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THE LATEST

1 2 “Friends in Low Places”The Bundy family’s political allies,

for better or worse.

By LISSA TOWNSEND RODGERS

1 6 “The X-treme Games”Unruly behavior unduly rewarded.

Politics by MICHAEL GREEN

Plus … New campus housing on the

way for UNLV students, Seven Days,

Ask a Native and The Deal.

NIGHTLIFE

2 5 “They’ve Got Soul”These UK producers fuse dance

music with the unexpected.

By KAT BOEHRER

Plus … Seven Nights and photos

from the week’s hottest parties.

DINING

4 5 “New Burger on the Block”The Mirage’s Italian dining star tackles

an American classic. By AL MANCINI

Plus … The woman behind Yardbird’s

unexpectedly sophisticated desserts,

steeping up the city’s tea culture and

Dishing With Grace.

A&E

5 1 “FunHenge”Seven things we like about Seven Magic

Mountains. By GEOFF CARTER

Plus … Seven’s 14, why Oddisee’s

a hip-hop mainstay and how

Firewatch is a satisfying tryst.

5 6 “L.A. Consequential”Shane Black reinvigorates the

buddy comedy with The Nice Guys.

By GEOFF CARTER

SEVEN QUESTIONS

6 6 Artist Peter Tunney on Tony Bennett,

practicing mindfulness and living

the good life.

FEATURE

Life Is BeautifulThe fourth annual Downtown festival promises the next step in the city’s musical footprint.

Plus … Q&As with G-Eazy, the Lumineers’ Wesley Schultz and Ted Dwane of Mumford & Sons.

M A Y 1 9 – 2 5 , 2 0 1 6C O N T E N T S

Cover illustration by Ryan Olbrysh.

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Vegas Seven is distributed each Thursday throughout Southern Nevada

c 2016 Vegas Seven, LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without the permission of Vegas Seven, LLC is prohibited.

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P U B L I S H E RMichael Skenandore

E D I T O R I A LEDITORIAL DIRECTOR Nicole Ely

MANAGING EDITOR Genevie Durano

SENIOR EDITORS Paul Szydelko, Xania Woodman

SENIOR EDITOR, A&E Geoff Carter

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SENIOR WRITER Lissa Townsend Rodgers

STAFF WRITER Emmily Bristol

CALENDAR COORDINATOR Ian Caramanzana

S E N I O R C O N T R I B U T I N G E D I T O RMelinda Sheckells (style)

C O N T R I B U T I N G E D I T O R SMichael Green (politics), Al Mancini (dining),

David G. Schwartz (gaming/hospitality)

A R TCREATIVE DIRECTOR Ryan Olbrysh

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Cierra Pedro

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Krystal Ramirez

V E G A S S E V E N . C O MTECHNICAL DIRECTOR Herbert Akinyele

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LAS VEGAS’ WEEKLY CITY MAGAZINE | FOUNDED FEBRUARY 2010

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News, deals and the

tipping point on gratuities.THE LATEST

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➜ IT’S NOTHING NEW for politicians to hitch their wagons to celebrities: Reach out to George Clooney or Kim Davis and try to turn a few of their fans into your voters. Most do their best to not confuse the famous and the infamous, but that hasn’t stopped some Nevada officeholders from continuing to cuddle up to the Bundy family.

Perhaps the Bundys’ most ardent supporter has been state Assembly-woman Michele Fiore, who got her first taste of sweet, sweet national airtime during the 2014 Bunkerville standoff. Fiore recently brushed off the numerous photos and videos of armed militants pointing guns at and/or threatening law enforce-ment. “Once you point your firearm at me, I’m sorry, then it becomes self-defense. Whether you’re a stranger, a bad guy or an officer,” she told a local radio show. Insisting that shooting an officer who might shoot you is within your Second Amendment rights is surely an idea armed criminals everywhere can really get behind. Fiore then backtracked—sorta—insisting that only Bureau of Land Management agents should be gunned down, not Metro cops. No word yet on where the FBI or state police rank on the shootability scale.

Fiore is running for a Republi-can congressional seat—clearly a better position from which to help the Bundys. As she announced on Facebook, “My first congressional bill will be mandatory education to all jurors on jury nullification.” Jury nullification is when a jury basically declares that the law is just wrong: It’s about as common as snow on the Strip, but jury nullification is the legal holy grail for sovereign citi-zens. Fiore has repeatedly crossed state lines to lend support during and after the Malheur (Oregon) standoff. Her explanation: If any of her constituents is in trouble any-where, “You betcha I’m gonna come getcha.” Of course, the Bundys don’t live in Fiore’s district so they’re technically not her constituents but, hey, the next time you get a speed-ing ticket in California, you know who to call for bail and a ride home.

