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.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/124284
fabulous years Well-deserved: Jason Strauss relaxes at Marquee, his newest Strip hot spot. nightlife with nerve S ecurity escorts past the velvet ropes, busboys catering to guests' every need, waitresses in barely-there uniforms delivering sparkler-enhanced bottles of top-shelf liquor—it's all pretty common these days. But there was a time in Las Vegas when drinking was for drowning one's sorrows after a busted blackjack hand and dinner at the cheap buffet. That all changed in 2003, when Jason Strauss, Noah Tepperberg, Marc Packer, Richard Wolf, and Louis Abin signed a lease at Venetian to open Tao, a 44,000-square-foot offshoot of a world-class eatery that just happened to be one of the highest-grossing restaurants in Manhattan. The guys were shifting into high gear for their opening at a time when bottle service was still in its infancy on the Strip. Some VIP hosts were going rogue and finding ways to offer it at places like Babys, and Light had debuted in 2001 with a (gasp!) dress code that forbade Vegas staples like shorts and flip-flops, followed in 2004 by competitor Body English, which opened in the old Babys location. But Tao Group had even grander plans: to spend big money to mix upscale dining with a massive high-end nightclub for the complete no-need-to-leave venue. It would be a hybrid of their New York City hits: the restaurant Tao and the nightclub Marquee. "There was a lot of apprehension and a lot of fear that we were going to have no idea what we were doing in Vegas," Strauss says. "Luckily we made some really good hires and learned the market quickly. When we landed, we left our New York hats back on the East Coast and walked into the market pretty humble. Like a sponge, we listened to how it works in a casino, how staff management works out here, and the needs of the customer from the Midwest. The beginning was really just a lot of learning." They picked Venetian for their mega-venue because of its heavy weekday flow of convention traffic. But to appease the transient crowd, they'd have to take an unorthodox approach and treat every night like a new grand opening. So they ditched the niche they'd carved out in New York, while hanging on to their East Coast marketing strategies, celebrity relationships, and first-class professionalism. "The Venetian never had nightlife, so educating everyone in this building on what we did was important," Strauss says. "We brought all of their staff to the venue to experience bottle service, experience the nightclub, and we hosted educational experience events." When it came time for Tao's grand opening in 2005, Vegas was expecting big things. Strauss and company had hosted private preopening events for local tastemakers, and it was at these— with a mere 500 people in the 3,000-person club—that he knew the place would work. On opening night, 45 male models escorted celebrities like Janet Jackson, Usher, and Josh Duhamel down a 60-yard red carpet, and the partners' top customers flew in from LA and NYC. The whole world knew that Tao was here to stay. "It was glitz; it was Vegas," Strauss says. "It made a lot of noise. Venetian did a study of press that came out of that grand opening party, PHOTOGRAPH BY TK; ILLUSTRATION BY TK TAO GROUP PARTNER JASON STRAUSS REFLECTS ON THE GAMBLE HE TOOK 10 YEARS AGO TO PIONEER WHAT IS NOW A RECORD MONEYMAKING, ENVELOPEPUSHING NIGHTLIFE SPECTACLE LIKE NO OTHER IN THE WORLD. BY JON WARECH 130 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 128-137_V_Feat_Anniversary_MAY/JUNE_13.indd 130 4/23/13 2:58 PM