00:01.94

vigorbranding

Hello, welcome to Fork Tales. I’m Michael Pavone, and we’re really excited about this episode. This is gonna be a fun story. There’s a list, obviously, of truly legendary restaurants right in in the United States, but the Golden Steer in Las Vegas is one of those restaurants. it’s It’s the oldest continually operating steakhouse in Las Vegas, and our guests today are Nick McMillan and Amanda Signorelli. I’m Italian, so I got that right, right?

00:29.18

Nick _ Amanda

Nailed it.

00:29.73

vigorbranding

yeah Okay. So the managing partners, the Golden Steer, the Golden Steer is a steak house that became a regular stop of Frank Sinatra Elvis and many others. There are rumors of secret doors. We’ll talk about that. And, you know, as one diner once said, the Golden Steer feels like the soul of Las Vegas. So ah Nick, Amanda, welcome to the show.

00:49.07

Nick _ Amanda

Well, thank you, Michael, for for having us. It’s fabulous to be here. It’s a wonderful morning ah out here in Las Vegas. And we’re certainly looking forward to chatting with you a little bit and telling you about the Golden Steer.

01:00.62

Nick _ Amanda

Thank you.

01:00.87

vigorbranding

Fantastic. Fantastic. So the question is for both of you guys. Tell us a little about yourselves and how you came to be a part of the Golden Steer Steakhouse brand. And I guess there’s like a love story or something else in there too, right?

01:13.37

Nick _ Amanda

There it A little bit of everything.

01:14.54

vigorbranding

Okay.

01:15.92

Nick _ Amanda

ah So I’m born and raised in Las Vegas, fabulous Vegas. And my father actually purchased the restaurant back in 2001. And he did it because he loved the legacy and the story. And it was something that was really true and dear to his heart as it is with many Vegas natives. Now I left Vegas and went out to Chicago where I met this lovely, charming gentleman. And at some point I said, hey,

01:38.76

Nick _ Amanda

why don’t we jump in and since you are got a bit of a background on the culinary side and I’m on the kind of data and marketing side why don’t we put our heads together and jump back in and return to Vegas and give it a shot.

01:50.74

vigorbranding

That’s awesome. That’s awesome. Nick, you made breakfast somewhere along the line for her. Is that how you, the culinary side?

01:54.75

Nick _ Amanda

You know I tried I burned some boiling water but Yeah, originally from the Chicago area, I actually spent most of my career in the technology space.

02:06.21

Nick _ Amanda

i But the interesting wrinkle is that I studied in Rome when I was in college and really fell in love.

02:11.53

vigorbranding

Awesome.

02:12.27

Nick _ Amanda

Of course, the Europeans have such a different relationship with food and dining. And I came back to the States. I thought I wanted to move into the culinary hospitality world.

02:24.22

Nick _ Amanda

So I did culinary school. My cousin owned a restaurant in Chicago that I cooked in his kitchen for a while. But ultimately said, you know, this is crazy. Who in the right mind would ever want to own a restaurant and left? the way I went back to the software world. The margins are much better and never really anticipated coming back to it. And then, and then, yeah, we met in and Chicago and We got married in 2018 and I sold the tech offer for my last business and had some some time and her father called and said, hey, I need you guys to so either take over the restaurant or I’m going to think about selling it.

02:59.30

Nick _ Amanda

and So we looked at each other and said, but let’s do it for a year. Right. Let’s do it for a year.

03:04.58

vigorbranding

Yeah, give it a try.

03:05.72

Nick _ Amanda

We’ll kick ourselves. There’s such an iconic story and and history to to the place. So that year started March 1st of 2019. And of course, a year later, the the world changed with COVID. And so now here we are.

03:21.83

vigorbranding

That’s awesome. So I mean, are obviously Vegas has a storied history, all kinds of neat and maybe some bad background stuff. And your steakhouse has kind of been in the center of it all, hasn’t it? I mean, yeah if I remember, I think it’s like almost three different, ah sort of, I’ll say, historical chapters. So you had, didn’t you have people coming from California, ah coming out through the West, maybe to hunt? And the restaurant was a part of that. Can you talk about that a little bit?

03:48.00

Nick _ Amanda

Yeah, so we first consider ourselves, and you nailed it, we really think about it as stages and horizons of history, which is really wonderfully wonderful to see how the restaurant itself has absorbed it. So the very first one was, we called ourselves the period of the Wild Wild West, friendly for the Cowboys. We were truly a Western frontier restaurant, which was a bit more technical back then. What would happen is the Cowboys would come in from all these different places around the world. They’d come to Nevada, they’d go on the mountains, whatever they shot and killed, they’d bring in, it would be our responsibility to clean, prep, serve, and cook all those things for whoever had them. And so you have a lot of iterations of rattlesnake game, things like that on the menu, but very much Wild West cowboy lore. And so that’s what we started as. And then the second phase of that was as Vegas matured and went from being a saloon-style town to something a bit more elevated, we decided as a city to dominate the entertainment space, which led us to what we like to call the showman era. And so with the showman era, that’s where you have Sammy Davis Jr.

04:45.14

Nick _ Amanda

ah me monroe you’ve got frank sinatra You’ve got all these iconic, amazing celebrities and talents who are coming through Las Vegas, putting their foot on the ground and saying, let’s own this, let’s create it. And during that time, while they were out and performing for everyone else, they’d come back at night and dine at the Golden Steer. And we’ve actually got stories of patrons who said, oh, I remember my father and my grandfather used to come to the Steer because Frank Sinatra would get up on a table drinking whiskey, smoking a cigar and serenading the rest of the restaurant.

05:11.08

Nick _ Amanda

just really amazing moments that you wish you could see. Of course, when you’ve got the showmen and you’ve got the glitz and glam, you very quickly have the seedy underbelly, which ends up being the mob style.

05:14.47

vigorbranding

Yeah.

05:21.27

Nick _ Amanda

And so where all the fabulous flashy people come, mob’s there. And that is not surprising, especially when it started with someone like Tony Spalato, who came from the hole in the wall gang. And he made his mark in his business in Las Vegas, as he liked to call a jewelry shop.

