Wynn, Wynn and More Wynn

I've been a quiet little blogger the past few days, but what better way to get back into the action than to take note of the fact that there's just been an explosion of Wynn-related fodder in the past week. Some of it and some thoughts on it:

* Steve Wynn, Eponymous. I've got a piece up on Portfolio.Com today that is another entry in their series on business people whose name is their brand.

* Steve Wynn, Vegan. John Katsilometes flexes his outstanding writing muscle and observatory skills in his Las Vegas Weekly cover on Mr. Wynn's newfound vegan zealotry. Given how many of the interviews with Wynn that I've aired involve him eating something, John's opening passage is particularly ingenious. I'd feel jealous of Kats for this scoop except that he was precisely the right reporter to do it, having spent the summer being vegan himself. Also, for the second consecutive week, the Weekly's cover was nothing short of brilliant. On a related note, Robin Leach had a follow-up scoop in getting Wynn to say he's changing his will to emphasize his animal-rights interests.

* Steve Wynn, Action Hero. There's a riveting video interview with Wynn with Prannoy Roy from the Indian TV station, NDTV. It's weird because the interviewer is a thorough suck-up who doesn't challenge a thing and is given to such pronouncements as "You singlehandedly changed Las Vegas!" But the exchange turns from banal to absolutely fascinating when Wynn gives the gritty details about his experience when his daughter, Kevyn, was kidnapped in 1993. That stuff starts at about 24:30 if you want to skip Wynn try to sell himself to the Indian government for potential casino opportunities as well as his now-standard anti-Obama dissertation. He goes on for about 15 minutes, and it is classic Steve Wynn storytelling at his best, most emotional.

* Steve Wynn, Harrah's Poacher. Of the oddest bit of news that has emerged from the Wynn world lately, it's that Elaine Wynn's nephew, Wynn Las Vegas president Andrew Pascal, is leaving the company. Odder still is that he's being replaced by Marilyn Winn Spiegel, longtime Harrah's executive most recently regional president of three Vegas properties. Both pieces of these developments are peculiar. Pascal had seemed likely to become Wynn's heir; could it be that the Wynn divorce is, in fact, creating awkwardness between her family and him? Or maybe he's gotten a signal that he won't be the heir apparent and wants to make a name for himself in some other way? The filing indicated that Pascal had no conflicts or disputes about the company's approach or mangement, so what gives then?

Meanwhile, though, with all those folks in house looking for a chance to shine -- Tim Poster, remember him? -- Wynn hires away a veteran of the company that does things exactly the opposite of how he does them. It would be like Prada hiring the head of J.C. Penney's, no?

Seriously, I have never in my entire history of talking to Steve Wynn ever heard him say a complimentary thing about the modern Harrah's operation. And on last week's earnings conference call he even went out of his way to dis Harrah's chief Gary Loveman over the all-too-familiar design to your left. Here's the passage:

And I was walking out of the Borgata [in Atlantic City], which I want to look at and there next-door was Harrah's, with a curved tower and asymmetrical roof, a very poor, homely copy of the Wynn Las Vegas. And I called up Gary Loveman, and I said, "Hey man, have you no shame?" I mean, and in the building was in the wrong proportion. In order to do what we do with our building, it has to be horizontal in its proportion or doesn't look right. And this one was verticals, which just looked like sort of a tall rectangle with point on one end. And he said, he gave me an answer, he said, "Well, duplication is a serious form of flattery." I found that relatively unsatisfactory answer. I think maybe someone should try to do their own thing instead of doing bad copies of other people's things. But we do give the boys a chance to louse up what they think we're doing.

Ouch. I realize Winn Spiegel had nothing to do with that design, but it's also not as though she has been running Caesars Palace, which is the closest thing Harrah's has to a Wynn. Huh.

Oh, there's also some news on Wynn and the whole drama with his dealers and tip-sharing. For some reason, this story has never really intrigued me that much, but if you care, check out Liz Benston's account.

From Veganism To Reindeer Steak

Within two days, I've spanned pretty much the entire culinary spectrum on AOL News.

First, of course, was my report on Wynn Resorts' new vegan gambit, which I also covered on this blog last week.

Then, today, Rudolph is on the menu! My trip to Alaska was a failure as far as dealing effectively with the private family drama that drew me there, but I did, as usual, find myself a story to share with the Lower 48.

I caught a piece by Jeff Richardson of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner about a study by the University of Alaska at Fairbanks' Reindeer Research Program to determine whether consumers will buy reindeer as steak and at what prices. (See, Ms. Neff, there are many values to reading a printed newspaper that have nothing to do with who's up and down in an election.)


Important stuff? Probably not. But it did give me the unique opportunity to open my story with this:

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (Aug. 25) -- Ever watch "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and think, "I wonder what that little guy would taste like on the grill?"

I admit I did taste a little reindeer. No, not the cute ones I photographed from the UAF farm. They're still alive and well ... for now.

No, I spotted an egg dish with "reindeer sausage" on the menu of the diner we ate at the night we arrived in Fairbanks. While it was tasty and spicy, UAF researcher George Aguilar told me that kick probably was thanks to spices and not Prancer as "reindeer sausage" tends to have less than 10 percent reindeer meat. The rest of pork and beef, he said. He does, however, wax rhapsodic about the taste of a good Blitzen burger:

"It's a high-protein, low-fat, super-tender, high-mineral meat. As far as quality, it's tender, really tender. It's one of the most tender meats in the world. All the fat is on the outside of the animal, so you don't get marbling. It has a sweet taste. It doesn't have a gamey taste."

