The Good Ol’ Days
An elite maitre d' during the golden era, Emilio Muscelli has been in Las Vegas so long he remembers:
• When Sahara Avenue was San Francisco Avenue.
• When Flamingo Road stopped at Industrial Road.
• When Maryland Parkway was a dirt road with no stoplights.
• When the Hilton kids who were painting the town red were named Barron and Nicky, not Paris and Nicky.
• When he went girl-chasing with Cary Grant, who was in love with a dancer named Yellow Bird, a star performer at the El Rancho Vegas.
• When he and his best friend, Bobby Darin, would dash downtown to the Fremont Hotel between Darin's shows at the Sands so the headliner could give singing tips to a young kid named Wayne Newton.
"It was so much fun in those days," says Muscelli, who celebrated his 86th birthday last month.
Fresh from New York hot spot Copacabana, where he worked for Jack Entratter, Muscelli arrived in 1952. Entratter had given him the job of food operations director for the 250-room Sands Hotel, which was opening on a patch of sand that now has 7,000 rooms, counting The Venetian and sister property the Palazzo.
Two years before Muscelli got here, Las Vegas had all of 24,624 residents -- Clark County 48,289. A booming decade was under way. The Desert Inn had just opened, followed quickly by the Sahara, the Sands, the Royal Nevada and the Dunes.
Before the decade ended, newcomers to the Strip included the Hacienda, Tropicana Hotel and the Stardust.
By then, the population of Las Vegas and Clark County had almost tripled. Muscelli's career was roaring as well in the superheated competition. He had been hired as maitre d' at the Dunes and later at the Flamingo, then billed as Las Vegas' largest luxury hotel. Kirk Kerkorian liked it so much he bought it for $11 million in 1967.
But Kerkorian was just warming up. He built The International, the world's largest megaresort, and installed Muscelli as maitre d' at the 1,512-room hotel-casino. It was 1969 and the hotel-casino was about to become the launching pad for Elvis Presley's comeback.
Elvis' two shows a night drew 4,000 fans over 30 days, an unheard of number in those days.
Muscelli would spent 27 years at the hotel before retiring in 1979. Over the years he saw Tom Jones sizzle and occasional mind-boggling flops. French icons such as Edith Piaf and Charles Aznavour "bombed because people only knew stars they saw on TV."
Not long ago, Muscelli was driving his golf cart toward his home at the Las Vegas Country Club, when he spotted a familiar face out for a walk.
It was Kerkorian, who turned 91 in June. They stopped to chat, two friends who had witnessed explosive growth and another wondrous era.
Kerkorian, one of richest men in the United States, told Muscelli, "Maybe I should buy the Hilton back and put all the old-timers back to work."
The rest of this week's First Glance breakdown:
Best new patio experience on the Strip:
The patio at Lavo at the Palazzo can seat about 100 and it's going to be a contender for the Strip's most popular outdoor dining venue, especially at night. It's located across from Treasure Island's "Sirens of T.I." show. Perfect for sharing desserts and exotic hookah flavors after grazing through the tapas-style Mediterranean menu. Managing partner Jason Strauss said the inspiration came from Les Bain Douches, a former Turkish bathhouse that was converted into one of the hippest clubs of Paris.
Best bet for a backstage tour?
It's rare, but it happens. Cirque du Soleil's "KA" at the MGM Grand offered it to the public not long ago. The rest of the time it takes some serious juice, as in high-end guests or celebrity. Over at The Mirage, "Love," the Cirque collaboration with the Beatles, has been offering Tapis Rouge, French for red carpet. For $295, you get one of the best seats in the house, open bar at the Beatles' Revolution Lounge, tray-served appetizers, and gift bag that includes a program, a poster and a signature martini glass. Early-show attendees who buy the package make it a post-show experience. Late-show participants get the pre-show experience.
Best out-of-town steakhouse experience?
On a recent trip to New York to say farewell to Yankees Stadium, we included a trip to Wolfgang's Steakhouse at 4 Park Avenue, not far from the Gramercy Park Hotel. Wolfgang Zwiener worked at the original Peter Luger Steak House in Brooklyn for four decades before opening at this midtown location about three years ago. The porterhouse for three was definitely worth a return trip. But for those of us who love a good steak sauce, this was the ultimate. Zwiener borrowed the best from Luger's, Zagat's No. 1 steakhouse for 20-some years, but sweetened this version and added more horseradish.
(Next week: Where and when you can reach out and touch Elvis' celebrity star on Las Vegas Boulevard and five reasons why Lotus of Siam still packs 'em in.)
Norm Clarke can be reached at 702-383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com. His new book, "Vegas Confidential: Sin-sational Celebrity Tales," comes out in November.