05:35.18

Nick _ Amanda

I think of him more as a pawn shop because everything he had, you stole from a celebrity. You could just buy it back. So he began in Vegas and brought the rest of his um friends, we’ll call them lovingly, to this year to have meetings. And that began the mob period where they spent a ton of time here. It led to the mob room. We had the MatriD trying to exchange and make sure that we had the right mob partners not sitting right next to each other or in different rooms if we needed to. And it created quite a different ambiance.

06:02.56

vigorbranding

it’s It’s amazing. And it’s really, I mean, again, so I can say this I’m Italian. So I’m always the old mob is I mean, I, i wrote you know, I think the greatest business movie ever made was a Godfather. And I swear by that, I think that is the best business movie ever made.

06:14.88

vigorbranding

And so and the greatest movie ever made. So I love all of that, that, that, that mystique. I’ve been to your restaurant and the food is phenomenal.

06:21.44

Nick _ Amanda

it

06:24.74

vigorbranding

I’m not pandering. It really is phenomenal.

06:26.86

Nick _ Amanda

thank you

06:26.94

vigorbranding

But you almost get that vibe when you walk in there, like with the brown booze and you have the other people’s names owner who used to hang out there.

06:32.06

Nick _ Amanda

and

06:32.49

vigorbranding

um It’s just, it’s amazing. So you you had obviously all the showmen, you know, the whole brat pack was there. I know that there you have the picture behind you. ah But you also had celebrities like Joe DiMaggio, right? You had, I think it was Ali there. I mean, I think you had lots and lots of sports figures. I mean, I guess anybody that popped in Vegas, how’d he go to the Golden Steer?

06:48.32

Nick _ Amanda

Thank you. Muhammad Ali ah celebrated his birthday here. Mario Andretti, yes, Joe DiMaggio, some more local folks. So, the comedian of Entroqua is Terry Fader. And then my favorite, one of my favorite stories, of course, is Mr. William Baxter. So, William Baxter is ah is a famous, for a number of reasons, one, ah very, very successful professional poker player.

07:17.87

Nick _ Amanda

um but also very so very well known because he sued the United States federal ah federal government in a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court and he argued that poker is a game of skill and not a game of chance.

07:30.68

vigorbranding

Okay. Hmm.

07:33.60

Nick _ Amanda

and so And that it should be taxed as income instead of gambling winnings. Gambling winnings are taxed higher than income is.

07:38.95

vigorbranding

Higher. Yep.

07:40.44

Nick _ Amanda

ah He ultimately won it and permanently recategorized poker winnings for for players across the country. And so just, ah I think it’s a great example of kind of the Vegas stories that you find here um that are that fly a little bit below the radar.

07:52.87

vigorbranding

Yeah. Yeah, it’s it’s crazy. And again, so much history, yeah you know, I think evolve. And it makes sense, right? Like we talked about like the the mob and stuff like that. Well, in every movie, I mean, you know, they got to go somewhere that’s sort of like a neutral ground, right? Where they’re, you know, they’re not going to be talking in the inside the casino or, you know, their hideout. So they’re gonna, they’re gonna go someplace where there’s ah other people and all that. And the Golden Steer was sort of like a centerpiece for that, wasn’t it?

08:23.81

Nick _ Amanda

It was and actually it worked that we’re having this conversation from the mob room. So this is one of the private rooms that we have in the restaurant where they like to come in and dine and enjoy because it was it was separate and so they could have some candid conversations.

08:28.11

vigorbranding

Oh, there you go. ye

08:40.00

Nick _ Amanda

also very close to a back hallway that we had so that they could ah sneak in and out as they needed to because one of the other booths that we have is Ralph Lamb and Ralph Lamb was very well known sheriff here in Vegas in the the at at the same time as the mob so he was kind of chasing them around and so there was certainly times that that one or both were coming in and required ah a quick getaway or a discreet exit and so that’s why they love to to kind of sit and dine in here in the mob room.

09:12.77

vigorbranding

That’s great. So we won’t talk too much about the mob, although I do love the mistake, but so this, yeah we can go to, let’s, let’s talk about like, you know, I know you don’t serve burgers anymore, but, but you said in in past interviews, I guess Elvis had had his last burger at the golden steer.

09:26.63

Nick _ Amanda

Well, I think he had the last burger that we served at the Golden Steer. I’m sure he had burgers after that.

09:30.40

vigorbranding

Okay.

09:31.71

Nick _ Amanda

But yeah, we used to do a little transition from the mob.

09:31.79

vigorbranding

Okay. Oh no, we’re not saying he didn’t get poisoned there. No, no, no, no, no. You just had, yeah, I would have very clear on that.

09:39.04

Nick _ Amanda

We had to make sure that we were clear about it. Um, no, he, he used to come in, he would sit at the, at the bar and and enjoy a burger. And then as you know, his, his fame continued to rise. He transitioned to sitting in, he has a beautiful, probably one of the best corner booths in the restaurant where he would sit and transition from burgers to, to steaks. And so at that point we decided, all right, no more, no more burgers on the menu.

10:05.00

Nick _ Amanda

and and and to this day have still not served a burger since Office of Time.

10:10.03

vigorbranding

That’s great. So, okay, you guys joined the the Golden Steer 2018, then COVID came around, obviously, and probably created a havoc for everybody, like it did everybody else. I know how it affected the restaurant industry. But you guys, i’ve been I’ve been to your website, you guys are doing mail order, things like that, too. Is that right? So we’re gonna talk a little bit about that and some of the thinking that you put behind that.

10:30.50

Nick _ Amanda

Yeah, absolutely. So when COVID first hit, we both looked at each other and credit to Nick. He was really early on in this. We were actually planning for COVID in the December of the year prior. So we were looking out and thinking that there was going to be something that changed the restaurant dramatically. It was a question of what and how, and more importantly, how long. And so a lot of restaurants we’re looking at, do we do a to-go option? But the reality is our restaurant is on the strip.

