Las Vegas Weekly

December 23, 2008 · 12:35 PM

Strip Scribbles: $10,000 Black Pearl cocktail is on the menu at Encore’s XS

By Robin Leach

The XS pool at night.

Photo: TVT

My bet is that when the new XS nightclub opens at the Encore to its fully sold-out crowd on New Year’s Eve, more than one of the new Black Pearl drinks will be sold -- even though it’s $10,000! It is the world’s most expensive cocktail -- but you do get two glasses of the concoction to share with your soul mate. The club’s new signature cocktail will actually be known simply as The One, and the cocktail recipe is of rare vintage Dom Perignon Enotheque champagne and a shot of prized Louis XIII Remy Martin Black Pearl cognac. You can’t get more expensive champagne or cognac if you tried. As a keepsake of experiencing the world’s best, you will be presented with either a ladies 18k gold chain and black pearl pendant or a set of men’s sterling silver cufflinks with black pearl insignias.

*Is it possibly true that included in the new contract Steve Wynn executed with entertainer Danny Gans, he gets two rounds of golf a week as a perk at the prestigious and super-private Shadow Creek Club? Danny is adding 50 percent new material to his long-running Strip show, which moves to Steve’s new Encore in February. … Other leftover notes from my opening-night jottings: It took a total of three years from start to finish to execute the sprawling XS day-and-night entertainment complex. … The Switch restaurant, where the ceiling and walls change five times during the unique dining experience, was Steve’s very own idea -- and it’s the only restaurant in the world that becomes its own different venue nightly! I’ve got a reservation there next Monday with my longtime friend executive chef Marc Poidevin. Although we’ll have photos of Marc in his kitchen and at his antique Parma ham-slicing machine, The Switch is the one restaurant Steve says he will never allow to be photographed by anybody for any reason. That’s solely because you have to see the amazement with your own eyes as the changing scenes, sliding walls and retracting ceilings could never be captured on film or video for full effect. I’ll do my best to describe it for you next week, but my advance peek yesterday proved it will be more than the food that will make your mouth open wide! … The official red-carpet, star- studded gala opening of Encore will be Jan. 24 to coincide with Steve’s own birthday, and more than 200 VIP guests including Hollywood celebrities will be on hand for that soiree!

*Rumors are running rampant that Fuego Raw Talent, the high-energy Latin dance production at the Sahara, will close there early January but will be downsized into cabaret acts for a new nightclub opening in the springtime at the Palazzo. In the interim, the performers will appear on the first reality show for Spanish-language Telemundo Las Vegas. The series starts airing this Saturday, and each weekly half-hour will delve into the lives of the cast members complete with their dramas, romances and rivalries. Latino star Rene Lavan hosts the reality series. … Heavy whispers that Stomp Out Loud at Planet Hollywood will move into the Sahara in its place. … It’s also rumored that the Las Vegas Hilton plans to completely overhaul its entertainment lineup this spring and that the Scintas will be among those departing for a TV series in March.

*In a late-breaking series of escalating rumbles this morning, it may well be that yet another major Strip hotel will be sold now to an out-of-state gaming company with plenty of cash on hand that has been looking for a while to expand into Las Vegas. This could be very interesting to see new neighbors at play as Steve Wynn keeps insisting “let’s decorporatize the Strip” -- as he did at last night’s Encore opening.

*Our contributing photographer Scott Harrison was right up close with Lamb of God when the Virginia-based group performed at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay. So close onstage he could have joined lead singer Randy Blythe’s dramatic peak performance! You can tell by Scott’s extraordinary photos.

*Star surveillance: Basketball biggie turned mega businessman Magic Johnson decided that Asian delicacies of sushi and sashimi were just the right taste treat when he hit George Maloof’s Little Buddha Bar at the Palms. … Longtime pop princess Deborah Gibson was among the host of TV actors -- including Jeremy Jackson, Lauren Storm and Nolan Gerard Clark -- who showed up at Blush in the Wynn for the Royal Plush clothing unveiling of new lifestyle apparel accessories available exclusively at Steve Wynn’s properties.

*My other out-and-about, on-the-town photo grab bag of goodies this morning includes the backstage visit that master magician Lance Burton from the Monte Carlo paid to fellow Strip headliners Donny & Marie Osmond at the Flamingo before they closed for a month’s holiday vacation. Donny & Marie return Jan. 20. … U.S. Open doubles champion Mike Bryan surprised his girlfriend Lucile with birthday tickets to Cirque du Soleil’s Mystere at Treasure Island. We snapped them in the brief moment they stopped snacking on popcorn and holding hands to cuddle up through the show. … Baseball legend Pete Rose was kept busy signing memorabilia when he did a meet and greet with fans at the Field of Dreams sports store inside the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. … Reality TV star Angelique, better known as Frenchie from Rock of Love and Charm School, zipped off her party dress to reveal a pink stripper’s outfit so she could party on the pole at Jet nightclub in The Mirage. … And finally great to see DJ AM, real name Adam Goldstein, fully back in action after that fiery plane crash he survived. He was on his wheels of steel at a special Pure nightclub Toys for Tots charity fundraiser with professional poker players David Williams and Theo Tran joining in the benefit.

Tonight’s tip

Elvis Presley look-alike Trent Carlini brings his Dream King costume to ride the guest sleigh for The Nutcracker performance this evening at the UNLV Judy Bayley Theater. I hear Lance Burton or Terry Fator might ride it before my gossip guru colleague Norm Clarke closes out the annual show on Sunday afternoon. … Funnyman John Mulrooney starts a week’s run at Harrah’s Improv Club with fellow comics Carrie Snow and David Gee. John, an old friend of mine, is one of the funniest comedy headliners on the laugh circuit today. He hosted Fox’s Late Show after Joan Rivers and followed with Comic Strip Live for two years.

Tomorrow’s tease

Is it possible for one high roller to spend more than $160 million during three years of play at two of our Strip casinos? He is alleged to have lost more than $60 million and single-handedly to have “contributed” as much as one-third of one casino’s “win” in one financial reporting period! In addition to dozens of round-trip private jet trips, grateful executives gave him a $400,000 thank you Ferrari that was seized from his parking space yesterday! The scandal is breaking wide open now that IRS agents have stormed his office at Fry’s Electronics headquarters in San Jose, Calif., where he was a $225,000-a-year salaried employee after starting with the company as a computer salesman. The Feds have charged him with a massive, fraudulent kickback scheme and dragged him into court to face a string of corruption charges that will send shockwaves up and down our Strip!

The sexy, sassy Crazy Girls give whole new meaning to the 12 days of Christmas -- and it’s a daily, eye-popping photo pictorial for the holiday season as lords go leaping and maids go milking! Plus we’ve got the full rundown from Christmas Eve through the weekend of everything that’s hot, happy and happening over the holidays!

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