Inside Social House Las Vegas
BY: Naomi Baria

These days, you can’t open a gossip rag without a boldfaced Social House sighting staring back at you. In less than a year, TI’s latest restaurant and lounge snowballed into a formidable celebrity stomping ground—one whose list of clientele reads off like an IMDb listing, with icons such as Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Scarlett Johansson, Eva Longoria and Enrique Iglesias stepping through its doors week after week.

But don’t be mistaken—it’s not the “see and be seen” perk that’s luring in the A-list. Rather, the intricate design, world-renowned cuisine and painstaking service are what helped Pure Management Group’s first restaurant venture strike a coup on all five senses—not to mention win three independent awards for Best New Restaurant.

Cuisine

Executive Chef Joseph Elevado presides over the menu with a steady, yet selective hand. (And it’s not often you’ll get Nobu Matsuhita’s “number one son” preparing your dish in the kitchen.) Although the fare is based in Japanese cuisine, Elevado tends to draw on outside influences from South America, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand, among others.

“We use unique ingredients from all over the globe to create these different tastes and sensations,” stated General Manager Jason Cooper. For a sample of the Far East with a dash of Latin flavor, try the yellowtail sashimi with jalapeño, the tamarind short ribs or the shima aji with Social House salsa—a favorite of Elevado himself.

Cocktails

Offered daily is an impressive selection of cold and fruit sakes ranging from watermelon to peach to lychee—whatever the seasonal fruit flavors might be. But if sake’s not your thing, the bar mixes up 10 signature cocktails like the lychee-tini—a gin martini made with fresh lychees and lychee juice—to help cleanse your palate.

Nighttime

Social House has the simple zen-like mantra “Sushi, Sake, Socialize,” making it stand in perfect yin-yang complement to the Pures, Tangerines, Taos and Trysts on the Strip. With hydraulic tables that lower from dining- to cocktail-level later in the evening, the restaurant morphs into a lounge for pre- and post-fueling late-night scenesters. Don’t worry—food is served until 2 a.m. for those who like to nosh as much as they like to people-watch.

Décor

Award-winning designers AvroKO (Sapa, Stanton Social, European Union) created a unique organic dining space festooned with stone and wood surfaces, Asian artifacts, live foliage and bespoke touches. A walk up the staircase bathes you in the golden glow of brass drawers—a symbol of good luck in Chinese culture—which contrasts the dark, rich hues of the birdcage lounge—named so for the intricate cages suspended from the ceiling. The outdoor patio offers a completely different change of scenery with its jaw-dropping view of the Strip and Sirens’ Cove.

“It makes you feel like you’re transported outside of Vegas,” Cooper said.

Clientele

Did we mention the celebrities?

“Truthfully, I can’t think of any A-list celebrities I haven’t seen in the restaurant,” stated Cooper. “We’ve had more celebrities than we know what to do with.”

“That’s one of the notable things about our restaurant,” Cooper asserted. “We really cater to the celebrity crowd without them feeling obligated to come in and see and be seen.”

The unique layout of the space houses enough nooks and crannies to comfortably hide the entire cast of “Entourage”—without them ever catching a glimpse of one another.

When To Go

Social House doesn’t highlight any evenings, but head over late-night on Wednesdays when the downstairs Tangerine nightclub hosts its industry night. Local insiders, entertainers and beautiful people tend to come through Social House for sushi and drinks before heading down to party.

Social House is located inside the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino. Hours of operation are Sun.-Tue., 5 p.m.-midnight; Wed.-Sat., 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Call 702-894-7777 for more information or visit socialhouselv.com.