ML - Vegas Magazine

2014 - Issue 1 - Winter

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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FOOD FOR THOUGHT The famous 60 ABOVE: The walls of Battista's Hole in the Wall hold 43 years' worth of memories. RIGHT: Bootlegger owner, and star performer, Lorraine Hunt-Bono with husband Dennis Bono. GOING OLD-SCHOOL BOOTLEGGER ITALIAN BISTRO 7700 S. Las Vegas Blvd., 702-736-4939; bootleggerlasvegas.com CAPO'S ITALIAN STEAKHOUSE 5675 W. Sahara Ave., 702-3642276; caposrestaurant.com ITALIAN AMERICAN CLUB 2333 E. Sahara Ave., 702-4573866; iacvegas.com PIERO'S 355 Convention Center Dr., 702369-2305; pieroscuisine.com SALVATORE'S 9090 Alta Dr., 702-636-7111; suncoastcasino.com BATTISTA'S HOLE IN THE WALL 4041 Audrie St., 702-732-1424; battistaslasvegas.com PHOTOGRAPHY BY BEVERLY POPPE (PIERO'S) osso buco continued from page 58 at Piero's. recently as 2005, in a scene seemingly out of a gangster movie, a pair of retired New York City detectives were converged upon by federal agents after sitting down for dinner at Piero's. "They were actually mob hit men," says Glusman, referring to ex-cops Louis Eppolito (he was the one with the .45 tucked in his waistband) and Stephen Caracappa. "These were Italian guys, Mafia guys in an Italian restaurant with an Italian feel." Former Nevada lieutenant governor Lorraine Hunt-Bono, owner of Bootlegger, has been a Las Vegan since the 1940s; her mother, Maria, created the restaurant's original recipes. Also a singer, she is half of one of the city's more celebrated couples, married to venerable Vegas vocalist Dennis Bono, host of The Dennis Bono Show at South Point Showroom and simulcast throughout the Southwest. "This is what I do for relaxation and recreation," she once said. "If presidents can play golf, I can sing." There is a comfortable, even womblike feel to these haunts that makes their customers—famous or infamous—feel at home. At Capo's one night several years ago, a small cluster of Vegas lounge entertainers arrived for a postshow dinner. In the room was a woman dressed regally in a black sequined dress. She was Antoinette Giancana, who at the time was meeting covertly with casino officials about a planned mob attraction to be staged at the Tropicana. One of the entertainers, exposing his naïveté, asked the daughter of notorious Chicago mob overlord Sam Giancana if her life had ever been threatened. "You should know not to ask me that," Giancana coolly replied. The restaurant favored by former Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman each New Year's Eve is an Italian joint, too. It's Salvatore's at the Suncoast, in the northwest Las Vegas suburb of Summerlin, far away from the Strip. Goodman has long been a friend of Salvatore's operator Bob Harry and his former partner Jim Girard, from their days as owners of the Tap House sports bar and the restaurant Fellini's on West Charleston Boulevard (Fellini's is now located at the Stratosphere hotel-casino). Girard is currently helping to revive the Italian American Club on East Sahara Avenue, with bocce tournaments outside, classic crooners inside, and the aroma of red sauce wafting from the kitchen. "I think all walks of life love the Italian feel, the old-school feeling we have here," says Glusman, explaining the appeal of the city's Italian heritage. "The food is great; the stories are authentic. We don't lie about who we are, and we don't have to adapt to any trends. People want to see it, and want to be part of it." V VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 058-060_V_Taste_RedSauce_Winter14.indd 60 1/10/14 10:37 AM

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