John Katsilometes takes in the first lunch at Rao’s at Caesars Palace, where the pizza is in high demand

Tuesday, April 3, 2007 | 7:15 a.m.

In the midst of serving the first lunch crowd in Rao's history, restaurant managing partner Frank Pellegrino Jr. gestured toward the sun-splashed Caesars Palace Garden of the Gods pool complex and said, "It would be a shame not to be able to take advantage of this view."

The atmosphere is indeed appetizing.

Five months after opening a Las Vegas version of the East Harlem restaurant famous both for its fantastic food and inaccessibility, Pellegrino is finally open for lunch. The menu and seating are scaled back a bit, with the "Feast" room and patio the only areas open to the public. That's still 150 seats, half of which were filled Monday, but Pellegrino's goal is for the lunch hours (from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily) to be as busy as the always-slammed dinner crowd.

As Frank Pellegrino's wife, chef Carla Pellegrino, said near the end of Monday's lunch seating, pizza is the new meatball. That means it is an all-too-popular menu item, and on Monday the kitchen ran out of pizza dough.

But Pellegrino was hardly concerned. He moved from table to table, eagerly greeting guests and even signing a menu. When it was time to talk business, he sought privacy in an odd locale: the restaurant's bocce court. It does have one, just beyond the patio, and Pellegrino tossed the pallino with Caesars Food and Beverage Director Ralph Cautela.

"He is good, but he is not the king of bocce. You should see my cousin play. He is the king," said Pellegrino, who today is a member of Vegas' culinary nobility.

NoteMart

On her way out of town, Celine Dion is raising her ticket prices at the Colosseum at Caesars. In November and December the box office will be gin charging $100 to $350, up from $75.50 to $225. The reason is that her tickets are in higher demand for the final weeks of her Vegas run, so she might as well (ahem) adjust for market value. The final show, on Dec. 15, is sold out. Also at the Colosseum, Stevie Nicks should return to the showroom for a set of dates by the end of the year. ...

More from the memorable Sly and the Family Stone performance Saturday night at Flamingo Las Vegas: As the band played its final song, a guy from the audience, evidently fueled by overpriced adult beverages, climbed onstage in an attempt to get an autograph from Stone. He was met by George Wallace, who at a hulking 6-foot-3 could find work as a bodyguard. Wallace glowered and said, "If you don't get off the stage, you will go to jail." The guy scrambled back to safety. ...

New County Commissioner Lawrence Weekly is doing something good Saturday. He's providing Easter baskets and spending some quality time with 150 kids from Child Haven, the county's shelter for abused, neglected and abandoned children. ...

I'll attempt not to spoil a key moment in "Spamalot" by reporting that if a ticket buyer wants to purchase the seat that figures prominently in the performance, he or she can ask for that seat without knowing its exact location and the box office will do its best to accommodate the request. ...

This seems like a recipe not for Rao's, but for trouble: Kansas City Chiefs rabble-rouser (and a product of Pocatello, Idaho) Jared Allen is celebrating his 25th birthday tonight at Scores Nightclub & Cabaret. Allen has a history of bar skirmishes and has a couple of DUI charges on his record. ...

If you ever wondered, "Whither the new Blue Men?" you can find the next crop on April 10 during a Blue Man Group casting call at the crew's theater at the Venetian. According to Blue Man requirements, applicants should be 5-foot-10 to 6-foot-1 tall, with an athletic build (but not sumo-type athletic), solid drumming skills, excellent acting skills and a willingness to relocate. Doesn't say whether to supply your own marshmallows. ...

The BBC is producing a documentary about Las Vegas, centering on the Rat Pack era. One of its first interview subjects is one of the few celebrities left who can speak to that era, Phyllis McGuire. ...

Tickets at $36.94 per person are on sale for one of our favorites, comic Bobby Slayton aka "The Pit Bull of Comedy," who is booked at the new Night Owl Showroom at Hooters beginning April 20. His show runs at 8 and 10 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. Slayton is a true no-limits throwback who once raised the hackles of Carrot Top by referring to the Topper's act as "abominable." ...

It never hurts to ask: Friend in the field reports the plate GIMESUM on a silver Dodge Magnum.