The Bundys aren’t residents of Assemblywoman Shelly Shelton’s district either, but she’s been standing with them since Bun-kerville—hell, she even brought

her newborn grandchild because it was really more like a family picnic than an armed standoff. They grilled burgers! Shelton doesn’t miss a Bundy rally or court date; her official Facebook page is largely dedicated to “LaVoy [Fini-cum] clearly had his hands up” and the Bundys are “political prison-ers.” Shelton’s constituents, Glen Heather’s mid-century hipsters and the Ph.D.-carrying profes-sionals of the Medical District, also undoubtedly appreciate her disparagement of “urban people” who, according to her, do not work or pay taxes like rural folk.

Another assemblyman who seems to be focusing on the Republic of Bundystan is John Moore. He repre-sents the 8th District, which is basi-cally a bunch of industrial build-ings and suburban homes in the southern part of the Valley. He has frequently declared at rallies and court dates that Malheur occupier Finicum was “murdered;” during a conference call hosted by Bundy supporters, he said of the shooting: “I haven’t often shed tears, but I will say I’ve shed more than one tear on seeing that.” (Apparently other police shootings are not so sad.) During this same call, another in-vited participant declared that any law enforcement officers who cause an issue for anti-BLM forces “will be met with hot fire.”

The politicians may not quite be representing their constituents, but the folks they lionize aren’t exactly what they seem to be, either. Not quite noble patriots, those facing government charges included an as-sortment of unemployed musicians, bipolar potheads, deadbeat dads and guys who had fake military records but real police records. Not quite a rural farmer, Ammon Bundy owns a truck repair company—“centered in the heart of the Phoe-nix industrial area,” according to its website—that received about a half-million dollars in government (government!) loans, as well as a six-figure home in an Idaho suburb. Sometimes a cowboy hat is just a hat.

Shelton and Moore both face re-election this year—and both won their last elections by less than 1 percent margins—while Fiore is battling six other candidates to be the Republican nominee for the 3rd Congressional District. Politicians’ tough talk may comfort those locked up for their actions at Bunkerville and Malheur, but it probably doesn’t do too much for the nature lovers living near Lone Mountain or the gated communi-ties on Greenery View Lane. Come November, all three may find them-selves losing to candidates who worry about schools and stoplights rather than Admiralty courts and the enclave clause.

Friends in Low PlacesThe Bundy family’s political allies, for better or worse By Lissa Townsend Rodgers

THU 19 If you can find beauty in

something as mundane as a

rock, you should plan on attending Visi-tor Made: Found Rock/Found Object, 4-7 p.m. at UNLV’s Barrick Museum.

You’ll be granted access to the materials

at the ArtBar, but supply your own rock.

Donate your creation when finished and

it will go on display. UNLV.edu.

FRI 20 Libraries are full of books. So

full, in fact, that sometimes

they have to sell off the excess to make

room for new ones. That’s a boon for

book lovers who should descend on the

Clark County Library today and tomor-

row to score cheap reads. Got a dime?

Buy a paperback. LVCCLD.org.

SAT 21 Sometimes we just have to give

a shout-out for awesomeness.

Detox to Retox is one such event. Combin-

ing yoga and beer, at a brewery no less?

Inspired. The yoga part begins at 10:15 a.m.

at Tenaya Creek Brewery, and the beer

part commences afterward. Check Detox

to Retox’s Facebook page for details.

SUN 22 Have a pet? Want a pet? In ei-

ther case, Cashman Center is

your nexus this weekend as it hosts the

Vegas Pet Expo, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Satur-

day and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today. From ex-

hibitors to adoption groups, obedience

demonstrations to vet-care tips, it’s all

here. And yes, you can bring your pet.

VegasPetExpo.com.

MON 23 It’s Day One of an eight-game

consecutive homestand for

the Las Vegas 51s as they take on the

Nashville Sounds, 7:05 p.m. at Cashman

Field. Later in the week, the 51s host the

Memphis Redbirds. MILB.com.

TUE 24 Henderson is challenging you

to hit the 180 miles of trails the

city has to offer with the Bike It or Hike It challenge. Jump on a trail, take a selfie in

front of a trailhead, kiosk or sign and post

it to the city’s parks and rec Facebook or

Twitter accounts before May 31 using

#bikeitorhikeit2016. CityofHenderson.com.

WED 25 If you graduated from UNLV

in the last 10 years or just

love the Rebels, here’s your chance to

mingle. Graduates of the Last Decade,

6-8 p.m. at the Hard Rock’s Center Bar,

will have appetizers, a cash bar and

plenty of schmoozing. UNLV.edu.

