Strip has first black restaurant owner

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, Aug. 4, 1999 | 11:37 a.m.

As television crews fled a Clark County meeting in pursuit of actor Robert De Niro and board members recovered from their giddiness Tuesday, a milestone for the Las Vegas Strip passed mostly unnoticed.

Robert L. Johnson became the first black owner of a restaurant in a major hotel-casino.

"This is a milestone," said Johnson, who will open Tres Jazz in the Paris hotel-casino Sept. 1. "It's a milestone that should have been broken a long time ago."

Being first isn't a foreign concept to Johnson. He is the president and founder of the company that will operate the restaurant -- Black Entertainment Television (BET), the nation's first and only cable company owned by a black person.

Johnson was the second of two celebrities who appeared before the Clark County Liquor and Gaming Licensing Board on Tuesday. Earlier, De Niro and three partners received a liquor license for NOBU, a restaurant planned for the Hard Rock Hotel. As De Niro, who also owns a restaurant in West Hollywood, escaped a barrage of reporters eager to discuss his latest venture, Johnson talked about his plans at the Paris and his dream to build BET's own type of Hard Rock.

The Las Vegas restaurant will be BET's fourth in the country; the cable station has two in Washington, D.C., and one in Orlando, Fla. The cuisine will be unusual even in Las Vegas, where world-renowned chefs seem to be migrating. Johnson said his restaurant will serve dishes that are a refined mix of American and Caribbean foods.

As customers dine, they will be entertained by either a 60-foot television screen showing BET's 24-hour jazz station or live jazz bands.

"Whether it's the jazz or the fine dining, it will be something to experience," Johnson said.

Johnson said about 6 million black people visit Las Vegas each year, and he believes the community should offer something that appeals specifically to that community. After all, he said, most every other race or ethnicity is targeted somewhere in town.

"Someone is not focusing on the economic opportunities for African Americans; no one is making the effort to attract the African American community," he said. "It's a sad commentary that we'll be the first. I'm proud to break it, and I hope others will follow."

Johnson, who also serves on the Hilton Corporation board and is the first director of a public company to hold a gaming license, is also scanning the valley for property suitable for a new casino.

He said he would like to build an "urban-based themed casino" that would showcase BET's videos and performers. The hotel-casino, which would be similar to the Hard Rock, might even house a television studio to tape BET segments, he said.

"It's a matter of if we can find something at the right time at the right location at the right price," he said.

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