The secret to Marquee’s success? Mass hypnosis. (Photo by Hew Burney | SpyOnVegas.com)

Yesterday saw Nightclub & Bar announce the winners of its 2012 awards. Last year was the first time that Vegas clubs were penned into their own set of categories, because they kicked too much ass nationwide. Megaclub of the Year honors went to Marquee, while sister property Tao took Nightclub of the Year. Encore Beach Club earned Dayclub of the Year and Afrojack Resident DJ of the Year for his work at XS. For ongoing and one-off parties, awards went to Marquee and Tao respectively, though N&B doesn’t seem to be forthcoming about which actual parties.

The original post: Daily Fiasco

Another great week of lingerie beauties at Gallery Nightclub! Plenty of sexy ladies were on hand competing in FHM’s weekly contest. Congrats to Corey on her win as we all dance to the sounds of DJ Casanova!

The original post: Napkin Nights @ Las Vegas

As we all know, Valentine’s Day is coming soon, which puts us in the mind for romance. As most of us know, chocolate is a traditional gift for said holiday. Many folks also know that tequila is a great way to inspire more…amorous feelings in themselves and their romantic partners.

Luckily for you, Patron has compiled these two last concepts into one bottle, also known as Patron XO Cafe Dark Cocoa. Using Patron silver as its base, this liqueur brings together two amazing products of Mexico – tequila and chocolate. Available for under $25 per bottle it clocks in at a pretty reasonable price, and initial reports indicate it’s a pretty amazing combination of its two flavors.

Our review will be out soon; pass the time by checking out the Dark Cocoa page at Patron Tequila.

Originally posted here: Liquor Snob

]]> http://whichbars.com/patron-xo-cafe-dark-cocoa-arrives-for-review-12323.html/feed 0 http://whichbars.com/who-needs-street-legal-12319.html http://whichbars.com/who-needs-street-legal-12319.html#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:24:43 +0000 The Bartender http://whichbars.com/who-needs-street-legal-12319.html

The downside, of course, is now we want a Ferrari.

“Go, go, go — fourth gear. Fifth gear. Brake!” our ride-along instructor, Mike, shouts over the radio.

Say that out loud, now run all the words together. That’s about how long it took to go from about 70 mph up over 120 and back down to a comfortable 60 or so as we slammed into a hard left turn. It felt like teleporting from one end of the long straightaway to the other.

It was, in short, well worth the blow our pride took at having to cram into a racing fire suit to drive one of the racing-tuned Ferrari F430 GTs that Dream Racing has to offer.

Former Formula 3 champion Enrico Bertaggia and Italian Superturismo Championship racer Adriano de Micheli, who were teaching at a driving school in the United Kingdom, decided to make the leap Stateside over drinks in Brazil.

“Enrico … was basically my mentor when I started driving. He taught me how to drive. He took me to the Ferrari school. He was directing the Ferrari school those years. Then he moved to England, directing a large, exclusive club, and became director of motorsport of Ferrari in the U.K. He kept asking me to go to the U.K. and join him and I said no, because I didn’t like the climate, the food, the women,” de Micheli said.

“Then we went on a trip in Brazil at night, having some fun, and said ‘Why don’t we do it on our own?’ We literally had the globe in front of us. So thinking ‘Why don’t we do it here, why don’t we do it there?’ I don’t remember who said Las Vegas, but yes, Las Vegas, perfect. I said, ‘How does it look like?’ He said, ‘I don’t know, I’ve never been there.’ Next month he took a flight.”

Dream Racing is one of three fantasy driving experiences you can have at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but the only one that offers the visceral punch of staring at 12 candy apple red Ferraris all lined up in a row. It’s like walking into a steakhouse cooler the day you just got home from Survivor. We’ve always liked cars, but we were never a “car guy.” Maybe Italian sports cars are more sizzle than steak. Maybe we’re just buying into the image, the hype. But in the absence of experience and expertise, the hype is convincing.

The outfit has taken over what used to be the press box, where they’ll have control of the spot 320 days a year (exceptions being made for Electric Daisy Carnival, NASCAR and what would have been IndyCar). You come in to a lounge, where would-be Andrettis can hang out pre- and post-race, sipping espresso and Pellegrino. (Che bene.)

Before you can get on the track, you go upstairs to watch an instructional video that’s full of dire-sounding information about racing lines and emergency procedures. We’re sure it was probably important, but we were busy quietly singing “The Distance” to ourselves.

From there, you climb into a simulator — a replica of the car’s cabin, down to cockpit dimensions, seatbelts, pedals, steering wheel and roll cage. The only difference is a 60-something inch 3-D television mounted in front. Unless Ferraris come with options we’d never considered.

It was here that we began to get nervous about our driving abilities. Mostly because we twice flew off the track, spun around and crashed into a fence guarding a half dozen virtual spectators. Surely, years upon years of Cruisin’ USA prepared us better than this.

Then it’s downstairs to suit up in a racing suit, head sock and helmet. There is no dignity in wearing a one-piece and helmet, unless your driving acumen necessitates you are paid to wear a one-piece and helmet. Getting in and out of the car isn’t exactly like climbing into a Cadillac — space is tight, and if you’re over 5-foot-5, cramming your helmeted head inside the roll cage doesn’t come without significant … bonking.