Seven DaysThis week in your cityBy B O B W H I T B Y

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Shamir plays a homecoming set, 2015; Bill Nye drops in on Ryan Lofty’s DJ set, 2015; The Killers play a surprise set, 2015; the “Secret Garden” transforms a DTLV parking lot to a park, 2013; Pussy Riot invades the speaker series, 2014; Banksy parks one of his pieces at the festival, 2015; Kimbra and Rick Moonen whip up a mean steak at the Culinary Village, 2014; Diplo of Major Lazer crowd-surfs in a transparent rubber ball, 2015.

Soaring to a New Level of Beverage Programming➜ When Drew Levinson left Atlantic City’s Borgata resort to take over the beverage program at Bellagio in 2004, he probably wouldn’t have imagined that nearly a decade later he’d be driving a golf cart around Downtown Las Vegas during 2013’s inaugural Life Is Beautiful. But Levinson, now the vice president of business development for Breakthru Beverage Group (formerly Wirtz Bever-age), has played an integral role in the festival, shaping and reshaping the bev-erage program, since its inception.

So, what does it take to batch and serve close to 100,000 drinks? Levin-son and his playfully titled Breakthru Wrecking Crew will find out in late September when they parlay all the lessons they’ve learned during Life Is Beautiful’s first three years.

Looking back, Life Is Beautiful’s first year was a crapshoot, beverage-wise. “It was an idea exploding into life and us just trying to hang on for the ride,” Levinson says. The main focus was to “create something that will hopefully grow in the future,” he says.

And grow it did, clearing a path for in-novation in terms of what Levinson could do to push the boundaries of large-scale festival concessions. The second year marked the birth of Batch World—the batched cocktail commissary—and out-side support teams were brought in to help facilitate the ambitious program.

By Year Three, Levinson and his crew focused on refinement and superior execution. Wine was sold near food stands that would pair well with the food. Beers were hand-selected. “We were much more organized and stra-tegic about how things were laid out,” Levinson says. Those strategies included the Dos Equis backpack guys, Coco Tap’d real coconuts and widespread fro-zen drinks to beat the heat.

Levinson estimates a 20-25 percent increase in volume from last year, with Batch World planning to pour nearly 100,000 craft cocktails, with a focus this year on delivery methods and “just in time” service.

Already signed on to join the Break-thru team for 2016 are New York-based beverage professionals Leo Degroff, Andy Seymour and Lulu Martinez. As to which specific brands will be a part of Life Is Beautiful, all are still deep in the negotiations phase. But, Levinson as-sures, it will be a mix of established and burgeoning labels that he hopes attend-ees will discover on the festival grounds.

“One of the most exciting parts of Life Is Beautiful is that it’s very expe-riential,” he says. “You turn a corner and something new catches your eye.” –Xania Woodman

THE STORY SO FARHighlights from Life Is Beautiful’s first three years

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They’ve Got SoulThese UK producers fuse dance music with the unexpected By Kat Boehrer

Your city after dark and photos from the week’s hottest parties

NIGHTLIFE

Matt Robson-Scott (left) and Kye Gibbon.

➜ KYE GIBBON AND MATT ROBSON-SCOTT MAKE

up Gorgon City, the musical duo currently touring with fellow U.K.-based band, Rudimental. Their newest album, Kingdom, is in the process of its re-lease, with a new track revealed every three weeks. Album collaborators include greats such as Tink and Wyclef Jean, adding to the list of incredible tal-ent they’ve worked with in the past. From vocal-led tracks to underground-sounding instrumentals, Gibbon promises to bring the whole package to their live show at The Foundry at SLS on May 21.

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You tend to work with very soulful vocalists.

Yeah, the key word is “soul.” We really want our music to have soul, even if they’re quite banging tracks. We want to have a bit of soul and life in there. It made sense to [work with] people such as Jennifer Hudson.

We also love dance music with vocalists that you wouldn’t expect on dance music. A lot of the vocalists we’ve worked with have never done house tracks or dance tracks before we met them. It was exciting for us to bring Jennifer Hudson into the house music world. Laura Welsh and

MNEK hadn’t really done a house track. It makes it sound interesting and unique.

Do you seek out this sound, or does it just

fall together like that?

A lot of the time, it’s people that we seek out. Or sometimes, with people like Katy B and MNEK, it’s people that we know from the London scene. We’re out partying together and stuff, so it makes sense to get in the studio with them.

You’ve also worked with Tink and Wyclef.

What are you doing with them?