10:53.31

Nick _ Amanda

with the world being shut down. We don’t have anybody here. Even if we wanted to deliver, given the radius, by the time the product got there to most of the suburbs that are going to be 20, 30 minutes away, the product and integrity and quality was going to be disastrous. So it did not make sense for us to try that. The other element, when you look at the actual nature of our business at the time, the predominant share of our customer base actually came from outside of Nevada. And so we said, all right, so most of our customers that we need to be able to get to aren’t here. Let’s ship to them.

11:19.84

Nick _ Amanda

Fortunately, in a prior life, I had run a company and was good friends with some folks that had started a shipping company that was on Foodside and that was Home Chef. Nick also had his first company, which was Right Bites.

11:30.63

Nick _ Amanda

So he also had an idea of how to do shipping. So we looked at each other and said, let’s give it a go. So we went live on Goldbelly, which was May 19th, sold out of our inventory with one email in about two weeks.

11:38.00

vigorbranding

Mm hmm.

11:43.08

Nick _ Amanda

So there’s something there. Let’s turn it on and run with it for a bit. Fast forward to November of that same year, and we ended up taking it in-house and selling ourselves on Shopify and building that out.

11:52.01

vigorbranding

That’s great.

11:52.22

Nick _ Amanda

Wow, we’ve been able to double that business pretty much year over year. And interestingly enough, that business is actually a seasoning company first and a state company second.

12:00.39

vigorbranding

Wow. Good for you. Well, I mean, there was the mail order stakes before, right?

12:02.46

Nick _ Amanda

there was states

12:04.20

vigorbranding

People had that. That’s something that, you know, existed. So, uh, which that’s great. And it’s good to still have that, but the seasonings are, that’s what makes you guys special, you know?

12:12.82

Nick _ Amanda

It’s a ton of, and it was, you know, something, you know, we’ve, so Sergio sees, so Sergio is our master butcher. He’s been with us for almost, almost four decades at this point.

12:23.22

vigorbranding

Wow.

12:23.37

Nick _ Amanda

And he, over the years has developed a seasoning blend in it. We use it on steaks in the restaurant. But it really came, we so during COVID, we did virtual private dining, which was we had all these conventions cancel, all these corporations that looked to do virtual events.

12:38.93

Nick _ Amanda

And so we we had our iteration of that, which is we would send a box of ingredients for a three-course meal. So our world-famous Caesar salad, rib eyes, the cream corn, twice baked potato, and then, of course, the bananas foster.

12:53.11

Nick _ Amanda

You can’t forget, a little taste is sweet at the end.

12:54.34

vigorbranding

nope yep

12:55.78

Nick _ Amanda

But one of the items was Sergio seasoning. And as we did more of these events, and we did them for folks like Dell and Cisco and NASA and Second Watch, people started asking, like hey, this Sergio seasoning, can we can we buy this separately? And so a light bulb went off, and it was I think a year and a half after we first started selling steaks that we then allowed folks to to buy and and brought the Sergio seasoning to market, which then kicked off a line of seasonings, and now we have a line of compound and flavored butters that we also ship out as well. So it’s been a real like evolution of that online piece that you know I don’t think, um without COVID, I i mean, we we probably would have exported a little bit, but it was really a driver and catalyst for you know expanding into that online space.

13:43.94

vigorbranding

Yeah, I mean, it’s brilliant. And look, you know, necessity is the mother of invention, right? You guys, I know restaurants are hard and it can be a daily grind, you know, whether you have one or 50 or for franchisee, franchisor to then start an online, really, in a way, a CPG business, right? i mean e-commerce business, it’s a whole other world and it’s a whole other venue. So it’s really kind of cool that you were able to have the energy, the fortitude and the desire to drive that way. That’s that’s awesome and kudos to you guys for doing that.

14:14.81

Nick _ Amanda

And that is, I, you know, Amanda has really taken that by the horns and driven that um to an amazing extent.

14:14.89

vigorbranding

um

14:24.40

Nick _ Amanda

I think it’s it’s wild. I mean, it’s been it’s been a long journey, right? we’re We’re almost four years in, but it’s been exciting to see kind of how that has evolved and changed. um Because it is.

14:35.21

Nick _ Amanda

It’s an entirely different world.

14:36.55

vigorbranding

Sure.

14:37.18

Nick _ Amanda

The digital ad space is, um is ah of course, massive. um And so it’s been it’s been fun to to kind of lean into that. And it’s to see where the two have fed off of each other, I think, is is very exciting for us.

14:53.69

Nick _ Amanda

And so as an example of that, It used to be two sister brands. So we had Golden Steer Las Vegas as one of the domains and then Golden Steer State Company. And it was only in March of this year that we kind of brought it all under one umbrella.

15:06.96

vigorbranding

Sure.

15:07.41

Nick _ Amanda

It’s goldensteer dot.com, which really we saw a lot of benefits in and value to it, which has been it.

15:10.93

vigorbranding

Of course. Yeah, I mean, it’s that’s super smart. I mean, this all came about like Fork Tales, this podcast all came about because we have we have an agency. My background is is advertising marketing and we have a holding company and in our company, we created different brands. And one is Quench, which is CPG food and beverage. When we were doing that, people would come and say, hey,

15:32.60

vigorbranding

You should you know market our restaurant or do you do restaurants and. Everyone thinks well restaurants food and beverage right so it’s the same as cpg but it’s not and you guys know that cause you’ve done both so. We created vigor or you know take on and a brand called vigor which is a restaurant.

15:49.99

vigorbranding

branding and marketing agency and they are very different. I did it because they’re different. and We have different skill sets in there and you know it’s retail and the speed of retail in the restaurant side and CPG is just a different animal.

16:02.86

vigorbranding

So I mean it’s a yeah it’s it’s ah um kudos to you guys again for doing both.

16:06.33

Nick _ Amanda

to go.

16:08.20

vigorbranding

I see that a lot because we’ll have a lot of folks on that’ll be ah they’ll they’ll start with ah a food product, a CPG and they’ll create restaurants from it. or they’ll have a restaurant and then things will emanate off of it.

