Revel will introduce a new dining experience with the opening of Relish, a casual 24 hour café this Saturday, May 18. As part of a broader strategy to enhance the guest experience (guests who wanted a cheaper dining option), Relish will offer an affordably priced menu in a prime location on the casino floor.

The all-day menu will include breakfast dishes, homemade pastas, burgers, fresh sandwiches, salads, and soups—along with classic comfort foods like beef stroganoff and meat loaf.  Relish will be operated by Revel’s Food & Beverage team, who also operate SkyCafe and Alcove, on the Lobby Level of the resort.

Relish will initially open on Saturday, May 18, with lunch & dinner service through the month of May, followed by 24 hour service, including breakfast, which will begin in June.

Kanye at Revel in July 2012 (Photo courtesy of Revel)

ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY — Revel has just announced three New Year’s weekend shows featuring international superstar Kanye West.

The 18-time Grammy winner returns to Revel’s Ovation Hall, the only U.S. venue on his CURRENT tour, to take the stage on Friday, Dec. 28, Saturday, Dec. 29, and Sunday, Dec. 30.

Presales for Citi cardmembers begin Tuesday, Nov. 27, at 10am through Citi’s Private Pass Program, with tickets for nonmembers available Friday, Nov. 30, at 10am through Ticketmaster.

For more information, visit revelresorts.com, citiprivatepass.com, ticketmaster.com, or call 800-745-3000. — Casey Harper

SEE ALL UPCOMING CASINO SHOWS IN ATLANTIC CITY

The news from Revel keeps coming. The latest news is about the opening of Ivan Kane’s Royal Jelly Burlesque Nightclub.  The club, which was created just for Revel and takes cues from Kane’s renowned Forty Deuce clubs in Hollywood and Las Vegas, will feature highly choreographed burlesque performances from more than a dozen dancers while a live band provides the soundtrack.

Ivan Kane’s Royal Jelly will be one of two distinctly different nightlife experiences available at the resort opening this spring.

Says Kane, “Nightlife as art is the principle that drives Ivan Kane’s Royal Jelly Burlesque Nightclub. The burlesque acts are extremely technical and highly produced with the best classically trained dancers and musicians from Hollywood, Las Vegas and New York. Royal Jelly was designed to be exciting around every corner. Flying catwalks drop from the sky and animate the entire space.”

Dancing begins at 10pm with burlesque shows throughout the night. At 2am the intensity rises as the tempo shifts to after hours rock ‘n roll burlesque.

Revel will begin welcoming guests April 2 for an eight-week preview featuring 1,800 guest rooms and a progressive schedule of select restaurant openings, gaming, performance spaces, spa, day life and nightlife amenities. The complete resort experience will premiere on May 25, the kickoff of Memorial Day weekend. Reservations will open for both the smoke-free resort’s preview and premiere on March 5 at the casino web site.

ATLANTIC CITY —  A long downward trend thankfully came to an end in the final month of 2011, as Atlantic City posted a cumulative monthly revenue increase of 4.2 percent in December 2011 — its first monthly increase since August 2008 — according to an AP report.

The city’s 11 casinos took in a total of $246.5 million in December. Slot machine revenue was up 8.3 percent, to $174.1 million, while table game revenue decreased by 4.3 percent, to $72.5 million. For the year, Atlantic City’s casinos won $3.3 billion, which is down 6.9 percent from 2010 to mark the fifth year in a row that A.C. saw an overall decline in gaming revenue  — hurt by competition from casinos in neighboring states and the down economy.

But the end of the unprecedented losing streak had casino executives and regulators encouraged. Click here for more.

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Chef Jose Garces.

Revel continues to back up its claim that the property will be a mega-casino complex with the announcement that Food Network Iron Chef Jose Garces, acclaimed chef and owner of eight restaurants in Philadelphia, and four more in Chicago and Scottsdale, Ariz. is set to open the doors to three highly anticipated restaurants at Revel.

