Monday, May 12, 2003 | 10:33 a.m.
Snobs snub snobs?
It's not only a tongue twister, but a tongue depressor.
Depressing, that is, for foodies who laid out as much as $200 per ticket at a tasting event hosted by Bon Appetit magazine Friday, where some of Las Vegas' most high-profile restaurants weren't represented.
Last year Bellagio hosted and its restaurants were major players at Bon Appetit magazine's annual Wine & Spirits Focus.
But this year the Bellagio and such stove stars as Julian Serrano (Picasso), Todd English (Olives), Alex Stratta (Renoir) and Sirio Maccioni (Le Cirque) were noticeably absent.
One story goes that the Bellagio didn't make enough money from the event, which is a benefit for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Another story makes it out to be a conflict between Bellagio operations veep Randy Morton and Elizabeth Blau -- the Bellagio's former vice president of restaurant development.
Blau now has her own successful restaurant consulting firm and is a partner in Simon Kitchen and Bar at the Hard Rock Hotel, which is the hotel hosting the event.
But the only version of events that anyone would put their name next to comes from MGM MIRAGE spokeswoman Jenn Michaels.
She said that it was a business decision and "a timing thing."
"Our food and beverage team decided it made more sense for all of our chefs to be represented at a Food & Wine magazine event in Aspen, Colo., in mid-June," Michaels said.
And preparing for both events was not practical because they were scheduled so close together, she said.
But why go to Colorado and bypass a major local Las Vegas culinary and charitable event?
Michaels simply repeated that it was a business decision.
Jackpot!
Bill Bennett -- the moral crusader recently outed as a problem gambler and Las Vegas regular -- made only one public appearance last week.
He spoke to a Rotarian group in Wisconsin.
At a casino.
I am not making this up.
A spokesman for the Oneida Bingo & Casino in Green Bay refused to say whether Bennett participated in gaming activites.
Daly news
Carson Daly is not embarrassed about all the press reports that he dropped more than $1,000 at a strip club when he attended the Kentucky Derby.
"The one across the street isn't so bad either," he told us, motioning toward Club Paradise. We stopped at the Hard Rock Hotel to chat for a while between tapings of Daly's "Last Call" show Saturday evening.
He also said that he is now scouting for an in-house studio band for his late- night NBC show.
"I absolutely love Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine" -- the popular Vegas lounge band was the house band during Daly's local stint.
Cheese, along with Fred Durst, Smashmouth, Steve Wynn, Jared Leto and Dylan McDermott, joined Daly and his parents, Richard and Pattie Daly Caruso, at Simon Kitchen and Bar on Saturday night, where Daly hosted the show's wrap party.
Quick draw
Had a nice chat Saturday with poker icon Thomas Austin "Amarillo Slim" Preston before he appeared on Les Kincaid's nationally syndicated KDWN 720-AM radio show.
Seems Slim read our item last week about Nicolas Cage buying film rights to his new autobiography, "Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People."
"That Cage fella is smelling something that ain't even cookin' yet," Slim said in his distinctive Texas twang. "We're havin' a meetin' May 13 with him and Jeff Levine (Cage's partner in Saturn Films).
"But I also got meetings with Jim Carrey and the Disney people, and somebody named Vince Vaughn and my old buddy Robert Altman."
Who would Slim prefer to see playing him on the big screen?
"I don't care if it's Goldie Hawn. Once that check clears, those movie people can do what they want."
Hitsville
"The Current," a song from the new Blue Man Group CD, "The Complex," featuring vocals by Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale (Gwen Stefani's new husband), was just mixed into the soundtrack for "Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines."
Director Jonathan Mostow said that the tune is going to play over the closing credits of the new Arnold Schwarzenegger picture, which opens nationwide July 2.
VegasBits
Cousin: Although funnyman Hal Spear is the guy headlining at The Riviera Comedy Club starting this week, it is the next guy on the bill that has a seriously funny pedigree. Comedian Ross Rumberg is a descendant of Moe Howard of "Three Stooges" fame. His mother Betty was Moe's first cousin ...
Winner: Las Vegas Life magazine won a silver medal last week for General Excellence at the 18th annual National City and Regional Magazine Awards competition. The mag and this paper are both part of the Greenspun Media Group ...
Rerun: The May 19 edition of US Weekly has our item from two weeks ago that pranksters have registered as Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez on the Bloomingdale's online bridal registry.
From Sun wires
'Survivor' surprise: Jenna Morasca wasn't expecting to be the newest "Survivor" millionaire when the ballots were tallied.
"I'm shocked," the 21-year-old swimsuit model told the Associated Press moments after she was declared winner Sunday over Matthew Von Ertfelda, a 33-year-old restaurant designer from Washington, D.C., on the finale of "Survivor: The Amazon."
Morasca said that in December she returned home to Pittsburgh from her adventure expecting that the sealed vote had gone Von Ertfelda's way: "He embodies everything a survivor is. He's an amazing guy."
It was an upset victory (and a blowout vote) for Morasca, who since "Amazon" premiered in February had been generally regarded as good-looking but spoiled and lazy.
Morasca collects the $1 million prize as "sole survivor."
Tony nominations: "Hairspray," the buoyant, bouffant musical celebration of 1960s Baltimore, dominated the 2003 Tony Award nominations today with 13, while "Movin' Out" -- Twyla Tharp's stage tribute to Billy Joel, received 10.
The revival of "Nine," a 1982 Tony winner about a woman-obsessed Italian film director, received eight nominations, including one for its star, Antonio Banderas, and three for its actresses in the feature category. "Long Day's Journey Into Night," a revival of Eugene O'Neill's epic family drama, got seven nominations, including nods for its stars Brian Dennehy, Vanessa Redgrave, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robert Sean Leonard.
Paul Newman picked up a nomination for his role in a revival of "Our Town," while Bernadette Peters received a nomination for her role as Mama Rose in "Gypsy."
Vying with "Hairspray" and "Movin' Out" for best musical are the short-lived "Amour," a Gallic fantasy about a man who could walk through walls, and the charming children's show "A Year With Frog and Toad."
Best play nominees include "Take Me Out," about a gay baseball player; "Enchanted April," the story of four Englishwomen on vacation in Italy; "Say Goodnight Gracie," a one-man show about George Burns; and "Vincent in Brixton," about artist Vincent van Gogh's brief stay in London.
Banderas' main competition is Harvey Fierstein, who plays the housewife Edna Turnblad in "Hairspray." Brian Stokes Mitchell, who stars in a revival of "Man of La Mancha," Malcolm Gets from "Amour" and John Selya, "Movin' Out," fill out the category.
Tony winners will be announced June 8 in televised ceremonies from Radio City Music Hall.
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