Foundation room comes to Atlantic city !!!

[heynow]

The Foundation Room, the sixth in the House of Blues chain, is the most elaborate of its components.

Designed to raise money for arts education, the room charges between $2,250 and $8,500 a year for concert entry rights. Food and beverages are separate.

Decorated with Persian rugs and wood hand-carved in Tibet, the room really is a series of smaller alcoves, private enclosures and dining areas around a central bar.

Slot manufacturers often purchase memberships to the Foundation Room, said Roger Gros, editor of Global Gaming Business Magazine.

"In Las Vegas, everyone does business there," Gros said. "And this is a much nicer room than the one in Las Vegas. I'm really impressed."

The House of Blues in Atlantic City also is the site of the chain's first nightclub. Worship, a three-level facility with an entrance on the first floor, will be a prototype for future House of Blues locations in Philadelphia and New York.

Also on the first floor is the restaurant, which serves Southern-style cuisine for lunch and dinner. Signature dishes include a rack of baby back ribs with Jim Beam barbecue sauce and mashed sweet potatoes, fried shrimp, catfish nuggets and chicken gumbo.

The goal is to add another dimension to Showboat, a hotel-casino where demographics skew in the 50- to 75-year-old age range.

The hope is that House of Blues will attract a much younger customer at night, without alienating the existing older customers who typically arrive during the day, Snowden said.