ML - Vegas Magazine

2013 - Issue 2 - Spring

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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ON THE TOWN Andres Garcia is the man behind the famous Bellagio Conservatory. Hyde���s terrace offers the best views of the Bellagio fountains. LET���S MEET Where: Hyde Lounge, Bellagio When: 5 to 11 PM, seven days a week What: Cocktails, wine, and small plates from Circo next door Why: Garcia unwinds there after work. ���I have the Airmail and an appetizer, and it���s a good time.��� Sliders are served until 10 PM. garden great ANDRES GARCIA���S GREEN THUMB IS TO THANK FOR BELLAGIO���S CONSERVATORY���AND TO UNWIND, HE HEADS TO HYDE FOR SNACKS AND COCKTAILS. BY JOHN KATSILOMETES PHOTOGRAPHY BY ISAAC BREKKEN A s Andres Garcia sips a lightly golden drink called an Airmail, his favorite, at Bellagio���s Hyde, he drinks in the scene, too. Not that the animated executive stays quiet for long. As he passionately launches into an anecdote about his latest creation, the Fountains of Bellagio burst and swirl in an aquatic spectacle just off the lounge���s open-air patio. Illuminated by the lights of the Strip, the shooting waters dance in time to the soaring vocals of Luciano Pavarotti singing ���Rondine al Nido,��� and in the foreground the overlord of the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens looks like a star. He gives off the hipslick vibe of the ���other��� Andy Garcia, the Hollywood actor. But Garcia, Bellagio���s executive director of horticulture, is not apt to be swept away by the trappings of the chic nightclub, its fancy libations and great food, or even the Strip���s magnificent water show. The man who specializes in botanical growth and arrangement is humble to his roots, the 13th of 17 children born into a farming family in the small town of Ereguayqu��n, El Salvador. Ever since one of his seven brothers found him a job in Vegas working for a landscaping company, the life and career of Andres Garcia��� the city���s greatest plant manager���have blossomed. You���ve said you grew up eating what your family harvested. Yes, we ate food from the farm. Well, we ate from what we produced on the farm. [Thinking] back to El Salvador, growing up on the farm and eating all fresh and organic food, it was delicious. How have your tastes evolved over time? The food in the US is different. The taste is better, to me. Bellagio has all of these places to eat, and the flavor is so good. My expectations have changed, even though we grew from the farm and ate from the land. Now coming in here, if I go to Michael Mina, I know what I want: I want the continued on page 78 76 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 076-078_V_SC_OnTheTown_Spring13.indd 76 2/12/13 4:03 PM

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