Las Vegas Weekly

June 26, 2008 · 6 AM

Something old, something, new, something borrowed … and an elephant

By Robin Leach

Deepak Nath's nuptial ride has plenty of trunk room.

The easiest assignment was getting a live elephant -- and that only cost the groom a mere $5,000! But when they tallied up all the other expenses, the wedding at the exclusive and private Stirling Club at Turnberry Place, opposite the Las Vegas Hilton on Paradise Road, ran far more than $1 million! For entrepreneur Deepak Nath, it was a case of “money’s no object” when he married his bride Sara Hlavka (a student) with more than 660 guests on hand for his grand entrance on a fully decorated elephant as east met west!

Here’s the ching-ching of the cash register: wedding dress $12,000, necklace for the ceremony $152,000, jewelry to change for reception $60,000, two-days of entertainment $150,000, food and beverage for over 600 guests $210,000, indoor pyrotechnics $10,000, plus fountain and firework extravaganzas and aerialists, performers, a jazz band and a concert performance by Sukhwinder Singh, the Justin Timberlake of India, who flew all the way from Asia to Vegas! There was even a special henna makeup artist for the bride, whose temporary tattoos cost $5,000! Included in the arrival procession at the Stirling Club was a motorized human boom box complete with DJ twisting the turntables through the speakers!

The altar for the wedding vows was set up in the middle of the swimming pool, which had a glass floor placed over it to hold the 21 groomsmen and 11 bridesmaids and let them all feel they were “walking on water.” His gourmet kitchen prepared both Indian and American taste treats along with a “Dream Bar” dessert with coconuts and almonds. That proved so popular the family ordered 100 bars to go home with! Charlie tells me he’ll juggle everything from an intimate wedding for just 25 to a midsized matrimonial meal for up to 80 or a huge 1,000 sit-down! He’s provided everything from photo booths to Vegas showgirls to Rat Pack imitation singers for his wow weddings. “There’s nothing we can’t do or make happen magically -- so long as it’s legal,” he smiled.

On July 12, the “Enchanted Bridal Affair” showcase will be held at the Stirling Club complete with a bridal fashion show, entertainment and Charlie Palmer f&b taste treats -– so if you’re planning a wedding bash, go check him out.

Incidentally, the elephant arrived on a 65-foott trailer that was too big to fit through the Turnberry gates, so traffic had to be stopped along Paradise as it was unloaded and then walked through the gates under its own speed! Deepak mounted the elephant for the one-hour procession along the driveways to the pool where the bride was waiting at the altar.

If you think this was a Rich & Famous-type segment, remember this one doesn’t put the icing on the wedding cake! Three years ago, I went to a Four Seasons party here in Vegas where a Russian couple celebrated their wedding anniversary in lavish style. The ballroom was transformed into a winter wonderland complete with falling snowflakes and an ice rink that set them back a cool $5 million. Oh yes, love is grand -- but also rather expensive!

CHER’S NIGHTOUT RESULTS IN ATTACKER BEING CHARGED:

After Caesars Palace headliner Cher was repeatedly harassed and grabbed by the waist, police officers charged Calvin Houghland with disorderly conduct and public intoxication. Police said the 36-year-old assailant tried to make contact with Cher, who was sitting in a roped-off area in the Tootsie's nightclub in Nashville at 1 a.m. Wednesday. Security ordered him to leave, but he returned later and managed to reach past the roped-off area and grabbed Cher by the waist. It remains unknown as to why Cher was in Nashville and out late-night in the club.

Houghland was immediately escorted out of the nightclub, but returned a third time. He allegedly confronted the Oscar winning actress-singer in an aggressive manner but security blocked him. Ironically Houghland called police and said he was assaulted! But when police investigated they learned that Houghland actually assaulted Cher when he grabbed her by the waist. The star declined to press charges she, but then Houghland demanded police arrest him. He admitted to drinking and failed a field sobriety test.

While locked up in jail yesterday his bond was set at $3,000 and a hearing for his court appearance will be set for a future date.

LANCE BURTON SAWS BARBARA WALTERS IN HALF ON NETWORK TV:

She gritted her teeth, shut her eyes –- but in the interests of television ratings, View host Barbara Walters still went through with the magic stunt. She flinched a little as Monte Carlo headliner Lance Burton locked her in a box and proceeded to saw her in half Wednesday at the second show taping of the day. You’ll have to wait until Friday morning’s broadcast to see if she escaped unscathed. Lance took girlfriend Gabriella Versace with him -- and the View ladies gave her a front row seat to watch the trick. It’s the first time ever that the ABC News superstar has become an unwilling magician’s assistant!

