LeBron James, Tom Brady and Vegas’ Power Crowd Turn Out for Zero Bond’s Wynn Debut
As we made our way to the patio of the new Zero Bond members’ club at Wynn Las Vegas on Saturday night, we strolled past LeBron James and Keegan-Michael Key before pausing to sample some caviar cannolis. We took a moment to pop into Zero Bond’s private gaming lounge, where Bond Hospitality founder Scott Sartiano greeted guests by the bar while high rollers pressed their blackjack bets. We went from bar to bar in the 15,000-plus-square-foot Zero Bond, walking by New York hospitality heavyweights like Eugene Remm and David Rabin, who were holding court as other well-heeled VIP guests discussed real estate, fashion, TikTok trends, the cryptocurrency crash and Netflix’s acquisition strategy while standing next to a Chagall painting. Guests compared Chanel bags as they walked past a Renoir and also a Modigliani.
And when we got to the patio, overlooking the Wynn Golf Club and The Sphere, it was time for a surprise performance from Doja Cat, who said what she said as a well-dressed crowd, including Kevin Costner and John Stamos, watched from an upstairs perch. This was the culmination of Zero Bond’s star-studded preview weekend, hosted by Sartiano and Will Makris, with attendees including Tom Brady, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba, Orlando Bloom, Shaboozey, Hannah Bronfman and Dorothy Wang.
This weekend was a first look at Zero Bond’s signature spaces, including The Fairway Grill, the Salon (with a menu featuring sushi and craft cocktails) and the Baby Disco. The Fairway Grill, like the rest of Zero Bond’s food program and the adjacent open-to-the-public Sartiano’s Italian Steakhouse, is led by culinary director Alfred Portale and chef Michael Rubinstein. The Baby Disco is an intimate nightlife space with a DJ booth that The Chainsmokers took over late Saturday night.
The Chainsmokers, of course, are headliners at Wynn’s XS nightclub. Zero Bond is here to, among other things, offer a less-is-more nightlife alternative while also being a spot for casual hangouts, power lunches, cocktail tastings and cigar sessions that don’t end up on social media. Yes, Zero Bond put tape on everyone’s phones at Saturday’s party.
But you can go to Sartiano’s Italian Steakhouse and take as many selfies and pictures of caviar cannolis and meatballs as you please.
“We’re going into some unknown territory here,” Sartiano told Observer prior to the preview weekend. “We love the idea of privacy and exclusivity, but we felt like it would work in Las Vegas to put Sartiano’s and Zero Bond next to each other. We think the two places are going to feed off each other really well.”
It seems like a proper strategy at Wynn, a casino that’s for the ultra-elite but also for the masses, in a city that’s built on big bets by nonchalant whales but also on the bucket-list desires of guests from Middle America. So this past weekend, people who might never have an opportunity to visit Zero Bond showed up in Las Vegas on Saturday to do things like eat at a steakhouse, see a UFC fight and check out Illenium’s cinematic performance at the Sphere.
At 1:45 a.m., we were reminded that many roads lead back to Wynn. Exhausted but still wired after Zero Bond’s opening party and a quick off-Strip stop for ramen and skewers, we walked into a Wynn Tower Suites elevator and saw someone who was without question more exhausted and also more wired. It was Illenium. We thought about telling him that we had seen his performance on Friday night and thought it was amazing. Then we decided it would be better to give him his privacy.