Kimo’s Vegas
Chef Gordon Ramsay. Photo from Kimo Akane
GORDON RAMSAY GETS busy in Vegas …
The bloke who put Hell in the kitchen and made it devilishly entertaining opened two restaurants in Las Vegas this month. Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill opened Dec. 18 at Caesars Palace, then Gordon Ramsay BurGR opened Dec. 22 at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. That’ll bring the “Officer of the Order of the British Empire” to a total of three Las Vegas eateries to bear his name.
IF YOU GO Vegas with the mo’opuna, you’ve probably stopped at Circus Circus (the hotel that’s so much fun they named it twice). Built in 1986, the world’s largest permanent big top has reasonable rates – it makes it back and more on The Midway games. MGM Resorts International, the property’s current proprietor, has plans to add a 5.5-acre water park that will include a children’s pool, a river channel and 65-foot and 95-foot water slides.
CAN’T WAIT FOR your next trip to Vegas? Jump on Facebook and try the M life games on myVegas. Chips are free, but the prizes are real.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL reports that online gambling website PokerStars wants to buy the Atlantic City Hilton from Colony Capital, the investment group that used to own the Las Vegas Hilton. The purchase price is estimated to be less than $50 million – a drop in the ocean compared to the $371 million fine the company agreed to pay the U.S. government. Major caveats in the deal are New Jersey legalizing online gaming and granting the company a casino and online gaming license. This kind of legislation has already gotten the green light in Nevada, and residents of the Silver State can start playing online for real money early next year.
CONGRATS TO the folks at Boyd Gaming. They acquired Peninsula Gaming Corporation for $1.45 billion. Now your B Connected card will be good in 22 different casinos in eight states.
CANDY & THE CANES sing your favorite Christmas songs on the Fremont Street Experience.
LAST YEAR, experts say, 314,000 people rang in the new year in Las Vegas. Not counting the money the casinos won that weekend, revelers dropped $192 million eating, drinking and being Mary … I mean merry. But what really has casino and night club execs driveling like a gargantuan mastiff is this year Dec. 31 is on Monday, thus transforming last year’s three-day New Year’s weekend into a four-day payday.
JOHN CURTAS, Max Jacobson and Al Mancini’s Eating Las Vegas 2013: The 50 Essential Restaurants is on sale now and a must read for foodies looking for a good guide to eating Vegas. To get a spot on the coveted 50, all three reviewers must give a thumbs up. Getting three people to agree on anything is tough, but these guys are opinionated, funny and brutally honest.
FOLLOW US on Twitter, like us on Facebook and get the latest Vegas news online at KimosVegas.com and every week here in MidWeek. Send me your Vegas questions, mana’o, photos and reunions to Kimo@KimosVegas.com.
