Columnist Jerry Fink: Can we get footloose at new Cafe Michele?

Friday, July 26, 2002 | 9:15 a.m.

Jerry Fink's lounge column appears on Fridays. Reach him at jerry@lasvegassun.com at (702) 259-4058.

But can they dance?

Once upon a time Cafe Michelle on East Flamingo Road was one of the favorite hangouts for locals.

From 1978 until it went under in 1995, the restaurant and lounge were meeting places for power-hungry movers and shakers -- and for dancers who just liked to move and shake.

The dance floor was a powerful attraction.

Last week a new Cafe Michele (with a different spelling and different owners) opened at the same location in the Mission Center shopping mall.

It has almost everything -- great food and excellent service in stylish surroundings dripping with ambiance, especially on the enclosed patio.

But its lounge (also chic) doesn't have a dance floor. There is plenty of comfortable seating in the lounge, where guests can listen to live music Thursdays through Saturdays -- but there's no place to dance.

Whether that is a fatal flaw remains to be seen.

Vince Toma, the venue's entertainment consultant, assures everyone there will be "a small dance floor" in the future. But how small, and how far in the future? That, too, remains to be seen.

Toma said the restaurant/lounge opened in July -- a notoriously bad time of year to start anything new in Las Vegas -- to "get the kinks out."

But for the lack of a dance floor, last week's unannounced opening apparently went off without a hitch.

"A friend of mine sent some people over to the opening, a couple from Germany who have traveled all over the world," Toma said. "They said the food and the service was the best they ever had and the ambiance on the patio was the most romantic they had ever seen."

While international visitors are great, maitre d' Adam Carmer is catering to locals.

"We liked and appreciated the way the locals were so attached and so loyal to one restaurant for so long," Carmer said. "This was one of the No. 1 haunts ever, and we're in the same location. We want to take what the previous owners did and turn it up a couple of notches."

After the venue closed in '95 it was, at different times, a restaurant and sports bar.

"Neither fared well," Carmer said. "The reason is, it wasn't what the locals needed -- what they demanded, which was an upscale, classy environment where they can come and hang out whether inside at the bar or outside on the patio.

"We plan to have nice, live entertainment, fabulous food and great service. There are not a lot of options on this side of town."

Carmer was pleased with the opening, and liked the reaction of most of those who attended.

"This is going to be a local hang that people will have more than one reason to come to," he said. "They won't just come to eat, but to see a lot of their friends in a great bar."

Carmer calls Toma the "entertainment guru" of the venue.

Toma has a long history as a concert promoter, primarily with the Alpine Valley Music Theatre near East Troy, Wis., which he and friends operated in the '80s. The theater is at the Alpine Valley Ski Resort.

"People thought we were nuts when we said we wanted to do concerts at Alpine Valley," Toma said. "There was only one road coming in."

But the resort was only about 100 miles from Chicago, an easy summer drive for fans of the Rolling Stones, REO Speedwagon and others.

"We did every group in the world," Toma said

He says he will use his contacts to bring in big names to the small restaurant on Flamingo Road.

"Corey Stevens, the blues guitarist, I'm bringing him in August 22, 23 and 24," Toma said. "I'm working on Dave Mason (vocalist/guitarist) and the Doobie Brothers. Peter Frampton is a friend of mine.

"We're going to do things a little different here."

Happy hour will feature live entertainment from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, followed by more live entertainment at 9 p.m. There also will be live entertainment Saturday nights.

There will be a variety of music.

"Variety is the key," Toma said. "We're going to mix it up, change it around so it doesn't get stale."

He plans to bring in national acts, such as the Doobie Brothers, on occasion.

To afford them, it will have to be a special evening -- $200 tickets that include a seven-course meal, champagne, personal contact with the entertainers.

"But we are starting slow," Toma said. "It's going to take some time to work out the kinks."

Meanwhile, locals are still looking for a place to dance.

Lounging around

I finally discovered the Piazza Lounge in the Tuscany Hotel at 255 E. Flamingo Road. It was sort of like Columbus discovering America. The hotel has been there six months, but the entertainment was limited to a background pianist in the bar and adjacent Palazzo restaurant.

Shaun Tracy, who owns both venues, has decided to take better advantage of one of the nicest bars in town (which has a great dance floor, by the way) -- the decor is dark, polished wood; the seating ample and comfortable, the atmosphere refined but friendly. He is expanding his entertainment menu, bringing in a variety of musicians Thursdays through Saturdays. Among the artists who will be sharing the room for now are pianist/vocalist Howie Gold, blues singer Lonnie Anadal and jazzman Tony Orlian. Gold will be there tonight from about 7 p.m. to 4 a.m.

Teddy Daginis, owner of Kitchen Cafe, has branched out. He recently bought a second restaurant (Teddy's Bistro) where he will continue to serve Greek-Italian food and provide live entertainment. The new venue is at 8565 W. Sahara Ave. Pianist Dennis Mellen and many of the other musicians heard at the Kitchen Mondays-Thursdays will be performing at the Bistro Fridays and Saturdays.

New Orleans blues vocalist Moody Scott joins John Earl & The Boogie Man Band Friday and Saturday at the Memphis Championship Barbecue lounge at the Santa Fe Station.

On Sunday, the West Las Vegas Library, 951 W. Lake Mead Blvd., has a free jazz concert starting at 2 p.m. Among the guests will be SoundStream, The Cunninghams, the Jimmy Wilkins Quintet and more.

The Bill Trujillo Quartet can be heard 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays at the Hurricane Bar and Grill, 10420 S. Bermuda Road. The quartet features Trujillo on sax, pianist Ronie DiFillips, bass player Dick Jones and drummer Bobby Joe Harrison.