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GEORGES LA FORGE Obituary
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Memories and Condolences
for GEORGES LA FORGE
Barbara Nevens
July 8, 2023
I just learned to George's passing. I have so many wonderful memories of dinners with my late husband in the Monte Carlo room and later at Pamplemousse. Here is the collage I sent to George along with a thank you note following the special anniversary dinner that he prepared for us in 2007. My deepest condolences to George's family and friends.
Georges & Jean-Philippe Gargantiel
pierre LaForge
May 5, 2019
Pierre LaForge
May 5, 2019
Pierre LaForge
May 5, 2019
Pierre LaForge
May 5, 2019
Pierre LaForge
May 5, 2019
Georges
Pierre LaForge
May 5, 2019
Georges & Family
Pierre LaForge
May 5, 2019
Chris Henjel
May 4, 2019
Dianna, so sorry to hear of your loss. Best wishes from Cincinnati. Chet
Wonderful Georges, sweet John Knutsen, Cleo & Hal Davidson. You live on in our hearts...X Cleo
Cleo & Hal Davidson
May 1, 2019
Cleo Goldstein and Georges LaGorge in Lake Mead, 1968. A long, loving friendship indeed.
Cleo & Hal Davidson
May 1, 2019
1945-2007. Georges, Maryse, Pierre-Jean
pierre-Jean LaForge
April 30, 2019
1996. Happy 59 Birthday Georges. with family.
pierre-Jean Maisondieu-Laforge
April 29, 2019
Gournay S/Marne France 1960 Before Georges (23) Departure to USA
pierre-Jean Maisondieu-Laforge
April 29, 2019
Cave Lakes Canyon Ranch,2001. Stephan, Pierre-Jean, Georges, Edith Thierry.
pierre-Jean Maisondieu-Laforge
April 29, 2019
Las Vegas 1988- Papa Maryse, Georges (51)
pierre-Jean Maisondieu-Laforge
April 29, 2019
Cannes France. 1969. Georges, Maryse, Pierre-Jean
pierre-Jean Maisondieu-Laforge
April 29, 2019
Georgews and Max. Caves Lakes Canyon Ranch 2002
pierre-Jean Maisondieu-Laforge
April 29, 2019
Las Vegas 1966- Georges with Dad & Marcelle
pierre-Jean Maisondieu-Laforge
April 29, 2019
France 1974. Georges first visit from Las Vegas Dad. and his two sons.
pierre-Jean Maisondieu-Laforge
April 29, 2019
Jan 01,2002, Happy 65th Birthday Georges
pierre-Jean Maisondieu-Laforge
April 29, 2019
First Family reunion after 35 years. July 1988. Mc Carran airport arrival.
pierre-Jean Maisondieu-Laforge
April 29, 2019
First reunion brothers and Sister Las Vegas 1976
pierre-Jean Maisondieu-Laforge
April 29, 2019
Happy 85 Birthaday Dad. First family reunion after 35 years July 1988.
pierre-Jean Maisondieu-Laforge
April 29, 2019
Happy 43 rd Birthday Georges Pamplmeousse Jan 1 1980, Georges Edith Papa, Marcelle, Pierre-Jean
pierre-Jean Maisondieu-Laforge
April 29, 2019
Georges and brother Pierre-Jean Jan 01 1993. Happy 56th HB Georges
pierre laforge
April 29, 2019
Georges was my brother and his departure leaves a big void in my heart and the heart of all the members of our family. When our Mothers died in 1951,followed by our two years old brother René , Georges was fourteen years old and I was six. Our sister Maryse did her best to become our mother with selflessness and dedication, Our father, who survived with Polio, had retired from his military engineering carrier in North Africa to care for our mother back in France and the four of us made a very tight-knit family. Georges was my big brother and my idol; he radiated by his presence and dreamed of large spaces and travel. At age of 18 he left for three years in Africa (Senegal) after joining the French Air Force. That seemed to me like an eternity. Shortly after his return, he found the opportunity to move to Las Vegas with the "Lido de Paris" and to our great regret, we had to undergo a long separation again.
In 1961 Georges landed in Las Vegas without speaking English but his fertile imagination, his natural talent for Culinary Art and his passion in all things, helped him very quickly climb the ladder in the restaurant industry. He opened most of the Gourmet Restaurants in the most prestigious Las Vegas Resorts. In 1965 while working as at the Desert Inn as Maitre D' for the Monte-Carlo Room he was voted best Maitre D' in Las Vegas. His reputation grew across the USA, as far as Chicago and New-York, and overseas to Europe. Later when he was Maitre D' at the exclusive Metro Club of the MGM Grand (now Baily's) the management decided to close the restaurant but Kirk Kerkorian wanted to keep Georges with the company, so he created a new position in the gambling industry for Georges as Casino Host. Georges kept this occupation until the MGM great fire in November 1980.
On June the 23rd, 2007 during a big banquet offered in his honor by the Food and Beverage Directors Association, Mr. Oscar Goodman, then Las Vegas Mayor, officially recognized Georges as the one who changed the culinary art in Las Vegas by creating and training service teams Captain-waiter-Busboy for superior table-side "Gueridon" service . Georges organized a mandatory exam for the Captains with the Culinary Union, to ensure their knowledge of wine, culinary preparations, sauces, and cocktails. Oscar Goodman made an announcement saying June 23 would now be recognized as "Georges LaForge's day". His personality, charm and charisma earned him fame in Las Vegas and all over the world.