[One song] was a track with Tink and Mikky Ekko. It came from a session with Mikky Ekko about a year ago, but we never finished it. It was an up-beat song. I was just playing around on my laptop with his vocals and pitched the sound and turned it into quite a sort of moody, down-tempo track. It just worked.

We felt that it could do with having a rapper on. We’re fans of Tink, so we asked if she was up for it. It just came about nicely. It’s quite a different sound for us. It’s a very sort of down-tempo thing.

And Wyclef?

He’s a legend. We flew out from New York just for two days to work with him. That was a pretty surreal experience getting in the studio with someone that you’ve respected for years. He was crazy to work with, he just knows about all kinds of music. He said the first-ever track that he wrote, even before the Fugees, was a house track, in like the mid- or late-’80s. So it was coming back to his roots in a weird way.

He did a house track back in the day? Do you

think we can find it online somewhere?

He said that it wasn’t under his name. It was under a pseudonym, so no one really knows it’s out there.

So you’re releasing a new track every three

weeks until your album is released. Does

this mean we get a few tracks now and then

a whole batch of tracks when you decide to

release in full?

We wanted to release the album in a different way. At the end of the eight tracks, that will be when the album is released. Then shortly after that, we’ll release a second volume. The album’s coming out in two parts. So there’s going to be two volumes of eight tracks [each].

Why did you decide to release this way?

Nowadays, it’s all about streaming. No one really buys [music] anymore. We wanted to concentrate on people who stream by releasing tracks every three weeks. People can just enjoy the tracks for a while and wait for the next one. It makes sense for us to release them in that way because we can show off the different sides of what we do. We can have the big vocal tracks and follow that with an underground track.

Clockwise from top: HARD Presents Gorgon City at the Hollywood Palladium in October; Matt Robson-Scott; Gorgon City at Bestival.

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THU 19Jewel Nightclub—Hakkasan Group’s shiny new nightlife concept in the former Haze footprint—cele-brates its grand opening by bringing in the big guns. Actor, singer/song-writer and comedian Jamie Foxx breaks in the venue. When it comes to Hollywood, the 48-year-old has played everything from the drug-troubled soul legend Ray Charles in Ray to a Texas slave hell-bent on getting revenge on his master in Django: Unchained. Tonight, he’s sure to give us a musical palette that is just as eclectic, with his upbeat contributions on Kanye West’s “Gold Digger” and “Blame It” as well as the silky smooth “Fall for Your Type.” With so many sounds, expect an evening full of surprises. (In Aria,

10:30 p.m., JewelNightclub.com.)

FRI 20Calvin Harris has finally unearthed some new material! On April 29, the superstar DJ released “This is What You Came For (featuring Ri-hanna)”—the two’s first collabora-tion in five years. It’s their take on tropical house—the EDM subgenre that’s taken over the world. The song features cascading Carib-bean instruments and Rihanna’s uplifting airy vocals layered above a slower house drum beat, which makes it the perfect tune for kickin’ it poolside. See how it fares indoors when Harris mixes it with his other Rihanna-featured hits such as “We Found Love” and “Where Have You Been” at Omnia.

Meanwhile, Sean Perry will keep it moving at Heart of Omnia. (In Cae-

sars Palace, 10 p.m., OmniaNight-

club.com.) Big Sean’s been a Drai’s resident for a while now, and yet, people still can’t get enough of him. The Detroit rapper recently posted an Instagram photo of himself performing, claiming that he sold out the venue. Catch another one of his high-demand performances tonight, and see if he brings singer Jhené Aiko with him to perform songs from their Twenty88 proj-ect. (In the Cromwell, 10:30 p.m.,

DraisNightlife.com.)

SAT 21According to the Daily Mail, one in five married couples will divorce. It’s difficult to earn trust from significant others, friends and even family these days, which means you always have to stay on your toes. What makes matters worse is that Atlanta rapper Future threatens us with bullets if we haven’t earned the trust of his right-hand producer Metro Boomin. We’re sure you’ve heard the St. Louis rapper’s hard-to-miss tagline, If Young Metro

don’t trust you, I’m gon’ shoot you, in songs such as Drake and Future’s “Jumpman” and Kanye West’s “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 2.” While we don’t think that’s a good business practice, the product speaks for itself; Metro Boomin’s layered trap creations have served

as the foundations for an eclectic group of artists including gutter rap phenomenon OJ da Juiceman, sul-try singer Tinashe and everything in between. Earn his trust by show-ing up at Light—your life depends on it. (In Mandalay Bay, 10:30 p.m.,

TheLightVegas.com.)

