EXCLUSIVE: Steve Wynn On His Engagement

I'm the first to confirm Steve Wynn's engagement to Andrea Hissom directly and officially, and it's kind of funny how it happened.

Late last week, I interviewed The Steve for a few upcoming stories. I did not know that he was engaged because I'd been too busy and had fallen behind on reading the R-J. Wynn had instructed his publicist, Jennifer Dunne, to warn me NOT to ask him about the engagement, but she didn't get to me in time. Of course, I didn't know anyhow. And then we were talking about how he has reacted emotionally and creatively to the Vegas economy and this happened:

Wynn: Vegas was good because I could do my thing. Las Vegas was good because I could do what I loved doing.

Friess: Right.

Wynn: It's just convenient that it was Las Vegas because that's where it was possible. Now it's Macau.

Friess: And now Las Vegas is not where it's possible?

Wynn: That's right, not at the moment.

Friess: How long do you think it will be?

Wynn: There's always tomorrow.

Friess: Do you think in your lifetime you will be building another...

Wynn: It depends on when the market comes back and how healthy I am. Right now, I'm feeling great. I skied 15,000 vertical feet today, and I'm engaged to my girlfriend and that's great.

Friess: You're engaged?

Wynn: For three days now.

Friess: Wow. I had not heard that yet, no kidding.

Wynn: It's been in all the papers, you've missed it.

Friess: I haven't looked at Norm today.

Wynn: Norm yesterday.

Friess: Well, I haven't looked at Norm. Congratulations. When is this big wedding going to be?

Wynn: We don't, we don't have any idea.

Friess: Wow.

Wynn: I got engaged Thursday, I mean Tuesday night in Sinatra. The two of us had dinner and I...

Friess: Were there a lot of people there?

Wynn: No, just her and I. Well, there were other people in the restaurant who saw it. That's how I guess it got in the paper. I didn't make an announcement or anything.

Friess: Did you get down on your knee?

Wynn: No, I would have had to get under the table. I was just like, try this on. She had tried a dress on and it had to be altered and I said, 'Good thing you tried that on. You should always try things on to make sure they fit properly. Incidentally, try this on.'

Friess: That's how you said it, at dinner? In the beginning or the end of the meal or what?

Wynn: The beginning.

Friess: And then, you just sat there and ate dinner anyway?

Wynn: Yeah, and ordered a bottle of expensive wine.

I'm ashamed to say I didn't ask the one question any self-respecting US Weekly scribe would know: What about the ring? Sorry. Others will have to fill you in.

What's interesting, though, is comparing this account to ones other journalists have written up based on scuttlebutt. According to one account, Wynn and Andrea were in a private room, he popped the question at the end of the meal, they're plotting a spring wedding and he asked very "traditionally." Hmm.

I'm going with my source.

Hot Blond Tina, The Vegas Sheriff & Reality TV

See that? That's a woman known as "hot blond Tina" on YouTube. The R-J reported last week that she was suing Langley Productions and Turner Broadcasting Systems because they used video of her from 2008 when she was in the booking pen at the Clark County Detention Center following a drunken driving arrest. She was very inebriated, trying to flash her considerable boobs and carrying on about creme brulee. Tina Vlijter, 32, says she doesn't recall signing a release form letting Langley use the material on various TruTV shows and sites and, thus far, Langley has refused to produce the release despite her lawyer asking several times.

Still, there's more to the story, as I broke on AOL News this weekend after the first media interview with Tina at her attorney Easton Harris' office. How and why do reality TV cameras get such unrestricted access to suspects in sensitive, usually off-limits locations? You know they wouldn't let an R-J or KSNV reporter in there to just hang out day after day or even hour after hour fishing for sensational footage. They surely wouldn't want to waste the police manpower supervising the journalists. But Langley gets to do it? Why?

As I reported, the Vegas sheriff, Doug Gillespie, got at least $35,000 from Langley entities in his recent, successful re-election campaign. Is that why? Hard to know, since he refused to answer my calls asking him to explain how he decides what media gets to go where. Is there a policy? Are there contracts? What are the limits? Do they get to preview the material and cherry-pick what gets used?

By the way, Gillespie received only about $20,000 from various Harrah's-related entities. So Langley, who is not actually located here, is a more generous supporter of this sheriff than the world's largest casino company. That's odd, right?

People certainly seem titillated. The version of Hot Blond Tina's video that we at AOL News linked to had about 10,000 views on Friday. Now it's at more than 360,000 and climbing. Here it is, for however long it remains available. It's from a segment from the TruTV show "Inside American Jail."

