Latest / Vegas Revealed / Las Vegas Arts District Restaurant Expands, Comedian Luenell Interview, Top Things to Do if First Time Visitor | Ep. 213

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Las Vegas Arts District Restaurant Expands, Comedian Luenell Interview, Top Things to Do if First Time Visitor | Ep. 213 · Vegas Revealed

• 0:00
  Dayna Roselli: It's episode 213 of Vegas Revealed.
• 0:03
  Dayna Roselli: We chat with comedian Lunel, who just got a key to the Las Vegas trip.
• 0:08
  Dayna Roselli: And you got your drink of choice here?
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: What is this?
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: This is a little protein drink made with a kettle wine and pineapple.
• 0:16
  Sean McAllister: We talk about her headlining gig at Jimmy Kimmel's comedy club and it she'll end up in the new season of the HBO show after.
• 0:25
  Dayna Roselli: We also visit with award-winning chef James Trees at his newly updated restaurant in downtown Las Vegas.
• 0:31
  Dayna Roselli: Esther's kitchen was so popular, it had to expand.
• 0:35
  Sean McAllister: All that and more coming up on Vegas Reveal.
• 0:40
  Sean McAllister: Vegas Reveal presented by Level Up Law starts now.
• 0:45
  Sean McAllister: Welcome to Vegas Revealed, episode 213.
• 0:51
  Sean McAllister: What's up?
• 0:52
  Dayna Roselli: Well, it's pouring rain, which is so rare for the desert.
• 0:54
  Dayna Roselli: I mean like buckets, which is really, really odd for Las Vegas.
• 0:58
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, so all the people who are out at pools trying to catch some sun now that it's pool season, you are out of luck as of this recording.
• 1:08
  Sean McAllister: But hopefully the sun returns quickly.
• 1:11
  Dayna Roselli: This podcast actually is being a little uh recorded a little earlier than we normally do.
• 1:15
  Dayna Roselli: So hopefully by the time this drops, like Sean said, the sun will be out and it will be in the 70s.
• 1:20
  Dayna Roselli: If I look uh at my forecast, that's what it looks like is predicted.
• 1:24
  Dayna Roselli: So that's good.
• 1:25
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, pool season is here, the resort pools are open, all sorts of deals out there.
• 1:29
  Dayna Roselli: We'll try and keep you posted on a lot of those.
• 1:31
  Sean McAllister: By the way, you can get the forecast for the days that you're visiting if it's available inside the Vegas Near Me app.
• 1:39
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, and everyone needs to download that.
• 1:41
  Dayna Roselli: We had someone write us one of our listeners and said that he downloaded it because he's coming to Vegas in June and love that it's free.
• 1:48
  Dayna Roselli: Um, you download it in the App Store, Google Play, and you don't even have to put in your email, which is awesome.
• 1:54
  Sean McAllister: Also, we want to remind you if you're a Las Vegas local or if you're visiting, check out Vegas Revealed on TV each weekend on Fox Five.
• 2:04
  Dayna Roselli: Yes, and if you miss that or you don't live here, we do put it on our YouTube page.
• 2:09
  Dayna Roselli: So if you want to visually see some of the things that we're talking about, some of the experiences we go through, you can check it out there.
• 2:15
  Dayna Roselli: Hey, FYI, real quick, new edition added three more shows.
• 2:19
  Dayna Roselli: We knew that was gonna happen, right?
• 2:20
  Dayna Roselli: We called that last week.
• 2:21
  Sean McAllister: I know.
• 2:22
  Sean McAllister: I know you had such a good time.
• 2:23
  Sean McAllister: They were like, you know what?
• 2:25
  Sean McAllister: Roselli and her friends had such a great time the first time around.
• 2:29
  Sean McAllister: We need to not only come back this summer, but we need to add more dates in the fall.
• 2:34
  Dayna Roselli: Exactly.
• 2:34
  Dayna Roselli: So three more dates in the fall.
• 2:36
  Dayna Roselli: I think the tickets went on sale for July and they probably sold out close to sold out or sold out right away, and they're like, Oh, I gotta add more.
• 2:42
  Dayna Roselli: I mean, it's a good show.
• 2:43
  Dayna Roselli: I'm telling you.
• 2:44
  Sean McAllister: You know what?
• 2:44
  Sean McAllister: Good for those guys.
• 2:45
  Dayna Roselli: I know.
