Director of Palms’ Studio loves Las Vegas’ restaurants, music scene

Vegas Voices is a weekly question-and-answer series featuring notable Las Vegans.

Before moving to Las Vegas from New York to helm Studio at the Palms, Zoe Thrall was a multi-instrumentalist who studied music and recording in college. She went on to work as a recording engineer, in addition to becoming a member of Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, playing alongside legendary E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt.

Thrall eventually landed at the Palms thanks to Larry Rudolph, Britney Spears’ longtime manager, who connected her with Palms owner George Maloof when he was planning to build the recording facility.

We recently caught up with Thrall, who’s lived in Las Vegas for more than a decade, to ask her what she enjoys about living here, where she loves to eat and where she hangs out when she’s not working on world-class albums.

Las Vegas Review-Journal: What do you love most about living in Las Vegas?

Thrall: I actually love the weather — I don’t miss snow! I love that it’s a true 24-hour city, and I love the fantastic restaurants we have here.

R-J: How did you first get involved in the music scene here?

Thrall: From my involvement with the studio I learned that there was a healthy local music scene. Over the years, I’ve heard people complain about it, but we do have a variety of music festivals throughout the year that the local bands/artists can showcase in, which is not necessarily true in other large cities.

R-J: What do you love most about the Las Vegas music scene?

Thrall: That we can support all kinds of music and that you can hear live music every night of the week.

R-J: What are some the best shows that you’ve seen here?

Thrall: For the production shows, I like Cirque, especially “Ka.” For the music performances, Eddie Vedder at The Pearl, Jay Z with Kanye West at The Pearl. I absolutely loved Prince at the Rio when he did that run of performances. He even did the intimate after-shows in the restaurant like he always did when he was touring. Fantastic!

R-J: Where are your favorite places to hang out in the city? Specifically, if you had some friends in from out of town, where would you take them?

Thrall: I guess you would call me a foodie, so when I have people visiting the first thing we discuss is, “Where are we going to eat?” For entertainment, we love bringing people to Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns at South Point, and we always would bring them to Frankie Moreno’s show, which is now moved to Planet Hollywood starting April 20. Late night, I like going to Herbs &Rye for a cocktail or to the Artisan. I love the bar and the bartenders at Carnevino as well.

R-J: What are your favorite restaurants or places to eat?

Thrall: When I’m on property at the Palms, I love going to N9Ne Steakhouse for a perfectly cooked filet and a decadent baked potato. Also Alize at the Palms — incredible food, impeccable service, vast wine list. Not to mention the best view of Las Vegas. I’m Greek, so one of my favorite restaurants is Milos at The Cosmopolitan: simply prepared fish with the freshest ingredients.

I love Carnevino, not only for the bar and bartenders, but they have a fantastic menu and great service. They also have the longest-aged steak I’ve ever heard of. Our friend Doug flies in just to hit the restaurants here with us, and we’ve had incredible meals at Jose Andres, behind Jaleo — performance art as cooking. I love Japanese food, and Kabuto and Raku are standouts. Also DB Brasserie. On the street-food side I like Chada Street, Other Mama, Manta and Rollin’ Smoke. I have more, but I’m starting to sound like a food critic.

R-J: What misconceptions do you think people have about Las Vegas?

Thrall: That we all live and work on the Strip and work in the middle of the night. That we are all degenerates that drink, smoke and gamble all day and night and get into car accidents — well that part is true.

R-J: What are some things about Las Vegas that people don’t know, that either aren’t common knowledge or get completely overlooked?

Thrall: That we have a very giving, philanthropic community. That The Smith Center is one of the premier performance centers in the world. Springs Preserve: That even with its big-city, sophisticated image, it still is the Wild West.

R-J: What are some things about Las Vegas that only Las Vegans would understand?

Thrall: The way we drive. The wind. That we hate driving through the Spaghetti Bowl but we still do it. That there are still really only a handful of people that actually run this town.

R-J: What’s your best “Las Vegas” story?

Thrall: In the first few months I was here I was completely consumed with getting the studio up and running and wasn’t really focused on anything else. We had only been open a month or two when I received a call from a new client. I asked my normal series of questions about what his needs were for the studio. When I took down his name and number, he got quiet when I didn’t react.

The next day the largest flower arrangement I’ve ever seen came to the studio. I mean, the thing was easily 5 feet tall. The card that was attached read, “Now you know who I am, Glen Lerner.

“If you are not from Las Vegas this means nothing to you. But if you are from Las Vegas, there isn’t a corner without a billboard with his face on it or a break in a TV show that isn’t his commercial. The guy is everywhere. I had no idea!

Read more from Dave Herrera at reviewjournal.com. Contact him at dherrera@reviewjournal.com and follow @rjmusicdh on Twitter.