Las Vegas Weekly

April 14, 2010 · 2:56 PM

Photos: Danny DeVito and Mayor Oscar Goodman toast UNLVino

By Robin Leach

Larry Ruvo and Danny DeVito at the 2010 UNLVino event Bubble-Licious at Caesars Palace on April 8, 2010.

Photo: TVT

Actor Danny DeVito and his bubbly personality proved to be the first-night hit of the three-day Sip for a Scholarship festivities that comprise the 36th Annual UNLVino to raise scholarships to our William F. Harrah’s Hotel Administration College.

Danny launched his new Italian prosecco Bella at the Bubble-icious party at the Garden of the Gods pools in Caesars Palace on Night 1. Mayor Oscar Goodman with two showgirls on each arm paid respects to Caesars and Cleopatra and then told me how excited he was about the new direct Manchester-to-Las Vegas flights that will start twice weekly next April by Virgin Atlantic. He said that he’ll definitely go over a few days in advance to promote Las Vegas and then return on the inaugural flight.

Star chef Francois Payard, chocolatier at Caesars Palace, was honored with an Award of Excellence presentation marked by a 21-Dom Perignon champagne cork salute. Our thanks to photographers Ryan Conklin and his dad Roy for adding to my own shots. Ryan’s complete photo coverage is at Examiner.com.

Night 2 of revelry, Sake Fever, was at George Maloof’s Palms Pool & Bungalows with more than 75 sake grandmasters pouring some 300 varieties of the rice wine. Golden Gaming President Blake Sartini was presented with the Award of Excellence and then joined with Southern Wines & Spirits head honcho Larry Ruvo and general events manager Michael Severino for the ceremonial smashing of the sake barrel.

Blake, who led Station Casinos for 15 years, earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from UNLV. He encouraged the student volunteers to be diligent and dedicated with their studies because the sky’s the limit with solid education.

In between the sake bars, there were sushi samplings and the opportunity to catch up with former Wolfgang Puck Chinois chef Terrence Fong, who has opened his own Island Sushi and Grill here in Las Vegas. I also got the first look and taste of the new Social House menu, and chef Joe Elevado told me that the restaurant will open in June in MGM CityCenter’s Crystals after its most recent home in Treasure Island.

Reality TV star Brooke Hogan and actress Jaime Pressly were among the crowd that hopped table to table for the tastings. I also learned that Baltimore Ravens legend Tony Siragusa will launch his godfather vodka under the name of YO here in Las Vegas through Southern Wine & Spirits this summer.

The Grand Tasting at Bally’s marked Night 3 of UNLVino, Nevada’s oldest and one of America’s largest wine events. It attracted more than 100 wine suppliers pouring more than 1,000 wines, with some 60 wine packages up for auction. Winemakers from as far away as Australia, Chile and … Pahrump(!) were represented.

Photo: Ron Koch/Pure Management Group

Brooke Hogan and friends.

The Award of Excellence was presented to William McBeath, president and COO of Aria and Vdara at CityCenter. William also is a UNLV alumnus graduating with a bachelor’s degree in hotel administration. He was recognized as Alumni of the Year by the UNLV’s Hotel School in 2004.

Oscar summed up: “It’s an opportunity for wine enthusiasts to sample all the latest releases, but more importantly it has raised millions of dollars over the years for the advancement of higher education right here in our hometown. Hundreds if not thousands of students have benefited from the money raised by UNLVino -- and many have gone on to become leaders in the hotel industry all over the world.”

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.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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