• 2:46
  Dayna Roselli: You know what?
• 2:46
  Dayna Roselli: That's what I was thinking.
• 2:47
  Dayna Roselli: And even when I was looking at that whole in-sync reunion thing the other day with Joseph, I was like, you know what?
• 2:52
  Dayna Roselli: Everyone gets so into like the image of like, should we all come back together?
• 2:56
  Dayna Roselli: I don't know if it's good for my brand and I've got my own thing going.
• 2:59
  Dayna Roselli: But you know what?
• 3:00
  Dayna Roselli: Uh once you do it, it's a it's a blast.
• 3:03
  Dayna Roselli: Just have fun and make money.
• 3:05
  Dayna Roselli: What do you have?
• 3:05
  Sean McAllister: Exactly.
• 3:06
  Sean McAllister: It's like a reunion, it's getting back together with friends who you have this history with.
• 3:10
  Sean McAllister: Just go out there, have a good time.
• 3:13
  Sean McAllister: Don't take it like super like obviously it's a job.
• 3:16
  Sean McAllister: So you have to have a certain level of seriousness, but that doesn't mean you can't have all the fun in the world while you're doing it.
• 3:23
  Dayna Roselli: Exactly.
• 3:24
  Sean McAllister: I love it.
• 3:25
  Dayna Roselli: Get up there, sing Mr.
• 3:26
  Dayna Roselli: Telephone Man, and make money.
• 3:30
  Dayna Roselli: All right.
• 3:30
  Dayna Roselli: Well, listen, if you are a local or you're visiting, you need to go downtown to Esther's Kitchen.
• 3:36
  Dayna Roselli: Esther's Kitchen has been so popular for more than six years, so popular in fact that they had to close it or move around the corner and expand.
• 3:45
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, and they went from their original restaurant was about 2,000 square feet, but the new one that just opened up is about 10,000 square feet.
• 3:55
  Sean McAllister: And Dana, you and I went over there uh for lunch the other day uh so that we could uh you know be in the space, check it out, and then we sat down for a great conversation with award-winning uh uh chef, uh James Trees, who owns Esther's Kitchen.
• 4:11
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, and he was born and raised in Las Vegas, but went off to train with uh some of the greatest chefs out there, Michael Mina.
• 4:18
  Dayna Roselli: I know he's worked in some T T V with Gordon Ramsay and uh so many other Ogden.
• 4:22
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, so many incredible chefs, right?
• 4:25
  Dayna Roselli: And he got his start by what it was it an internship at the Mirage.
• 4:28
  Sean McAllister: An internship at the Mirage when he was 16.
• 4:31
  Dayna Roselli: I love it.
• 4:31
  Dayna Roselli: So we'll let you know, we want to play that interview for you because you gotta listen to this, um, especially if you're a foodie.
• 4:37
  Dayna Roselli: And we highly recommend going to Esther's, even if you are here visiting Las Vegas, like you know, like doing the strip and all that.
• 4:44
  Dayna Roselli: You gotta go to Esther's.
• 4:45
  Dayna Roselli: But here's our interview with James Trees.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: I never designed Esther's to be as busy as it was from the food to the plateware to the silverware, every single thing we stretch to the max.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: And it's really hard to function in a space when you're doing that many covers.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: Our average cover uh per day at original Esther's was 392 guests a day.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, that's 365 days a year, 141,500 covers last year.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: When you look at those kind of numbers and you see the space that we were doing that out of, it's an improbable task that had to have consequences.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: And after tearing everything out of that space, you can see the damage that was done, right?
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so we learned from that, right?
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: So every single thing that we had a problem with, we tried to create a solution here at the new Esther space.
• 5:37
  Sean McAllister: Well, and and what kind of opportunity is that for you as a chef to be able to come in and actually like design your own kitchen, not have to work it into an existing space, but have it actually be something functional that you know is going to work day in and day out.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um I've been cooking since I was 14, and this is the first time I've ever had carte blanche when it comes to the ability to design a space.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Every single other thing that I've done, whether I was working with Michael Mina or with the American Gonzo group who does Superba um in uh Los Angeles, or if I was in San Francisco, or if I was helping Gordon with stuff or doing whatever, it was always like, here's the thing we're doing, and here's how we're gonna do it.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: Every single thing that we were able to do in this space is because of the success of Esther's Kitchen.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: So the most important thing that we had to do was take heed of our guests and make sure that whatever we were doing, we're servicing them first.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's not about ego, it's not about um the ability to design it, it still had to feel the same.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's so you had to put parameters on it so that way it was functional for the guest and for the people who were working in the space.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: Take yourself out of it, and then it kind of tells you what you have to do.