TOP NEW YORK CHEF FINALLY GIVES INTO STEVE WYNN’S SEDUCTION TO LAUNCH FAMED “FARM TO TABLE” RESTAURANT CONCEPT:

One of America’s most pioneering and highly respected chefs has finally said “goodbye” to New York City and is opening a new restaurant at hotel tycoon Steve Wynn’s property. Legendary Larry Forgione, who is recognized as the “Godfather of American Cooking,” will open An American Place early next year, taking the place of Tableau in the exclusive Tower Suites there. (Chef Mark LoRusso moves to the new Encore property opening over the Christmas-New Year holidays in one of five new signature restaurants.)

I’ve been an unabashed fan of Larry and his American Place restaurants before I even started the Food Network and we featured him on Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous. Culinary legend James Beard suggested Larry name his restaurants An American Place, and it was his Beard Foundation that named him America’s Best Chef. Larry was also named Chef of the Year by the Culinary Institute of America, and nearly 30 years ago he co-founded American Spoon Foods, a specialty food company of all Northern Michigan home-grown preserves, relishes, dressings, fruits and nuts. His American Place Cookbook also won the Best American Cookbook from the Beard Foundation.

For his debut at Wynn, Larry promises all his menus will pay tribute to America’s bounty of regional ingredients exclusively featuring American grown, raised and produced foods honoring the tradition of sustainable farming. His one and only goal was to put real American food on the map and he used only domestic ingredients offering such taste treats as buffalo steaks and American caviars. It was a “farm to table” relationship never before seen in America, and it won Larry the coveted three stars from the New York Times as champion of regional seasonal American food. He told me he’ll even be encouraging Nevada farmers to jump on the bandwagon!

Steve commented: “Larry was the first chef to focus exclusively on American ingredients and cuisine. His vision and commitment to sustainability paved the way for today’s chefs. We are honored to have him make his new home in our city.”

I sat down with my longtime friend in his new restaurant site at the Wynn, and he admitted he’d never planned on moving to Vegas. But he discovered that it’s not just the Strip and that there are communities for great living and good feelings. Here’s our exclusive conversation:

Robin Leach: You were 30 years ahead in sustainable produce. You did it, you stuck with it and only now are all the other chefs playing catch-up!

Larry Forgione: Thirty years ago there weren’t that many people who would read a purveyors list and say, “Okay, I will order these things.” I think it is great that it has finally come to fruition. Today they are on the phone ordering, but 30 years ago we made 500 phone calls tracking down the mushroom hunter.

R.L.: Were you surprised to come out here and learn how food-crazy Vegas is?

L.F.: It has to be a dining capital of the world now -– and Steve gave me a completely blank slate for this. He was excited that it was here, he wants it to be a real American Place. He has ideas of how he wants it to look but he said keep doing what you are doing. He wants us to be what we stand for and what we have accomplished. I will be moving here full-time, yes. It makes sense. If you look at what some of the other chefs are doing. They are opening steakhouses. They are opening things that don’t need their day-to-day personality in it. If I was looking to do a steakhouse I wouldn’t be moving here. This is a new chapter and this is my American Place, I need to be here.

R.L.: Think back to some things that you pioneered and stuck to your guns about. You mentioned the plank salmon.

L.F.: We started introducing things at the high-end level. I think we were one of the first places to do mashed potatoes, before that it was like mashed potatoes didn’t fit in the style of restaurant. We introduced barbecue flavors into restaurants. We looked at older principles of cooking with current food items. We did roasted oysters on the fire, covered with the burlap and waited till they popped. They didn’t even need a sauce. We are going to make the changes here to make the kitchen work. Tableau will close by December and then we’ll reopen in the middle of January as the new restaurant. Until then I’ll operate Tableau with a slight tweak of the menu for the seasonal change but we won’t introduce the American Place concept until after the new construction and new look.

R.L.: Why do you think food is key to the Vegas experience?

L.F.: I think originally everyone building a casino wanted the excesses. The fact that it caught on and stayed is very interesting to me. We all remember when Wolfgang Puck was the only one out here. He has paved the way for so many people out here. It started out as gaming for hard-core gamblers but today you have people coming here for other reasons. The Wynn is as beautiful a resort as any you will find anywhere in the world and fabulous food and No. 1 restaurants are now a key part of the vacation experience.