SUN 22 Hand it to Marquee Dayclub for bringing something differ-ent into our city’s sprawling world of nightlife by including

Duke Dumont in its roster. Since blessing us with 2013’s melodic deep house track “Need U (100%),” the English DJ/producer has cranked out count-less catchy tunes that have been stuck in our heads since their release. The songs follow in the same format of traditional song-writing with infectious choruses and softer drops. Songs such as “The Giver” and “Ocean Drive” will complement the warmer weather nicely in the dayclub. (At the Cosmopolitan, 11 a.m.,

MarqueeLasVegas.com.)

MON 23Your friendly locals are showing off their best stuff, and you’re invited! Hit up Bunkhouse Saloon for another installment of its Open

Mic Mondays series. The venue invites brave songwriters to play on the same stage christened by greats such as The Killers, Built to Spill and Chelsea Wolfe. Who knows? You might just catch the next best thing. (124 S. 11th St., 10

p.m., BunkhouseDowntown.com)

TUE 24Still not over that good-for-noth-ing ex from high school? Head to Brooklyn Bowl and join dozens

of others in singing anthems of heartbreak in Emo Night Brooklyn. Tonight, Buddy Nielsen

of Senses Fail is behind the decks. He or she may have taken your dignity along with count-less belongings, but that person can never take away your Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, My Chemical Romance or Saves the Day. I just wanna break you down

so badly … (At the Linq 10:30 p.m.,

Vegas.BrooklynBowl.com.) Not into guitars and live drums? Hit up Beauty Bar for a set by English dubstep/electro-house duo Jack

Beats. The London bassheads are still mourning the death of one of their major influences, Prince, so show them some love by getting down to their future house banger, “Zone (featuring Riko Dan).” Oh, and don’t forget the nickel beers! (517 Fremont St.,

9 p.m., TheBeautyBar.com.)

WED 25Surrender your Wednesday to Dillon Francis, who spent the majority of a night last month unraveling duct tape from his body. Last month, Diplo wrapped the moombahthon producer with duct tape mid-set at Encore Beach Club. Cheer him up by showing up and “Get Low!” (In Encore, 10:30

p.m., SurrenderNightclub.com.)

NIGHTLIFE

Jamie Foxx.

Seven NightsYour week in parties

By I A N C A R A M A N Z A N A

Duke Dumont.

Metro Boomin.

PARTIES

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NIGHTLIFE

See more photos from this gallery at SPYONvegas.com

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MARQUEE DAYCLUBThe Cosmopolitan

[ UPCOMING ]

May 20 Lema spins

May 21 Dash Berlin spins

May 22 Duke Dumont spins

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Restaurant reviews, news and Yardbird's creative desserts

These tea leaves were picked [in China]

just days ago. Next week we’ll have them here.

NIU-GU | PAGE 49

DINING

New Burger on the Block

The Mirage’s Italian dining star tackles an American classic By Al Mancini

➜ THE CHEFS WHO GET the most attention in this town are usually big names we import from other cities or a local executive chef manning a celebrity chef’s kitchen. Superstars who come into their own in Las Ve-gas kitchens are few and far between, but Michael LaPlaca seems poised to enter that short list. Since taking the reins at The Mirage’s long-ignored Portofino in 2014, he’s turned it into Las Vegas’ top Italian fine-dining restaurant and received nearly unanimous praise in both the local and national press. So what’s a Las Vegas chef to do when his fine-dining star is rising? Why, open a burger joint, of course.

LaPlaca was recently tapped to convert star chef Laurent Tourondel’s BLT Burger into a fresh concept on the same theme, LVB Burgers & Bar. The new endeavor maintains its predeces-sor’s diner-esque vibe with an open kitchen in the space that was once a display habitat for some of Siegfried & Roy’s feline companions. But the new chef succeeds in bringing his own creativity and vision to a genre that’s arguably been overplayed on the Strip.

The gimmick here is the burger names, all of which boast three-letter abbre-viations. But as when any gourmet chef tackles ham-burgers, the restaurant’s real identity comes from where it sits on the fine dining/fast food spectrum. LVB stakes its claim by em-phasizing originality and high-end ingredients in creations that range from big and sloppy to mildly elegant. For traditional-ists, the O.S.B. (Old-School Burger) sets the standard with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, ketchup, mayo and pickles atop a juicy beef patty, while the B.C.B. (Bacon Cheeseburger) piles on applewood smoked bacon, onion

straws and beer cheddar sauce. Things get more sophisticated with an Angus, applewood and arugula burger (A.A.A.) of grass-fed beef, boursin cheese and sundried tomatoes, but the chef then offers a brash Kick in the Kisser (K.I.K.; yes, that’s its name), topped with pickled jalapeños, a fried egg, avocado, onion straws, pepper jack and sriracha aioli.

