The five-day event will be held at The Venetian and The Palazzo, which is home to more James Beard Award-winning chefs than any other destination and Executive Chef Olivier Dubreuil, who is also a Master Chef of France and responsible for bringing the organization meetings to America.

In March, nearly 150 Master Chefs will stay at The Venetian to review the previous year's accomplishments, look ahead to next year and find ways to help other communities promote upcoming events. In addition new members will be added to the Master Chef list with an induction ceremony.

The ACF will host a special dinner to elect the woman of the year, and reward one of their member with the “Fauteuil de l'Academie” for lifetime achievement. The Master Tour De France will be held Saturday, March 8 from 6-10 p.m. in Doge's Palace and be open to the public. The event features 12 chefs and 12 wineries. Tickets are $50, call 866-641-7469.

The MGM Grand has unveiled TAP, a new 220-seat restaurant and sports bar surrounded by sports history. Every seat offers a prime view of the biggest games broadcast live on TAP's 60 HD flat-screen televisions. The menu features American sports bar favorites.

Serving up the largest slice on the Strip, Pin-Up Pizza is now open at Planet Hollywood. On Pizza Day, Sunday, Feb. 9 from 11 a.m.-2 a.m., guests at Pin-Up Pizza will receive one free beer with the purchase of a slice of pizza, limit one per customer. Each hand-tossed pizza pie measures 30 inches across and uses four pounds of dough, leaving each slice measuring 15” x 6”.

The modern New York-style pizza eatery is located along Las Vegas Blvd. next to Pink's Hot Dogs with an entrance from the street as well as inside of the casino. The indoor counter space has a full view of the giant gas oven and kitchen and there is an outdoor glass-enclosed patio. Continuing the Pin-Up theme of the 50s, Pin-Up Pizza girls are adorned in retro rockabilly uniforms emulating Bettie Page.

Due to popular ticket demand, The Smith Center has added an additional week of performances for the world premiere of a reimagined version of “The Tempest,” which will now play April 6-20 in a 500-seat climate-controlled tent in Symphony Park.

The Smith Center's first ever co-production, “The Tempest” is produced by the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.), adapted and directed by Aaron Posner and Teller from the play by William Shakespeare, with magic by Teller, music by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan and movement by Matt Kent of Pilobolus. Tickets begin at $35; call 702-749-2000.

Following the world premiere in Las Vegas, the show will move to Cambridge, Mass., to begin performances at A.R.T. and then Washington, D.C. and New York City.

The approach for the new show “Pawn Shop Live!” at the Golden Nugget is a total spoof about History Channel's super hit real hit show “Pawn Stars” and the real-life TV characters. There's no question that it helps if you're a fan of the TV show. Right away the likeness of the real people is a great reference point. In the parody Rick Harrison is Slick Garrison, Cory “Big Hoss” Harrison is Lil' Boss, Austin “Chumlee” Russell is Chump and Richard “The Old Man” Harrison is a puppet with a giant head affectionately called Old Fart.

The “almost true story” explains the background on the four principals and how the world famous pawn shop came to be a reality. The show is set in a pawn shop and precariously placed in front of Gordie Brown's band set. Two cast members Enoch Scott and Anita Bean play an incredible amount of multiple roles and two showgirls float in an out of the show. The real “Pawn Starts” celebs are getting a kick out of the show and regularly drop by to do meet-and-greets. And a recognizable voice throughout the show is “Lifestyles” Robin Leach with some narrative. Tickets are $24.95, $29.95 and $39.95.

Insomniac, producers of the largest music festival in North America, Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC), and Marquee Dayclub at The Cosmopolitan will present the 3^rd Annual “Halfway to EDC” celebration on Sunday, Feb. 16, marking the six-month countdown to the popular summer music festival with a historic winter pool party under the new Marquee Dayclub Dome. Halfway to EDC will be from noon to sunset with a $30 cover charge for males and $20 for females.

For the first time, Las Vegas partygoers can don their summer swimsuits in February. Halfway to EDC will give a festival-type experience with multiple headliners including Dash Berlin, Candyland, Firebeatz, Paris Blohm, Kennedy Jones and Jason Lema. EDC will be held June 20-22 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

This Valentine's Day, the D Las Vegas is inviting singles to meet their perfect match while breaking the world record for the largest speed dating event at the D Date-a-Thon. From 6-9 p.m., 1,000 romantic hopefuls will have the opportunity to meet that special someone while enjoying $1 drinks, giveaways and more.

In an attempt to break the world record, the downtown property is partnering with SpyOn Vegas and X107.5 KXTE-FM and collaborating with speed dating organizations Pre-Dating and Lock and Key. The event will take place on the Fremont Street Experience in front of D Bar. Each participant will date 24 people for three minutes. Some lucky winners will win prizes.

The event is free but all participants must register. Interested singles can sign up at vegasspeeddate.com or theD.com prior to the event. Registration will also be available on-site beginning at 4 p.m.

The second Life is Beautiful urban festival experience celebrating music, food and art will return to Downtown Las Vegas Oct. 24-26. More than 60,000 people enjoyed Life is Beautiful in its first year last October, exceeding original estimates. Attendees spent the weekend exploring 15-city blocks programmed with music, food, art, and learning experiences for all ages. Held over two days, the inaugural event consisted of five music stages, a culinary village, an alchemy garden, an eclectic street art program, a learning program with a range of notable speakers and much more.

On Valentine's Day, Friday, Feb. 14, The Mob Museum downtown will celebrate its second anniversary with two-for-one admission for out-of-town visitors and free admission for Nevada residents. In addition at 9 a.m. that day, the museum will unveil a limited-time-only presentation of two Thompson machine guns used in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929. Lt. Mike Kline from the Berrien County Sheriff's office in Michigan will deliver public presentations about the artifacts on Feb. 14 at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. and on Feb. 15 at 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

On Thursday, Feb. 13, the museum will hold its 2^nd Anniversary Celebration Blood Drive in partnership with United Blood Services. Anyone donating blood in the United Blood Drive Bloodmobile behind the museum between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. will receive one free ticket to the museum that is valid until Dec. 31. Appointments are encouraged online or by calling 877-827-4376. Sponsor code: MobMuseum.

The museum is now on the National Register of Historic Places and it occupies the former Federal courthouse and U.S. Post Office.

TICKETS ON SALE FOR 13^TH MICHAEL JORDAN CELEBRITY INVITATIONAL

The 13^th Annual Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational (MJCI) hosted by ARIA at Shadow Creek returns to Las Vegas for the fourth consecutive year April 3-6. Tickets are now on sale giving spectators access to the acclaimed Shadow Creek Golf Course while raising money for several worthy charitable organizations. Since its inception in 2001, MJCI has raised nearly $7 million for charities.

Sports stars Wayne Gretzky, Ken Griffey, Jr., Dara Torres and Brian Urlacher, along with actors Anthony Anderson, Brian Baumgartner and Jesse Metcalfe are scheduled to participate in this year's event. The two rounds of the Celebrity-Amateur Competition, which pairs one celebrity golfer with four amateur participants, will take place Thursday and Friday. Tickets range from a daily pass at $30 to a weekly VIP pass for $500 with numerous discounted ticket options available. For more information, call 877-253-5847.