We were tentative at first. Lucky for us, Mike, in mirrored shades and a moustache, looked like everything we think of when we think “race car driver.” Unfortunately, everything we think of when we think “race car driver” is Dale Earnhardt Sr. But it wasn’t Earnhardt that was on our mind. It was Eddie Griffin.

After a slower lap to get the feel of the car and warm up the racing slicks, Mike had to goad us to go faster around turns. But once we did, and realized the car wouldn’t fishtail out from under us the way our daily ride would, we started pushing harder. By the fifth lap we were leaning into it. It’s … it’s probably a good thing there wasn’t a sixth lap.

It took us until we were driving away in our (suddenly dumpy-seeming) car to realize how sore we were from the adrenaline-fueled death grip we had on the wheel in the Ferrari. Like a long workout, or being pummeled about the chest and arms. Teleporting is hard on the nerves, even as the pleasure center in your brain gets rewired to lean on the gas, trust the machine, damn the consequences, pour on the speed. It’s not hard to see how drivers get hooked into the sport.

Dream Racing runs shuttles to the Speedway from Crystals, if you want to save a trip all the way out. The whole experience, which took about two hours, doesn’t come cheap. It’s $499, with five additional laps available for $399. If you just want to ride along, you can do that for $179.

As for how Vegas stacks up to the U.K.?

“The women, I’ve got a wife and a baby. So, they’re very friendly. I see my friends have a lot of fun, so that’s good,” de Micheli said. “But the food is excellent. It’s a beautiful place.”

Original post: Daily Fiasco

Bikini bull riding at Gilleys is always fun ! They have 2 for 1 Jager, Gilley girls, and motorboating you never run out of entertainment!

Here is the original post: Napkin Nights @ Las Vegas

Happy Birthday Vanity! Celebrating their 2nd year inside the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Great night with super sexy ladies all over dancing to the sounds of DJ Wellman.

Author: Napkin Nights @ Las Vegas

Shortly before midnight on Chinese New Year Eve, I found myself standing in the epicenter of the annual Lunar New Year Fair in Victoria Park.

Despite the cold, damp weather, the yearly celebration was unbelievably packed. The large scale event, which takes place over the days leading up to Chinese New Year, draws several hundred thousand people who inch their way through aisles browsing New Year related merchandise.

At one point, with many of the aisles at a complete standstill, people continued to converge from every side. As the crowd piled up around me, I wiggled my arm free and was able to shoot a quick (and shaky) 360 degree video to capture the insane sea of people.

Soon afterwords I changed course to a less crowded route and made my escape!

Cutest merchandise for sale?

The items for sale this year included the usual flowers, plants, and objects specially crafted for their New Year symbolism. As we have just entered year of the dragon, many of the items had a dragon theme.

In keeping with modern traditions, there was other merchandise for sale based on current events. I spotted super-sized cheques for $6000 HKD, relating to the Hong Kong government’s payment to permanent residents this year.

Other items that appeared new (or perhaps that had gone un-noticed previously,) were scratch-n-sniff orange and banana tree pinwheels made of paper, as well as plastic cherry blossom pin-wheels.

The cutest find? A colorful over-sized camera (that was actually a giant plush hand-warmer, made to resemble a Colorware Leica!)

I think last year’s giant bubble tea is still the reigning champion of cuteness!

A quick word of caution

Though the police monitor every part of the fair, the sheer number of people pouring in makes it un-weildly. The truth is that it’s an impossible event to fully control.

Small children, babies, people in wheel chairs, strollers, and the elderly, should not visit the market at peak times of the night. Even with all of the precautions, there is a degree of chaos that leaves those more vulnerable at risk.

Have a look back at previous Lunar New Year fairs: 2011, 2010, 2008, 2008, 2007, and 2006.

Go here to see the original: Hongkong Hustle

Tryst Friday Nights @ Wynn

Source: Napkin Nights @ Las Vegas

Yes, that is a guitar painted as an advertisement for cherry-flavored bourbon. (Photo by Scott Harrison | Retna)

Let’s assume, for the moment, you have $110 (plus fees). And let’s assume you’re pretty sure you want to light it on fire, but you’re looking for something maybe somewhere between “buying something fun” and “suck it, Federal Reserve and also poor people.”

Well now. Here comes the House of Blues to help. Kid Rock is doing two, intimate-venue shows at 8 p.m.both tonight and tomorrow (with Vegas turntable sensation/elementary schooler DJ Baby Chino opening). Mind you, you can see actual Lynyrd Skynyrd at a bar themed for Lynyrd Skynyrd for far less than it will cost you to hear Kid Rock deliver half-assed rhymes over samples of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Oh, and it’s $125 if you want an actual seat, and not just general admission. That does not include admission to the afterparty at Tao tomorrow night.

The original is here: Daily Fiasco

Sexy ladies and lingerie? Yes please! Gallery Nightclub hosts the weekly FHM Lingerie Model Search once again as DJ Casanova brought us the sounds to dance to. Congrats to Alex on her win!

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