Go here for the story.

Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or what’s happening in the region. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly.

There are several happenings around town that have caught my eye, as well as news on streaming the Atlantic City-set film festival hit, Ice Grill USA.

A competitor from last year.

If you’re a fan of Elvis, head on over to  the Palace Theater at Bally’s for the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest preliminary this Saturday, July 9, 7:30pm. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at the Bally’s Resorts Box Office, by via Ticketmaster. The contest is part of the fun that comes with the return of the tribute show  Legends in Concert now playing at the Palace throughout the summer.

Contestants in Atlantic City’s Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest will be judged on the “best representation of the Elvis legacy” in vocals, appearance, stage presence, and overall tribute. The winner of the contest qualifies to compete in The 2011 Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest finals taking place in Memphis during Elvis Week, Aug. 10-16. In addition, the winner of Atlantic City’s Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist preliminary contest will take home a $1,000 cash prize, a getaway prize package to Graceland, and more.
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The under-construction Revel Casino Hotel will open its doors on May 15, 2012, but the company is now providing a peek at what awaits future guests in its Visitor Lounge, which opened July 1. Located at the resort location, between New Jersey and Connecticut avenues just off the Boardwalk, the Revel Visitor Lounge offers a glimpse of the brand and visual clues to the experiences the creative teams are designing. In addition, guests of the Visitor Lounge can join a priority list to receive updates on the resort’s developments. The Lounge is open daily from 10am to 8pm.

Revel is building the largest lifestyle resort destination on the eastern seaboard. It is scheduled to have well over 1,100 rooms; over 50 dining, retail, spa and theater concepts; an indoor/outdoor lobby that embraces the oceanfront location and multiple clubs and bars. For more go here.

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Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or what’s happening in the region. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly.

Governor Chris Christie was in Atlantic City Tuesday to sign two major bills designed to help Atlantic City pull up from its ongoing economic tailspin. There are a ton of details to be worked out, but now the mandate has been signed for the creation of a tourism district.

This was a necessary step. If you check out blog postings about Atlantic City, you’ll find a bunch that loved the town and enjoyed concerts and the nightlife here. However, there are plenty of blog reports that complain about A.C. being a dirty, rundown town. Those postings surprise me, perhaps because when it comes to my home island (I grew up in Ventnor), I view the city through those clichéd “rose colored glasses.”

Gov. Christie signs the two bills. (Photo by Tom Briglia)

Another bill that Christie signed will help change the perception of Atlantic City. The town’s casino expansion growth came to a grinding halt when the recession blew into town a few years back. Several casinos that were in the planning stages including the Pinnacle property on the former site of the Sands, died from lack of funding. The Revel casino project was put on hold but now Christie has revealed that one of his bills is giving a sweetheart deal to help Revel get its project finished. Yesterday it was announced that Revel hopes to open in June 2012. My fellow columnist Mike Pritchard has all the details here.

As for the tourism district and all the shifting responsibilities between the CRDA, the ACCVA, which will be folded into the CRDA, the Casino Control Commission, and the Division of Gaming Enforcement, it sounds like a complicated dance that will take time to play out. Right now Christie and Major Lorenzo Langford are on opposites sides of the ballroom and it will take a lot of sweet-talking by the governor to get Langford to meet him in the middle. Go here to find out Langford’s take on what needs to be done.

Whatever their differences, the announcement about Revel is a major step in the right direction and has finally broken the bad news cycle surrounding Atlantic City’s economic fortunes.

The news surrounding the stalled Revel casino project in A.C. can go from hopeful to disastrous in just a few days. Right after reports this week that Revel  was on the brink of finding new financing from a Chinese bank, comes word that Morgan Stanley, the project’s principal owner, is bailing out of the project.

Revel Entertainment’s chairman and CEO, Kevin DeSanctis, told The Associated Press that the casino will still get built, but the financial negotiations will obviously be effected. Go here for The AP story.