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Welcome to Atlantic City!

The famous sign on the Atlantic City Expressway has been revamped to match one of the largest on-going city remodeling projects on the east coast. More than just remodeling, Atlantic City, New Jersey, has seen more new construction in the last five to ten years than any city on the eastern seaboard save the Big Apple itself, New York.

Long gone is the dingy Atlantic City of the 1980’s and 1990’s. Today’s Atlantic City is a great mix of new and nostalgic. Returning to its first half of the century roots as one of the county’s premiere seaside resorts in the country, and the redesigning of almost every single casino in town, Atlantic City, New Jersey, is seeing a renaissance like never before. While the classic Boardwalk Hall is still alive and well, the new, state of the art, Atlantic City Convention Center is garnering rave reviews. So impressive is the new convention center, conventions historically held in Philadelphia, New York, and even as far as Baltimore and Washington D.C. are moving to Atlantic City. With the new, gorgeous, Sheraton hotel built directly across the street, conventioning in Atlantic City becomes easier than any larger city. Guests can literally walk 50 feet from their hotel to the convention center. All of this for only a fraction of what convention space, and hotel rooms, cost in New York or Philadelphia.

Another of one of the many great new improvements to Atlantic City has been the Walk. The Walk is an area the size of several city blocks dedicated to dinning and shopping. Perfectly located between the new convention center and the boardwalk, just passing through the Walk to get to the beach, boardwalk, or casinos is quite a pleasure. Not only are the sidewalks kept meticulously clean, but they feature landscaped greenery and trees, and even a photographic history of all the Miss America winners through-out the years. And then there’s the shopping! The Walk features more than 80 outlets offering something for everyone. From Nike and Timberland, to Brooke Brothers and Liz Claiborne, to book stores and gift stores, the Walk is a shopper’s paradise. And don’t forget the food. From a 50’s style diner, to Ruth Chris, the selection of places to eat in the Walk is almost as numerous as the shopping.

The casinos in Atlantic City, now numbering a dozen, have also undergone massive remodeling and expansion projects in the last few years. Harrah’s and The Borgata have both opened new hotel towers in the Spring of 2008, more than doubling their hotel rooms. The Borgata, as only the Borgata does, opened its new expansion, the Water Club, with amenities never before seen in Atlantic City. Indoor pools high above the city below, spas, steam-rooms, massages and more all make the new Water Club the most luxurious place to stay in Atlantic City. The Tropicana has also opened a superb expansion it calls The Quarter. A large sprawling indoor complex designed to look like the French Quarter in New Orleans; The Quarter offers great food and fun. Mario’s the Italian restaurant, Cuba Libre the Cuban restaurant and dance hall, Red Square Russian restaurant and vodka bar, Ri-Ra’s Irish pub with live music, numerous clubs, sports bars, and even an always hip karaoke bar with zebra pattern couches. The Quarter gets the ultimate seal of approval for not just vacationers and business travelers play there, but even with the locals The Quarter is considered a great place to meet up and have fun.

The new Atlantic City is easy to go on and on about. The dining options have vastly expanded, and so has the entertainment. The new pier mall on the boardwalk with its shopping, restaurants and 3 story water fountain extravaganza complete with music and light show makes even window shopping applaudingly fun. Of course there’s the world famous boardwalk, and beach, which is looking sharper than ever before. And all of this is just the opening number in the new Atlantic City, New Jersey, with whole host of new projects planned from the Hard Rock Casino, Four Seasons seaside spa and resort, the Pinnacle luxury casino, and MGM’s new mega-resort which will be the largest on the east coast.

Yes, Atlantic City is new and improved and unlike anything else you’ve seen. With the entertainment, shopping, eating, casinos, beach and boardwalk, all painstakingly revamped, Atlantic City is quickly becoming one of the hottest and most relaxing vacation spots in the entire country.

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In the new Atlantic City, no longer is it sufficient to have merely a yen to roll some dice, eat some good grub and watch a name singer warble a dozen tunes. If Caesars vice president of marketing Erin Hansen has her way, visitors to Atlantic City will have a “lifestyle,” too.
“Tony Bennett has played here a long time and he will continue to come, which is wonderful,” said Hansen. “But we want to attract people who never came to Atlantic City, people who never thought to come to Caesars before. We’re looking for new things all the time.”

So Caesars created its Lifestyle Series, entertainment with a twist, especially during the warmer months. It begins on Sunday with a visit from Mario Batali, one of four TV chef types who will come to Caesars Circus Maximus Theater through October.

Batali will be in the refurbished 1,600-seat theater at 1 p.m. on Sunday, basically doing his TV gig. He will prepare several dishes on stage for the better part of an hour, taking questions from the audience, both about the food and his own nonfood life, as he rambles around the kitchen set.

“These people aren’t just chefs any more,” said Hansen. “They are celebrities, and people seem to be interested in what they have to say. They are good at telling stories, and whether it is about cooking techniques or their personal lives, it is something people want now.”

While the Batali stage show is $25, there is also what Hansen called a “VIP Opportunity” to eat what Batali cooks. Caesars is closing its Mia restaurant at 4 p.m. for Batali to prepare and cook a four-course meal - or, more precisely, to cook a bit in the center of the restaurant while the Mia staff prepares the meal for about 100 ticket buyers. He will sign books and chat one-on-one during the dinner, which will cost $150 for one and $250 for a couple.

Caesars will have three other celebrity chefs doing similar shows and dinners over the next several months: Paula Deen on July 27, Tom Colicchio on Sept. 7 and Anthony Bourdain on Oct. 12. Buy tickets for the whole series and you’ll get a discount - $80 for all four chefs.

In between all this food, the Lifestyle Series will also have somewhat homey chats with Carol Burnett and author Jackie Collins.

Burnett’s “Laughter and Reflection” (9 p.m., June 21) will not be a traditional stand-up comedy show, said Hansen, “but an up close and personal.” Burnett will show clips from her old TV shows and chat about them, answering audience questions as she goes, but mostly looking back on her career and the friends she has met along the way.

“Dine and Dish,” the Collins show (noon, June 14), will be a lunch with Collins, as she talks to about 200 people in a Caesars ballroom about the writing process. Collins will stop and chat with every table, autographing books and giving writing tips.

“With the success of the shops at the Piers and restaurants like Mia, the profile of the Caesars customer has broadened,” said Hansen. “We’re looking to provide them different things to keep them coming.” *

Caesars Atlantic City, 2100 Pacific Ave., “Up Close and Personal Caesars Chef Series,” $25 (all four, $80), VIP Interactive Experience, $150 a person, $250 a couple, 1-800-736-1420 or ticketmaster.com, for groups of 10 or more, call 609-340-2802, www.harrahs.com.

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