If you want something without beef, there’s a straightforward turkey burger (What the Flock)with turkey bacon, sharp cheddar, chipo-tle mayo and avocado. A soy-glazed salmon patty (P.S.S.) comes with grilled pineapple relish and sesame slaw. And vegetarians can enjoy a portabello mushroom burger with Gruyère, spinach and aioli or a veggie patty with pepper jack cheese, guacamole, peppers and onions on a whole-wheat bun.

For my money—which in this case is $15—that O.S.B. is as good of a rock-solid, all-American burger as you’ll find anywhere. For something more refined, the O.M.G. (Oh My Gosh) is a duck burger with Muenster cheese, smoked ketchup, tomato, watercress and roasted duck mayo. In practice, it’s closer to a duck entrée at a white-tablecloth restaurant than it is a burger, and is the best indication on the menu of just how serious the chef’s skills are.

On the flip side, the B.L.D. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) is an over-the-top hangover sufferer’s dream. It begins with a huge patty of house-made sausage, which is then loaded up with a fried egg and enough country ham, bacon and American cheese to over-flow its English muffin base. This is what break-fast at McDonald’s would look like if Ronald was a quality pork addict.

The O.M.G. burger and the Stay Puft shake.

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➜ WHILE WAITING FOR THE THIRD TEA infusion during the traditional Chi-nese Gong Fu tea ceremony at Niu-Gu, restaurant partner Joe Muscaglione shows me a photo on his phone recent-ly sent by a tea grower in China. “These tea leaves were picked just days ago,” he says. “Next week we’ll have them here.” In his newest venture, the lifelong food and wine professional’s passion is to develop the only true farm-to-cup tea program in Las Vegas, if not the nation. And his timing couldn’t be better.

Although consumers increasingly want to know the origins of their food, wine or coffee, much of the public still doesn’t have a clue where their tea comes from. Wine enthusiasts seek out producers who pay special attention to every grape cluster, study how they treat their vines and how the wine is made, with great emphasis on its terroir.

Tea, however, remains mostly a mystery. Where tea is mass pro-duced—often ground up into particles then packaged in opaque, porous bags—the contents are not only visu-

ally unidentifiable, they’re virtually untraceable to their roots.

So why should we care? “The entire plant is cut down and made into dust—pesticides and all,” Muscaglione says. “The teas that are on the market are doing more harm than good. But, the teas we offer here are sometimes just the top two leaves that have been pinched off. When they open up [in hot water], you see the entire leaf.”

Muscaglione and his partner, chef Jimmy Li, who is originally from Shanghai, maintain a highly cu-rated selection of Chinese teas that are grown according to the highest standards, even for the nerdiest of tea enthusiasts. The current list of 30 teas (and growing) is based solely on the owners’ personal relationships with farmers in China. Relationships so close, in fact, that images of harvests come in regularly via WeChat on Muscaglione’s phone. Las Vegas-based Tealet, which sources small quantities of teas from independent growers, is one of Niu-Gu’s purveyors.

All the teas are hand-harvested and processed by multigenerational farm-ing families. No chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides are used. In most cases, teas are grown in some of the most pristine areas of China, usually hundreds or thousands of kilometers away from or above pollu-tion. The teas usually come in within a week after they’ve been harvested and dried. Essentially, customers can enjoy teas in the same season in which they were harvested.

Muscaglione notes that organic certification in China is problematic because of variable standards, lack of accessibility to small farmers and enor-mous costs. But, knowing first-hand about how they are farmed—and being able to deliver exact origins—demon-strate the care that goes into growing these teas. However, they are also highly sought after by the Chinese elite, with little left for the rest of the world.

So how did a New Jersey-born, “Sicilian-made” guy like Muscaglione, who has developed world-class Italian-only wine lists as beverage director for the likes of Joe Bastianich and Mario Batali’s Babbo NYC and who later launched Tao’s beverage program, find his passion in Chinese culture? “For a long time, I’ve found similarities between Italian and Chinese cultures,” Muscaglione says. “Both are ancient cultures, and both cherish the idea of gathering and sharing meals together.”

Which takes us back to the com-munal presence of the tea ceremony taking place at Niu-Gu.

In eight methodic steps, Gong Fu (meaning “skill and patience”) is a ceremonial drinking style meant to relax the spirit in a convivial, shared experience. At Niu-Gu’s large central

table, a sizable pinch of tea leaves is presented to us. The vessels are then primed with hot water, signifying the ritual of tea-making. Only the purest water is used to promote the delicate aromas and flavors of the tea. Tea is poured from the gaiwan, a lidded bowl used for infusion, into ceramic cups that hold merely a few sips.

