Valentino Las Vegas announced today the restaurant is hosting a six-course dinner with wine pairings prepared by James Beard Foundation award -winning chef Luciano Pellegrini during Taste America Las Vegas on Friday, Oct. 24, 2008.

 

The evening is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. with a cocktail reception, immediately followed by a seated dinner at 8 p.m. Valentino’s Taste America menu is $350 per person including wine, tax and gratuity, and consists of:

 

-    Fresh Australian Spanner Crab Cakes with Porcini Salad and White Truffle

-    Quail Meatloaf on Polenta and White Truffle

-    Fontina-Stuffed Bucatini with Crescenza Sauce and White Truffle

-    Buffalo Medallion with White Wine Demi-Glace and White Truffle

-    Hot and Cold Cheese Soups with Mixed Fruit

-    Dessert

 

The annual James Beard Foundation Taste America is a national celebration of food, the arts of the table and American cuisine. This year brings some of America’s greatest chefs – winners of the JBF regional Best Chef Awards and other JBF award winners – to Las Vegas. The JBF Taste America Las Vegas (October 24-26, 2008) will include signature dinners at the best restaurants in the finest hotels on the Strip, cooking demonstrations, wine tastings, panel discussions, and a gala dinner prepared by JBF regional award winners.

 

Valentino Las Vegas is located inside the Venetian Las Vegas at 3355 Las Vegas Blvd. South. For reservations, please call 702-414-3000 or visit www.valentinorestaurantgroup.com.

 

YARD WORK

 

On December 7, 2008, Yard House Restaurants will open its 20th location at the new L.A. Live, a one-of-a-kind,  5.6 million square foot entertainment campus located in Downtown Los Angeles.   This will be the first of six new Yard House restaurants to open during the next 18 months with the company making its foray into two new markets, Texas and Massachusetts. 

 

The opening of the L.A Live location on December 7 also marks the 12th anniversary of the opening of the flagship Yard House restaurant along the waterfront in Long Beach, California.  Yard House at L.A. Live will be located along the campus’s “restaurant row” near the Grammy Museum and adjacent to both the ESPN Zone/Broadcast Studios and The Ritz Carlton Hotel and Residences.  The new restaurant will feature 130 taps of beer and a menu of American fusion cuisine created by award-winning Executive Chef/Partner Carlito Jocson along with a signature island bar, glass-enclosed keg room containing up to 600 kegs of beer, multiple flat screen monitors displaying the latest sporting and news events, a state-of-the-art sound system playing a continuous selection of music from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, and original artwork by renowned Orange County artist Jerome Gastaldi.

 

Following the opening of L.A. Live, Yard House will open two new locations in March with one at The Promenade in Temecula, California, a fledgling wine producing area just north of San Diego, and another at the Village at Merrick Park in Coral Gables, Florida, the company’s second Sunshine State location.  A pair of Texas locales will open back-to-back, first in July at The Shops at La Cantera in San Antonio followed by the City Centre in Houston in August.  When Yard House opens in Palmdale, California, and Dedham, Massachusetts, in early 2010 the company will have a total of 26 locations spread across 10 states.  

 

For additional information, call the Yard House home office at 949.727.0959 or visit online at www.yardhouse.com

 

 

SPREADING THE LOVE

 

Apple Corps Ltd./Cirque du Soleil will partner with The Bigger Picture, an AccessIT company, and AEG Network LIVE to bring the highly acclaimed feature-length documentary ‘All Together Now’ to digital cinema audiences on October 20th. This one night only event follows well-received film festival screenings across North America, including a sold out opening night U.S. premiere at the Silverdocs Festival in Washington D.C. where the Washington Post observed that 'All Together Now' "cuts into the heart of [LOVE]."

 

Las Vegas screenings of ‘All Together Now’ will take place at Rave Town Square 18 at 7:30 pm and Brenden Theatres & IMAX at the Palms at 5:00 pm, 7:00 pm, and

9:00 pm on Monday, October 20th. These screenings precede the October 21 release of 'All Together Now' on DVD, which will be marketed and distributed worldwide by EMI Music and available in the US exclusively at Best Buy. "Seeing this documentary on the big screen will truly be a moving experience for the viewer as they witness the creation of the show LOVE" says director Adrian Wills. "The digital cinema projection and amazing 5.1 sound allow us to envelop the audience in the grandiose visual world of Cirque du Soleil and legendary music of The Beatles.”

 

Cinema-goers will have the opportunity to enter a sweepstakes with a grand prize that will include a pair of tickets to LOVE™ Tapis Rouge™, an exclusive behind-the- scenes experience of the show; roundtrip airfare for two within the continental US to Las Vegas, and a three day/two night stay at the Mirage; a copy of every Beatles CD currently in release; and a copy of the ‘All Together Now’ DVD.

 

'All Together Now' has screened at a number of festivals in the U.S. and across Canada in 2008, and accolades have followed. Among them were Rolling Stone’s praise of its sweeping visual style and "many insightful interviews." Las Vegas Magazine called 'All Together Now' "remarkable" and Variety observed that the film "wowed audiences."

 

The documentary details the story behind the unique partnership between The Beatles and Cirque du Soleil that resulted in the creation and 2006 launch of LOVE, the stage production still playing to packed houses at The Mirage in Las Vegas, and the experimental Beatles soundscape album of the same name which garnered two Grammy Awards for producers Sir George and Giles Martin. The movie is dedicated to the memory of Neil Aspinall, former CEO of Apple Corps and an Executive Producer of the DVD.

 

The director, Adrian Wills, traveled between London, Montreal, and Las Vegas recording early meetings between the Cirque du Soleil & Apple Corps Ltd. creative teams, as well as filming contributions from Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison discussing how The Beatles’ music can be used in a different way. Noting the uniqueness of these interactions Wills explains, “What surprised me the most was how human the whole process was.”

 

These early stages of the project were all filmed, as were the first rehearsals at the Mirage Hotel theatre in Las Vegas, which was completely rebuilt with a one-of-a- kind sound system and complex round staging to house the LOVE show. Sir George and Giles Martin, the show’s Musical Directors, were involved every step of the way with the remarkable Cirque du Soleil creative team, performers and backroom staff.

 

It wasn’t all “plain-sailing” and there has been no attempt to disguise some of the disagreements that took place along the way regarding how some of the songs would be portrayed visually. These creative differences, a necessary part of the overall process of bringing LOVE to its most vibrant life, illustrate the participants’ love and respect for the music and vision of The Beatles.

 

The Bigger Picture’s partner content is delivered to theatres via satellite wherever possible via AccessIT’s 254 site satellite network which reaches 40 states around the U.S.

 

The October 20th screenings of All Together Now will take place at digitally equipped cinemas across the country. Locations and show-time information are available at www.thebiggerpicture.us.

 

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