Also, this has been the case for two days running now...


Should be fun to see where this goes this week.

Slidin' Thru Goes Un-Mobile

Apparently a hazard of inviting a very competitive fellow journalist into the studio as a guest of my show for a debate about his book is that said fellow journalist would go ahead and scoop me in the blogosphere on a breaking news item that occurred on the show. Then again, the show was heard live by many via the Web as we recorded it, I did Tweet about this and I could have blogged it sooner if I hadn't been on a deadline for The Daily Beast. But why quibble when "Eating Las Vegas" co-author Al Mancini turned out to be such a good sport about being routed in our scrum over his book?

Anyhow, the scoop. Well, I invited Ric Guerrero from the gourmet food truck Slidin' Thru to join us by phone for an interview edition of our Top Secret Tourist Tip of the Week because (a) we were wall-to-wall food this episode and (b) guest co-host Amy is a Slidin' Thru fan who got me into it. Basically, it's a truck -- now they have two, Guerrero revealed -- that pops up all over town in parking lots serving up really tasty, fairly cheap little burgers, as you see here from Amy and my visit.

Now, however, Slidin' Thru is adding a brick-and-mortar location. Al and I each asked variations (mine clean, his with the requisite "fuck") of the question as to why they'd do that and doesn't that take the cool, discovery, adventurous factor out of the whole enterprise? Ric, sensing opportunities and predicting perhaps several of these proper stores, was undeterred, as you'll hear when I get a chance to post the show.

Anyhow, the first Slidin' Thru restaurant is not quite up and running, but their chefs are in the kitchen at 955 Grier Road just south of McCarran Airport and are serving the burgers now in a bar called Poker Paradise embedded in a commercial plaza. And to confirm it, Amy and I scootched out there after the show to see for ourselves.

The menu and prices -- 2 for $5, 3 for $7, I think 5 for $9 -- is the same, see:


The bartender said they're serving the burgers from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily, FYI. Here's our food:


We each had a Captain's Order (roma tomato, arugula, bacon, feta, sautéed onion, balsamic reduction), I ordered a Barby (melted cheddar, caramelized jalapeño, fried onion strip, bacon, BBQ sauce) and a Mystery Burger and Amy ordered a Yaya (lettuce, tomato, red onion, feta, tzatziki, red wine vinaigrette). Sadly, Amy ate my Mystery Burger by accident so we're not real sure what it was. Oops.

We ate at the dingy bar...


...which we're quite sure violated the utterly unenforced Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act, which prohibits food service in places where people smoke and vice versa. Slidin' Thru plans to have a proper restaurant open immediately next door by New Year's. This is what it looks like today, pre-renovation:


So that was fun. And while we were there, the other truck "came in," providing this unique image:


The whole show should be up tomorrow. I've got a couple other deadlines AND the in-laws in town. I'll do my best. God forbid Mancini heard the first segment when I spilled beans on scoops I got from Phil Ruffin, Oscar Goodman and Steve Wynn...

What's Happening To Bradley Ogden at Caesars?

In my interview with the new director of restaurants for Caesars Palace this morning, I asked Franck Savoy about what’s happening to Bradley Ogden. This was the first significant food name at Caesars Palace proper -- distinct from Forum Shops, which Harrah’s does not own but where Wolfgang Puck began the food revolution in the early 1990s – and Ogden is extremely important for its proximity to the entrance the Colosseum. It’s a special, coveted location the likes of which really don’t exist anywhere else on the Vegas fancy-food scene.

Afterward, I Tweeted that Savoy said Ogden wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. This prompted a note from a fellow reporter who told me that this was not so, that Ogden himself has been open about his desire to depart.

So I figured I’d do something unusual and post this snippet of a transcript of that part of the interview. Think of it as a teaser, and tune in and join the chat at LVRocks.Com on Saturday from noon-2 p.m. to hear the entire Savoy conversation – yes, I ask his fast food preferences and whether Caesars will go vegan like Wynncore -- as well as a live debate between me and Eating Las Vegas co-author Al Mancini. And, to top it off, we’ll have a food-related, live interview edition of the Top Secret Tourist Tip of the Week that will delight guest host Amy to no end, I believe.

Anyhow, here's the Ogden stuff:

Savoy: I know there are a lot of rumors of Bradley Ogden closing next month or two months or even six months. This, I have to tell you, no. This is not true. Why this rumor occurred is that Bradley Ogden’s contract is over in two years and a half. Caesars Palace is of course obviously looking around right now for what we can do with Bradley Ogden. It might be again Bradley Ogden, it might be somebody else, but on today, this is December 3, I’m telling you that Bradley Ogden will continue until the end of his contract. It will be the same restaurant. It will be the same James Beard Award-winning restaurant. We’ve added a couple of steaks on the menu to make it more American-style cuisine and it’s doing very well, the restaurant.

