Las Vegas Weekly

September 22, 2008 · 5:11 PM

Entourage stars hit jackpot with $30,000 payday as they kick off SushiSamba party

By Robin Leach

It was a double jackpot win for the Entourage cast! Not only did they hit a winning $30,000 craps-shootout at the Palazzo but also a $1,700 blackjack win when they opened the new $14 million SushiSamba restaurant and SugarCane ultra lounge with an exciting Brazilian extravaganza. Actors Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara and actress Emmanuelle Chriqui happily showed me their winnings when I interviewed them on the “orange carpet” for the premiere gala night.

Photo: Scott Doctor

Chef Shaun King

Photo: Scott Doctor

Chefs Matt Cloyes, Joe Mendez and Shaun King

"It was a case of all for one and one for all," Kevin Dillon told me. “That’s why the show works so well. We really are a team. We work together. We stick together. We play together -- and we win, or lose, together. We know how Hollywood can split people apart but it isn’t happening with us. We’re not letting it -- and that’s why the show is a big hit going into its fifth season. The audience feels that bond between us.”

The Entourage stars ran late for the opening. “Simply because I was on a winning streak,” Kevin Connolly told me. “How can you leave the craps table when you’re on such a roll. While I had the dice and was rolling everything but sevens Kevin threw money down for blackjack and wound up $1,700 ahead. We pool our playing all the time! This was a great night!”

Photo: Scott Doctor

Emmanuelle Chriqui

Photo: TVT

Entourage cast members and SushiSamba owners.

Photo: Scott Doctor

Entourage cast members.

Photo: Scott Doctor

Entourage cast members.

It was the second consecutive weekend in Vegas for the Entourage stars -- but this time they were surrounded by more than 40 gorgeous geisha girls, sexy samba Brazilian dancers and thumping taiko drummers who led the carnival-parade right through the casino floor. The night lived up to its billing as "Pra Caramba" -- the Brazilian expression for "absolutely amazing." The welcome mat was an “orange carpet” to tie in with the theme of Carnivale, and the water of the three-story Palazzo waterfall and fountains was turned orange for the celebration. Among the stars attending were Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller fame, the cast of the Jersey Boys musical, comedian Rita Rudner, actress-supermodel Rachel Hunter, TV reality star Jack Osbourne, magic star Princess Scarlett, Zowie Bowie, actor Simon Rex and rap artist Mickey Avalon, who gave the debut eclectic music performance for the opening of the restaurant’s SugarCane club. Venetian Palazzo hotel executives Bill Weidner and Rob Goldstein also joined in the first-night fun.

My friends, SushiSamba owners Matt Johnson and Shimon Bokovza, also posed for photos with the Entourage cast. Matt told me: “SushiSamba restaurants are a big hit in New York, Miami, Chicago, Dallas and even Tel Aviv. But this is our biggest and most ambitious to date. It really is incredible food served completely new and different in an entirely new environment: Japanese food served South American-style. It's ultimate fusion with cerviche from Lima, tiraditos from Sao Paolo and the finest fish from Japan. We began this unique fusion in New York back in 1999 and it's gone on to become a huge hit, especially the foie gras in a sushi roll. Jessica Simpson, Derek Jeter and Drew Barrymore are just a few of our regulars who make it a must-dine experience when in New York.

Photo: Scott Doctor

Geishas at SushiSamba.

Photo: Scott Doctor

Kevin Dillon

Photo: Scott Doctor

Penn

“It's all about the festivities of Carnivale and the sexiness of the samba with the etiquette of a Japanese restaurant. Our restaurant seats 200 and is covered in a colorful wood and orange-hued ribbon with painted graffiti through the center ceiling that swoops down to become a tabletop at one point. Think of it all as fun dining rather than fine dining, although everybody raves about the food.”

(Click here for my full red carpet video coverage of all the stars at play –- including the UFC fighters about to go into the Octagon rumble at next month’s battle in MGM.)

The Entourage cast posed for photos with enthusiastic fans and then worked its way through SushiSamba's popular Japanese, Brazilian and Peruvian menu items including taquitos, a selection of sashimi, sushi and samba rolls, plus the Sea Bass and Filet Mignon specials from the unique Robata Grill -- a Japanese style charcoal grill. Adrian raved about his Chu-Cumber Martinis while the others stuck to THE 42-DEGREE COLD sake selections served by sexy sommelier Tiffany Dawn Soto. She even brought me a blueberry sake -- just one of her 124 varieties as the largest in Las Vegas -- for my red carpet duties! They also piled on the desserts of Mochi ice creams, Rosca Doughnuts and the fruit taquitos.

Later in the SushiSamba boutique nightclub SugarCane, they continued the revelry with club vodka sodas, beer and Patron tequila shots. Kevin Dillon and Jerry Ferrara rocked out to the music until 3 a.m. -- and then with that lucky gaming streak still in mind they returned for two more hours of craps and blackjack in the main Palazzo casino. My lips are sealed as to the full results of their successful visit but they were in great spirits shuffling to their suites for some shut-eye as dawn broke!

Photo: Scott Doctor

Shimone and Chef Joe Mendez.

Photo: Scott Doctor

Sushi Samba dancers.

Photo: Scott Doctor/www.greatscottstudios.com

Zowie Bowie, aka Marley Taylor and Chris Phillips, outside Sushi Samba.

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