FEB/MAR 2014 FEMME FATALE V-DAY FASHION GUIDE PAGE 25 Seth Schorr Spills it in ‘SERENDIPITOUS’ HOUSING: MCNEIL ESTATES Bin+ 702 Pinches Tacos The Boozery … And the Most Sought-After Painter Outside the Arts District Now that January’s in the rear view mirror (thankfully!), we’re putting the pedal to the metal as we go full steam ahead into the short yet delectably sweet month of February. With St. Valentine’s Day soon approaching, this month’s theme of love is ever abundant throughout our pages as we shed light on a 5-year-old kindergartner who doubles as a professional painter, sit down with Cupkates co-owners Kate and Will Thompson to learn the secret behind their better tasting cupcakes, go shopping inside Downtown Container Park’s boutique stores in search of that perfect and well-deserved Valentine’s gift, and finally, track down some of downtown’s better tasting and healthier post- dinner dessert options with your sweetheart. But wait! We realize that for some, V-Day is more like D-Day, so we’ve also included additional features to keep your mind off of oh, what’s his name, such as the continuation of “The Letter,” part two of Descriptive Downtown, an in-depth look at the prominence of the El Cortez, and much, much more. So go ahead, flip through, and read to your heart’s content. - The Downtown ZEN Team Editor-in-Chief Cover: Loren Becker Concept Contact Us: Mandy Crispin Email: [email protected] Managing Editors Like: facebook.com/ZapposDowntownHappenings Michael Boley, Mandy Crispin Production and Direction Follow: #dtzen Matt Wong, Mandy Crispin, Michael Boley Contributing Writers Brian Paco Alvarez, Michael Boley, Front Cover Model Temple Brathwaite, Mandy Crispin, Megan Petrini Matthew Dunsmoor, Angelina Fadool, Tony Ferrara, Karina Giraldo, Joanna Mueller, Makeup Artist Shannon Sneade, Shawn Zahnow Jules Zamora Serial Artist Costume Designer April Teixeira bridgetdickey, Peter Koryzno Read Online: www.dtZEN.com Calendar & Events Costume Design Assistant Mikela Lee-Manaois Temple Brathwaite Photography Typography Layout Matt Wong, Karina Giraldo, Las Vegas News Bureau, Nina Thomasian Downtown ZEN Team Logo Design Art Director Fernando Cabestany Ryan Brekke (BullFish Media) *Special thanks to Downtown Container Park* Graphic Designer Printer: Crystal Torres (BullFish Media) Jackpot Printing 702.873.1902 | www.jackpotprinting.com Web Design Michael Boley Downtown ZEN dtZEN.com FEBRUARY / MARCH 2014 ISSUE 23 table of CONTENTS 33 FEATURES 03 | Cupkates: Cupcakes by Kate 09 | Stitch Factory Featuring D’Wayne Edwards 13 | History of the El Cortez 24 PHILOSOPHY ‘N’ FLUFF 43 31 18 | Serial: The Letter 21 | Recipe 22 | Serendipitous Spotlight 23 | Education 41 24 | Fashion 27 | Descriptive Essay 13 29 | History 31 | Health & Wellness 33 | Housing Guide 35 | Astrology FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER EVENTS & ENTERTAINMENT ABOUT THE COVER “My love, won’t you take me out tonight?” This 37 | Arts & Ents month’s cover is inspired by “my love” — music! 40 | Smith Center Other music lovers may spot the influence of 41 | He Said, She Said American indie pop band The Bird and the Bee and references to perhaps the most iconic an- 43 | Restaurant Review thophila of all time, the cover girl of Blind Melon’s 45 | Bar Review self-titled album from 1992. Birds and bees TECH JOBS should fly to the Downtown Container Park this www.about.zappos.com/jobs month to shop, eat, stroll and play. FEATURES b" Kat! Distant Dreams to Decadent Desserts CupkatesBy Michael Boley ntrepreneurial-minded brother-sister combo Will and Kate Upon receiving limited callbacks from prospective employers, Thompson are co-owners of the most coveted cupcakes Kate decided to fall back on her pleasure of baking. At the in Las Vegas. This hometown duo has made quite a name same time, Kate’s father was also going through employment Efor themselves since preheating their oven in 2012 when they troubles of his own, having gotten laid off from a well-paying opened up their first gourmet cupcake bakery on the far west construction gig that was at the height of success just a few side of town inside Tivoli Village, and now they're doing it years prior. However, it was in those waning winter months again— but this time within the small-business sponsored, that the father-daughter pair jointly invested in the idea of boutique-styled quarters of Downtown Container Park. upstarting Cupkates as a cater-only business, with Kate’s name distinguishing the brand. Cupcak! Confessional In July 2012, when Cupkates expanded into a storefront bakery at Kate is a 27-year-old business marketing graduate from the Tivoli, Will had just completed his bachelor’s degree and decided University of Nevada, Reno, and Will, 24, earned his UNR to play a small role within the business while also applying for degree, ironically enough, in biological and