• 6:58
  Dayna Roselli: And when you describe Esther's Kitchen for someone who may have never been, describe it for us as in the new spot.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's so easy.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's a seasonal Italian restaurant where we make all the bread and pasta and everything in-house.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like our bar program is a craft program.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: We make everything, we don't buy any syrups, anything.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: We don't use any uh mainstream label booze from like Diaggio or for Nova Carter or anything like that or Picardi.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: You'll never see that stuff on our bar because every bottle on that bar represents a family that is a distilling family, and those are being eaten up every single day as uh the world kind of churns.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: With every product that we use in the kitchen, our flour comes from central milling in southern Utah.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's milled every two weeks, right?
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: We could use industrial flour, but that flour is only milled once or twice a year, right?
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: Our tomatoes that we use are from Rob Dinapoli, the Danapoli uh Bianco tomatoes.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: Those are organic tomatoes.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: Those are very, and they're made, they're um San Marzanos that are grown in Central California.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: They're processed.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: I've been to the plant, I've met the people who do every single thing, who package all that product.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, all of our meats um are naturally raised, grass-fed.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like we have the best of the best.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: Our pork comes from Pasha Mama Farms in southern Oregon, where it's a hazelnut forest that the pigs run around in and they grow in, and then the last 30 days, they're finished on the overproduction of the Tillamook ice cream factory that's only 20 miles from where they're raised.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: That product during strawberry season, our pork tastes like strawberries.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like our beef we get from um from Creekstone, the natural farm in Colorado, and that is no antibiotics.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: And then we take that and we get a certain piece of that beef, and we have it dry aged in Southern California on salt wraps for a minimum of 40 days, and it's a prime cut.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like we use only the best products all the way across.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: And then we have farmers like Filmograph, Alex Weiser, um, Romeo from Coleman Farms, Garcia, Letty from Garcia Farms, who does all of our citrus.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: These are people that when I was in Los Angeles, I I cooked for their weddings, I cooked for funerals, I went to their family gatherings, these are my friends and my family, and now I'm able to bring that product in here in Las Vegas, and we're the only ones who are using that product.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: That is the difference between us and everybody else.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's like we care about the sourcing, we care about the products, we care about the booze, we care about every single detail of everything.
• 9:39
  Dayna Roselli: Well, and as an outsider and not a chef, you might go, how did you even?
• 9:43
  Dayna Roselli: But I mean, this is the testament to your experience, right, in the industry.
• 9:46
  Dayna Roselli: I mean, I would say Absolutely.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, like, I was given, I was born and raised in Las Vegas.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I was given the greatest opportunity anyone in my position could have gotten.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I started at ATTC, which is a culinary program that was kind of like a pro start or something like that nowadays, right?
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: Votech, right?
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: I could have gone to college, I decided not to.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: But what I did get out of that is I got a year's internship at the Mirage when I was 16 years old.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I could have done three hours a day.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: But because Bart Mahoney and Gustav Muller allowed me to, I would go do my two hours of schoolwork, second, third period, and then I would be at the Mirage from about 10:30 to about 11 o'clock at night, absorbing everything that I could.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: And because of that, I was the youngest cook to ever be hired at the Mirage.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: I worked there for almost two years till my mom said I had to go to college, and I said, okay, I'm gonna go to cooking school, and then my aunt Esther, who the restaurant is named after, she wrote the check that allowed me to go to CIA, the best culinary school in America.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: And there, because I had the opportunity, I didn't waste it.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: And during the weekends, I would go to New York City and I would train, and I would continually do that.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: And then at the end, I went and worked at La Berna Den, the best restaurant in New York City.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: That was the important thing.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: I always held myself to a standard and always tried to move myself forward.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: And because of these opportunities and taking advantage of them, no matter what the opportunity was, it gave me the experience to allow me to do this thing that has completely changed my life.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I hope I give everyone who works here that same opportunity.
• 11:33
  Dayna Roselli: Well, and I was gonna say, you know, usually you move, it's bigger, it's fancier, you think the prices are gonna go up.
