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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Parting Shot THEY SEEM TO HAVE TAKEN OVER: WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE FRENCH CANADIANS THAT WE LOVE SO MUCH? BY JOHN KATSILOMETES vive las vegas T o understand the French-Canadian culture in Las Vegas, let us start at one of their favorite haunts: an Italian restaurant just south of the Strip. Bootlegger Bistro has been open for generations, operated by the Italian family of current proprietor Lorraine Hunt-Bono. Bootlegger is open all day and all night, ideally suited for the rock- around-the-clock schedules of the city's entertainers—especially those who perform in Cirque du Soleil, whose second shows on any given night end far past any sensible dinner hour, some as the clock hits midnight. A couple of years ago I was dining on lasagna at Bootlegger, and it was late. (Or early, depending on your schedule.) It must have been about 1 AM and I was eating in a burgundy booth in the lounge, as some classic Elvis Presley concert played on the flatscreens above the bar. Suddenly, the calm, cool scene was blown up by about a dozen diners filing into the restaurant with abundant energy. They were tiny, enlivened—and some seemed to still be sweat- ing from some apparently physical activity. Then they spoke. Or, shouted. And it was in French. Whence do these people originate, some wondered? But those who live in Vegas know what this is. Some locals have taken to calling such an event being "Cirqued." With Cirque du Soleil ascending as Vegas's domi- nant production company, selling 9,000 tickets a night on the Strip, and Celine Dion (from the French- Canadian hamlet of Charlemagne) routinely selling out the 4,298-seat Colosseum, the city does feel inher- ently French-Canadian-ified. As one member of the Cirque family boasts, "If it weren't for French-Canadian circus artists, we would not have a poutine food truck in Las Vegas." He's right about that: I've never seen an American dig into the Canadian obsession of French fries slathered in gravy and curds of white cheddar cheese. And there are plenty of French speakers sprinkled around to make them feel at home, starting with chefs Joël Robuchon and Guy Savoy. But the power and influence of French-Canadian culture here is largely top-down. Cirque and Celine mean big business. They set the standard of live entertainment in modern-day Vegas in the same way the Rat Pack, Elvis, Liberace, and Siegfried & Roy achieved decades ago. The competition continues to give chase, and one native Las Vegas producer has taken on Cirque especially with a full-frontal assault. In a series of online commercials, producer David Saxe summons all variety of French-Canadian stereotypes in the form of a mime named "O," a play off one of Cirque's top shows. O speaks with an absurd French accent while describing the types of performance artistry that has made Cirque famous. The counter is, this is not traditional Las Vegas. It is an interesting point, but why fight it? Order up a plate of late-night pasta, or even a serv- ing of poutine, and enjoy the convo. V 152 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM Only in Vegas! ILLUSTRATION BY DANIEL O'LEARY