In 1976, for the opening of Pamplemousse, he asked me to join him and I moved to Las Vegas with my wife and my two children Stephan and Olivier, 11 and 8 years old. I did not speak the language but I helped him as much as I could. As an adult, I rediscovered my Brother as a wonderful counselor and friend and was very proud of him. His vibrant strength, natural warmth and joie de vivre made him surrounded by many friends and he was loved by everyone. Georges was also a wonderful storyteller and did it with a lot of talent and humor. Reunited as a family, we had very good moments marked by uncontrollable fits of laughter. These wonderful memories will forever be etched in my mind. We all loved him very much.
Georges was a visionary and a talented artist. Wherever he went, he often imagined new themes for restaurants. During the early 70's at the wish of his friend Elvis Presley, he created the plans and scale model of his dream restaurant named La Forge" after a theme of a Blacksmith Shop on Flamingo Ave. including a floor with a separate/ private access for celebrities. I offered him a complete blacksmith workshop with anvil, bellow and antique tools that I brought from France with my move. Unfortunately, after the death of Elvis in 1977, this project remained on hold and was never built. Before that, Bobby Darin wanted to partner with him to open a restaurant in Beverly Hills on the condition that it would be named Pamplemousse . Bobby, who knew French, loved the name that reminded him of Champagne, Chocolate Mousse and romance. Unfortunately Bobby died in 1973 and this project never saw the light of day.
In 1976 George partnered with his friend Joseph Suceveanu to open a small Crepery on Sahara Ave. named "Morning After . Soon after, Georges remodeled it as a French Cottage. Under Georges talent and vision, like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, emerged Pamplemousse Le Restaurant renamed as a tribute to Bobby Darin, that became the hidden secret of celebrities and its reputation became global. After the opening I learned my new career according to Georges advice and guidance ... I always remained grateful to him for helping me for this great change in my life and always considered myself in moral debt to him ..
Later George opened the "Savoia" on Paradise Ave but it was the time when the face of Las Vegas metamorphosed into a family destination with themed hotels so Georges soon after transformed it into "Hippo and the Wild Bunch" . I gave him all my free time to help him create the characters of the statues and the decoration.
I cannot name here all the good times we both spent together, but there is one thing that deeply marked George's image, that was the creation of his famous desert: "the Peach LaForge". He had imagined placing a peach desert on the glasses decorated with garlands of hot caramel before putting his flambé preparation there, which he then covered with a nest made of fine drops of caramel projected with a pan, to the strength of the wrist and with incredible precision from one edge of one glass to the other in order to make it harden. It required an amazing dexterity, high precision and a lot of training to not only keep the caramel liquid without burning but especially not to burn people sitting in front of him. To see him in action fascinated the eyes. Never a single drop of hot caramel missed its target for everyone's pleasure of the eyes and palate as well. Many have tried in vain to imitate him but I do not know anyone who has really succeeded and the Peach LaForge dessert will forever be his in the memory of all.
Lamartine said: "one being is missing and everything is depopulated" and that cannot be truer than with my brother Georges. But I know he did not really leave us. May he continue to inspire us from where he is now, but I know we will meet again someday, and that day will be a time of celebration. George will wait for us as usual in front of a large well decorated table with flowers, good wine and delicious food from his preparation with his famous Peaches LaForge for dessert and his funny jokes to make you cry with laughter.
Our whole family is joining me, Edith my wife, my children Stephan and Olivier and their wives Valerie and Janice and my two great children Teidyn and Julien;
Our very dear sister Maryse, her husband Jean-Jacques "Jacky" Bernard and their daughter Danièle, her husband Fréderic and their son Thomas;
Our dear sister Claudette Ogier, her son Frederic with his son Victor,
Our dear niece Christine, daughter of our beloved sister Mauricette Rebba who passed away.
Our dear cousin André Monasterolo, his wife Madie and their daughter Aline her husband Fréderic Noble and their two children Alexis and Gabriel;
Our dear cousin Colette, her husband Jose Pascual and their daughters Christine, Joelle and Florence, their husbands and children.
And all our cousins in France, familles Maisondieu-Laforge Gerald, Jean Jacques, familles Carena, Nativi, Barinapoulo, Hourcadette.and Segara and all our many friends from France. .
.
With all our love.
April 24, 2019
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Bobby Rodriguez, Diana La Forge, George La Forge, Yvonne deBourbon-Rodriguez, Stephany Hanes-Gutierrez and Steve Gutierrez
Yvonne deBourbon-Rodriguez
April 23, 2019
I shall miss you forever my friend, as will Cleo and Hal. We know what a good friend you were! Dream with the angels!
Mike and Cheryl Soskin
April 22, 2019
Diana, Georges was not only a dynamic man, but one of the kindest individuals we've ever known. A wonderful, thoughtful and giving friend. Thankfully our times with both of you were many and memorable.
Dennis Kelley
April 22, 2019
My sincere condolences to the family and friends of Georges.
I knew him from his time at the Tropicana Hotel back in the early 1970's.
Over the years, my wife and I loved to dine at Pamplemousse, and Georges always treated us as family.
But then, I know that Georges treated all of his guests as such.
Georges was one of the nicest people I have ever met.
So gracious,and charming.
He will be missed by many, but we will all have such great memories of him.
May he rest in peace.
Dennis & Dori Kelley
Las Vegas,NV
April 21, 2019
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April 21, 2019
Al and I are very sort for your loss. We both loved Georgie
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