Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 39

How to operate a hotel-casino YOUR GUIDE TO; frnVfnV Tn ITTMI TTTMT 11 KlH LITTLE ITALY, JOHNNY'S Italian dinner $2.25. Also Pizza, Lasagne, Cannelloni, Qnocchi, Manlcottl, Veal Scal-lopinl, Chicken Cacciatore, Speciality Steak, Egg Plant. Hrs. 4-11 pm, 31 E. 1st St.

322-1119. CHEZ MAXIME RIVERSIDE HOTEL Everyone has been raving over the fabulous Buffets we serve. Try our delicious Daily Buffet for only $1.95, and Sunday Morning Brunch for only $2.50. Garden Room, THE COVE If seafood Is your thing, The Cove is where the action is. Live Maine Lobster and steam clams are our specialty.

Open from p.m. every day except Monday. Cocktail hour Tuesday thru Friday 5 to 6 p.m. 50a Free hors d'oeuvre. 1415 S.

Virginia 786-525 What goes into running a hotel-casino? "The biggest thing is creating money to operate," said Gino De Sico, manager of thi Rodeway Inn hotel and casino in Reno. "Everything else is secondary. "Then you worry about promotion. And you have to develop a budget. And you have to Inspect everything in tha book the rooms, tha plumbing and make sure everything Is left in good maintenance." De Sico has been managing the Rodeway Inn, formerly the Holiday Lodge, since Leisure Time Development purchased It several months ago.

Oe Sico is a former national reservation sales manager In Reno, and has worked in several Lai Vegas hotels. "Every day two or three crises come up," he said. "It's an emotional business. You're dealing with a staff that's not scholastically trained. Whether they're out of towels or the plumbing is broke each is a crisis.

"It could be taxing if you're not used to it. "Purchasing lj another problem. And Reno offers very little assistance as far as what can be purchased. It doesn't have the variety of goods." He said a Reno hotel-casino manager has two main missions "he must be interested in the community and serve it, and he must be interested In the tourism." His typical day begins early In the morning "upstairs, where I go to hide to do a half-hour audit and make sure yesterday was in good shape. "I have to dean up the financial affairs.

Then I go to the work orders I try to figure out the critical things that need to be done that will affect the customer walking through the door within the next half-hour. "Then I check on the upcoming banquets, and see if we're prepared for them. "We have a quick meeting with the public relations department. We check on our promotions and mall-out campaigns. "Then we go to purchasing.

I try to keep up with the purchases of televisions, new carpet, things like that. "I go to housekeeping. I inspect at least four rooms a day, and see what we are in need of, how we can dress them up." He opens his mail, and delegates it for answering or investigating. At 5 p.m., he goes back to public relations to discuss possible new programs based on what he found out during the day. "And throughout the day there are telephone calls from suppliers and sales people.

In the evening, I start personal appearances. I go to the bar to talk with tha businessmen in town. This takes two to three hours. I look at the FRENCH RESTAURANT A little of Paris in Reno. 1292 South Virginia.

Cocktails and wines. Authentic French cuisine featuring escargot, veal cordon bleu, canard al orange and other French dishes; selection sea food and lob ster. CLUB CAL-NEVA The all-new Club Cal-Neva In Downtown Reno wel comes you to the 24 hour main floor restaurant and the ever-popular, newly enlarged Copper Ledge which now accommodates an additional 100 luncheon and dinner guests, still featuring the same delicious food. Two friendly new bars and a auick-service snack bar add to your enjoyment. When you are a guest or Reno, be sure to experience the fine food, fun and excite ment in Club Cal-Neva at lively, glittering Second and Center Streets.

Phone 323-1048. EL CORTEZ Trocadero Casino Dining Room. Historically, Reno's oldest and most elegant dining room has returned to the downtown scene. Now serving a varied menu of steaks and seafood. Open daily for luncheon, dinner and cocktails.