I then asked about John Curtas' shredding critique of Bradley Ogden in late 2009.

Savoy: I have no idea why he said that. We just did a couple of changes in the food and beverage department (at Caesars Palace). First of all, we have a new VP. Obviously, we have a new director of restaurants, which is me. You have the current chef de cuisine of Bradley who became the assistant executive chef for Caesars Palace, Todd Williams. And we have a new chef at Bradley and we also have a new GM at Bradley and that was before the GM at Tableau at Wynn and before that GM at Alex at the Wynn. See, this is another reason I am telling you Bradley is not closing tomorrow because we put some very key staff in there.

So that's the official line, anyway. Maybe all of these changes were prompted by Ogden’s dissatisfaction? Time will tell. That's why we get these thing on the record.

FYI, the podcast version will post probably Sunday if you can’t make it to the live show. You can subscribe for free via iTunes or Zune. Also, you can listen live via your smart phones at LVRocks.Com, too, and don't have to join the chat to listen. It's more fun that way, though.

Friess v Mancini. 1 p.m. Sat. Be There.

Well, this should be FUN.

Al Mancini, one of three co-authors of the new dining guide Eating Las Vegas, will be in the studio at LVRocks.Com on Saturday with me to have a public debate on the issues that stirred up so much drama related to the book and my Las Vegas Weekly column. It will be a friendly, entertaining, robust and respectful discussion of questions pertaining to food journalism and ethics. And we will be live, not recorded as almost all of our shows are. You can listen and attend the live chat at LVRocks.Com. Everyone is welcome, even those with whom disagreements clearly got out of hand. It's the season of peace and joy, after all.

Prior to Al's part of this week's episode of The Strip, guest host Amy and I will begin at noon with chatter about a TON of news, including some breaking stuff that Steve Wynn told me today and Oscar Goodman told me last night. (Miles will be picking up his family at McCarran, but hey - we haven't had a guest host since the summer, if you can believe that!)

Oh, we'll also be playing, time permitting, my interview with Franck Savoy, the son of Guy Savoy and now director of all restaurants for Caesars Palace. If there's not time, it'll just be included in the podcast.

As I said, I plan to start us up at noon. The Duel will happen about 1 p.m. PT. Be there. It'll be awesome. Of course, if you can't make it, I'll get the podcast up and available later in the weekend. But I just have a feeling that this chat will be live and lively, as Miles loves to put it.

LVW Col: Cosmo Caps A Vegas Era

Here's this week's LVW column, sure to be significantly less controversial than last week's. Sorry! Enjoy. -sf

Cosmopolitan: a fitting bookend
By STEVE FRIESS

So this is how it ends, huh?

Here we go, heading once again into yet another December casino-resort opening on the Strip. This time it’s the $3.9 billion Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, scheduled to start taking bets a year after the $8.5 billion CityCenter complex did so, two years on from the revelation of Encore Las Vegas and three years since Palazzo Las Vegas debuted.

It may seem like old hat, a tradition of sorts. Indeed, I’ve enjoyed these annual opportunities to gather up with my friends from Vegas-obsessed cyberspace and take our newest toys for a few spins, to pore over every detail and choice, to comment on food, décor, service, marketing plan and overall sensibility. I’ve loved taking the temperature of Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, Jim Murren and now John Unwin when these men are at both their most anxious and most boastful, documenting for posterity their lofty expectations and then comparing that to the reality that comes to pass thereafter.

And yet, of course, this one is different. This is the last of it, ...

Read the rest at LasVegasWeekly.Com

A Night Of Betting With The Mayor Of Vegas

As my Twitter followers knew, I spent a few hours shadowing Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman for a forthcoming profile. He officiated at the lighting of menorahs at the Fremont Street Experience and Opportunity Village's gigantic maze of holiday displays about 5 miles west of downtown Vegas, the charity's big fundraiser.

I'll dish some more about that on this weekend's show, but I just loved this too much:

Friess: Do you still gamble?

Goodman: Every night of my life.

Friess: Where?

Goodman: I have somebody who makes my bets for me.

Friess: On sports.

Goodman: Sports.

Friess: What sports?

Goodman: Well, it’s basketball season now. You want to know who my bets are so you can follow them?

Friess: Please.

