Winners celebrated at Best of Vegas award festivities

By Chris Kudialis

Friday, July 1, 2016 | 2 a.m.

Swerving nightclub lights, DJs spinning music, an open bar and a vibrant dance floor set the stage for Las Vegas Weekly’s annual Best of Vegas awards, presented Thursday to 91 winners across the valley’s food, arts and entertainment industries.

"Best of Vegas is our biggest issue of the year, and this is one of the biggest parties we’ve ever thrown. To be able to celebrate with all of our award winners here, the people who’ve created our favorite Vegas experiences this year, makes for a pretty incredible night," said Brock Radke, managing editor of Las Vegas Weekly.

The annual awards, held at Jewel Nightclub at Aria, drew about 1,000 people, including friends, family and media members in addition to the award winners themselves.

Among award recipients in attendance were Sheridan Su, 34, and Jenny Wong, 30, owners of Flock & Fowl restaurant in downtown Las Vegas.

Dressed in a black T-shirts with an “I love Chicken Rice” message, the married couple, originally from Los Angeles, celebrated the 6-month old restaurant’s “Best House of Bird” award with their three restaurant employees.

“We’re very happy to be here and we consider ourselves very lucky,” Wong said.

Su, who was the youngest executive chef on the Strip while working with Joël Robuchon from 2006 to 2010, credited the chicken restaurant’s rise to prominence on “passion.” The restaurant is open five days a week for only five hours at a time, so the couple and their employees “stay passionate and keep loving it.”

“We don’t want to be open for too long of a time, that way we can keep loving it and keep giving it 100 percent,” he said.

Another executive chef, Roy Ellamar, picked up the Best of Vegas award for “Best Chef Reawakening on the Las Vegas Strip,” for his farm-to-table American cuisine restaurant Harvest, which replaced former Asian restaurant Sensi at the Bellagio in December.

Posing for pictures Thursday with Harvest general manager Nick Servedio, Ellamar, dressed in a blue suit with a light blue shirt, called his award “an honor” and “humbling.” He credited his restaurant’s early success to its use of local, sustainable ingredients.

“Where Vegas is saturated with steakhouses and sushi restaurants, this is something totally different,” Ellamar said. “This award is cool, and it means we’re off to a great start.”

Magicians Terry Fator and Mat Franco picked up the awards for “Best Strip Entertainer” and “Best Strip Show,” respectively.

Both magicians said they found out about the awards earlier Thursday. Heading over to Jewel for the celebration was a “no-brainer,” they said.

“It’s exciting to be recognized, because we work hard to give people the best we can,” Fator said.

Among other award recipients missing from Thursday’s show was nightclub DJ Calvin Harris, 32, who plays over 200 shows annually. Harris, born in Scotland, has made Las Vegas his home since 2010, where he regularly performs at major venues like Hakkasan Nightclub, Omnia and Wet Republic. Las Vegas native Bryce Harper, who was the National League’s Most Valuable Player in Major League Baseball last season, won the award for “Best Local Athlete.”