper announced that he canceled a planned trip to New York New York: "I don't want to stay in a city that will not let a business fly a USA flag." Is it even worth pointing out that New York New York, like the rest of  the Strip, isn't in the city of Las Vegas?

Anyway, I predict that this will end with the Hummer dealership getting its way. Our City Council are best known for whatever the opposite is of the word spine. And, image is everything in Las Vegas for both the city and Paradise Township where sits the Strip.