VegasBeat -- Timothy McDarrah: Acclaimed Wild Sage restaurants close

In February 2001, Wild Sage Cafe on East Warm Springs Road won the Epicurean Award as Las Vegas' Best New Off Strip Restaurant.

Two years later it earned another Epicurean Award for Best American Restaurant, sharing the honor with Commander's Palace in the Desert Passage mall at the Aladdin.

Business was booming for owners Laurie Kendrick and Stan Carroll, both of whom worked for Wolfgang Puck for many years. Prospects were so strong that in March they opened another restaurant on West Sahara Avenue.

"Unfortunately, when we opened the new place, costs were slightly higher than anticipated, and the revenue was a lot less," Kendrick told VegasBeat on Thursday.

Because of the resulting financial difficulties, she said, the doors of both restaurants were permanently shut just before the New Year and she is preparing to file for bankruptcy.

Ironically, days after the closing, the 2004 Zagat restaurant consumer survey was released, and the book awarded the eateries a rating of 25 (out of 30) for its food, one of the city's highest scores.

It also placed extremely well in the decor and service categories.

"Right now everything is in sort of a tailspin," a dejected Kendrick said. "But we may just get regular jobs after this. Everything is very up in the air right now."

Question

On the Palms marquee Wednesday: "Who was the bellman?"

In case you just returned from Mars, when Britney Spears got hitched in Las Vegas last weekend it was a hotel bellman who walked her down the aisle at the Little White Wedding Chapel.

The world's entertainment press has been falling over itself to be the first to identify and interview the bellman. We think the guy, whoever he is, ought to follow the route taken by the former Mr. Spears, Jason Allen Alexander, and hire an agent to sell his story.

Alexander is now selling the story of his whirlwind weekend through Baltimore-based agent Ira Raines and his Game Time Management company.

Joke?

We're not sure if this is funny, but here it is:

The Spoof, a Brit version of the Onion, a humorous publication with made-up, satirical topical news, had a piece last week headlined "Las Vegas Rocked By Terrorist Attack."

The fictional article recounts how 1,500 terrorists "attacked Sin City in an unprecedented and brilliant scheme. The attackers were all disguised as Elvis impersonators."

They attacked visitors by applying paper cuts with playing cards, and with "deadly pelvic thrusts."

Decadent

Prime, Jean-Georges Vongerichten's classy Bellagio steak emporium, has a fancy new addition on its menu.

It is now pouring from a rare bottle of Chivas Royal Salute 50-year-old blended Scotch whiskey.

Only 255 bottles of the amber delicacy were produced, and only 10 bottles were imported to the United States.

The beverage was bottled in 1953 in honor of the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II.

Each shot comes with a specially created keepsake glass.

Cost: $1,050 per glass.

Smart talk

Milton Esterow, editor and publisher of ARTnews, the nation's largest and most influential art publication, is giving a lecture Jan. 17 at Las Vegas Art Museum.

He'll talk about deciphering what he calls "artspeak," or "reducing the gibberish that often passes as art writing to a message the multitude can understand."

For information, call the museum at 360-8000.

Stunt

As has been reported, Men's Fitness magazine in its current issue named Las Vegas the nation's 23rd fattest city.

To mark the inauspicious event, Bacardi just sent Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman a couple of cases of its product and some diet colas.

"Just one ounce of Bacardi and diet cola has just 66 calories with zero carbs and zero sugar," spokeswoman Laura Baddish said.

"We appreciate the offer, but I can safely say that the mayor will not be giving up his Bombay Sapphire for rum and Coke anytime soon," City Hall spokeswoman Elaine Sanchez said.

VegasBeat

Party: Jay Leno and Bill Gates chatted at a private Microsoft party Gates tossed Wednesday night at Risque (Paris Las Vegas) ...

Party, more: San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jeff Garcia, rocker and "The Sopranos" cast member Steve Van Zandt and New York Yankee Jason Giambi were at the Coors/Maxim magazine party at Rain (Palms) on Wednesday night ...

Eat: Rocker Huey Lewis, his wife, Sidney, their teenage daughter Kelly and son Austin devoured a couple of pizzas at lunch at Spago (Forum Shops at Caesars) on Thursday ...

Actor: Goodman was not at his office Thursday -- he was in Hollywood, filming a scene for "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." Show creator and Las Vegas native Anthony Zuiker tells us that hizzoner, playing a lawyer, has five lines in an upcoming episode. No air date has been set ...

Attention: Jon Ralston's interview with former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton that aired on "Face to Face With Jon Ralston" on Las Vegas ONE on Monday was Topic A for Sean Hannity on his national Fox News talk show on Tuesday night. Hannity was critical of New York's junior senator for her remarks about President Bush ...

Real estate: After the raid on his Neverland estate, Michael Jackson said he'd never live there again and was rumored to be house hunting in Las Vegas. He might still be, but he also just rented a 37,000-square-foot, $20 million Beverly Hills, Calilf., estate ...

Return: NBC's hit summer series "Last Comic Standing" with host Jay Mohr is gearing up for a second season. Talent searches are being conducted nationwide this month. The concluding episodes of the comedy talent show were taped at Paris Las Vegas, which will likely host this year's final episodes as well ...

Birthday boy: Frequent Vegas visitor and Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean turns 26 today.

From Sun wires

Brady canceled: "The Wayne Brady Show" will not be renewed for a third season by Buena Vista Television.

The talk show hosted by comedian Wayne Brady, appearing through Sunday at Paris Las Vegas, had been ailing in the ratings stakes and there was a major question mark over its future for some months, particularly since BVT committed to a new daytime talk strip hosted by Tony Danza to debut in the fall.

"Brady" will remain in production through May and will continue to air for the balance of its second season.

Osbourne axes tour: Ozzy Osbourne said today he has canceled his upcoming 20-date tour of Britain to give him time to recover fully from his accident on an all-terrain vehicle last month.

Osbourne, 55, who is recovering at home on his estate, said he was looking forward to performing again "when the doctors tell me I am fit and ready."

G-Flow: Gennifer Flowers sings again.

The woman who says she had an intimate relationship with former President Bill Clinton will be joining "Boobs! The Musical," a revue running at a midtown Manhattan nightspot, on Jan. 21.

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