Las Vegas Weekly

November 8, 2010 · 9:10 AM

Celebrity recap: Tony Hawk, Rod Stewart, Top Chef stars, Drake

By Don Chareunsy

Lil Wayne joins Drake at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel on Nov. 6, 2010.

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/ErikKabik.com

By Don Chareunsy, Vegas DeLuxe editor

The Las Vegas Sun’s Guest Gauge said it would be a busy weekend, and, as usual, it was right on the money, with The Entertainment Capital of the World jam-packed all weekend long with a rock legend, a skateboarding icon, two of the rap world’s biggest stars and culinary kings and queens.

The weekend kicked off with Food & Wine’s inaugural All-Stars Weekend hosted by Top Chef judge and Top Chef: Just Desserts hostess Gail Simmons at the Bellagio and MGM CityCenter’s Vdara and Aria. The star-studded list included Food & Wine writer Anthony Giglio; Vinny Dotolo, Food & Wine Best New Chef of 2009; Top Chef Masters contestants Rick Moonen and Hubert Keller; Top Chef winners and cheftestants Stephen Hopcraft, Hosea Rosenberg, Fabio Viviani, Carla Hall and Jennifer Carroll; and esteemed chefs of CityCenter and Bellagio, including Masa Takayama, Shawn McClain, Julian Serrano, Jean-Philippe Maury, Martin Heierling and Brian Massie.

The weekend for foodies continued yesterday with Steve Martorano’s second annual meatball-eating contest at The Rio won again by defending champion Joey Chestnut, who ate himself to victory despite falling seven meatballs short of last year’s mark of 50 in 10 minutes. The Vegas Valley Book Festival yesterday at downtown’s Historic Fifth Street School included Las Vegas food critics John Curtas, Max Jacobson and Al Mancini discussing their favorite restaurants here featured in their upcoming book Eating Las Vegas: The 50 Essential Restaurants.

Also on the itinerary: Megan Romano of Charlie Palmer’s Aureole and Four Seasons steakhouse, Geno Bernardo of Nove Italiano, Mike Minor of Border Grill, Jet Tila of Wazuzu, Michael Mina’s chef Sven Mede of American Fish, Jean Paul Labadie from Marche Bacchus and Moonen cooking side-by-side. Incidentally, I met the charming Labadie on Saturday night -- he is dating a good friend of mine.

Tony Hawk’s fundraiser Stand Up for Skateparks at the Wynn drew Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, Holly Madison, Shaun White, Laura Croft, Bill Walton, Erik Estrada, Austin “Chumlee” Russell and Steve Wynn and his girlfriend Andrea Hissom. The World Series of Poker’s November Nine began Saturday and is now down to the final two: 22-year-old Jonathan Duhamel from Quebec and 24-year-old John Racener from Florida. The young men compete for a nearly $9 million first prize tonight at 8 in The Rio.

Music legend Rod Stewart began his eight-show run at The Colosseum in Caesars Palace on Saturday night that is a test run for a residency. The Colosseum is the current home of Cher and former home of Celine Dion, Bette Midler and Sir Elton John, with Dion returning March 15. Hip-hop star Drake performed a sold-out show at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel, where he was joined by recently freed Lil Wayne, and then partied afterward at Tryst in the Wynn. Good Charlotte, with brothers and Las Vegas regulars Benji and Joel Madden, performed at The Lounge in the Palms, and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds crooned for two evenings at The Orleans.

Photo: Denise Truscello/WireImage

Good Charlotte at The Lounge in the Palms on Nov. 6, 2010.

Photo: Denise Truscello/WireImage

Good Charlotte at The Lounge in the Palms on Nov. 6, 2010.

Tao in The Venetian celebrated its fifth anniversary over the weekend with celebrations beginning at sister hotspot Lavo in the Palazzo. Among the weekend’s celebrity revelers:Sarah Jane Morris of Brothers and Sisters and her husband Ned Bower of Rooney; Kelly Bensimon of The Real Housewives of New York; David Spade; Christina Milian; Dancing With the Stars pro Karina Smirnoff showing off her engagement ring given to her by St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Brad Penny; Jack Osbourne, who turns 25 today; Brittny Gastineau, who turns 28 on Thursday; Sarah McNeilly; Michael Phelps; Ryan Eggold of 90210; Ashley Hamilton; Sean Stewart and Jurnee Smollett of The Defenders; Rhys Wakefield (Home and Away); Cody Longo (Fame); Adam Rose (Up in the Air); Chicago White Sox MVP Frank Thomas with BelleVoxx, the pop trio he manages; and Brandi Glanville.

Tao Group partners Jason Strauss, Rich Wolf, Mark Packer, Noah Tepperberg and Louis Abin were presented with a cake congratulating them on five years of success. Dining at Lavo last night: Estrada with his wife and kids, NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice and Thomas. Mr. Vegas DeLuxe Robin Leach chatted with Strauss, and the interview was posted here at Vegas DeLuxe on Saturday morning. A tip of the hat to Krave on its sixth anniversary celebrated Saturday night.

Photo: Denise Truscello/Vegas Magazine

Usher at the Palms for the Vegas magazine party in his honor.

This week

So You Think You Can Dance Season 7 winner Lauren Froderman, fan favorite and runner-up Kent Boyd and cast are at Planet Hollywood on Friday. Vegas DeLuxe will have interviews with Boyd today and Froderman on Wednesday. Whoopi Goldberg is at Treasure Island on Friday. Usher with Trey Songz and Miguel are at Mandalay Bay Events Center on Saturday. Jessica Lowndes is at Pure in Caesars Palace on Saturday. And Project Dinner Table’s final event of its inaugural season is Sunday, as is Sheryl Crow’s rescheduled show at The Joint.

Check out Star Surveillance in Strip Scribbles later today for more celebrity news.

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

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

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

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