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Aria's Pool Scene Will Be Blessfully Stripper Pole-Free

Where: 3730 Las Vegas Boulevard South [map], 89109
March 4, 2010 at 6:01 PM | by Mr Pappagiorgio | 0 Comments

It’s almost here: bikini season. That time of year when we find out how many people renewed that gym membership after the 7-day free trial.

The pool scene has exploded in Las Vegas where it seems a new pool party opens every week and sometimes closes shortly after (ahem…Sapphire). While not quite sunbathing weather yet on our visit, we sucked it up (and sucked it in) to get an early peek at the newest party crasher on the 2010 scene at Aria.

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Todd English's P.U.B: Hold the Pickles and It Could Be Great

Where: 3720 Las Vegas Blvd S [map], 89109
February 23, 2010 at 8:46 PM | by juliab | 2 Comments

Hurrah! So Todd English’s P.U.B is finally open in the Crystals. We’ve shown you what it looks like, we’ve told you about the eggtimer trick (down your pint in seven seconds and you don’t have to pay for it). Now let’s get onto the heavy stuff – what the food is like. Our tipster told us that prices would be very cheap for the Strip, and the menu would be based on a "huge English pub style menu". Here’s what we found.

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Best Thing About Viva Elvis? The VE Shop

Where: 3730 Las Vegas Blvd South [map], 89109
February 23, 2010 at 11:32 AM | by juliab | 0 Comments

Spend your money with these nice people, not at the Box Office

As you might have gathered yesterday, we weren’t the biggest fans of Viva Elvis. But one thing we forgot to put on the “what we liked” list yesterday, is the VE shop.

We checked it out back in January, and it was fantastic. Of course, it has every Elvis CD, t-shirt and bit of kitsch you could possibly want, like the Memphis-made cashew crunch Elvis used to eat at Graceland:

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The Only Reason We'd See Viva Elvis Again Is If We Were Playing Cirque Bingo

Where: 3730 Las Vegas Blvd South [map], 89109
February 22, 2010 at 7:19 PM | by juliab | 1 Comment

Sorry, Elvis

So. Viva Elvis. If you were reading our tweets on Friday night, you’d have seen that we went to the officlal premiere (along with Gene Simmons, Priscilla Presley, Justin Long and oodles of other celebs – apart from Paul ‘The Flake’ McCartney who was a no show (probs for the best - scroll down). You’d also have seen that we really weren’t taken with it.

Before we carry on, it’s only fair to say that we don’t count ourselves as big Cirque fans. In fact, we haven’t seen any of the other Cirque shows in Vegas, though we have elsewhere. While we love the signature acrobatics, we aren’t mad on spurious plotlines (like in Varekai).

We have, though, seen enough of Cirque to know what to expect, we are big Elvis fans, and we know what we like in a show. And, yeah, we just didn’t like this – and from where we were sitting*, we weren’t the only ones. Let’s take it from the top - we’ll tell you what we liked, and then what we didn’t.

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Todd English's P.U.B. Is Finally Open, Here's A Peek

Where: 3720 S Las Vegas Blvd [map], 89109
February 22, 2010 at 1:35 PM | by juliab | 0 Comments

What’s this? Could it be an open door? No, surely not. Really? It is? Yes! Todd English’s P.U.B is finally open in the Crystals. Hallelujah!

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Todd English's P.U.B. Still Not Open, Try Again on Sunday

Where: 3720 S Las Vegas Blvd [map], 89109
February 19, 2010 at 2:08 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

Guess what? P.U.B from Todd English has missed yet another opening date. A tipster told us to expect the restaurant opening last night but then emailed us to say that we should try Sunday instead.

Okey doke. But this is the last time. Then we officially start to lose interest.

We'll update you on Monday morning. In the meantime, got any tips about the delay or what's going on behind the scene? Let us know

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Food Critics Dish on Sage and TWIST at CityCenter

Where: 3730 Las Vegas Blvd. [map], 89109
February 16, 2010 at 8:09 PM | by globetrotting gourmet | 0 Comments

Every week, we get our cyber foodie news from around the world fix via Esquire columnist,John Mariani’s Newsletter, Virtual Gourmet. Mariani is also the author of The Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink and The Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink.