In the EH Cortex HoteL S2Z4277 THE MAPE3 HOTEL COACH ROOM With its early English decor, and excellent service, the Coach Room is one of Reno's outstanding restaurants. It Is best known for its steaks and chops, and boasts the finest prime rib to be found anywhere. A complete menu is served in addition to the Western staples. Open for luncheon Monday thru Friday with the popular Hot Cart the featured attraction, and every evening for dinner. Corner of First and Virginia Streets, Phone 3231611.

OVERLAND HOTEL CASINO Known as the last frontier of the old West, Pick Hob-son's Overland Hotel restaurant is open 24 hours a day. Whether you desire breakfast, lunch or dinner, you'll be delighted with the excellent service and delicious food. Steaks and seafood are the dinner specialty. Be sure and see our famous collection of oil paintings "The Gunfighters." Conveniently located in downtown Reno at North Center and Commercial Row. 00 Reno SHARON HOUSE CHINESE FOOD If Chinese food is your cup of tea, the Sharon House of Reno is hard to beat.

Tender steaks and seafood are also featured on the menu. 565 Mo-ana Lane (off 35C3 South Virginia), Phone 3224451. SPAUGHI ITALIAN INN Delicious food with an Italian accent. Lasagna, Pizza, Ravioli and Rib Steak are the specialties of the house. Open 5 p.m.

daily except Mondays. 1573 South Virginia, 323-5339. a CRMSON STEER Warm hospitality and excellent Mahogany broiled steaks, prime rib and seafood make this a "best bet" dining spot. Children welcome. Nichols McCarran Blvis.

353 5713. PINE NUT LODGE CASINO A favorite of Nevadans and travelers, the Pine Nut Lodge offers excellent dining and a beautiful view of Topaz Lake. Jack Heath on guitar for your listening enjoyment. Bill Loui.se Bowman are your Highway 395 South. Item EUGENE'S RESTAURANT Eugene's has been a Holiday award winner since 1956.

Walter Zahr.d, Raymond Capi-tain and Rene Jacquemln are the guardians of Eugene's reputation for fine foods and excellent service. The continental cuisine has a pronounced French accent with a variety of classic favorites. Gosed Mondays, 2935 South Virginia, Phone 122 2089 or S23-9515. HAROLDS CLUB PRIME RIB ROOM Thick, succulent prima rIE Is served exclusively in Harolds panoramic 7th floor restaurant. Complete dinner only $4.50 per person includes: soup, salad, potato and dessert.

Evenings after 5pm, res-ervations suggested. Saturday Sunday a delightful brunch is served from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Downtown, phont 329-0831. HOLIDAY HOTEL Your table's ready sir nightly in tha Shore Room of the Holiday HoteL Dine in a relaxed atmosphere while enjoying the music of Charles Gould and hl3 Satin Strings.

Fine Steak, Prime Rib, Lobster Tail, and a complimentary Carafe of Wine are all part of the relaxed atmosphere in the Shore Room, overlooking tha scenic Truc-kee River in Downtown Reao at Mill Center Streets. I ft Gino De Sico Why not write a musical? How's this for an improbable plot: A social worker with hopes of becoming a playwright tells ma unemployed aeronautics program analyst with hopes of being an actress or composer that they ought to write a musical. "Okay," she says. So they do, and it's a big hit. It took a little polite theatrical blackmail to get "Mother Earth" on stage at a tiny Orange County, repertory house where its authors, Ron Thronson and Tonl Shearer, had directed and performed as amateurs.

Once there, there was no stopping it The musical revue, which uses songs, sketches, vaudeville routines and "Laugh-In" style blackouts to present Its message about tha ecology, pollution and overpopulation, was a four-month sellout at the South Coast ertory Theater. Then It wa3 picked up by a producer and moved to San Francisco for its first professional performance. It was a hit again and its backers are talking about New York City la the falL lounge and see what the draw Is." When the Rodeway began a transportation shuttle bus, De Sico drove six of them him self to find out first-hand what the people thought of them. He's been in the business since he was nine years old. His father owned some clubs, and he worked for hlra as bus- boy and barboy.

Later, he became a dancer and choreographer, but, following an injury, went back Into the hotel business. "I like the variety of prab- lems the consistent barrage of problems," he said. "It's a very real business to be In. You deal with peo ple's emotions.".