Austin American-Statesman, Texas, Austin Inc. Column.

May 3--KENICHI STAFF ROLLS THE DICE ON A LAS VEGAS TURNAROUND: True to its high-style ways, Kenichi picked up most of the tab -- more than $8,000 -- to fly its staff to Las Vegas for three days and two nights for the Austin sushi restaurant's employee appreciation bash.

Twenty-one employees did chip in $100 each toward their $500 room-and-board, plus another $75 each to throw a $5,000 cocktail party at the ultra-hip Ghost Bar on the 55th floor atop the Palms Casino Resort.

"We stayed at the Hard Rock and had two cabanas each day by the pool," said Kenichi General Manager Kevin Amiott, who later gambled for eight hours straight at the blackjack tables. "I won …