• 11:38
  Dayna Roselli: Your prices are incredible, especially nowadays.
• 11:42
  Dayna Roselli: And um, I feel like, you know, whether it's visitors coming into town that don't live here or locals, this is a place where you're gonna get incredible service and food at a decent price.
• 11:53
  Dayna Roselli: Well, how do you keep it?
• 11:54
  Dayna Roselli: You know, what is your thoughts behind that?
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: Keeping it there, which I don't want to say cheap, it's not cheap, but yeah, I mean like well, we are not uh an inexpensive restaurant, but when you talk about the math you have to do between quality and putting profits over the guest, for me, this is a community restaurant.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: This is a restaurant for our wonderful hometown and the people who live here.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: And if you can't eat, drink, and still pay your bills here, then we have failed.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: So things like our steak that we could be charging$125,$150 for are$74.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's literally the minimum I can charge for that and still be able to put wood on the grill, right?
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like there are things that we make from scratch that are very important to me, like our bread program.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: We don't give away bread, right?
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: So we make it up in different places where normally people would see things as like, oh, why are you charging for bread?
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: When you have our sourdough bread, you understand why.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: You understand that like I could be buying flour that is 50 cents a pound, but the flour that we buy is$2 a pound.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's four times more expensive, so we have to charge for it.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: So we charge where we have to charge.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I understand that people might only get to come here twice a year birthday, anniversary, something like that, right?
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: And those people might choose us.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's our job to deliver the service and the execution of the food to the service uh to the standards that we have, which are as high as they can be.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: I don't see why a restaurant has to be 25, 30% profit when you know in Las Vegas, that is the standard for all of these big restaurants on the strip.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: We don't have to run those margins, we have to run industry standard margins and get a little bit there.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't have a bunch of you know investors to pay off, right?
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: So if I have to pay this off over time, it's on me, right?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: And the only investor I have is my sister.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: And my sister is and I understand that this is a community restaurant and we want to be here for 20 years.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: We are not a flash in the pan restaurant.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: We bought this building so that way we could have long-term success.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the most important thing to us.
• 14:13
  Dayna Roselli: Well, you guys are open till two at the bar?
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna be opening up from uh we're gonna finish dinner service at 11, and then we're gonna do pizzas from the oven till 2 a.m.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: and the bar will be open till 2 a.m.
• 14:24
  Dayna Roselli: I love that.
• 14:25
  Dayna Roselli: Right.
• 14:25
  Dayna Roselli: It's hard to find late night food lately.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: You know what?
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: After 2020, we've just noticed that this 24-hour town is no longer a 24-hour town.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: However, I spent 10 years in Los Angeles and I learned something very valuable.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing good happens after 2 a.m.
• 14:41
  Dayna Roselli: True.
• 14:41
  Dayna Roselli: Okay, so you're close at two.
• 14:42
  Dayna Roselli: That's a good idea.
• 14:44
  Sean McAllister: Well, congratulations on the new space.
• 14:46
  Sean McAllister: Congratulations on what's to come.
• 14:49
  Sean McAllister: And we love having you as a homegrown part of this community.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm so lucky I came home.
• 14:54
  unknown: Yeah, it's great.
• 14:56
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, it was so great to sit down uh with James Trees.
• 15:00
  Sean McAllister: Such a visionary for downtown in the culinary world.
• 15:05
  Sean McAllister: Like he is just I'm super impressed with everything he has going on.
• 15:11
  Dayna Roselli: So much passion, you know?
• 15:12
  Sean McAllister: There is, yes.
• 15:13
  Dayna Roselli: Really, and his other restaurants are fabulous too.
• 15:16
  Dayna Roselli: I just love what he's creating and he's telling us, you know, he's opened a new one.
• 15:19
  Dayna Roselli: So I love that.
• 15:20
  Dayna Roselli: Um, I really did uh enjoy the fact that the bar had purse hooks underneath.
• 15:26
  Sean McAllister: It absolutely did.
• 15:27
  Sean McAllister: I know that that was one thing that you noticed.
• 15:31
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, I mean, that's like a Steve Wynn move right there.
• 15:33
  Dayna Roselli: I mean, Steve Wynn always has purse little areas like to put your purse or hook on, but anyway, um yeah, I loved it.
• 15:39
  Dayna Roselli: So when there's a bar and they have a hook underneath the bar so that you can hang your purse right near your kind of like knee, you know, when you're in the bar chair.