16:19.82

vigorbranding

You know, we just did a thing with Guy Fieri ah with his sauces. We just did a thing with, I’m trying to think who else was, it doesn’t matter. But we’ve we’ve had a lot of these guys, a home run in is another one who’s started out as a restaurant and and now they’re, you know, yeah.

16:33.66

Nick _ Amanda

oh yeah ah

16:36.53

vigorbranding

they’re phenomenal pizza, right? So it’s really kind of neat to see these evolutions and how they grow. So well thank goodness that the whole industry of the conventions is back. and I’m sure that’s great for you guys. In fact, i’m i and believe it or not, I’m not just saying this, we have 15 people coming in to your restaurant. I think it’s in October. If that reservation is not made, we have ah one of our companies and our holding company is a company called Varsity, which is senior living. We have we market and brand retirement communities around the country.

17:06.78

vigorbranding

And there is a, ah the acronym is SMASH. I’m not sure exactly what it stands for, but they’re having a convention in Vegas. And so we’re bringing a bunch of clients ah to the restaurant.

17:16.97

Nick _ Amanda

Thank you.

17:17.92

vigorbranding

Yeah. Yeah. So I’ll have to make sure they get the bananas foster.

17:18.87

Nick _ Amanda

We’ll see you.

17:22.79

vigorbranding

So, oh yeah.

17:22.81

Nick _ Amanda

it’s the bottom one

17:24.05

vigorbranding

But now the stay on the let’s say when you’re Caesar Salads killer, I was at the restaurant and the gentleman at the serve, they talk about him a little bit.

17:31.84

Nick _ Amanda

Yeah, so our longest tenured server, a gentleman named Banco who’s been with us for also almost 40 years, and we calculated that we think that he’s made somewhere in the ballpark of 375,000 Caesar salads in his career.

17:50.13

Nick _ Amanda

Uh, so it’s, it’s, he, and he tell, he tells some wonderful stories.

17:50.59

vigorbranding

yeah

17:55.52

Nick _ Amanda

He’s been in Vegas for a long, long time and has met some incredible people. And, you know, one of them, most interestingly, coming back to kind of the the mob era.

18:06.14

Nick _ Amanda

So Tony Spelatro. Camino talked about his his jewelry store. It was right next to the Golden Steer, which is why he would come in. And one of it the gentlemen on his henchmen team was Frank Colada. And Frank Colada, there is a ton of stories and books and podcasts about him.

18:24.98

Nick _ Amanda

um because he yeah actually was ah an informant and went into witness protection for a long time and then came out of it and he would still after he came out he would still come in and dine at the Golden Steer and Vanco was the only server that he would that he would really allow to to wait on him and so they had a they had a special relationship and Vanco yeah has some tremendous stories and It’s still with us.

18:48.76

Nick _ Amanda

We are grateful um through through all of the ah the craziness of COVID remained with us and and is a treasured part of of the team. And we are not just him, but we have a tremendous team.

19:00.25

Nick _ Amanda

But it’s a ton of fun when Van Gogh is making your season salad. You’ll definitely hear some stories about Old Vegas for sure.

19:04.81

vigorbranding

Yeah, ah it’s it’s super cool. Like I said, I absolutely loved ah my time there. and And you were not there, but he was so that, you know, he he was there.

19:13.26

Nick _ Amanda

yeah

19:14.38

vigorbranding

then We got the Caesar and, you know, it was it was a phenomenal. So and the whole like the whole mistake. And what’s really cool and and you I should say for anybody who’s interested in in in checking out the the the restaurant, you know, we think about Vegas and restaurants like there’s these big casinos and all the restaurants in the casinos.

19:30.51

vigorbranding

You guys are not in a casino. I mean, you’re old Vegas, you’re on the strip, right?

19:34.33

Nick _ Amanda

We are, our address is not technically on the strip. We are about a half a block or a block off the strip, but we’re in a strip mall.

19:41.22

vigorbranding

Yeah.

19:41.54

Nick _ Amanda

And so a lot of times we get feet, like folks drive up and they say like, when I first drove up, I don’t, I didn’t think that I was in the right spot.

19:46.04

vigorbranding

Yeah.

19:50.61

Nick _ Amanda

Um, because, you know, we talk about all this history and everyone that’s come in and you drive up and it’s a strip mall.

19:55.88

vigorbranding

right

19:56.10

Nick _ Amanda

Uh, but then you walk inside and it’s like a little time capsule back to old Vegas. We still have, you know,

20:00.15

vigorbranding

yeah

20:01.01

Nick _ Amanda

We still have the carpets and the dining rooms and the popcorn ceilings and a lot of the elements that make, that kind of transport people back to to that time. And so, um but yeah, and we’ve always been in this location, ah you know, 66 years. And you can think about, back to Amanda’s story about the frontier days.

20:23.72

Nick _ Amanda

you can kind of see it when you come here like this is not you know there was the old strip down on Fremont and then some of the kind of the new hotels were being built in the 50s and 60s but this was kind of just a little bit off the beaten path and so there were hitching posts and it’s easy to see how folks would you know go and hunt in the wilderness which was not that far from where we currently are but now of course today it’s it’s a much different story Vegas has seen some tremendous growth but

20:42.38

vigorbranding

Right.

20:47.30

vigorbranding

Yeah.

20:48.45

Nick _ Amanda

ah But yeah, it’s a ton of fun when folks come in for the first time and kind of look at themselves at the outside like, are we at the right spot? And then walk in and a whole different world.

20:56.76

vigorbranding

yeah Well, the way you explained it was absolutely 100% my experience. Because when I went out there, I think I took an Uber, and you know how sometimes Ubers you put an address in and you’re like, well, this doesn’t look right. I did the old, well, this doesn’t look right. And then I was like, wait, wait, no, there’s, oh, yep, yep, yeah, we’re right, okay, great. And walked in and it was like, to your point, it’s like ah Oz, right? You open the door and there you are. And so I think anybody that goes to Vegas, you know, the the mystique, the history, all that stuff is so important and so cool. and You know, I just need to go to, uh, you know, anybody can go to the wind or whatever, which they’re all fine.

