Nightlife

Bringin’ the heat

A first look at Hawaiian Tropic Zone


Michael Meyer

Touring the Hawaiian Tropic Zone’s construction site at Planet Hollywood, I’m surprised at how busy it is. There are close to 100 people, mostly beautiful women, filling out paperwork, training on the computers and getting to know one another. Workers on ladders make the final installments on two glass water walls framing the entrance.

Bringing to Las Vegas the nightlife philosophy it developed at its counterpart club in Times Square, HTZ will combine all the essential elements of a night out in Sin City: dining, drinking, DJs and dancing divas. It’s shaping up to be a favorite spot for those of us who like to go out but shy away from the premium-bottle-service Vegas nightclub staples.

There is oversized seating on the restaurant’s raised lounge, which also doubles as a stage, and in the restaurant, a raised communal table seats up to 12. High above, a DJ booth is home to resident DJ/music director Benny Black. Orange cube and sphere pendant lampshades designed by Josh Uso complement the venue’s warm reds, and woods make for an inviting backdrop for the Nicole Miller-designed bikinis and floral sarongs floating by on beach babes. (Shoes by Steve Madden, of course.) Vegas also gets a taste of celebrity chef David Burke’s eclectic menu, including crackling Asian-spiced pork shank with lap chung and shrimp fried rice; filet mignon; seared shrimp scampi with sautéed spinach; and tomato fondue.

The servers at HTZ have to have the most unusual job descriptions on the Strip. These female “table concierges” have a dual role—taking your food and drink orders and competing in nightly beauty pageants (9 p.m., plus midnight on the weekends) on the elevated catwalk. Sexiness and stunningly good looks are an obvious must, but the girls also mainly come from cocktail and hosting backgrounds, so the service won’t take a back seat to the show.

HTZ is one of the first and, likely, one of the last venues to feature Strip-side seating, as new city zoning laws aim to block future outdoor seating on what has to be the greatest street for people-watching in the world. HTZ has the unique capacity to serve its guests basically right on the Strip, with a patio that spills out onto the sidewalk in front of Planet Hollywood’s new façade.

There is an ample bar on the patio, but the monster inside, with the frozen drink taps and a 25-foot, 42-seat drinks rail running parallel, is the heart of the venue. “The back bar is the savior of all saviors,” GM John Geng, formerly of Light Group, says about the ergonomic placement of the liquor and of the lighting. Above the bar, 32 63-inch flat-screen TVs provide a flashy backdrop for the women’s walk-offs, for fashion shows and for showcasing multiple sporting events.

There’s a downright classy selection of more than 100 wines and ice-cold draft beers. Signature cocktails include girl’s-night-out favorite the Planet Cosmo Martini and the Double Trouble Espresso Martini, an alternative to such pick-me-ups as Red Bull and vodka. It’s the perfect warm-up to a shot menu featuring Quaaludes (vodka, Frangelico, Bailey’s), Blow Jobs (Kahlua, Bailey’s), Flaming Lips (vodka, peach schnapps, cranberry, Bacardi 151), Penicillin (vodka, watermelon pucker/fresh lime), Leavin’ Las Vegas (Jagermeister, Red Bull) and Therapy (SoCo/triple sec/lime). Bar manager Matteo Reyes (another Light Group alum) will craft even more crafty cocktails.

HTZ opens Friday, November 30, with an official grand opening slated for sometime in January. Though the interior is still in the final stages of construction, last weekend’s Beach Blast capitalized on the patio during Planet Hollywood’s grand-opening festivities and turned thousands of heads with a giant hot tub and lifeguard towers crawling with bikini’d beauties soaking in the sun and the stares of passersby.

Come New Year’s Eve, HTZ will simulcast the ball-dropping festivities from its New York location at 9 p.m., with NY streaming Vegas’ countdown for its 3 a.m. afterparty. With ample dining, lounging, dancing and outdoor recreational options, HTZ is bound to be a year-round hit. So far, there are 11 stainless steel torches and 12 standing heat lamps, though that number will likely double as the temps drop. Even though winter in Las Vegas is generally pretty mild, it’s nice to know that things can still get this hot.

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