Michael Morton
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Michael Morton (born 1964) is the son of Zorine and Arnold Arnie Morton, the restaurateur and founder of Morton's Steakhouse Chain. He is the brother of Peter Morton, owner of Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe and the uncle of Harry Morton, President and CEO of the Mexican Restaurant Chain Pink Taco. Coming from a family with generations of restaurant ventures, he has the restaurant business in his blood. He is co-founder of the N9NE Group which operates contemporary American steakhouses and hip nightlife venues in Las Vegas, Chicago and Dallas.
[edit] About the N9NE Group
Michael Morton and Scott DeGraff, both from Chicago, are co-founders and principals of the N9NE Group. The partners own and operate restaurants and nightclubs, personally overseeing the details of their venues. They aim to cultivate the popular clubs by insisting on exceptional ingredients, service and design. Morton and DeGraff's partnership is one where each complement the other - DeGraff taking the lead on design while Morton focuses on day-to-day operations.
Morton and DeGraff first met at a Highland Park, Illinois in Elementary School, becoming best friends since age nine. This became the inspiration for the group's name, read as the number 9. Morton and DeGraff reunited after college, both single and age 28, and thought that a nightclub would be fun. The duo partnered and launched the nightclub Drink and Eat, Too in Chicago in 1992. They went on to open Drink in Las Vegas in 1995. Morton wanted to leverage his family's steakhouse expertise in opening Chicago's inaugural N9NE Steakhouse and Ghostbar in 2000. [1]
George Maloof of the Maloof family, owner of the Las Vegas Palms Hotel and Casino, was instrumental in the duo's nightlife empire. In 2001, N9NE opened Rain NightClub, Ghostbar, N9NE Steakhouse, and Skin Pool Lounge all at the Palms thus boosting the already popular resort even higher. [2]
The N9NE Group is located in Las Vegas, Chicago and Dallas. In Las Vegas, the N9NE Group operate the N9NE Steakhouse, the new Playboy Club in Palms Tower in Las Vegas, Rain Night Club, Moon Night Club, Nove NightClub, Ghostbar, and Palms Pool and Bungalows. [3] N9NE Chicago includes the N9NE Steak House Chicago and the Ghostbar while Dallas has Ghostbar, Liquid Sky, Nove Italiano, and N9NE Steakhouse.
