The Tasting Panel magazine

January / February 2018

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26  /  the tasting panel  /  january/february 2018 L ooking for someone? Plenty of Las Vegas bartenders shuffled the deck in 2017, changing roles and, in some cases, trading their bar aprons for business suits. Here's where to find a few of our city's most prominent slingers in the new year. Herbs & Rye lost its first female bartender, Emily Yett, last January when she decided to leave the award-winning steakhouse after two years to seek opportunities in bar management and training. Sydell Group (NoMad, The LINE, and Edition) came calling in May to invite the 2016 Speed Rack Las Vegas champion to join the opening team of Primrose in the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino (soon to split into two resorts, the Park MGM and the NoMad Las Vegas) as the 361-seat restau- rant's Beverage Manager. The verdant, vegetable- forward concept is a breath of fresh air in a city built on beef and sultry environs. Here, Yett has given American classics a touch of Mediterranean and French flair; her ode to the Dirty Martini, for example, features vodka infused with kalamata olives and pickling spices com- bined with Fino Sherry. With the purchase of Palms Casino Resort, Station Casinos—which owns and operates 19 other southern Nevada properties—is revamping its image. Charged with establishing the company's cocktail culture is Dan D'Agostino, who left his role as a Senior Brand Ambassador for Casa Noble Tequila to become Station's Corporate Director of Beverage. D'Agostino cherry-picked his dream team, including former Wynn Resorts Property Mixologist Damian Cross (now Executive Mixologist, Station Casinos); Herbs & Rye Bar Manager Adam O'Donnell (now Property Mixologist, Green Valley Ranch); and The Sand Dollar Lounge/Herbs & Rye slinger Kinson Lau (now Property Mixologist, Santa Fe Station). Former Carson Kitchen barman Chris Leavitt has already been pro- moted from his initial position as Lead Bartender at T-Bones Chophouse to Red Rock Resort's Property Mixologist. Texas Station bartender Nadine Medina, meanwhile, was promoted to the lead position at Onyx in Red Rock. The new year will be a productive one for this passionate team, with the transformation of Onyx to an American whiskey–focused concept by February; the opening of a new rum-centric lobby bar in Green Valley Ranch by March; and the much-anticipated reveal of the makeover at The Palms. Shakers on the Move PHOTO: STEFAN MERRIWEATHER SIN CITY Sips FOR THESE LAS VEGAS BARTENDERS, 2017 MARKED A YEAR OF OPPORTUNITY by Xania V. Woodman Chris Leavitt is Red Rock Resort's new Property Mixologist. PHOTO COURTESY OF STATION CASINOS Emily Yett, formerly of Herbs & Rye, joined the opening team of Primrose in Monte Carlo Resort and Casino as its Beverage Manager.

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