Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/14611
LAUNCH PAD Rock Saké at SushiSamba This is How They Do it in Vegas f rom the moment you hear the name, see the bottle, and taste the product, one word comes to mind: Vegas. Sexy Rock Saké seems like a perfect fit for Sin City, a longtime proving ground for new spirit categories. With Las Vegas now truly taken with mixology madness, not to mention a significant Asian presence, there couldn’t be a better time for the approachably hip sip. And there couldn’t be a better ambassador for the brand in Vegas than funky fusion restaurant-lounge SushiSamba in the Palazzo. Still, SushiSamba General Manager Hayes Swope admits he was a reluctant admirer. “I’m a snob,” he tells THE TASTING PANEL, speaking at length about rare bottles in SushiSamba’s saké cellars and his certainty that an American-brewed saké wouldn’t be up to his standards. But, he admits, “when I tasted it, my prejudice went away.” It is, he claims, “the first U.S. saké I’ve let step foot in SushiSamba.” For Rock Saké’s Seth Podell, SushiSamba was a crucial stepping stone. The chain (with outlets in New York, Chicago and Miami) was a pioneer in saké cocktails and blends Peruvian and Brazilian flavors with sushi and robata to combine as the perfect showcase for saké’s cultural flexibility. It took very little time for Rock Saké to prove its worth to SushiSamba. “When you pour the bottle, people want to know what it is, and that helps sell it,” says Swope, noting that saké cocktail sales have increased exponentially. The brand has become almost the exclusive mixing saké for all of the restaurant’s branches—Chicago being particularly enthusiastic. And needless to say, many other Vegas outlets are now inter- ested. “It’s approachable but sophisticated,” Swope says with a smile; “the kind of girl you want to party with all the time.”—E.C. Gladstone SushiSamba GM Hayes Swope pairs signature cocktail The Kumori (Rock Saké Cloud, sho- chu, gin, muddled cucumber, and an addictive nori-wasabi powder-salt rim) with a bluefin tuna tiradito and duck breast anticuchos. SushiSamba General Manager Hayes Swope with Rock Saké’s Seth Podell. 34 / the tasting panel / august 2010 PHOTOS: SABIN ORR