A New Restaurant Inspection Approach from the Southern Nevada Health District

Drama over at the Southern Nevada Health District. The health district’s director of environmental health Jacqueline Reszetar stormed out of a board meeting after accusations that she was too “business friendly.” Inspectors complained that now the modus operandi at the health district went from “pursuing significant fines against restaurateurs in a climate that was capricious, arbitrary and punitive. That shift has been mischaracterized by some as being too business friendly,” City Councilman Bob Beers, who sits on the board, tells the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Dr. Joseph Iser, chief medical officer for the district, says he "prefers to approach public health inspections with more carrots than sticks. Punitive measures should be used only when necessary.” That means more counseling, education and outreach. [LVRJ]

Jesse Waits, who just jumped ship from the helm of XS Nightclub at Encore Las Vegas and Tryst Nightclub at Wynn Las Vegas to the coming Alon across the street, says growth motivated his move. “Specifically, I will be developing and designing bars, nightclubs, theaters and dayclubs, as well as other social areas of the hotel,” he says. While the opening of the resort is three years out, Waits says he sees more intimate nightclubs instead of mega-clubs in the future, focusing on “the party, a sexy vibe, luxury and the overall experience.” [VS]

This piece on nightclubs of the past from James P. Reza gives readers a look at the history of the nightclub in Las Vegas and how they evolved over the years. He says the Rio was the first to open a club at a resort with Club Rio in 1995, and then 50,000-square-foot C2K at the Venetian ushered in the mega-club era in 1999. [VS]