Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Columnist Jerry Fink: Music an appetizer at Jazzed Cafe

Jerry Fink's lounge column appears on Fridays. Reach him at 259-4058 or jerry@ lasvegassun.com.

Jazzed Cafe owner Kirk Offerle says the recipe for a great evening is combining great jazz and great food in a classy atmosphere.

He succeeds on all counts at his restaurant on West Sahara Avenue near South Durango Drive.

The cafe has a selection of 30 wines, an upscale menu of Italian cuisine and live music four nights a week (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays).

Many diners go there for the food, many for the jazz and most for both.

"It's a combination," Offerle said. "I tell anybody who performs here the room is geared toward diners. Not to take anything away from the music, of course, but I think when the music matches the dining and one doesn't overpower the other then it's a nice ambiance that you can enjoy.

"If you feel like you have to clap during the meal or have to listen to it and be quiet and not talk, that's not the best situation."

This is the second Jazzed Cafe in town. Offerle opened the first in 1996 at East Tropicana and South Eastern avenues. He closed it last month to concentrate his efforts on the new facility, which he opened 15 months ago.

Offerle was a professional dancer, working in "Legends in Concert" at the Imperial Palace, when he decided to fulfill a lifelong dream of starting a restaurant and infusing it with his favorite music.

"I like traditional jazz," he said. "It's something I have always choreographed to."

Offerle said when he decided to make the leap as a restauranteur, he wanted a place that would add a taste of culture to the city.

"At the time there was nothing late night, unless you wanted to go to a casino," he said. "There was no place to go and sit down and relax and eat and enjoy music in a casual but elegant atmosphere."

The location he chose was only large enough for eight tables. His new restaurant has seating for 60 inside and an additional 15-20 on the patio.

"I had a little six-burner stove in the back behind the bar," Offerle said of his first cafe. "The first year I didn't even have a stove because we couldn't afford the hood, so I would cook everything at home, all my baked dishes, and bring them to the cafe."

Even though the first Jazzed Cafe was only large enough for a handful of diners, there was room for live music.

"I didn't have as many musicians," he said. "I couldn't afford it.

"I had guitarists; a DJ would come in and a trumpet player would perform with him; we had late-night poetry reads. We did a lot of funky things back then that we don't do as much of now because this is more of a restaurant style. But the old place was a true Bohemian-style cafe."

Offerle, a native of Boulder, Colo., learned about Italian cooking during the nine years he spent in Italy from 1986-95, where he was a choreographer for television and live theater.

While many restaurant owners look at the bottom line when deciding whether to provide free music, Offerle says he incorporates it into his costs. He considers it as much a part of the business as the food and the decor.

Different people open restaurants for different reasons, he said.

"I come from a more artistic background so my main drive is to create a place that satisfies all the senses," Offerle said.

He relies on his own taste when selecting musicians to perform in his establishment.

"My philosophy in life is that as long as it is done with quality, I enjoy it," Offerle said.

For his entertainment he relies on a core of musicians who have rotating schedules at the venue, but he also brings in outsiders to the mix.

"I am very lucky," he said. "A lot of the musicians like playing here and so cooperate price wise. They don't out-price themselves."

His mainstay includes jazz guitarist Raj Rathor and his accompanist, electric-bassist Justin Vogel; Marv Koral's All-Stars; Alexandria and the Take Two group and Keith Martin.

Rathor, who will be joined by jazz vocalist Diana Smith in September, has been a regular for the past five months.

"The response to jazz here has been great," Rathor said after completing a set one recent evening. "Some nights it's absolutely spectacular. That's one of the reasons I enjoy playing here so much.

"There are other places to play. I was offered a couple of other things, but I would have had to cancel a night here and I didn't want to do it. This is a jazz place."

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