The casinos' new stars: Chefs & reality-show celebs lure throngs to stages
By CHUCK DARROW
Philadelphia Daily News
darrowc@phillynews.com 215-313-3134
ONCE UPON A TIME, you needed to be able to sing a song or deliver a punch line to score a lucrative casino-headliner gig in Atlantic City. Today, however, gaming halls are also booking individuals who can whip up a souffle, house-train a golden retriever or communicate with someone's dead grandmother. To put it another way, the East Coast's gambling mecca is keeping it real when it comes to entertainment strategy.
Over the past couple of years, such television-created personalities as super-chefs Anthony Bourdain ("No Reservations") and Giada De Laurentiis ("Everyday Italian") as well as glam gals like Kendra Wilkinson ("The Girls Next Door") and Audrina Partridge ("The Hills") have trod upon turf that was once the sole province of entertainers. And the trend shows no sign of abating.
MORE HERE 
Linear Mode
