‘CABLP’ Aims To Transform Downtown Overton

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

Anyone passing on the street outside of the new restaurant which has arisen from the ashes of Sugar’s Homeplate in Overton, can’t help but be struck by the amazing transformation that has occurred there.

The outside of Cablp (an acronym name which stands for Criss Angel’s breakfast, lunch and pizza) has already done more to beautify, enliven and revitalize Overton’s commercial district than anything else in a generation; and maybe ever. And the place isn’t even open yet!

That feeling of transformation is only enhanced when you take a peak inside. Last week, Criss Angel invited me in to check out what he and his small team have accomplished in only five weeks. Let me just say: it is impressive!

Walking through that same old front door, that I had entered a thousand times before, was like walking into a magic trick. Everything is different! What used to feel closed-in, dark and small, now felt open, airy and spacious. I was transported into an entirely new space.

Of course, none of this is by accident. Angel has carefully calculated and agonized over every detail here. The master illusionist of “MindFreak” has performed his magic here in Overton.

“What I wanted to do was create the illusion that everything has transformed,” Angel said during the tour. “So how do you create that illusion? By playing with size, colors, lines, perspective. I am in the business of creating illusions where you think you see something but your brain is fooling you. Your perception of what you’re seeing is not the reality of what it is.”

That is apparent on the front of the building which looks larger than it did in its Sugar’s era. “Of course, the building didn’t really grow,” Angel said. “It is all in how we designed it with the awning and the bricks on the corners and creating lines that make the place feel larger.”

That same approach to perspective and illusion was taken on the interior of the building as well.
“When we took everything out during the demo phase, we got it down to just the walls and cement floor, and it looked really small in here,” Angel said. “The illusion is that it looks bigger now because the eye is able to focus on things in the distance. You have a foreground a background and everything in the middle. So it creates depth which in turn looks a lot bigger.”

The sense of larger space isn’t the only mind tricks played in the building. There are surprises around every corner meant to make an impact on diners.

There is a special table called “The Love Table” for those couples who might be experiencing important milestones in their lives together.

“We wanted to do things that really celebrate people and what they are going through in their lives,” Angel said. “So if an anniversary is coming up and a couple wants to get the love table, they can. It has RGB lighting that comes out of the table and illuminates in a magical way. We want to create amazing memories for people.”

The restaurant also features “The Magic Room” a separate exclusive dining area which offers an air of mystery about it.

“The Magic Room is going to take you to a whole different place,” Angel said. “You have to figure out how to get into it because the entry is a secret. There is no door, so it is a mystery for you to solve. We wanted to create some fun and utilize what is going on out there with escape rooms and bring those elements to Overton.”

But Angel admits that all of this is just auxiliary to the main focus of Cablp.
“When it all comes down to it, it needs to be a great restaurant,” he said. “It is about the food. It is about quality, consistency and great service. There can be no illusions there.”

The menu is packed full of attractive, casual, comfort foods from unique breakfast items to the signature MindFreak Burger to one-of-a-kind MindFreeze cocktails. Cablp also will offer custom-made Italian ices in over 100 refreshing flavors, served through a walk-up window in the front of the building.

But the real centerpiece of the menu is the specialized pizzas. “I’m telling you flat out: we have, hands down, the most amazing pizza – not only in Moapa Valley but in the state of Nevada,” Angel said. “There is nothing out there that will touch our pizza. It is just a killer pizza from the East Coast that has been refined in the making for over twenty years now.”

On the subject of service, Cablp is going all out. The restaurant has already hired no less than 34 staff members. And they are still hiring.

“We will be open 105 hours a week, seven days a week,” Angel said. “So we have a lot of staff that is needed to fill all those hours.”

At least two weeks before the restaurant is opening, the Cablp staff was already on the job last week for training. Angel said that extensive training is essential to instill the “love and positivity” that he wanted emanating from these staff roles toward the customers.

“For people to work here they’ve got to want to be here,” Angel said. “If this is just a job and you’re just punching in and punching out, this is not the place for that. Life is too short to work in a place that you don’t want to be. You have to enjoy what you do. That’s the type of people we have been looking for.”

Angel expressed appreciation for the support of the community throughout the renovations. “We are so thankful that the community has welcomed us,” he said. “It is so great to feel like you belong and have people approach you in the community and just welcome you here.”

“We have worked really hard on this and we have done it at warp speed with the help of the community,” Angel said of Cablp. “We are aiming for excellence right out of the gate. But you know, perfection is like water; it is not tangible and it can slip through your hands. We are going to do all we can to make people happy, though.”

If all goes well, Cablp is expected to open sometime next week. To start, it will be open seven days a week from 7 am to 8 pm. More information about the opening to come as it becomes available.