Goodman takes a piece of lined notebook paper out of his breast pocket, unfolds it and reads the following, written very small in cursive on the paper:

Drexel -8.5

Temple -8

Mich State +11

Pittsburgh -11.5

San Antonio -7.5

Friess: How much do you bet on each?

Goodman: On basketball, $20 or $50. There are just so many games.

Friess: You do this every day?

Goodman: Every day of my life, I’ll have a bet on something.

Friess: What's the most you've ever lost?
Goodman: A LOT.
Friess: On what?
Goodman: Oh, Tony Spilotro gave me a sure thing once. Minnesota v San Francisco. It was not a sure thing.

So three things about this:

(a) Can someone tell me how the mayor did? All those -/+ confuse the crap out of me.
(b) How do I get an interview with the guy who lays bets for the mayor?
(c) I hope nobody lost their fingers or worse on the Minnesota v. SF deal.

The Show Is UP: Andy Williams Ate Dog Food

We've had some odd moments over the years on this program. Chubby Checker's rant, Tony Curtis' spunk, Steve Wynn's frequent eating noises. But this must come in the Top 10 -- Andy Williams going on, in all seriousness, about how delicious Alpo is. The show, thus, is up. It was in the feed for iTunes or Zune subscribers as early as Monday. That's free, y'know, as is the iTunes software. You can click on the date below to get it to play or right-click on it to download it to listen at your leisure.

Nov. 29: An Andy Williams Holiday Special
– With Dog Food

You think of Andy Williams, you think Christmas specials, Moon River and Branson, Missouri. You do NOT think of LSD, eating dog food or strident political commentary. Williams, the legendary crooner who’s now 83, appears in December at the Las Vegas Hilton, so Steve chatted with him about some of the revelations in the book, including the time he saw Frank Sinatra flash his brutal side and what it was like to be on the funeral train with Bobby Kennedy’s coffin.

In Banter: A Cosmo preview, a debate over food critic anonymity, gambling as a cure for "homosexual problems," an El Cortez room design contest and a Thanksgiving Day fire.

Links to stuff discussed:

Andy Williams’ site
Get tickets to see Andy Williams at the Las Vegas Hilton on Dec 23-24
We’re nominated for Trippies for blog, Twitterer and podcast
The weird rules of the Nov. 20 Northwestern v Illinois game at Wrigley Field
The Cosmopolitan’s innovative Identity Club, from the Las Vegas Sun
The blog and LVW column regarding the Eating Las Vegas book and controversy
Las Vegas Sun’s interactive package about El Cortez’s room-design contest
The R-J’s piece on the prison jail's casino and “homosexual problems”
Harrah’s becomes Caesars Entertainment
Heidi Fleiss’ fire in Pahrump and the birds

What Might Have Been

I was just poking around, curious about something, and I found this relic of a bygone era, how The Harmon was -- and still is -- identified, imagined and described by the the website for Foster + Partners, its architects.

The ultimate luxury getaway, the Harmon Hotel is a non-gaming hotel that forms a striking gateway to the MGM Project in Las Vegas. Fronting the Strip at the corner of Harmon Avenue, it will be one of the tallest buildings on this famed Las Vegas boulevard.

Of course, not so much, eh? So sad. The Harmon, incidentally, is no longer mentioned at all on Lord Norman Foster's Wikipedia page.

Ranking Vegas' 8 Naughtiest Shows

As podcast listeners knew, I spent the summer checking out topless shows on the Strip with Jamie, my Little Brother from Big Brothers Big Sisters. (He's 20 now and it's legal, so chill out.) The conceit of the piece was that he's straight and had never been to any topless shows before I took him to our first of eight, Fantasy. And I'm gay, so I had a different point of view that might be of use to women considering attending these shows on their own or with their straight male counterparts.

The piece is up as of yesterday on the Los Angeles Times' website. (In the end, the editors decided the subject matter was a little too risque for the print edition.) We did not include the new topless shows at Sahara and the Westin mainly because I don't believe the Westin one will be open for long and the Sahara one bowed after I had filed the story and Jamie didn't have time to go.

There's detail and discussion of each in the piece, but here's how Jamie ranked the shows:

1. Zumanity

2. Peepshow

3. Jubilee!

4. X Burlesque

5. Bite

6. Crazy Girls

7. Crazy Horse Paris

8. Fantasy

I did not attempt to sway Jamie, I swear. I wanted his ranking so that it would be useful to his peers, not mine. If I had to rank, my order might have been a little bit different. For my money, Jubilee! is just the coolest thing and Crazy Horse Paris the worst.

I also did a quick sidebar on the male stripper revues to go alongside this. You can find that here.