• 15:47
  Dayna Roselli: I love that.
• 15:47
  Dayna Roselli: He has that and outlets.
• 15:49
  Dayna Roselli: So if you want to plug in your phone for a chair, he plugs awesome.
• 15:53
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, regular outlets too, yeah.
• 15:54
  Dayna Roselli: If you have like a laptop or whatever.
• 15:56
  Dayna Roselli: So, I mean, good ideas.
• 15:58
  Dayna Roselli: I love that.
• 15:59
  Dayna Roselli: All everything that he's doing over there.
• 16:01
  Dayna Roselli: Um, congratulations to James Trees and and everyone that works at Esther's.
• 16:05
  Dayna Roselli: It's a big crew.
• 16:06
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, uh, and love that they're doing the late night thing at the bar as well.
• 16:11
  Dayna Roselli: That's great.
• 16:12
  Sean McAllister: Uh just up the road from uh Esther's kitchen on Main Street.
• 16:17
  Sean McAllister: If you go uh down Main Street around the corner, you're gonna run right into the Strat.
• 16:22
  Sean McAllister: And there's a new golf attraction that just opened over at Strat.
• 16:26
  Sean McAllister: It's called Atomic Golf.
• 16:28
  Sean McAllister: It's uh kind of along the same lines if you've ever been to a top golf.
• 16:31
  Sean McAllister: It's uh similar kind of entertainment complex, but uh this one is way more like uh in your face with uh big art everywhere.
• 16:41
  Sean McAllister: It's it definitely has a more downtown vibe.
• 16:45
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, it's really cool looking.
• 16:46
  Dayna Roselli: And just FYI, if we do post this on a Thursday on March 21st, it actually opens on the 22nd, just in case you're listening.
• 16:53
  Dayna Roselli: It's not open yet, but it's opening on March 22nd.
• 16:56
  Dayna Roselli: And like you said, it looks really cool.
• 16:58
  Dayna Roselli: I look forward to getting over there, and I feel like it's such a good mix of kind of like golf, sports, and entertainment.
• 17:05
  Dayna Roselli: Oh, completely all in one.
• 17:07
  Sean McAllister: A big ad uh, you know, an adult arcade in there as well.
• 17:10
  Dayna Roselli: So yeah, and and locally brewed beers.
• 17:13
  Dayna Roselli: I it lay up some really good things.
• 17:14
  Dayna Roselli: I look forward, and I'm I'm glad the strat's doing that.
• 17:17
  Dayna Roselli: Um, I think it'll bring more people to the strat for sure.
• 17:19
  Sean McAllister: And by the way, Dana, I did want to mention Vegas Revealed is presented by Level Up Law.
• 17:25
  Sean McAllister: If storms like days like today uh wreak havoc on your property, don't face that alone.
• 17:31
  Sean McAllister: Level Up Law is there to be your ally in natural disaster recovery.
• 17:37
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, whether it's property damage, wind resulting in down trees, wildfires, or water damage, their experience team will help you.
• 17:44
  Dayna Roselli: Level Up Law also specializes in personal injury cases.
• 17:48
  Sean McAllister: Call Level Up Law now, 855 Level Up.
• 17:51
  Sean McAllister: That's 855 Level Up.
• 17:55
  Dayna Roselli: Lunel, Lunel, Lunel, what a funny lady.
• 17:58
  Dayna Roselli: Oh, Lunel.
• 17:59
  Dayna Roselli: I mean, we had the best time with her, didn't we?
• 18:02
  Sean McAllister: Well, we had the best time with her, and since then we have had the best time watching everything she's doing on Instagram.
• 18:09
  Dayna Roselli: She goes live.
• 18:10
  Dayna Roselli: Okay, and everyone's like, wait, okay, if you don't know Lunel, she's an amazing actress and comedian, super funny woman who has a residency show over at Jimmy Kimmel's Comedy Club, and you've probably seen her in the TV show maybe Hacks or several other shows as well.
• 18:24
  Dayna Roselli: She makes a lot of appearances, but funny woman, and yeah, we've been watching her Instagram lives and dying.
• 18:30
  Sean McAllister: I just I sat there for uh way too long watching her in the back of a car.
• 18:37
  Sean McAllister: What talking?
• 18:38
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, or I was just gonna say we kind of watch her do nothing, like she doesn't like there's not like any big like um reason for the live.