21:26.30

vigorbranding

They’re all great. But I mean, like to go out and see your place is like, it’s like going to a museum. and And then, but then on top of it, the food is as good as anything you’re going to get anywhere, if not better as far as a steak. So I just think you have such a cool vibe going and, uh, kudos.

21:38.08

Nick _ Amanda

Well, thank you. yeah you know and it’s And especially this year, it’s bittersweet, right? So the Tropicana is in the process of being torn down.

21:43.48

vigorbranding

Yeah.

21:45.67

Nick _ Amanda

And and it’s a remind. What’s that? The Mirage. The Mirage, of course, is you know the first hotel that Steve Wynn built from the ground up is is also in the process of being demolished.

21:49.01

vigorbranding

Yeah.

21:55.82

Nick _ Amanda

So it’s exciting. the The town has seen tremendous growth. And I think the um the community has benefited from it greatly. But it’s also a little bittersweet because these icons of the past kind of are continuing to to transition.

22:06.50

vigorbranding

Yeah.

22:08.96

Nick _ Amanda

And so we we look at ourselves and we think, and we talk about it a lot with the team, that we feel like stewards of this brand that has managed to survive you know six decades plus, and that we you know hopefully would love to celebrate another six decades.

22:25.51

vigorbranding

Sure.

22:25.95

Nick _ Amanda

Past this so it’s been you know, the town is is is wild. it’s It’s been really great um But yeah, they’re it’s kind of always in that transition period

22:36.05

vigorbranding

That’s funny. I mean, it’s really ah yeah it’s ah it’s an amazing kind of thing. And just to have that history is just it’s a treasure to your point. So a lot of the restaurants will claim that, you know, they focus on hospitality, but very few do it well. What’s your secret? How do you make it real and make sure that your staff brings that, you know, to life every day?

22:54.75

Nick _ Amanda

It’s a great, way it you know, I’m from, or like I said, I’m originally from the tech world. And so it’s been, um, It’s been phenomenal to see just, I think, just want to talk about for a second. I think the, the work ethic and, uh, the quality of people that are in the industry is tremendous. Um, and I think, you know, people really that are in this, like have a passion for, for it. And I think Vegas itself is unique in that. Uh, and I think it, it starts with people. Um, I think to quote Steve, when he always said that, you know, that people make people happy. Uh, and I think we really try to embrace that.

23:32.99

Nick _ Amanda

um And one, so Pete Wells just retired as the New York Times food critic in his final column. One of the things that he talked about was phones, that a lot of restaurants don’t answer phones anymore. And we do. We actually, ah we get a tremendous number of of inbound phone calls and we’ve hired up folks in the restaurant to be able to try and answer as many of those phone calls as possible with a human voice because we think that that is important. And we,

24:02.19

Nick _ Amanda

You know, at the end of the day, we were a family business. There’s not too many family businesses on the Las Vegas Strip. And so we try to bring that warmth and the idea of, you know, folks are coming in to celebrate their most treasured moments, their birthdays, their anniversaries, graduations.

24:21.88

Nick _ Amanda

It’s always fun when a local came in for prom and now they’re coming in for, you know, their kids’ graduation or or anything like that that’s multi-generational.

24:27.56

vigorbranding

Awesome.

24:30.23

Nick _ Amanda

And so there’s a lot of, ah history that folks have with the restaurant and warmth I think is one of the big pieces that we try to to focus on. I mean there’s the there’s the tactical ah you know the steps of service and all of those pieces but we really try and say how do we make people feel feel good and feel happy feel welcomed if If something is wrong, if there is a miss on food, um we will you know either replace it or take it out late. We do everything that we can to ensure a great experience because we know that folks are coming in to to celebrate celebrate those special moments. so

25:08.31

Nick _ Amanda

We really try and focus on the people first. ah We have a tremendous, tremendous staff um that I think enjoys the history and kind of being a part of that stewardship of ah a legacy brand. And it’s a ton of fun. And I think we are We are fortunate that we have had folks that have been with us for a long time to kind of keep that, like a, like a Vanko and a Sergio over the decades that have seen the ebb and flow of the city, that have seen the ebb and flow of the restaurant and have some, ah you know, a foot kind of in the old Vegas hospitality that folks like to to reminisce about.

25:34.68

vigorbranding

who

25:47.75

Nick _ Amanda

And so we try and and bring that and make that real, ah you know, day in and day out, which is, which is a fun, a fun and interesting challenge as a part of the restaurant industry.

25:57.16

vigorbranding

Yeah I mean we’ll like you know okay so and I’m not saying everyone can do it well but anyone can make a steak you know I can go home and grill a steak but if I go to your restaurant I’m gonna get it I’m gonna get a phenomenal but really it is about that whole experience right and those people become they’re part of the brand like we I said I did have the Uh, uh, your gentlemen, Benko, I guess is his name that did you make my, so my salad was phenomenal. I mean, and that was part of the whole, the whole deal and and and part of the romance of the whole place. So, uh, I think that’s, that’s phenomenal. So now talking about special moments last year, you guys purchased a thousand square foot of adjoining space. You’re expanding for the first time in 50 years. Um, now you you have a classic look architecturally, how hard is that to do? And what is the, what are what are you going to do with that space? It’s just tables. You can do more banquets. Is it, you know, talk a little bit about that.

26:43.00

Nick _ Amanda

Yeah, so we opened it. um And it it was exciting. It was the first time in 50 years. And to Amanda’s point, in the restaurant, you could see the evolution over the six decades because the the the current bar that exists today was the last expansion that we did in the 70s. And so it was it was fun to to take on this bra of of you know this first expansion in 50 years. So we opened it last November right before F1.

27:10.62

Nick _ Amanda

And it is additional dining space, but also mainly with a focus on large parties and private dining, which is a tremendous part of ah Vegas now with with all of the social parties that come in and of course all of the conventions.

27:16.19

vigorbranding

Great.

