New club moving into Cleopatra’s Barge
THE club’s first marketing image is a black-andwhite shot of a woman licking caviar off her right hand, while glancing at an unseen someone to her left.
We imagine this person saying, “I’ll have what she’s having.”
This is the first look at Caspian’s Caviar & Cocktails, the new club in the old Cleopatra’s Barge space at Caesars Palace. The concept by trend-setting Las Vegas nightlife company Clique Hospitality is planning a spring opening. The opening was to be announced Friday morning.
Designed by Celano Design Studio Co. (Casa Calaveras at Virgin Hotel and Barbershop Cuts & Cocktails at Cosmopolitan), the 1,100-squarefoot caviar bar will seat about 50 guests. The music lounge is planned for 2,300 square feet and will seat nearly 100.
The outside piece of this nightspot, the caviar bar, is bedecked in onyx and pearl and brass. The club will be proud of its champagne and vodka selections and “exceptional” collection of caviar. The lounge and intimate table setup leads to an unmarked entrance at the caviar bar’s back wall, off in the venue’s dark recesses.
There, guests will discover a Parisian-style music lounge, where a golden frame and blue-velvet curtains provide the setting. Big couches in brown, blue and gold are befitting a big night out in a cozy Vegas haunt.
If none of this reminds you of the kitschy, moated, awkwardly designed Cleopatra Barge, that is intended. Clique Hospitality founder Andy Masi says Caspian’s is an entirely dissimilar, far more contemporary destination.
“As we have with other Clique Hospitality destinations, we designed Caspian’s to feel timeless, but also very much of the moment. Caspian’s evokes Paris and the birth of the Art Deco movement in the early 1900s, and that architecture reflects an era that was magical and celebratory,” Clique Masi says. “We want you to be able to imagine yourself in that time, dancing and drinking the night away.”
Who will perform during all that grooving and imbibing, and what type of music is offered, has yet to be revealed. But the entertainment will be nightly, the cocktails imaginative and the caviar (judging from our new friend in the photo) delectable and abundant. There will be a cover on Friday and Saturdays, and also for special events, all to be determined.
Clique runs similarly chic nightspots on and off the Strip. We’re especially fond of the dually inventive Barbershop concept at Cosmo, where the grooming and grooving are top-notch. Clique has also recently developed Easy’s Cocktail Lounge at Aria, and is hyping Wax Rabbit inside Mijo Modern Mexican Restaurant at the now-delayed Durango Casino & Resort.
Caspian’s sea of splendor is taking over a truly iconic Caesars Palace lounge. Cleopatra’s Barge ran in various forms from the 1970 through the pandemic shutdown. When it was locked up, Wayne Newton and Dionne Warwick were headliners. David Perrico’s Pop Strings rocked late-night, no-cover parties on the weekends.
But that era ended in March 2020, and the room was soon disassembled. As Caspian’s moves in, its slogan is, “Inhibitions are out. Defiance is in.” We applaud the idea. But first, finish the caviar.
Laliberte bounces back
Cirque du Soleil co-founder Guy Laliberte’s Frooogs Camp is set up at Resorts World’s former Enchant parcel just off the Strip. Laliberte is residing on that plot throughout Las Vegas Grand Prix. On Friday he entertained a group described as “potential clients,” for a project moving forward in Las Vegas. We’re checking in next week, Frooogy costume or not.
The Babyface play
Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds has been seen around town as a new Las Vegas resident. Sunday he sang the national anthem at the Raiders-jets game. Monday afternoon he toured Fontainebleau’s under-development rooftop club (which is apparently VIP enough for a 12-time Grammy Award winner to check out). That night, he took up a booth at the Santa Fe & The Fat City Horns show at the Copa at Bootlegger Bistro.
Edmonds arrived with Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health co-founders Larry and Camille Ruvo, and was also seated with Bootlegger owners Dennis Bono and Lorraine Hunt Bono. Edmonds hit a hot night. Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Danny Seraphine, late of Chicago; and Carlos Santana percussionist Karl Perazzo were also in the mix. Perazzo was called to the stage early in the show and rocked the place until final bow.
Fantastic performance, though vocalist Tyriq Johnson said afterward he was as nervous as he’s ever been onstage. Having a person in the audience who has recorded with Whitney Houston, Usher, Beyonce, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Madonna and Diana Ross will alter the trajectory of the evening.
Tease this …
On the topic of Fontainebleau, the hotel is hosting a significant civic event for a richly deserving organization in February in its Bleaulive Theater. Exciting times for everyone.
Cool Hang Alert
The Windjammers pull into port at 9 p.m. Saturday at Sunset Station’s Club Madrid. Jerry Lopez (also co-founder of Santa Fe, we incessantly remind) leads this yacht rock armada. No cover, which is just silly for all this talent. Ages 21-and-over.