• 18:45
  Sean McAllister: No, even when she sits in her dressing room, you just uh listen in on the conversation she's having with whoever walks in.
• 18:52
  Sean McAllister: It's great, and it's hilarious.
• 18:54
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, we were there as she was presented a key to the Las Vegas strip and a proclamation.
• 18:59
  Dayna Roselli: And let me tell you Sean, you even said when you looked over, she was getting a little emotional.
• 19:04
  Dayna Roselli: I mean, this meant a lot to her.
• 19:05
  Dayna Roselli: I love that.
• 19:06
  Sean McAllister: She was.
• 19:06
  Sean McAllister: She was reading the proclamation that was put together by you know the uh Clark County commissioners, and uh it was all about her contributions, uh, not only to entertainment uh here in Las Vegas, but also civil rights.
• 19:22
  Sean McAllister: Uh she's been a a big contributor to push things forward, and uh she you could tell that it meant a lot to her.
• 19:29
  Dayna Roselli: And you know, it was also her birthday, and the chipandales were there to help.
• 19:33
  Dayna Roselli: I mean, it was such a mix of like emotion, but then like a little spicy, and then you know, the birthday cake wheeled out, then the chippendales were picking her up.
• 19:40
  Dayna Roselli: I mean, I think there was a lot going on, wasn't there?
• 19:42
  Sean McAllister: There was a lot going on.
• 19:43
  Sean McAllister: Also, going on was the fact that we sat down to have a great conversation with Lunel uh about being a Las Vegas resident, about uh her birthday milestone, and of course, a little comedy too.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: I love being able to say I have a residency in Vegas.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: I love being able to say, like Jimmy's got the only females that have residencies in Vegas, myself and Vicky Barbalock, that's it.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: This is a business, this Las Vegas is a business.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: And no matter how cute you are, or how young you are or how funny you think you are, if your face won't sell tickets and put butts in those seats, you will not work in the city.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: And that is a fact.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta have a show that is so bomb that the advertisement of it or your face is gonna sell the tickets.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: And if that's not happening, you will not work here.
• 20:38
  Sean McAllister: Being on the road so much, how much uh material do you end up getting from the stuff you see throughout your travels?
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have to be on the road, I can just be going into CVS.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like the material is is everywhere I look if your brain is wired to see it.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, a comic's brain is wired different than just your average person's brain because the average person can see something and see nothing.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: A comic can see it and go, can't wait to retell this story, you know.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that's I'm a storyteller, I don't really tell jokes.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like Rickles used to tell jokes and stuff.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: I don't do that.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: I tell I take you on a little magic carpet ride, as it were, of things that I've seen through my through my eyes.
• 21:25
  Dayna Roselli: And you live here part-time, right?
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, I have a house in LA and a house in here in Vegas, and so everywhere I'm part-time because I'm on the road so much.
• 21:34
  Dayna Roselli: It is kind of nice though, having a home base, isn't it?
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, to go home.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: I was living in the flamingo for a long time, and that's you know, okay, but I need a real kitchen, and you know, I want to decorate, and I don't want to have to walk through a casino every time I want to go to my room.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: My favorite thing to do is to make friends with the other residents that are performing here in Vegas.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: Go to see other people.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Show support them, have them come to my show.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: Not my favorite thing to do.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: There's so much to do here, you know.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: Go to the theater, you know.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: There's millions of things to do here.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: But my favorite thing to do is go film the show.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: Are you in season three of Hats?
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: I am in one episode.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: Because the film is starting to film me.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: And then after that, we went on the flight.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: And then after that, you know the film.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: Happy to be there as well.
• 22:40
  Dayna Roselli: What a great show, right?
• 22:41
  Dayna Roselli: It's so much fun.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: It mirrors my life.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the older woman in Las Vegas with a residency.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: She's trying to stay relevant.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: I am relevant.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: So that's where we did.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 22:54
  Dayna Roselli: And you know, the funny part, Sean.
• 22:56
  Dayna Roselli: What a great interview, first of all.
• 22:58
  Dayna Roselli: But is we we kind of I felt probably really bad because you asked her about her key to the strip, and she was kind of like, Am I getting one?
