We are down to the Final Five. After last night’s performances of Neil Diamond songs, I have to say it is time for Dreadlocks Dude to go. Jason Castro has hit a musical rut and doesn’t seem all that interested in getting out of it. His versions of “Forever In Blue Jeans” and “September Morn” were bland and boring. Of course it’s a shame we can’t vote off Paula after that ridiculous mistake when she talked about Jason’t two songs and he had only sung one at that point in the show.
Syesha Mercado has been improving weekly. Her “Hello Again” was one of her best performances to date and her fun-filled ”Thank the Lord for the Night Time” wasn’t bad either. Brooke White recovered from her weak “I’m A Believer” with a fabulous take on “I Am … I Said.” Brooke finds her zone when she is barefoot at the piano. David A. was in his comfort zone with the all-American appeal of “Sweet Caroline” and “America.” David Cook is still the front-runner in my book and he earned props from Simon for taking songs that weren’t that well known (”All I Really Need Is You,” “I’m Alive”) and making them his own.

My top five:
1) David Cook
2) Brooke White
3) David A
4) Syesha Mercado
5) Jason Castro

Sunday night, we stopped by the Hamilton Mall for a sneak preview of the newest location of Johnny Rockets restaurant. Their first area location is on the Boardwalk near the entrance to Bally’s Casino.
General manager, Allen Truhan, said that they were having a lot of fun at the Atlantic City location so they decided to open a second Johnny Rockets at the Hamilton Mall, which is located on the ground floor near the center entrance. Tables surround the perimeter of the restaurant. You can travel back to the ’60s and select your favorite oldies but goodies with a working nickel jukebox at every table.
If you happen to be there at the right time, you might catch the young waiters and waitresses dancing to the oldies.
Reminiscent of feel-good America, Johnny Rockets, offers burgers, shakes, malts, floats, fries, chicken, salads, chili, BLT’s, Philly cheesesteaks and Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs. They also have kid’s meals.
We sampled the Rocket Cheese Burger, the Grilled Chicken Breast Sandwich, and fries, topped off with tasty Root Beer Floats.
(Photo by Lew Steiner)

Twenty years ago, Mark Juliano (at right) discovered the Il Mulino Restaurant in New York. When Juliano came to the Trump Taj Mahal
<img alt="Il Mulino – Preview At Taj.jpg" src=&/ac-central/files/additional/Il%20Mulino%20-%20Preview%20At%20Taj.jpg" width="330.63" height="563.9" align="right" hspace="5" vspace="5"
in 2005, he encouraged the Il Mulino Restaurant to open a location there. Last night this became a reality when Juliano, the CEO of Trump Entertainment Resorts and Jerry Katzoff (left), Chairman of the Il Mulino, USA, invited guests for a preview of the foods that Il Mulino will offer when the restaurant opens at the Taj Mahal this summer.
Juliano said, "We are very excited that we will soon offer our guests the opportunity to enjoy one of America's finest Italian restaurants.”.
Katzoff noted, "It's recognized that Il Mulino New York is the crown of Italian dining in New York and reservations are always at a premium."
Katzoff explained that there will be two separate dining concepts located at the Taj Mahal: Il Mulino New York and Trattoria Il Mulino. Il Mulino New York will offer the traditional white table cloth experience with tuxedo-clad waiters and an extensive list of daily specials with wine recommendations.
The Trattoria will offer a more casual dining experience featuring many of the creative fares of Il Mulino New York, along with more traditional pizzas, pastas and lighter dishes.
The foods were prepared in the Taj kitchens by the chefs of Il Mulino, New York. Executive Chef Michele Mazza (bottom photo – left) and Corporate Kitchen Manager, Michael Greco (bottom photo-right) made sure that everything was perfect. Chef Mazza trains the chefs at all of the Il Mulino restaurants.
(photos by Lew Steiner)

Until he became a baseball commentator on Comcast’s Phillies Post-Game Live show a few years back, I didn’t know who John Marzano was. As a career back-up catcher in the American League (for Seattle, Texas and Boston), he might as well have played on Mars since I’m a diehard Phillies fan. However, when this South Philly-bred baseball veteran started talking about the
Phillies for Comcast, I became an instant Marzano fan. He had that South Philly attitude. When the team made a bonehead play, he said so. When a player stunk up the joint, he didn’t try to make excuses. His post-game analysis was entertaining and informative. From all accounts, he was a great guy as well as a great baseball man. His shocking death at age 45 from an apparent heart attack has taken one of the good guys away long before his time.

As the Associated Press reported last night after Atlantic City’s city council unanimously passed a bill to curb smoking inside the casinos – effective Oct. 15 – this is an important time in the history of the casinos, which celebrate their 30th anniversary in Atlantic City this year.

First, if you’re gearing up for a summer stay at Borgata’s new Water Club, reservations are now being taken for stays starting July 1. The Water Club, which will feature 800 rooms and suites, a two-story spa on the 32nd Floor, five pools, six retail shops and more is set to open to in June.

Second, a recent AP story details some of Curtis Bashaw’s plans for a new casino in in Atlantic City.

Lastly, NJN reports today that a criminal investigation is underway in Atlantic City.