We would enjoy multiple infusions of Dragon Well green tea, produced by the Zhu family from Meijawu Village. The family’s fertile 10 acres sit 320 feet above sea level, and are surrounded by lushly forested mountains fed by rich rainwater. Before the spring rain, teas are made with the choicest bud-leaf tips that are plucked precisely between April 5 and April 20.

Each of the teas on Niu-Gu’s list has unique flavors and aromas, and every grower has a story, which is described on the restaurant’s tea menu, specify-ing region, altitude, harvest dates, family names and history.

Setting his cup down, Muscaglione says, “I consider this experience to be the best first date: You taste great teas, get an education and it starts at $6 per person, and it’s healthy.” Tea for two would often provide four to five cups per infusion because quality tea leaves, such as those acquired by Niu-Gu, can be shared and appreciated steep after steep to expose the different flavors and textures present in the leaves. “It’s the second- oldest beverage after water,” he says, “and in my opinion, China makes the best teas in the world.”

While Muscaglione admits that it’s challenging to obtain such high-quality tea, he’s cultivating relationships with growers every day with the goal of bringing the Las Vegas community to a higher level of tea consciousness. P

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Farm to CupAt Niu-Gu, teas are steeped in culture By Marisa Finetti

Jing Li hosts a traditional Gong Fu tea

ceremony at Niu-Gu.

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COMING UP AT BROOKLYN BOWL LAS VEGAS

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➜ AMIR MOHAMED EL KHALIFA IS A calm, rational man.

Better known as rapper and producer Oddisee, the Washington, D.C.-raised, Brooklyn-based Sudanese-American artist’s international travels often trig-ger security alerts at airports. Frustrat-ing as it might be, his reaction is stoic.

“If you look at my passport, I look like a target,” he says. “I have a full understanding of being pulled aside and being asked more questions than my band members, because it’s just a computer algorithm that says this is a person from D.C. who travels to the Middle East and visits England and France and all of these places that have been hotbeds for activity.”

It’s the lack of human interaction and compassion that gets under his skin, inspiring him to pen songs such as “Lifting Shadows” from his March EP Alwasta, which challenges American xenophobia. Since 9/11 it ain’t too clear just who the target is / I love my country, hate its politics, he raps.

“These are stories that need to be told so maybe those algorithms will change, maybe they’ll be lessened, maybe there’ll be less profiling,” he says.

It’s that fearlessness that’s kept Oddisee a hip-hop mainstay for more than a decade. Though he isn’t always

politically outspoken, he makes bold, expressive statements through his songs, be it through his intelli-gent lyricism or soulful, jazz-tinged compositions. And he does so at a prolific rate: In the last 12 months alone, he’s dropped a full-length vocal album (The Good Fight), a seven-track EP (Alwasta) and the just-released in-strumental album The Odd Tape, with another full-length record due this fall. When he’s not in the studio, he’s on the road, which leads him and his band, Good Compny, to The Foundry at SLS on May 20.

Hearing the thought put into Oddi-see’s music, you’d think it’d take months, if not years, to complete a project. Not so. “I work smart, not hard,” he says.

A creative machine, he bangs out proj-ects one after the other, and keeps them

tucked in his arsenal until it’s time to strike. His latest, The Odd Tape, was com-pleted in February 2015 but didn’t drop until May 13. It’s a moody soundtrack to a day in his life that’s equally medita-tive and electrifying, with song titles to match. “Alarmed” rouses; “Right Side of the Bed” keeps you in a daze; “Live From the Drawing Board” paints vibrant pictures inside your head.

But since he started touring in advance of The Odd Tape, Oddisee decided to drum up anticipation by releasing Alwasta in March—a project he completed in just seven days. The title stems from the Arabic word “wasta,” which translates to “connec-tor” … or, in hip-hop speak, “the plug.” “It’s a person who has an abundance of social currency, and they use that social currency for others,” he says.

Oddisee’s social standing is the reason Alwasta was completed so quickly in the first place. He’s in Brooklyn, his graphic designer is in London, his band is in D.C. and his Arabic-to-English translator is in Saudi Arabia. “These things only happen in such a short amount of time because of me having a wealth of social currency that I was able to cash in,” he says.

Cashing in on his social wealth doesn’t always translate into legal ten-der. Despite his critical acclaim (and his high profile at airports), he still flies under the radar. But he’s unfazed.