• 23:07
  Dayna Roselli: And I was like, Well, there was a press release, so I just assumed everyone knew.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I didn't know anything about it.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: You just confirmed it.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: Let's not tell anyone.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: We are Vegas revealed.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, no, if that is going to happen.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: That is an epic, epic moment for me.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: I just want to know when that gets me in everywhere I need to go.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: I got the damn key to the strip.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: Open the door, let me get me the table.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: I got the key to the strip.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: All you gotta do is go there and say that.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna lie to key to the strip.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 23:48
  Sean McAllister: And we I wasn't gonna leave the interview without her talking about the honor that she was getting.
• 23:54
  Sean McAllister: True.
• 23:54
  Sean McAllister: So whatever.
• 23:56
  Sean McAllister: If I ruined it, then so be it.
• 23:58
  Sean McAllister: So be it.
• 23:59
  Sean McAllister: She was still happy.
• 24:00
  Sean McAllister: I know.
• 24:00
  Dayna Roselli: Listen, what a gem.
• 24:01
  Dayna Roselli: I'm uh we're so glad to have her here in Las Vegas.
• 24:05
  Dayna Roselli: Her shows are Sundays and Mondays at 9:30 p.m.
• 24:07
  Dayna Roselli: at Jimmy Kimmel's Comedy Club, right there at the Link Promenade.
• 24:11
  Sean McAllister: Let's do some tips.
• 24:17
  Dayna Roselli: All right.
• 24:17
  Dayna Roselli: I told you we had a listener email and wanted to share.
• 24:21
  Dayna Roselli: We were so happy to hear from Jonathan.
• 24:22
  Dayna Roselli: He wrote us and said that he is getting uh ready for a trip to come to Vegas in June for a conference or an expo.
• 24:29
  Dayna Roselli: Um, and he wants to know like what we recommend to do in Las Vegas because he is coming alone and will have a few days to himself.
• 24:38
  Dayna Roselli: And that was a hard one because the list is long.
• 24:41
  Dayna Roselli: And so I even wrote it back and I said, Well, how about if I just like you tell me what kinds of things you want to do and then I'll send you a list?
• 24:47
  Dayna Roselli: Um, but when we were chatting about this, we thought, you know what, for anyone that's coming to Vegas, A, alone and have, you know, time to spare and want to see some of the key things.
• 24:58
  Dayna Roselli: We aren't gonna pick any of the like like uh not the new things.
• 25:03
  Dayna Roselli: Super specialty things.
• 25:05
  Dayna Roselli: There are definitely the classics that you have to go do.
• 25:08
  Sean McAllister: Especially if you've never been to Vegas or it's been a very long time.
• 25:13
  Sean McAllister: You want to go see and do uh the big stuff that screams Las Vegas.
• 25:19
  Dayna Roselli: Right.
• 25:19
  Dayna Roselli: You do, and so that's why when we sat down to make this list, I thought, you know what, let's just make a quick bucket list of some of the things that you should do.
• 25:26
  Dayna Roselli: And we we obviously feel like you need to go to the Bellaggio Conservatory.
• 25:30
  Sean McAllister: Without a doubt, and see the fountains, yeah, and see the Bellagio Fountains.
• 25:34
  Dayna Roselli: You do have to do that both free.
• 25:36
  Dayna Roselli: And you know, the conservatory's 24-7, so you can go whenever you want.
• 25:40
  Dayna Roselli: If you want to, you know, drink the night away and go there at at four in the morning.
• 25:44
  Dayna Roselli: You you can do that.
• 25:45
  Sean McAllister: You can.
• 25:46
  Sean McAllister: Yeah.
• 25:46
  Sean McAllister: And you'll probably it'll be very sparse crowds at that hour.
• 25:50
  Dayna Roselli: Exactly.
• 25:51
  Dayna Roselli: But they have a great spring display up, by the way.
• 25:54
  Dayna Roselli: Um, also, I I think you gotta go to St.
• 25:56
  Dayna Roselli: Mark's Square at the Venetian.
• 25:58
  Dayna Roselli: It's awesome.
• 25:59
  Dayna Roselli: You have a gelato, have a glass of wine, walk around.
• 26:02
  Dayna Roselli: It's just really cool.
• 26:03
  Dayna Roselli: I love it.
• 26:04
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, it's really pretty, and then that connects to um all of the shops over there at Venetian and Palazzo.
• 26:10
  Sean McAllister: So um there's lots to do and see, and it's really pretty environment.
• 26:15
  Sean McAllister: Also, uh be sure to go downtown, carve some time out to go down to Fremont Street Experience, all of the hotels, casinos along there.
