Friday, Jan. 31, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Most beautiful of all the new restaurants in the Rio tower is Napa with its elegant appointments and decor.
Napa has an enlightened mission, one wholeheartedly endorsed by Rio founder Tony Marnell and the mostly male executive staff: to create a restaurant designed for women. All women, but especially locals who would like to have a place they can call their own. And in another bold step, Napa will make its private wine lockers available to women only.
The enchanting decor, designed with women in mind, has elegant appointments, accessories and art. The top of the lengthy bar is covered with highly polished granite that's a buttery yellow with splashes of butterscotch and gray. It's gorgeous.
A grand circular staircase joins the Wine Cellar Tasting Room to Napa (there's also an elevator).
The Cellar Tasting Room has 60 feet of counter, lighted wine bins and a king's ransom in real stone walls and accents -- seldom seen in tasting rooms outside Europe.
The Cellar will offer more than 250 wines for tasting and purchase selected by Master Sommelier Barrie Larvin. Very shortly, Larvin and his sizable staff of wine experts are planning to offer affordable wine seminars to the public.
The newest master sommelier to join the Rio is Angelo Tavernaro, formerly of Caesars Palace and most recently at Gatsby's in the MGM. Like Larvin, Tavernaro's wine knowledge is formidable. He will be the sommelier for Napa.
Go up the plush staircase to Napa, where Executive Chef Jean-Louis Palladin, formerly of the esteemed Jean-Louis at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C., will be in charge. Napa's menu was still not finalized when I was there, so I can only tell you that the food will be contemporary, upscale and assuredly wonderful. Prices for entrees start at $18. Palladin is one of the pioneers of contemporary European cuisine.
The Rio's ongoing commitment to the arts inspired the Napa Project. Nevada Institute for Contemporary Art will curate rotating art for the restaurant. For the next year, NICA will be working with the Riva Yares Gallery of Santa Fe and Scottsdale, selecting and installing works by established and emerging artists. Future exhibits may focus on one or two artists or may center on a theme.
We arrived at Napa just in time to see the first pieces being hung, including a lush piece, "After the Rain," by American artist Jim Wald.
This first installation was quite a challenge for Harris Yares, NICA Director Mark Matsuoka and NICA board member Maureen Barrett. They worked alongside the construction crew to get the art hung. Some presented special challenges because of size.
"After the Rain" is 96 by 158 inches. An Albert Paley sculpture, "Cascade," is more than 10 feet tall, more than 5 feet wide and 5 feet deep. It weighs 1,475 pounds. It had to be taken from the back lot of the hotel to the fourth floor of the parking garage and then into the restaurant. In order to install it under the skylight where it now sits, it had to be hoisted 4 feet off the ground.
After May 7, new pieces will replace the ones just installed. Wait until those nice Marnell Carrao construction helpers who helped raise "Cascade" find out the piece has to be moved.
All of the art is available for purchase. A price list will be available at the hostess station.
If the Rio can create the Masquerade Village and manage to dock the fantasy floats at the second floor balcony, moving a massive sculpture should be a piece of Italian pastry.
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