nutritional sciences. graduate school in the fall; however, the intermingled scent Both, for the record, have had no prior professional baking or of entrepreneurialism and cupcakes has kept him working business experience upon opening Cupkates. In fact, their roles alongside his sister ever since. within this venture are completely reversed from their collegiate degrees, as Kate’s the food guru baker and Will’s the brand “The more we got into it, the more I got that entrepreneurial strategist and marketer. But when two siblings can cooperatively spirit. It got pretty addicting,” said Will. “I was like ‘let’s build run a business with interchangeable strengths, why change the this thing into something amazing, let’s go nationwide with this, recipe when success tastes so sweet? let’s show the brand to everybody,’ and I know our family, in itself, when we pool our resources we can do something pretty Sprinkle-topped success, however, has not come easy for the special, and that’s definitely happening. So it’s kind of cool. I feel Thompson family as they were hit hard by the still-rebounding like I definitely made the right choice.” recession that took place in the late 2000s. In December 2008, during an economic meltdown, Kate’s untimely college graduation meant jobs would be far and few between, especially Cupcak! Lov! in Vegas where professional growth was essentially paralyzed. Kate’s love for baking was spurred at a young age, catalyzed by a pink KitchenAid hand mixer, that she still has to this day, and “I was a dean’s list, straight A’s, great student, so I thought that her childhood nana, a southern belle known for her exquisite that automatically meant I would get a good job with a corner cake recipes. Throughout her college career, Kate was a habitual office in Las Vegas during the worst economic times, and baker and created taste test sessions with friends and family to obviously that plan did not come to fruition,” said Kate. critique her creations, helping to transform nana’s old recipe into one of her own. 03 “What makes the container park great is that it is highly conducive to all kinds of demographics. During the day you get business professionals who live and work downtown who come here for lunch. Later in the day you get families down here … and then as the night goes on it becomes a more adult-friendly place. All demographics, as we’ve found out, really love cupcakes.” – Will Thompson or those who have yet to visit Cupkates, Kate’s menu is And if the aroma escaping Cupkates has yet to lure you through untraditionally unique, featuring a range of cupcake sizes their doors, the interior design alone will make you appreciative from mini and large to even oversize. But due to popular of Kate’s sense of style. From the colorful pin-up style aprons that Fdemand, Cupkates’ bite-sized miniatures are the first to sell out. drape along the soft colored striped walls to the fine china plating and white wrought iron cupcake stand, it’s a place that would Each morning, Kate and her two bakers arise before the break disgrace Alice’s wonderland and even make the Mad Hatter lose of dawn, mixing, cooking, and frosting more than 250 cupcake his wits. minis. Although not sold individually, with a variety of flavors and fun names, such as the Hipity Hop (carrot cake), Banana Bo “I want people to get a whimsical, vintage, classic feel that takes Fana (banana cake), Sticky Fingers (caramel cake), Mellow Yellow them back to the days of tea and crumpets,” said Kate. “It was (yellow cake), and many more, customers can get an assorted very important to me to have a shabby chic look. The mint green dozen featuring a multitude of delicious flavors for only $12. and cream-striped walls are a huge part of our branding. We want our customers to think ‘Cupkates’ when they see the stripes on As previously mentioned, Cupkates does sell its regular-sized our walls, bags, and business cards.” large cupcakes consisting of the same artistic flavors for $2 each. However, if you’re in need of something resembling a Serving as an extension to Cupkates’ main business model, mountainside, Kate’s customizable cupcake cakes (available in Kate has also created two completely customizable and themed Vanilla Bean, Chocolate Lab, Red Velvet, and Snickerdoodle) are children’s cupcake tea parties that she hosts and caters. For the perfect party idea for a cake smash or to stuff the cheeks of a those wanting to partake in an atypical birthday celebration or small army. gathering, choices include a 90-minute “Drop in Tea” or “Three Course Tea” event, offering a variety of activities, including but One noticeable difference cupcake connoisseurs will see between not limited to antique décor, cupcake decorating, crafts, dress up, Cupkates and other grocers and chained bakeries across the princess hair, and Kate’s personal favorite, table manners.