Before the walk began, the McDonnell family, some of members of the Patti McWalk Committee and media partners, gathered for the Atlantic City Weekly cameras in front of Lucy. First Row: Jackson T. Chase (Kool 98.3), Lyndsey McDonnell, Ro McDonnell, Lisa Marinelli, Marlene Aqua (Kool) & Meg Perez. Second Row: Jim Craine (MC), Bob McDonnell, Joe Ricci (Kool) & Riana Milne (Kool), Scott Stevens (The Shark). Third Row: Bob Adams, John, Tara Adams, Kevin McDonnell, and Missy Adams.
(Photo by Lew Steiner).
Bob and Row McDonnell along with friends and relatives have been celebrating the memory of their sister Patti with this fundraiser which is the number one fundraiser for the South Jersey Cancer Fund.
Hundreds of participants met at Lucy the Elephant. Joe Ricci introduced Bob McDonnell who thanked all those in attendance. Joe MCNally of the S.J. Cancer Fund told how the organization helps people with Cancer in many ways. Also on stage was Dr. Larry Naame of Atlantic Care. Jim Craine sang the Star Spangled Banner and everyone hit the beach, dressed in green Patti McWalk shirts. Congressman Frank LoBiondo was there with his two dogs in support of this local event.
After taking a walk to the Margate Pier and back the group went to Maynard’s Café in Margate where they enjoyed food provided by Steve Troiano and Buddy McCabe. The late owner of Maynard’s Al Troiano helped the Patti McWalk when it began 7 years ago. He was a strong supporter of the South Jersey Cancer Fund and Patti’s smile was often seen at Maynard’s.

Somewhere, Frank Sinatra is smiling.
For years, he begged his favorite New York restaurant, Patsy’s, to open up a branch in Vegas or Palm Springs, where he spent so much of his time in his final years. He could have added Atlantic City to that list, and now, finally, there will be a Patsy’s outside of Manhattan, at the Hilton.
Scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend, Sal Scognamillo, executive chef of Patsy’s and the grandson of the original owner, will supervise the creation of a new Patsy’s. (Pictured, above, is a rendering of the dining area). It was long time customer Nicholas Ribis, owner, vice chairman and partner of Resorts International LLC (parent company to Resorts and the Hilton) who suggested the expansion to Atlantic City. The fit seemed perfect to Scognamillo.
“I feel really comfortable about this. It’s a big undertaking — “I’m Italian, so I don’t trust anybody — But I don’t have any reason not to trust these people. If there weren’t so many lawyers in the world, I think this could have been done on a handshake deal.”

(more…)

“[A]ccording to the latest Market Metrix Hospitality Index results, some things are changing [in Atlantic City]. Atlantic City is now challenging Las Vegas in fundamental measures [of hospitality] including guest satisfaction and certain emotional experiences.” This according to new results released by Market Metrix.

Check out casino index results at left.

Although Atlantic City has fewer casinos, it beat out its distant desert cousin in every category.
The Market Metrix Web site adds the following:

“Compared to the Las Vegas Strip, Atlantic City guests are more satisfied with their hotel and casino experience and, in turn, are more likely to recommend Atlantic City hotels and casinos to others. For example, Atlantic City guests are impressed with Harrah’s service and employee attitudes and love Borgata’s celebrity-chef-run restaurants.”

According to the company’s Web site: “Market Metrix was founded in 1996 by Jonathan Barsky, Ph.D. and Lenny Nash to provide hospitality companies with better customer and employee satisfaction measurement programs and management tools. Since then, Market Metrix has earned a reputation for industry leading research and effectiveness for clients of all sizes.”

Maybe it’s just me, but I only thought David Cook was ok with his performance on MC night, yet there was Simon, giving him the most ebullient praise the Simonator has dished out all season. It’s not that I’m down on David; he is still my favorite Idol, but I just wasn’t blown away by his interpretation of Mariah’s ”Always Be My Baby.”
David Archuleta led off the show with ”When You Believe,” and he was back with a soaring vocal, although it had a few rough spots (the lower range notes as usual). Carly Smithson continues to falter. Her “Without You,” a Mariah version of the Nielsson song, was screechy on the high notes. What has happened to her? She was great a month ago. Syesha Mercado’s ”Vanishing” was solid but not spectacular. I don’t get why Simon bitched about her doing a song that isn’t a big Mariah hit; that seems like a smart move to me.
Brooke White performed an unplugged version of ”Hero,” which was excellent in spots but a bit rough in others, as Randy pointed out. Kristy Lee Cook’s ”Forever” gave Mariah Carey chills. It was one of KLC’s best performances, which isn’t saying much. Still, she might hold on one more week.
I’m with Paula on Jason Castro’s take on ”I Don’t Wanna Cry.” After Randy’s wacked “luau” reference, I agreed with Paula saying she’d want to hang out at that luau.

My Top Seven:
1) David Cook; 2) David A; 3) Jason Castro; 4) Brooke White; 5) Carly Smithson; 6) Syesha Mercado; 7) Kristy Lee Cook.

After last week’s MJ shocker, I’ll say Brooke White is leaving the building, although I’m hoping it’s KLC.