Art in Las Vegas

A city that is not often in the forefront for it’s artistic beauty can easily hide away the most amazing treasures. I am on a journey to reveal Las Vegas’ most fascinating and impressive women! Sharing them with you as I create Women After Midnight~Las Vegas, will be my honor as you discover what I have by looking into their lives through a camera lens, hearing the personal endeavors that have formed them, touched them and built their stories over a lifetime of successes and dreams.

Who knew the desert had so many gems just waiting to be dusted off and admired!

Photo: Billy Pegram

Sparkling from Las Vegas,

S

p.s. A little fact about me, I was born and raised here in Las Vegas, a time when 1st birthday parties were celebrated in grand ball rooms, the cake was twice as tall as you were, and Frank Sinatra notes earlier in the day that he may be stopping by after rehearsal to give the birthday girl a kiss if she’s still in her party dress, because after all she is the daughter of his favorite chef. It was a magical era where Elvis (and his mistress, a high priced call girl, however, it has to be stated that we don’t think he knew what she did) is friends with your family because my grandparents owned the building his girlfriend lived in and my grandfather was the only one that lit him on stage exactly how he wanted it done.

My life was at the epicenter of Las Vegas’ fame and fortune from a young age, some of my most favorite afternoons were spent with the award winning pastry chef from Paris who kept me busy making donuts while Daddy prepares Sammy Davis Jr.’s lunch and taking his picture for the local newspaper or creating recipes for the weekends glamorous arrivals.

My father was the Head Master Chef in Las Vegas at an infamous strip hotel (when hotels ran all restaurants from one central location), I can still remember the smells of “his” massive kitchen, a culinary emergency at every turn, another rookie cook ruining Daddy’s recipe for the legendary “Soup of the Day” which was known to be Tony Bennett’s favorite part of his dinner therefore, had to reach a level of perfection. So with the flick of a few spices after mysteriously knowing what was wrong with out even tasting it, all was right again! An art form he perfected, the testament? A long list demanding that he was the only one that cooked for them, a list boasting of local legends and every top headliner Las Vegas drew in, he was the first “Celebrity Chef”! Rival hotels were always courting him, hoping to steal him away to raise their stature. He was legendary even long after he retired.

And then he came home and cooked for me…