Las Vegas Weekly

September 28, 2009 · 2:36 PM

Photo Gallery: Emeril’s Stadium soiree with sports and Hollywood stars

By Robin Leach

Emeril Lagasse and Venetian and Palazzo President Rob Goldstein.

Photo: TVT

It was a Super Bowl-sized mega-sports star party for the opening night of celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse’s new Stadium Bar & Grill in the Palazzo complete with its own sports book as a Las Vegas first!

Venetian and Palazzo President Rob Goldstein introduced the “kick it up a notch” New Orleans-based chef who has three other outposts here: Delmonico’s and Table 10 at the Venetian and Palazzo and Emeril’s Fish House at MGM Grand.

“This, though, has been the dream,” Emeril said. “It’s a year ago, Robin, that I first revealed to you what we were planning. It’s turned out bigger and better than I ever dared think.”

The uber sports fanatic was in heaven with the huge turnout of celebrity sports fans and athletes who came out for the gala party complete with brass marching band and cheerleading squad!

As you can see from our jam-packed photo gallery, it was one massive, star-filled celebration: Entourage stars Jeremy Piven, Kevin Dillon and Rex Lee; Dancing With the Stars beauty Melissa Rycroft and fiance Tye Strickland; Olympic champions decathlete Bruce Jenner and swimmer Dara Torres; racecar driver Danica Patrick; L.A. Lakers star player Derek Fisher and Lakers coach Brian Shaw; retired NFL star Warren Sapp; retired NBA player Gary Payton; MLB pitcher Greg Maddux; Howard Stern’s wife model Beth Ostrosky; Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’s Carson Kressley; actors Dan Cortese and Chazz Palminteri; and many more!

“As a longtime season ticket-holder, on big game days, you’ll find me tailgating with friends and supporting my favorite teams,” Emeril said. “I’m happy to team up again with our friends at the Palazzo to create the ultimate sports establishment. At Stadium, we’ll be serving serious food for serious fans.”

Inspired by two of Emeril’s lifelong passions -- cooking and sports -- Lagasse’s Stadium marks a new dining standard for a sports and entertainment venue. Custom sports viewing walls consisting of 109 HDTV screens provide unprecedented access to nearly every major sporting event around the world! I was privileged to hang out in the VIP section for the stars, and Warren even insisted that I pose for a photo with him!

Here are my juicy jottings of gorgeous gossip, which are almost better to me than the best dishes Emeril always serves!

Bruce Jenner

Bruce Jenner gave me a heads-up on all the details of stepdaughter Khloe Kardashian’s weekend wedding to L.A. Lakers star Lamar Odom. “Not a traditional wedding because she doesn’t want to even do a first dance or have a maid of honor,” Bruce told me, revealing in all the rush of the romance, he’d only met the groom two days earlier! He said he’d heard his stepdaughter’s engagement announced on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show before he knew it from Khloe herself! “I thought it was a joke, but it turned into a spectacular wedding for the reality TV show cameras. I’ve no idea how my wife pulled it all off with 250 guests in less than a week. My only duty was to walk her down the aisle. I had to get away from all the excitement and drama and escape to Emeril’s party here. He was my former neighbor in L.A. for a time.”

Incidentally, when I asked about the latest between his other stepdaughter Kim and New Orleans Saints star Reggie Bush, I told Bruce that she’d informed me a week earlier that it was finally kaput and that she wasn’t going to date anymore sports stars. “I personally think they will eventually get back together again. They just have to find a way to work out their conflicting schedules,” Bruce said.

The new Sugar Factory at The Mirage provided some of the delectable desserts for the nuptials. Lamar, who is nicknamed “Candyman,” must have been in the four-point zone with the decadent display that included jumbo champagne glasses filled with gumballs, lollipop bouquets with Sugar Factory Coil Pops and much more. Khloe and Kim have endorsed their own Couture Pops.

Danica Patrick

Racecar driver Danica Patrick, who is rumored to be moving to be the first female in NASCAR history, told Emeril that her husband Paul gave her an Emeril bread maker last Christmas. Danica’s a foodie and cooking fan, and now she wants Emeril to work out some cooking lessons for her!

Entourage stars

Kevin Dillon chatted with Emeril about some fun ideas he had for the next season of Entourage. He wants the chef as a guest on their show teaching him and the boys how to cook. Jeremy Piven had to apologize to legendary Atlanta Braves pitcher Greg Maddux for wearing a New York Mets shirt! Jeremy also tried to put Rex Lee on the spot when legendary football player Warren Sapp approached them shouting out his character name Lloyd. Jeremy: “Warren, Rex doesn’t know who you are.” Rex: “Yes, I do. Warren Sapp!” Jeremy with hands up said: “I stand corrected.” It also was fun watching Warren having to stand on his tiptoes so he would be as tall as basketball stars Gary Payton, Brian Shaw and Derek Fisher for their photo!

Melissa Rycroft

I loved chatting with former Bachelor star Melissa Rycroft, who is now a regular on Good Morning America. She goofed around with pom-poms, struck some old Dallas Cowboy cheerleading poses for our cameras and did a double-dip with Tye to remind us of her Dancing With the Stars run. Melissa showed me her blinged-out diamond engagement ring and her new stilettos! She told me that Tye and she will celebrate with bachelor and bachelorette parties here in Vegas in mid-November at the Palazzo before their December wedding! We even got fellow DWTS contestant Warren to show off a few steps with Melissa!

Beth Ostrosky

The stunner of the night, though, was satellite radio personality Howard Stern’s wife Beth Ostrosky, who dazzled in a figure-fitting black mini dress that had nude cutouts on one side from hem to neckline! Beth told me that Howard and she were going to enjoy a honeymoon-styled romantic weekend in Las Vegas at the Four Seasons, as they’d been apart for two weeks and faced a further two-week separation while she filmed ABC’s Face of Vegas here.

Dara Torres

The most fun moment of the glittering night, though, for me was when I met Olympic gold medalist swimmer Dara Torres. She actually pulled up her skirt to show me her twitch muscles a little above her knee. They propel you through the water in a swim race. She explained that my twitch was only 30 times a minute like most other people, but hers is 70 times a minute! I never knew such things before, so you do learn something new every day.

Enjoy all the candid photos, and we’ll be back tomorrow here at Vegas DeLuxe with our one-on-one chat with Emeril, plus his personal photo tour of Lagasse’s Stadium.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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