• 26:26
  Sean McAllister: It's easy just to bop in and out, you don't have to spend an entire day at any one place, but do make sure that you go up to Stadium Swim over at Circa.
• 26:37
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, because you do it at least like check it out and see it.
• 26:40
  Dayna Roselli: There's nothing like it, you know.
• 26:41
  Sean McAllister: They're really it's incredible.
• 26:42
  Dayna Roselli: It is incredible, and so and I love it.
• 26:44
  Dayna Roselli: There's lots of little uh bars and restaurants there.
• 26:47
  Dayna Roselli: Also, I think you need to go to the patio at the Wynn called uh they renamed it recently.
• 26:55
  Dayna Roselli: Aft.
• 26:55
  Sean McAllister: Aft.
• 26:56
  Dayna Roselli: Yes, to see the Lake of Dream shows.
• 26:59
  Dayna Roselli: A lot of people don't know about this actually, and you know, it kicks up at night, and their shows like usually like every 20 to 30 minutes, and it's really cool.
• 27:09
  Dayna Roselli: You can go sit out on the patio, have a drink, have a coffee, whatever you want to do.
• 27:14
  Dayna Roselli: And um, I think they they usually have some snacks out there too, but and you can watch the shows, it's spectacular.
• 27:21
  Dayna Roselli: And uh you can only see it from this area.
• 27:24
  Dayna Roselli: You can also see it on the patios of a few of the restaurants like SW Steakhouse.
• 27:28
  Sean McAllister: And uh be sure when you're out there, they have a great cocktail program.
• 27:32
  Sean McAllister: If you're into cocktails, um be sure to check out the the menu they have and get that luster dust.
• 27:38
  Sean McAllister: Marina Mercer Barini, who's the mixologist for Win Properties, she has created this luster dust, it kind of it numbs your tongue, but also at the same time, like expands the the abilities of your taste buds to taste things, and it's a cool experience.
• 27:57
  Sean McAllister: So do that at the Lake of Dreams.
• 27:59
  Dayna Roselli: Love that.
• 28:00
  Dayna Roselli: Um, also, I think if you're into museums or you're into you know uh learning about the mob, we have the only uh organized crime museum in the country here in Las Vegas.
• 28:11
  Dayna Roselli: Uh maybe the world, actually, I think the world.
• 28:13
  Dayna Roselli: Um the mob museum in downtown Las Vegas is pretty cool.
• 28:17
  Dayna Roselli: If you get a chance, go check that out too.
• 28:19
  Dayna Roselli: And then uh something that another museum that we always recommend is the Arte Museum that's new as well.
• 28:25
  Sean McAllister: That's one of the immersive uh uh experience kind of uh museums, and it's so well done.
• 28:33
  Sean McAllister: One side one room you're sitting there with the waves lapping toward you.
• 28:38
  Sean McAllister: Then you're in another room.
• 28:40
  Sean McAllister: I it's just stunning.
• 28:42
  Sean McAllister: It's like Vegas has exploded all over the walls, fireworks, slot machines, roulette.
• 28:48
  Sean McAllister: It's just really uh cool Arte Museum at Harmon and Las Vegas Boulevard.
• 28:53
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, kind of like right in front of Crystal Shopping, and then right to the south of the cosmopolitan and in front of Aria.
• 29:00
  Dayna Roselli: So pretty easy to find there on the corner.
• 29:02
  Dayna Roselli: They do have their own valet too, or drop off.
• 29:04
  Dayna Roselli: So if you're taking an Uber there, they just whip in this little area and and they'll drop you right off and you go right up the escalators.
• 29:11
  Sean McAllister: Uh so those are tips.
• 29:13
  Sean McAllister: If you're coming to Vegas and uh need to check out big things, those are some of our recommendations to check out.
• 29:20
  Sean McAllister: Yeah.
• 29:21
  Sean McAllister: Want to give a big thank you to our sponsors.
• 29:23
  Sean McAllister: The Vegas Near Me app can be downloaded in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
• 29:30
  Sean McAllister: Also, level up law.
• 29:31
  Sean McAllister: If you're in need of an attorney, uh give them a call, 855 LevelUp.
• 29:37
  Dayna Roselli: Thanks for joining us, everyone.
• 29:38
  Dayna Roselli: We'll see you back here for episode 214.