Wolfgang Puck restaurant, Poetry club closing at Forum Shops

By Steve Green

Tuesday, July 28, 2009 | 1:53 p.m.

Wolfgang Puck's Chinois restaurant at the Forum Shops at Caesars has closed, and the Poetry nightclub upstairs from Chinois plans to close as well and relocate to a new location.

Officials at Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday on the closing of Chinois, which closed over the weekend. The company's Spago restaurant remains open at the high-end mall on the Las Vegas Strip.

Branden Powers, a partner and marketing director at Poetry, said he understood Chinois would surrender its liquor license this week and that would force the immediate closure of Poetry since it operates under the Chinois license.

"Our future is tied to their future," Powers said.

Powers said Poetry officials are looking at leasing one of two potential sites elsewhere on the Las Vegas Strip and hope to re-open within eight to 12 weeks.

Poetry and Chinois have been locked in a court battle with the Forum Shops over access to the mall from the Caesars Palace casino floor.

The restaurant and nightclub charge the Forum Shops closes its main entrance to the mall late at night on weekends when Poetry is open because Forum Shops tenants are uncomfortable with the club's mostly black clientele -- a charge denied by the Forum Shops.