Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
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...WITHOUT WHOM THIS ISSUE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE SPRING 2013 deborah baer isaac brekken Minnesota native Isaac Brekken has lived and photographed in Las Vegas for nine years. For this issue, he photographed Andres Garcia of Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens. What is your favorite part about living in Las Vegas? If more than a week passes with- out a trip to Mount Charleston or Red Rock for hiking, mountain biking, or skiing, I get antsy. How did you enjoy the Andres Garcia shoot? Mr. Garcia was a delight to meet and tony abou-ganim World-renowned cocktail guru Tony AbouGanim is the author of The Modern Mixologist and the newly released Vodka Distilled. He contributed to our ���Blooms Get Boozy��� story on floral cocktails. You created Bellagio���s beverage program. I had the great honor of developing a fresh, handcrafted cocktail program there, but it was the bar staff that brought it to life. Bellagio brought attention and appreciation to the craft of bartending. What���s your favorite vodka drink? My new book is a celebration of vodka the way it was intended to be drunk���straight, unadulterated. I like a glass of frozen vodka, straight from the freezer, served in a frosty glass���. Its beauty lies in its simplicity! What are your favorite places to drink in town? It���s hard to narrow down a list, but if I must: Petrossian Bar at Bellagio, Vesper Bar at the Cosmopolitan, Herbs & Rye, Downtown Cocktail Room, and Nora���s Cuisine. to photograph. And what luck to do so in a setting with one of the most spectacular views on the Boulevard. Do you have a favorite cocktail? A Downtown Dill at Downtown Cocktail Room. dave berns Longtime political journalist Dave Berns wrote three stories for this issue: a feature on McCarran Airport, our Spirit of Generosity piece on Keep Memory Alive, and a profile of former Governor Bob Miller. Have you ever played the McCarran slots? There���s an old saying among Las Vegas casino executives: If you want to make money, own the game, don���t play it. How did you like speaking with the former governor? Governor Bob, as he still likes to be called, was concerned that his state wasn���t keeping up with the social needs generated by Nevada���s massive population growth rate of the 1990s. I found a caring, decent man. PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE MARCUS (BREKKEN); PHOTOGRAPHY BY TIM TURNER (ABOU-GANIM), REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM VODKA DISTILLED: THE MODERN MIXOLOGIST ON VODKA AND VODKA COCKTAILS BY TONY ABOU-GANIM WITH MARY ELIZABETH FAULKNER, AGATE SURREY, FEBRUARY 2013 Deborah Baer, who penned our cover story on Steve Carell, is an LA-based entertainment writer/editor who has written for Cosmopolitan, Glamour, The Huffington Post, and Seventeen and has profiled celebrities such as Mariah Carey, Angelina Jolie, and Katie Holmes. How did you enjoy talking to Steve? I desperately wanted to shout out, ���That���s what she said!��� but decided that would be unprofessional. Do you like magic? When I was a kid, my brother was obsessed with Harry Houdini and used to put on magic shows in our basement. I was his assistant sometimes, so I know some very basic novelty and card tricks. But I���ll never reveal those secrets! 26 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 026_V_FOB_Contribs_Spring13.indd 26 2/11/13 12:39 PM