The growth of what is happening right now, this is going to keep going and going, as long as they figure out how to get water. I think the challenge now is to be able to find staffing to work with and train I am not huge on this food science and trying to figure out what pesto taste like when mixed with cellulose and baked while spread on a sheet. To me, that isn’t exciting. It really is just to keep it all natural and simple. I think it has always been that. In presentation, you can have all the fun you want, but we fought for the past 30 years to stop the processing of food, and now we have chefs processing it in their kitchens! So we will always remain “farm to table.” You can’t have great food without great ingredients. If you are staring out with substandard ingredients, the food will not be perfect. Keep it fresh, natural, and fun. It has to be something you enjoy doing.

TIGER SWINGS AT THE BANK DURING STRIP PARTY NIGHTS:

World golf champion Tiger Woods has given up the greens and the game for the year so he can repair his damaged knee and leg -– but that didn’t stop him from partying with friends at the Bank nightclub in the Beluga. Also there enjoying the music of DJ Bob Sincair was music sensation Gnarls Barkley and entourage out on the VIP balcony. Former Prada and Calvin Klein model DJ Quail won a permanent place in pop-culture acting in his debut movie RoadTrip with Tom Green –- and the ladies surrounded him at The Bank.

Next door at the Jet nightclub in the Mirage were Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Moon, with his wife and daughter. San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson and comedy kings Kevin James and Ray Romano after their tag-team show.

STRIP SCRIBBLES:

Just asking which angry Strip resort hotel chief has fired off angry phone calls and letters to a rival about the way the “closing notice exit” of one resident act is being handled. He fears that it creates a harmful impression before the entertainer re-surfaces at his new property next year.

Along with Anna Nicole Smith's lingerie, former boyfriend Larry Birkhead also bought Sammy Davis Jr.'s UNLV letterman jacket -- part of the preview display at Symbolic Gallery auctioned at Planet Hollywood during Julien’s Auctions' Summer Entertainment Sale. The jacket had "Sammy Davis Jr." embroidered in white thread on the right breast with the UNLV patch on the left breast, and "S Davis Jr" embroidered on an inside pocket. Valued at between $600 and $800, Birkhead paid $2,625 for the combo Hollywood-Vegas memorabilia. Symbolic Gallery here in Vegas is home of the world's largest privately held collection of Johnny Cash memorabilia and the world's second-largest privately held collection of original R. Crumb artwork.

Former Beauty of Magic showgirl Pamela Anderson is directing and editing her own new reality show, which gets an eight-episode run this summer on E! Entertainment TV. She says you will only get to see the “back of the heads” of her two kids with then-husband Tommy Lee, as facial shots are off-limits. Pamela says the show will be more documentary than reality, more self-portrait and art-project than trash and definitely not humiliating. You will get to see her reunion love fling with Tommy and also her selling lemonade at a charity yard sale near her Malibu home.

Star Surveillance: Actress and Laguna Beach alumnae Kristin Cavallari brought her former TV boyfriend and fellow actor Talan Torriero for a fun night at the Prive nightclub inside the Planet Hollywood. Her group enjoyed shots of Patron tequila and kicked off their shoes to dance barefooted until 3 a.m., when they said “goodnight” to all! … Rapper Trick Daddy enjoyed dinner at Strip House at Planet Hollywood … Pro boxer Sergio “The Latin Snake” Mora was among the sunbathers at the topless optional Venus pool club at Caesars Palace enjoying Corona beers and mango mojitos.

My old friend Mystic Mona has landed a new weekly psychic readings session. Mona Van Joseph will offer free readings every Thursday at Jillian’s on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas. Mystic Mona has appeared on the Biography series Dead Famous and she’s the only bona-fide privileged psychic accredited to assist in bizarre cases investigated by our Metro Police. Start your weekend right by seeing what’s in your future!

TONIGHTS TIP:

One of the original members of Dire Straits, talented guitarist and singer-songwriter Mark Knopfler, who wrote MTV’s “Money for Nothing” theme, goes solo at the Hard Rock with excerpts from both his Kill to Get Crimson and Golden Heart albums. Jesca Hoop is his special guest opening act … A one-of-a-kind Epiphone Les Paul guitar is up for grabs for one lucky winner at Ivan Kane’s “royal jelly rock-out” at his Forty Deuce club at Mandalay bay … Our local boxing hero and promoter Bob Arum has his Top Rank boxing card at the Orleans Arena, with the highlight matchup between Mexico’s Fernando Trejo (17 KOs) battling Anthony Peterson (19 KOs).

TOMORROW’S TEASE:

Hugh Hefner’s No. 1 love, Holly Madison, arrives on a Bunny Hunt audition to find the best new Playboy Club contender and thousands of Beatle fans and celebrities pour into town for the star-studded Beatles Festival. Our all-star USA “go for the gold” basketball team starts practice and workouts here in advance of the 08.08.08 showdown at the Beijing Olympics.

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