27:20.66

vigorbranding

Sure.

27:25.69

Nick _ Amanda

and and we kept We kept everything as, you know, it was very inspired, of course, by the existing space. So ah wood paneling, which is a huge part of the existing restaurant or the the original restaurant, it was kept. The carpet is the same. We kept the popcorn ceiling. So its it was a very fun conversation with our designer and architects before we even started construction.

27:53.76

Nick _ Amanda

We walked through the existing space to to kind of get some ah design ideas. And we were talking about the ceilings. And I was like, well, of course we have to keep the popcorn ceilings because we have the popcorn ceilings in the existing space. And our designer looked at us and she’s like, you know, I’ve taken a lot of popcorn ceilings out in my career, but I’ve never actually had a clock that wanted to put them in. And, you know, of course, would it be our first choice if we were just, you know, starting from scratch? Maybe not.

28:19.14

Nick _ Amanda

ah But it’s a part of the history and kind of the rounded coving of where the walls meet the ceiling is a part of that.

28:19.44

vigorbranding

That’s it.

28:27.28

vigorbranding

That’s awesome.

28:27.44

Nick _ Amanda

And so all of those pieces that we that we could we took the, you know, we have ah this beautiful um circular soffit that is in the main dining room. And we also created a similar one in one of the the new rooms as well, just to make people continue to feel like this is this is an extension, you know, no different than what the steer has done over the six decades of, you know, continuing to um to kind of grow and do it in a way that that is in harmony with the with the rest of the space. So it’s been and we but to

29:03.30

Nick _ Amanda

um I guess I’ll just say we were very excited so when we opened it the first night we did a friends and family dinner and the first couple that walked in they gave us a hug and ah she was super excited she’s like oh congratulations on the opening like and we were at this time we we greeted people in the new space so she walked into the new space gave us a hug and she’s like after the hug she’s like all right this is awesome congratulations can we see the new space but she was standing in the new space and asked to see it and really made a smile.

29:32.74

Nick _ Amanda

And that was kind of the goal that folks wouldn’t have any idea that they were standing in a space.

29:34.02

vigorbranding

ah

29:36.59

vigorbranding

You have to pump like some old cigar smoke in the seat cushions right in the new place.

29:39.18

Nick _ Amanda

We didn’t know about that. All right.

29:40.74

vigorbranding

yeah

29:41.52

Nick _ Amanda

The joke was the mill workers that I was going to have, you know, bring in like four and five year olds with like keys and like socks to like mark up the woodwork to make it look aged.

29:50.06

vigorbranding

Yeah. That’s awesome. That is awesome. All right. So now I’m going to ask you, that you know, I’ve read that the the steer has the best steaks on earth and I’ve had a phenomenal, absolutely. I concur. um Now you’re the couple that makes the best steaks. I’m going to give you something personal. man I’m going to start with you. ah What’s your favorite cut and how do you like it cooked?

30:08.78

Nick _ Amanda

That’s easy, ribeye 100%, absolutely. Medium rare and always with, if I can, I really like our maturity butter. I think we did a great job with it. So I like to put that on top.

30:17.99

vigorbranding

Well done. Well done, Nick.

30:22.50

Nick _ Amanda

Why, i the our ribeye is our signature cut, 24 ounce bone in. If, and I won’t pick that, but I would say actually the strip loin, our New York strip, our 16 ounce New York strip is is probably my go to now. I think it’s the perfect blend between, you know filet of course is delicious if you’re looking for that, very lean, tender. A ribeye is fantastic, great marbling.

30:46.92

Nick _ Amanda

A good bite and I think the the strip kind of plays right in between those It’s got good fat for good flavor, but it’s still got some good tenderness. We butcher all of the meat in house. So everyone’s Steak is cut fresh that day which I think really adds to that element of freshness and we wet age everything for a minimum of 28 days to to bring a little tenderization to to the meat and It’s a ton of fun.

31:16.48

Nick _ Amanda

and We cook, it we we keep it old school. We cook on commercial broilers, uh, that really help us kind of measure the amount of char that we’re getting, uh, you know, based on kind of the, the distance from the heat source.

31:29.86

Nick _ Amanda

So it’s a very old school. I think the broiler broiler is as old as Sergio is.

31:34.84

vigorbranding

I was going to say evening, bought him a new broiler.

31:35.26

Nick _ Amanda

Uh,

31:37.20

vigorbranding

He’s been there all these years.

31:38.45

Nick _ Amanda

he likes the old one.

31:38.62

vigorbranding

The guy can, he needs a new broiler.

31:40.40

Nick _ Amanda

He likes, he knows how it works. yeah He likes the old one.

31:42.08

vigorbranding

That’s it. That’s awesome. Yeah. That’s great. Now, Amanda uses the butter. What do you, any, anything you’d like to add to your steak?

31:49.44

Nick _ Amanda

No, I like to keep it traditional and classic.

31:51.93

vigorbranding

So I’m kind of in between both guys. I’m always a ribeye. I did Devone in at your place, phenomenal. I don’t put anything on my steak. So I just, I’m, and I love ribeyes. I, you know, there’s probably a healthier steak out there.

32:02.72

vigorbranding

They’re filet, but I figure, you know, my deathbed, I’m not going to wish I ate more filets. I’m always going to eat a ribeye. So ribeye and a big bottle of Cabernet or an amaron.

32:07.23

Nick _ Amanda

ah great a hundred

32:10.30

vigorbranding

I love amaron lines. Oh, that’s like heaven on earth. I’m hungry. um So, I mean, yeah, so so nothing on your stake. um is is If someone wants to put a catch up, is there any judgment?

32:22.36

vigorbranding

How do we feel about that?

32:22.65

Nick _ Amanda

There’s not, there’s not.

32:23.52

vigorbranding

Not?

32:23.88

Nick _ Amanda

And I think so for us, that comes back to the hospitality piece, right?

32:24.04

vigorbranding

Okay.

32:27.63

Nick _ Amanda

At the end of the day, we’re serving you your steak. So if you want ketchup or you want A1 or Heinz 57, or you want it butterflied and well done, ah no no judgment from us.