We were especially tickled this Valentine’s Day to find Las Vegas food critic, John A. Curtas weighing in on two of our top new "wish list" restaurants at CityCenter, TWIST by Pierre Gagnaire at Mandarin Oriental and Sage at ARIA Hotel & Casino. We paraded through the former on a recent media trip, and partook in an absinthe tasting at the latter, but have yet to dine at either. Soon, our pretties, very soon. You can read a teaser of John’s reviews here, or click here for the real, mouth-watering deal.

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Keep It On the D.L. But P.U.B Set To Soft-Open on Thursday

Where: 3720 S Las Vegas Blvd [map], 89109
February 16, 2010 at 1:59 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

We've been eagerly wondering when Todd English's Public Urban Bar (aka P.U.B.) would be opening and now we might have an answer. A secret tipster let us know that the restaurant would be soft-opening on Thursday! Yippee!

That's all that we know at this point so we'll have to pop over there on Thursday to check it out. We did check out Todd's website (which is in need of a design tune-up) but there is no mention of P.U.B. yet. And we're still left wondering what's going to be on the menu here.

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Social House To Socialize Once More This Summer at The Crystals

Where: 3720 S Las Vegas Blvd [map], 89109
February 10, 2010 at 10:28 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

Strolling around The Crystals on Sunday we were taking notice of the changes to the place since we were last there in December, and we were tickled to see that Social House has put up its signage on the second floor of the luxury mall, next to Mastro's Ocean Club.

It looks like those rumors were true. The Pure Management Group may try and play things close to their chest but our experience has been where there's smoke, there's fire.

Social House will re-emerge from hiding this Summer. We have to say, from a space overlooking the cheestatic pirates and sirens show at Treasure Island to the swanky Crystals is quite a social climb. Congrats!

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Todd English's P.U.B. Not Quite O.F.B.

Where: 3720 S Las Vegas Blvd [map], 89109
February 8, 2010 at 4:55 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

UPDATE 2.12.10:: PUB not open. "Hopefully" next week.

UPDATE: According to The Crystals, P.U.B. will open on February 11.

OFB: Open for Business.

Todd English's Public Urban Bar or PUB was supposed to open yesterday, judging from the signage in front of the restaurant but when we strolled by last night, the lights were on but the windows were papered up.

The space, wedged between Julian Serrano at Aria and the entrance to The Crystals, has exterior signage and it looks like the interior is almost finished.

Meanwhile, according to the Boston Globe, English is a busy man and perhaps this is the reason for the PUB delay.

He is taping a pilot of a new TV show, and helping launch a men’s fashion collection at Club Monaco. He also has plans to open a cupcake shop on Beacon Hill with his daughter, Isabelle, start a line of children’s food products named after the character Eloise, and open restaurants in Las Vegas and at New York’s Plaza Hotel.

Hopefully, it's just a matter of training the staff before P.U.B is ready to open. As always, we'll keep you posted but if you've got any scoop, send it to us.

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Is There Too Much In-Room Tech at ARIA?

Where: 3730 Las Vegas Boulevard [map], 89109
February 4, 2010 at 5:30 PM | by globetrotting gourmet | 0 Comments

Full disclaimer. We’re not the most tech-savvy gal in the world. We don’t own an iPod. Or an iPhone. And we definitely don’t have our sights on the latest and so-called greatest iPad. We like modern conveniences, but when we checked into ARIA Resort & Casino a few weeks ago as part of a CityCenter hosted media trip, the Control4 in-room technology system proved to be a royal pain-in-the-ass and we lost count how many times we cursed the almighty bedside and televised command central.

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A 'Tea-Riffic' Time at Mandarin Oriental

Where: 3752 Las Vegas Boulevard South [map], 89109
January 27, 2010 at 5:19 PM | by globetrotting gourmet | 0 Comments

We tore up the town last week while staying at Aria at CityCenter, indulging in all the activities that Vegas is known for--drinking, eating, shopping, relaxing and taking in a show or two.

But the one thing we never thought we’d do in Las Vegas was actually one of the highlights of our trip--high tea at Mandarin Oriental.

Maybe it was the never-ending deluge of rain and uncharacteristically damp weather that made the prospect of tea so appealing? Perhaps it was the stunning Strip views from Mandarin Oriental’s Lounge on the 23rd floor?

It doesn’t really matter, because as soon as we arrived and settled into our well-upholstered seat, all the hustle and bustle of Vegas seemed to melt away and we were transported to a far more civilized place.

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