It’s been bruited since at least 2002 and it’s happening yet again: Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is mulling a gubernatorial run for the umpteenth time. “Spoiler!”, cry some. I look at the uninspiring field (Montandon, Heck, Midnight Jim, Buckley, R. Reid) and ask, “What’s there to spoil?”
Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story: Drove the Chevy (Cobalt) to the levee but the levee was dry. How do you stretch a 75-minute tribute act into a two-hour/two-act Broadway musical? Badly, it seems.
Xanadu: It wasn’t just a wretched Olivia Newton-John movie, Kubla Khan‘s pleasure palace or Charles Foster Kane‘s crib. It was also was also Martin Stern‘s unbuilt casino magnum opus. Dr. David G. Schwartz has revived his online museum dedicated to this project, “Paradise Misplaced.” If it had been built, over 30 years ago, Xanadu would probably be one of those Strip casinos we now chuckle at, thinking it small, quaint and perhaps overdue for implosion. But it might have saved us from having to look at the oversize eyesore that is Excalibur, which looks laughably crude next to Stern’s elegant designs.
Dr. Schwartz even recreates the Vegas of 1975. We’ve come a long way since then … but who wouldn’t want to hop into the Wayback Machine and experience the more spacious Strip that existed 34 years ago?
In between trying to wrap up Question of the Day essays on Carl Icahn, Stan Fulton, and condo sales in Las Vegas, I’m clearing the blotter of a few things that have fallen through the transom lately, such as …
Elements: CityLife‘s Al Mancini didn’t care for this new eatery, just off Tropicana Ave. The not-quite-missus and I ate there on opening night and had a better experience for our money. This review, intended for the most recent Las Vegas Advisor, didn’t make the cut, so I offer it for your delectation:
Oscar didn’t turn up for the May 13 opening but he’d definitely be in his, uh, element here, considering that the menu boasts no fewer than 253 martinis. Choosing but two was difficult but we opted for a chocolate-banana martini and the Miami Vice. If you want Strip-quality (or better) eating and drinking at off-Strip prices, you cannot go wrong with Elements. Both the martinis and the small plates inhabit the $7-$9 range, while the costliest entrée tops out at $25.
We started with the Kona beef short rib on gorgonzola polenta ($9) and it did not disappoint in either tastiness or generosity of portion. There are only two steaks on the menu but both were outstanding, though the black angus flank steak ($21) is quite a bit spicier than even the peppercorn-garnished black angus filet ($25). Both were accompanied by mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables. Only the dreaded cold butter-on-cold bread basket and sluggish service (despite a small crowd) detracted from a flavor-rich experience.
