Cocktail Culture
Scene Stirs
Burns, baby, Burns, and Clooney’s is the official tequila of The Light Group
January 31st, 2013
Never was a more memorable Las Vegas winter’s evening spent than on January 25, also known in certain circles as Burns Night. Celebrating the life and works of famed Scottish poet and “Auld Lang Syne” composer Robert Burns, the inaugural Burns Night at the Whisky Attic above the Freakin’ Frog included the reading of four of Burns’ poems aloud, including “Address to a Haggis” and “Johnie Lad, Cock Up Your Beaver,” referring, of course, to the hat. Read more »
Scene Stirs
Insert cocktails, five new flights of fancy (wines) and your big night
January 24th, 2013
Insert Coin(s) has always had a small cocktail menu, but owner Chris LaPorte would like to see a greater cocktail presence at his popular barcade. Along with Vegas Seven nightlife writer Deanna Rilling and emcee Tony Abou-Ganim, I recently helped judge Insert Coin(s)’ first cocktail competition, a showdown between Hennessy Black and Stoli Elit. Read more »
Cocktail Culture
Bloc Party
KGB, as served at Red Square in Mandalay Bay, $17
January 24th, 2013
There’s a Whole lot of glasnost going on at Red Square, which is now under the Light Group’s rule. The focus remains on Russian and Eastern European fare as well as on vodka, which finds itself in all kinds of tantalizing situations at the hands of Red Square mixologist Michael Monrreal, who also did the cocktail menu for Union in Aria before that closed to become Javier’s. Read more »
Cocktail Culture
A Parade of Floats
January 17th, 2013
The appeal of Town Square’s Meatball Spot is undeniable—pizza, salads and juicy meatballs any way you like ’em. And while the kiddies and ’tweens may enjoy the close proximity of a movie theater flanked by a candy shop and two fro-yo places, adults might prefer a babysitter and the proximity of Meatball Spot’s bar. Read more »
Scene Stirs
Social to open at the Palms, Money Plays catches the spirit
January 17th, 2013
Hot on the heels of the late-December opening of Scarlet, the Palms’ micro-bar next to N9NE Steakhouse, the property is poised to welcome Social to the scene. Slated for a January 25 opening, the revamped center bar will focus primarily on whiskey. More than 30 varieties will be available in flights and whiskey-based cocktails, including a barrel-aged cocktail program. Read more »
The Beer Nut
If You're Going to Park City, Utah...
Be sure to drink this beer, these whiskeys and this cocktail.
January 16th, 2013
The annual Sundance Film Festival kicks off January 17 for two full weeks of mountainside shenanigans, and with that many New Yorkers, Los Angelenos and Las Vegans in one place, you bet your bitters there will be boozing. Read more »
Cocktail Culture
Your Best Bet
January 10th, 2013
The seemingly disparate worlds of poker and mixology have joined forces to wonderful effect at the Ainsworth, the Hard Rock Hotel’s new high-end sports bar and cocktail lounge. Named for a particular variant of poker, Paige Hospitality Group food and beverage director David Heinman’s cocktail, the Blind Stud, is essentially a slightly tipsier Moscow Mule, thanks to the addition of a little absinthe-flavored liqueur. Read more »
The Palms Gets Even More Social
January 9th, 2013
Slated for a January 25 opening, the Palms' revamped center bar will focus primarily on whiskey. Read more »
Scene Stirs
How to Stock Your Own Pop-Up Bloody Mary Bar
January 3rd, 2013
For the second year in a row, my beloved friend Jeff arrived in Las Vegas for a huge eyewear convention with one thing on his mind (other than which pair of his own frames he’ll wear today): pop-up Bloody Mary bar! What guest doesn’t love ’em? The hard work has been done for you, and if your host is anything like Jeff, he’ll set out all kinds of goodies for you to doctor up your personal pint. Whether your Bloody Mary is likely to induce a hangover or cure one, a well-stocked bar lets you take comfort in the knowledge that you’re not alone. Read more »
Cocktail Culture
Bloody Hell
January 3rd, 2013
This is no sweet love hangover. This is the real deal. And it’s bad. Baaad. Inevitably, all that December partying catches up, and suddenly—if not literally—it’s the end of the world as you know it. Now, believe it or not, I’ve been there. More than I’d care to recount, actually. But even in my densest personal brain fog, I’m able to remember that help is just a pint glass away with the perfectly executed Bloody Mary. Read more »