32:40.62

vigorbranding

Mm-hmm.

32:41.32

Nick _ Amanda

We’re going to prepare it the way that you want, ah which I think is is important because you’re you know you’re coming in to celebrate and so who are we to to to say that you can’t have it that way?

32:51.78

vigorbranding

see see but that’s what we do differ a little bit because I do judge and and I love I love my wife but she’s always well done steaks well done we were we were in Italy and the steak Florentine right and they make their steak Florentine it’s just aged and it’s basically they make it one way they only make it one way and she and you know and very expensive and to your point it’s it’s your your your time your money people should be there she walked in and she asked the waiter she said

32:54.86

Nick _ Amanda

and Yeah.

33:18.17

vigorbranding

I know I probably shouldn’t ask this because they make it well done. He’s like Sure, but I’d rather I’d like to recommend the filet for you. He would not sell her the the t-bone the steak Florentine He would I he’s like I will get you a filet That’s all you’re allowed to have and she was happy that she was okay with but that’s that’s the truth I have one other anecdote like when I started my my illustrious career Like like I and like I think a lot of people did and I think everyone should you start in a restaurant I just think that is like The greatest education anyone can have that and I think everyone should have to sell something like I don’t care if it’s like ah ah subs for your baseball team or Girl Scout. I think everyone should sell something and everyone should work in a restaurant and in my ah my illustrious career. I started out at this restaurant and it was a

34:02.41

vigorbranding

a gentleman by the name of Hobart Umberger, and and he he had a restaurant he did very, very well with. He had a bunch of restaurants at one time called Um-ee’s, just a local fair. It wasn’t like, it was like all one-offs. When he was getting ready for retirement,

34:15.31

vigorbranding

Or as he aged, he didn’t need money and he didn’t care about serving a million meals. He wanted to make everything by hand by himself. So he created this thing called Hobarts. It was high end, very high end. Hershey, Pennsylvania. So we would get a lot of people in from the factory, a lot of dignitaries, lots ah lots of C-sweep types of folks. He had one bottle of ketchup. One. And it was next to a knife.

34:36.89

vigorbranding

in the kitchen next, behind him. And inevitably Hannah was the waitress. I can still picture it like it was a, he’d be, and he did these things, these tornadoes of beef. He would do these center cuts of the filet and he was very proud of those. And inevitably it would be this thing and Hannah would be all nervous and stuff. she open the door in the kitchen.

34:53.71

vigorbranding

I was washing dishes, by the way. And she’d be like, Hobart, I don’t want to hear any shit. this I know you’re going to yell. I need to catch up. And he would be like, he’d start throwing stuff.

35:04.41

vigorbranding

And he’s like hey do and he’d be banging stuff. And he was like, who the hell? And he knew because he made everything by hand. and He made it. He was like, that’s the guy. There’s just sort of the plays. The tornado is a beef.

35:14.76

vigorbranding

And he’s like, there I’ll be damned if I’m going to have my cake. Anyway, so i I’m glad we had that question. here Because it’s a it’s a thing.

35:20.38

Nick _ Amanda

ah i edit a hundred percent and and but we We like to have these conversations because a lot of folks share your perspective, um and which you know in some sense i can I can understand and empathize with. but i think we I will say to you know to the the story you told about your wife in Italy,

35:40.38

Nick _ Amanda

We will recommend, so I think a good example is like the tomahawk. So we we offer a 40 ounce tomahawk and it’s a tomahawk ribeye cut. so it’s that So it has a good amount of fat in it.

35:50.13

vigorbranding

Oh, yeah.

35:52.39

Nick _ Amanda

And so one of the places that we will do some recommendations is if someone comes in and orders the tomahawk rare, we will maybe suggest like, hey, um, because it’s, if you want it rare, some of that fat is not going to render out.

36:07.65

vigorbranding

Mm hmm.

36:07.83

Nick _ Amanda

And so it’s going to be a little, it could come across as a little tougher, a little gristly. And so there will be some times that we’ll make some recommendations, but, um, at the end of the day, folks are are ordering what they would like.

36:18.37

Nick _ Amanda

And I think for us, it comes back to that hospitality piece of, you know, we want you to feel warm and welcomed, uh, and I don’t know if you can feel too welcome if you order a captive and you’re taken and you hear the shaft in the back laying in top of his pants.

36:33.46

vigorbranding

And he did and he but he didn’t care like he was like he would actually would rather them left because him at his point in life He was just an artist and he wasn’t looking for money and it was just that was his like ah Passion project.

36:38.34

Nick _ Amanda

ah I’m sorry.

36:43.68

vigorbranding

So it’s just yeah, it’s crazy. But sorry. So now we’ve got we’ve we have a phenomenal steak you guys make the best steak on earth What sides you have a lot of sides what which sides are we getting? I mean everyone’s got their go-to’s at a steakhouse.

36:54.91

vigorbranding

What do we got in here?

36:57.19

Nick _ Amanda

Oh, so I always loved the twice baked potato. I think it’s phenomenal.

37:00.35

vigorbranding

I

37:00.52

Nick _ Amanda

I think it’s our go-to. We actually at one point were featured in, there was like a Idaho potato Gazette that came out and asked for an interview.

37:05.84

vigorbranding

Nice.

37:07.11

Nick _ Amanda

Cause they’re like, Oh, we’ve heard that you’ve got the biggest potatoes. I was like, well, if it’s coming from the Idaho potato Gazette, I’m pretty honored to hear that.

37:12.47

vigorbranding

<unk> That’s great.

37:13.86

Nick _ Amanda

Yeah. The twice baked is great. And then our cream corn. I love our cream corn. uh it’s got it it certainly got its sweetness from the corn and then we use cinnamon and i heard a customer described it as like it’s like taking a bite of christmas and i hadn’t heard that before and i was like that’s the perfectly summarized is kind of the cream corn and so it’s the i love to take a little cut of steak kind of

37:24.23

vigorbranding

There you go.

