INTERVIEW: Alexandra Epstein

Alex Epstein is assistant general manager at the El Cortez Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas.


Downtown redevelopment is characterized by a mix of old and new, vintage Vegas and the thought that new Vegas is old Vegas. The El Cortez is so well positioned for that growth. Do you feel that way?
Yes. I think we embody that whole idea. We have been around for 70 years, this is our 70th anniversary, and we are experiencing a surge, a growth in our demographic. I think that says something, a testament that old Vegas is new again. I think people want to be around here and be part of the changes that are happening. The concept of what we want downtown to be is also not a new concept. Any city that's been around for a while has a cultural core that is their downtown, and now there is this demand for that here. We want Vegas to be an institutionalized city, an actual city that has some history and culture to it, and think there is a demand now to build that into this idea.


Is it difficult to celebrate the history of a place like the El Cortez and yet still appeal to a new, different audience?
I think a big part of looking forward is celebrating that culture and that past. I think it goes hand in hand. Any city's cultural core is forward thinking but celebrates its past, and Vegas just has a different past to celebrate. We have the Mob Museum coming in, we have the Neon Museum, we have Las Vegas' original casinos here, and those things just happen to be our past and our history, and the "cultural class" likes to celebrate that. They like it, and they get it, and they don't really want to escape from that. So I don't think those two concepts are warring with each other. I think it grows quite naturally together.


The El Cortez has been growing and renovating for a while now, huh?
It's a 70-year-old building so we have to do a lot to keep it up. But there really has been a big push in the past five years to renovate. Between our Jackie Gaughan Parkway, our porte cochere, and our Cabana Suites, there has been a lot going on, and quite a strong push in conjunction with the East Fremont development.


Have other organizations and businesses sought out El Cortez as a partner in these downtown developments are have you been more active?
It's been a mix of both. There have been people that have approached us, like the Cornthwaites with the idea of Emergency Arts in that building, and we worked together to make it happen. It's been a great collaboration and a great product we've been able to come out with. Other people have approached us, too, but it's just a very collaborative neighborhood in general. We work together with others like the Ogden across the street. We have welcome packets for their new tenants. We also go out and approach others, like we did with our design competition. We approached World Market Center to work together to do something for the Cabana Suites. So it's a give-and-take.


The restaurants at the El Cortez are pretty classic, your coffee shop and your steakhouse, The Flame.
It's pretty standard but the quality is definitely above standard. You don't really know until you come to the El Cortez what a gem it is. We could put more into marketing our food, and we are actually renovating our steakhouse now, but the food is actually outstanding. We have a great food and beverage director, and we are a family of foodies. This is a family business and we are all about food. We wouldn't want to not be able to eat here.


The coffee shop is really a Vegas institution that seems to be disappearing, and the El Cortez version is one spot that is kinda keeping that old school thing alive.
Our waiters and servers know all of our customers by name, there's that familiarity there. And the quality is there. I will stand by this: our matzoh ball soup is the best in Las Vegas. A lot of people say "Is it as good as Bagel Cafe?" I tell them it's better. And we have a Chinese kitchen, which is kind of a strange and random thing, but it's very popular. Everything at the steakhouse is fresh, never frozen, all of our fish and meat is flown in fresh. The steakhouse really is a gem, too. The service is great, we have a really great wine list with extremely reasonable prices, and that's something we've got a reputation for. Our specials do really well. The stone crab, when it's in season, we fly it in and serve it every week and we usually sell out. For our anniversary, we are putting together a vintage menu, with menu items you can't find anymore like oysters rockefeller. It's really old school stuff. You can ask for the vintage menu now even though we're not advertising it yet. And we're open to suggestions, too. We really researched it. We went to UNLV and looked at all these old menus and then went through all these rounds of tasting to see what we did and didn't want to do. It was pretty extensive.


On East Fremont, there are so many great bars now, and it's really a great crowd down there. But food-wise, there still isn't a lot right around the neighborhood that this group can find.
Not yet. We have great food at The Beat. And Le Thai is going to be a great Thai place when it opens across the street. But we definitely need some more variety. This is going to be a part of town where people come for a great night, for food and drinks, and it just makes sense.


So as someone who is here a lot, and has been to other cities, and as someone who is a foodie, what would you like to see down here?
All kinds of things. I lived in New York for four years and Los Angeles for a year and was very proactive in seeking out great food in those cities. There's a place in L.A. with all different kinds of bratwursts and all different kinds of beer, and really good fries, and that's all it is. In the back is picnic seating, kind of a like a beer garden, with a DJ in back. I thought something like that could work great in downtown Vegas. Any kind of gastropub would be great. But I think we should leave the real high-end stuff to the Strip. A great pizza place, like Settebello, I would love to have that down here. More outdoor cafe-type places would be great, since we have perfect walking areas down here. There are so many things that we could do.


I don't think anyone thinks of downtown as being a great food neighborhood in Las Vegas, and I think the reputation of the El Cortez is more about its history than its restaurants. But what you have done is pave the way for some very significant food and beverage developments downtown, specifically allowing one building your company owns to become Emergency Arts, which houses The Beat Coffeehouse, and also allowing your space to host the Vegas Streats festival every month.
It was a very lucky thing how that worked out. It just made perfect sense. There was no reason for us not to be doing it. We has the perfect space to let these food trucks do what they do. I think Vegas Streats is huge for downtown Vegas. In my mind, it goes beyond just food, because to me food is the most important part of culture. But it's really just about how people live, and food is such a big part of that, so it makes sense for downtown to be where people recognize that it doesn't have to be fancy food to be good. Vegas Streats has exposed thousands of people to really talented chefs and cooks, and if they associate they can come down here and have this great experience with food trucks and really cool old hotels and great bars, that's what we're trying to do -- change people's perspectives.


I'm sure you have a lot of ideas how to change and grow Vegas Streats, but do you think the following is already there?
Yes. The first one, we had so many people we just didn't know what to do with them. We didn't advertise anything and there was no press coverage, so it was all social media and word of mouth. And everybody was asking, when's the next one? The second time we had a lot of questions, a lot of press, a lot of emails after. And now different vendors and artists want to be involved, so we don't know what to expect looking ahead. But we plan on keeping it up, and this is something that downtown really needs. Everyone is working hard down here and really good food is the next direction.


You are a real Las Vegan and you know your way around town. Where else do you like to eat?
I love Sen of Japan and Raku and Monta for Japanese, those are all classics. For Italian, we're big fans of Cafe Chloe on Flamingo and Buffalo. It's been around for a while, and the chef has been here forever. It's Chef Piero, from the original Piero's. It's all homestyle cooking, the portions are huge, the pasta is piping hot when it comes out, there's a lot of garlic and it's just great. And the people are great. It's my favorite Italian place in Las Vegas. I do think the best pizza in the city is at Settebello. I also really like Nittaya's, which is a new place in Summerlin. Every time I've gone there I've had a good meal.


Are you one of the rare Vegas locals who actually eats on the Strip frequently?
I do. You can't hate it just because it's on the Strip. I definitely appreciate everything there is to enjoy on the Strip. We have the best restaurants in the world. To not take advantage of that would be insanity.


Your Strip favorites?
I've enjoyed everything I've had at Cosmopolitan. They do a great job at Milos, Holsteins, STK, Scarpetta.  We go to Wynn a lot. We just had a really good meal at Lakeside Grill. We love SW Steakhouse. Bartolotta, obviously, is amazing. Those are all just really pricey ones, special nights out. There are so many great places.