Mmmm. That and the fava bean puree at Alex sounds like a winner.

This story also took me inside the intriguing world of the reindeer-for-Christmas-events industry, which I suspect is a topic for The Petcast soon. They're apparently really nice pets for folks with a little property and Kyle Wilson of Rocky Hill Reindeer Leasing in Knoxville, Tenn., says he gets $3,000 each providing them for church groups or Christmas tree farms from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

Wilson doesn't see a big reindeer steak market anytime soon:

"More than anything else, it's not politically correct to eat Rudolph. We who have them, rent them or show them, we get the warm-and-fuzzy thing going on, and the furthest thing from your mind is eating one of them. In the Lower 48, we have it for Christmas, but we don't eat it for Christmas."

The Show is UP: Blooperpalooza!

In honor of our fifth anniversary as podcasters, Miles and I drew back the curtains so those who don't listen live can hear the nutty stuff that goes on before I edit this thing. Enjoy. Click on the date below to listen or right-click to download and listen at your leisure or subscribe via iTunes or Zune.

Aug. 22: Our FIFTH Anniversary Blooperpalooza!
SPECIAL REISSUE: The 2008 Blooper Show

Fights! Celeb Outtakes! Singing! It’s been FIVE years! Five years of brilliant, revealing interviews, witty banter and… oh, who are we kidding? It’s been five years of fuckups, stumbles, confusion, arguments and a whole lot of fucking cursewords. But most of that is behind the scenes except for once a year when Steve edits together the best outtakes and we revel in how badly we do this job. If you’re in the chat room weekly, you’ve heard most of this, but if not, this is your shot. Some of this is new, though, including outtakes with Jon Voight, Steve Wynn, Englebert Humperdinck, Daniel Negreanu and others. We’re blowing out show this week – no tourist tip, no interviews – so sit back, relax and enjoy the circus.

In banter: Madonna for $1 billion, veganism at Wynn and hula hoops on "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me."

Links:

Robin Leach writes of Madonna’s possible $1 billion Caesars deal, and Norm Clarke explains why it doesn't add up
Veganism, it’s what’s for dinner at Wynn Resorts
Al Mancini of CityLife provided a full list of Wynn eatery vegan dishes
Steve’s AOL News piece on the Hula Hoop ban
The full, very funny 6-minute Vegas segment from “Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me”
Our last blooper show, in 2008

Wynn Resorts Goes Vegan!

[UPDATE: I didn't notice this when I posted this item, but Al Mancini of CityLife has a terrific compilation of the vegan offerings at the various Wynn restaurants here.]


I don't usually republish press releases in their entirety, but this one is so intriguing -- and I don't mean that in the snarky way I usually take on such things -- that you need to see it all. It comes from Casey Leblang of BeccaPR:

Getting in touch with some news: Wynn Resorts debuts an all-new vegan culinary program, furthering their commitment to providing exceptional guest experiences.

Every fine dining and casual restaurant at Wynn and Encore now offers vegan menu items to cater to diners of various tastes and dietary preferences. As the first resort on The Strip with such extensive vegan offerings, Wynn remains on the cusp of a larger shift toward healthy eating.

Special vegan dishes include Fava Bean Puree with sautéed hon shimeji mushrooms, snap pea salad and aged balsamic vinegar at ALEX and the Market Chopped Salad with avocado, carrots, celery, pumpkin seeds, edamame and tarragon vinaigrette at Society Café Encore. Hearty entrée options—such as the Summer Vegetable Gratin at Botero, Risotto con Verdure di Stagione, risotto whipped with seasonal vegetables at BARTOLOTTA Ristorante di Mare, and Napoleon of Savory Tofu with ratatouille and fried eggplant at Tableau—entice vegan and non-vegans alike. The Country Club excites palettes with a vegan version of their popular Watermelon Gazpacho with avocado, jicama, tomato, cucumber, cilantro and yucca crisp, while STRATTA offers Whole Wheat Pasta Primavera, a vegan take on the Italian American staple. SW, Wynn’s signature steakhouse, serves crave-worthy vegan dishes such as Grilled Royal Trumpet Mushrooms with creamy polenta and shallot balsamic sauce.

Wazuzu’s Vegan Crunch Roll with crispy asparagus, avocado, cucumber and arare, Okada’s Vegan Cold Soba Noodle and Wing Lei’s Crispy Tofu with sugar pea, water chestnut, carrot and bean sprout feature flavorful Asian ingredients. Decadent desserts such as Blueberry Cobbler with toasted almond ice cream at Sinatra and Banana Crepes with coconut ice cream, avocado mousse at SWITCH provide a sweet close to any meal.

Earlier this week, a fellow writer asked if I knew anything about Steve Wynn going vegan. I knew that he ate very blandly, but otherwise it sounded like a rumor. Then food writer Max Jacobson broke news on Aug. 12 in Vegas Seven of Wynn's "recent commitment to veganism" and Alex Stratta's working on a vegan menu.

It turns out, this is much bigger than just Mr. Wynn or just Alex. I can't imagine these dishes will be huge sellers, but it's just another little distinction for the property.

Fascinating. I do wonder, though, if they'll bother with this in Macau. Doubtful.

Now, if only we could get the Asian Equation back on the Parasol Up/Down drink menu...