“[I want] to make music and nothing else,” he says. “As long as I’m able to do that and do what I want with my time as much as possible, I’m the happiest man alive. I just want to wake up when I want to, sleep when I want, eat what I want, travel where I want whenever I want—and do all of that from the strength of making music.”

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Weight in GoldRapper and producer Oddisee’s social currency

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In one of your most famous works,

you dub New York the “City of

Dreams.” What is your impression

of Las Vegas?

How about one word: Phantasmagoria! Vegas is so over the top, it’s unbelievable. It’s like every little dream and fantasy you ever had is available 24/7.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

That’s a really good question. Certainly not for me to judge. Maybe it’s the most wonderful thing in the world. Maybe it’s the devil’s workshop. But I know one thing: People like it. That’s what they desire, to ride to the middle of the desert to an exact place where they can

have everything they want anytime they want, including stuff that’s bad for them.

Tell us about the piece you’re

creating for the Power of Love

auction, in support of the

Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center

for Brain Health.

I’ve known the Ruvos for a long

time. I was at a gala in Miami and this guy [from the event] came up to me and said, “We’re doing a benefit honoring Tony Bennett. Would you consider making something for this auction?” I said, “I love Tony Bennett. I’d be honored.”

You listen to Tony Bennett sing a song, and you believe ev-ery word. It was magical sounds in the air that affected me as a human being. [I had this idea] to put these vinyl album covers of Tony’s records over a gigan-tic canvas. I threw some paint out, quite by accident, and I used the tube and squirted some paint in musical notes on top of these record albums.

I was thinking of my life as an artist. I’m 54 years old, the man is [89] years old. Maybe in another 36 years, I could be like Tony. Win a Grammy or an art award when I’m 88 years old. And I thought, imagine if you did that, what a life. And the words hit me. So I put the words “The good life” on the painting. [It was] this whole soup of Tony Bennett influence, and it was like col-laborating with his presence, his aura, this unusually loving humanitarian of a person. That’s what you get when you meet Tony Bennett. You feel greatness, you feel gravitas, you feel the test of time. You feel, wow, what a life.

What is the engine that drives

your creativity?

To be present, to be in the day you’re in where the sun is shining, not bogged down by the past or terrified by the future. The challenge is for us to be here now, even when horrible and tragic things are happening around the world. Which they will, which they are and which they always have been. I don’t believe those events are meant to steal our joy. I believe they’re meant for us to contemplate and rise above and be joyous anyway because we can. That’s kind of the gestalt in everything I do.

How does your art, or any art,

figure in today’s world, when

everyone is so distracted all

the time?

There’s this term, it’s called cognitive fatigue. We are getting unlimited real-time information all the time, and we’re forced to feel guilty that we’re not up to date

with what’s happening. If you put a 10-year-old kid in front of the Weather Channel for two days, he’ll probably think the world is coming to an end. Meanwhile, it’s blue skies outside. It’s too much, so we have to edit. I’m not on Facebook. I consciously try not to be on my devices as much as possible. I like to throw rocks in the water. I like to hold someone’s hand. I like to apply paint on the canvas. I like to cut things out with scissors. I don’t like faster and easier; I like more difficult and slower. I’d like you to stand in front of my painting for more than five seconds and be engaged.

What are things we can do to

reclaim our collective sanity?

Meditation. Silence. Time. I get asked 25 times a day, in my studio, “Hey, what’s your inspi-ration, Peter Tunney?” Dude, I got inspired in 1970. I’m still running on that. I’m not out of anything. Every day, I fight for

space and time so I can think, so I can breathe, so I can be hap-pier. So I can express myself. At this age, I’m finding the qui-etude outside of the tornado of chaos the world wants you in. I’m try-ing to save every

little moment of time I have for these kinds of conversations, to make art, to be with my son, to hang out with my family. To listen to Tony Bennett records. These are the weird, idiosyn-cratic decisions that make up my life. And that’s turned out to be a life that’s beyond my wildest dreams.

What advice do you give young

people who are just starting out?

I’ll ask them, what does your dream life look like? Why should our dream be the thing that scares us the most? When I say I’m living the life of my dreams, someone will ask, what’s that like? You wanna know the truth? It’s hard! That’s the thing they didn’t tell me. Be careful what you wish for. I wanted to smoke cigars and do whatever I want in my studio, and I got it. Now I gotta work to maintain it. But I like to work, and I like to work hard. And I like to be engaged. So think about your dream and get ready to work. Have balance in your life. You don’t have to have everything, and you never will. It’s all good.

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Peter TunneyThe artist on Tony Bennett, practicing mindfulness

and living the good life By Genevie Durano

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