Planet Hollywood Resort served as the official Strip casino resort partner for the Life is Beautiful Festival and the resort, as well as other Caesars Entertainment Las Vegas resorts, was front and center at the festival this weekend.
Adding local entertainment flavor to the festival were performances by several of Caesars Entertainment’s Las Vegas shows, including Absinthe from Caesars Palace, Million Dollar Quartet at Harrah’s Las Vegas and The Quad’s Recycled Percussion.
On Thursday, Nobu Restaurant at Caesars Palace hosted the Life is Beautiful Chef Kick-Off event, attended by Life is Beautiful founder Rehan Choudry along with chefs participating in the festival, including Aaron Sanchez, Hubert Keller, Francois Payard, Kerry Simon, Rick Moonen, Marcel Vigneron, Scott Conant, Steve Martorano, Bruce Bromberg and Jonathan Waxman.
James Beard Foundation pastry chef of the year winner François Payard joined nine other chefs for the Take a Stand dinner benefitting Communities in Schools, which strives to combat the Las Vegas dropout rate. The chefs paired up with each other to create a course for the intimate group of 40 diners. Payard and Megan Romano were responsible for dessert at the $5,000 a plate dinner held at Tony Hsieh’s home in downtown Las Vegas.
Downtown Stage Ferris Wheel was sponsored by The Linq.
Martorano’s, KGB: Kerry’s Gourmet Burgers and Payard Patisserie & Bistro created a pop-up restaurant, bar and lounge at the festival.
François Payard treated guests to a special demonstration shortly after the gates opened on Saturday when he demonstrated recipes from his not-yet-released cookbook, “Desserts.” The demo mirrored the cookbook by highlighting each component within a recipe to make pastry simple for the home cook. “I don’t need to show you what I can do, I want to show you what YOU can do.”
On Sunday, Steve Martorano called on Nico Vega guitarist Rich Koehler to be his sous chef and together they prepared fresh mozzarella three ways using only curd, water and salt. Guests were given tastes of the mozzarella with a side of inspiration as Steve told his story and encouraged the audience to “look up, get up, and never give up.”
In partnership with Clear Channel’s ALT 98.7 FM Los Angeles, Planet Hollywood Resort hosted “campfire performances,” interviews and photo opportunities with bands performing at the festival. Held in the London Club on the resort’s Mezzanine Level, the two-day event featured appearances by Portugal the Man, Capital Cities, Cults, Pretty Lights, Twenty One Pilots, Haim, Wildcat Wildcat and Passion Pit. The event concluded with a special appearance by The Killers’ Brandon Flowers, who participated in an on-stage interview and posed for photos with guests before heading to downtown Las Vegas to perform as the festival’s closing act.
Click on the photos below to enlarge.
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Haute Scene
October 29, 2013Photos: The Killers Perform at Life Is Beautiful