37:44.26

Nick _ Amanda

drag it through the cream corn a little bit to get some of that sweetness. And it’s ah to for me, it’s one of the most perfect bites.

37:49.86

vigorbranding

Fantastic. That’s awesome. And then what for dessert, I think I know the answer to this, but.

37:55.20

Nick _ Amanda

I mean, we i Our tableside desserts, they’re a ton of fun, right?

38:01.76

vigorbranding

Yep.

38:01.89

Nick _ Amanda

Anytime you’re going to light something on fire for a dessert, it’s awesome.

38:03.48

vigorbranding

Yeah, sure.

38:05.77

Nick _ Amanda

But I think, you know, it’s in their classic, in their pure, in their simple, ah but executed very well. So, I mean, I’m partial. We do two tableside flambe options.

38:16.73

Nick _ Amanda

Our bananas foster our cherries jubilee.

38:18.43

vigorbranding

Mm hmm.

38:19.15

Nick _ Amanda

I am partial to the bananas. I think we use brown sugar with it. and A little banana liqueur, some 151, a little orange zest, and it is it is excellent.

38:27.87

vigorbranding

nice

38:30.02

Nick _ Amanda

But a Amanda has a separate opinion. So we ran this interesting test where a problem we were running into was, you know, when people make a reservation at the Valencia, let’s say states it’s a party of six, only one of you are probably giving us your information, whether it’s your phone or your email or what have you.

38:44.13

Nick _ Amanda

And so if you want to continue to build a relationship online with the rest of the party in there.

38:48.04

vigorbranding

Nice.

38:48.67

Nick _ Amanda

How do you get them to go to your site or engage or have some sort of a back?

38:50.40

vigorbranding

Mhm.

38:52.28

Nick _ Amanda

And so we realized that what is really strong is our social media presence. We are one of the most, if not the most vile restaurant in America on TikTok. We just passed 175 million views of hashtag gold.

39:02.98

vigorbranding

Wow.

39:03.56

Nick _ Amanda

yeah And so we were like, okay, what can we do to combine this in honor of our 65th? And how do we create what I call an organic trigger? So if you’re dining, you can do something else. And so I was like, okay, let’s play with the flames. What can we do? That’s going to be a flaming dessert that can be exciting, that can be different. And so we worked and created something called the Sapphire Jubilee in honor of the 65th anniversary. And of course you like throw some blue in there at the server’s head of it because they were always covered in like blue dust on their white shirts.

39:30.90

Nick _ Amanda

It was a little messy, but it was fabulous. And it really did turn bright blue flames. And so the I was like, okay, let’s try it. We’re going to make it where you can only order it if you have the code word from TikTok or Instagram.

39:42.30

vigorbranding

Wow, I like it.

39:44.36

Nick _ Amanda

We’ll look up on there or say something. Or then ah when the server says that to them, if they’ll follow us or try and find it. And sure enough, I was like, I have no idea how this is going to go. First night comes. And within like the first, I guess, hour of opening, boom, somebody ordered it with the code word. I’m like, all right, we’ve got something. And it was, to this day, it’s my favorite version of that flam bazer.

40:05.22

vigorbranding

That’s excellent. oh that’s and the The marketer in me is very proud and honored.

40:08.87

Nick _ Amanda

a

40:09.14

vigorbranding

That’s that’s fantastic. I mean, I love it.

40:10.55

Nick _ Amanda

yeah

40:11.44

vigorbranding

Really. i’ saids that’s ah It’s awesome.

40:11.84

Nick _ Amanda

and since sense that it’s

40:13.45

vigorbranding

um So I had the banana foster and it was wonderful.

40:14.75

Nick _ Amanda

so as foster

40:17.86

vigorbranding

um i So I have one last question for you guys, and and then you’re free to go. And you can’t say the golden steer, but if you have one final meal, what would you eat and why?

40:31.11

Nick _ Amanda

So for me, ah it’s risotto. Risotto was probably one of the first dishes that I really started to make during culinary school and just kind of fell in love with. I am ah studied in Rome, Italian heritage, and i i love like to me, it’s like,

40:55.32

Nick _ Amanda

such a pure distillation of Italian cooking. right it’s very at the At its core, it’s very simple, but there’s a lot of ways that you can that you can go wrong with it. um And it takes some work, right? You have to be standing over it with your wooden spoon, kind of slowly adding stock.

41:14.38

Nick _ Amanda

And it’s also a it’s kind of also almost a blank palate. So you can add orabela mushrooms or butternut squash or asparagus or any number of things. And so I think I would i love risotto and that would probably be my, that would be my five if I had to pick a final dish, that would be it.

41:33.19

vigorbranding

Nice. Amanda, you can say Nick’s risotto if you want.

41:34.49

Nick _ Amanda

and think

41:35.93

vigorbranding

I mean, ah, nice.

41:36.61

Nick _ Amanda

It’s close to that. So Nick was actually, was very kind and he he knows this well, but something that he makes for me on all of the special occasions is a beef wellington. And I’m very picky about how I like my beef wellington and all the things and he’s like really nailed it down.

41:51.40

Nick _ Amanda

I wasn’t before, he’s now like spoiled me and I blame him all the time. I’m like, you’ve created the monster here. So it would be the beef wellington that Nick does make for me because I do it amazing and it’s my favorite.

41:59.24

vigorbranding

That’s awesome. Guys, I want to thank you.

42:01.92

Nick _ Amanda

i

42:02.99

vigorbranding

This was fantastic. Like I said, the first time I ever had a couple and you guys were great. There was no fighting. It was close. I thought there for a while over the desserts, but that was good.

42:07.74

Nick _ Amanda

yeah

42:09.71

vigorbranding

That was good. You guys do great. So thank you so much. It was my honor to talk to you guys and I really appreciate your time.

42:14.97

Nick _ Amanda

Well, thank you so much for having us on, Michael. low was ah It was an awesome conversation. We certainly appreciate being here.

42:20.11

vigorbranding

Good deal.

42:20.09

Nick _ Amanda

Pleasure.