Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/807384
28 / the tasting panel / april 2017 SIN CITY SNIPPETS A s I write this, I'm scarfing down tacos and beers at, well, Tacos & Beer, one of a growing handful of Las Vegas industry clubhouses, while we wait for the Mestizo Mezcal cocktail competition to commence. The event has turned into something of a reunion for the crew of 15 that just journeyed together to attend Arizona Cocktail Week and to cheer on Herbs & Rye's Matt Graham and Crescent School of Gaming and Bartending instructor Shawna Cordova, as well as SeongHa Lee from Zuma in The Cosmopolitan, who beat out other alternate competitors for the right to be a slinger. Faced with whole pineapples and Hendrick's Gin, Graham put up a fight befitting America's Best High Volume Cocktail Bar, but in the end—and following a somewhat chaotic final round—Carla Gilfillan, of Hotel Albuquerque, brought the win home for New Mexico yet again, while Graham took second place. USBG Las Vegas chapter president Raul Faria and VP Mike Doyle, who coached the slingers, have already vowed to make their stand at next year's competition. Meanwhile, on the Strip, things are heating up, both literally and figuratively. The end of 2016 brought about a spate of important openings, as did the start of the New Year with Zuma, Momofuku and Milk Bar all debuting in The Cosmopolitan. Occupying the former Bourbon Room footprint in The Venetian is The Dorsey, a cavernous cocktail bar and lounge with a beverage program by Attaboy's Sam Ross that celebrates all things Manhattan (you can't miss the Coney Island Express's iconic blue-and-white Greek coffee cup!) and a number of Ross's greatest hits including the Penicillin, Summer in the City, the King Kong Cocktail and Midnight Stinger. The former Milk & Honey bartender and his business partner Michael McIlroy plan to open three more concepts in 2017: Diamond Reef in Brooklyn; the American in Port Chester, New York; and a second Attaboy in Nashville. Finally, if you, like so many, are on a search for the Japanese whisky mother PHOTO: LISA OLSON The Bar Nut load, you'll have to come to Las Vegas, where SushiSamba (in the Canal Shoppes at The Palazzo) has debuted the city's largest Japanese whisky program. What started with a few wise investments by Orange Brands' Director of Hospitality, Training, Beverage and Operations, Hayes Swope, has grown to, at last count, 29. A seven-course dinner ($250 per person) has been built around the offerings, and shows them off neat, on spheres and in cocktails such as Swope's Wagyu-washed Old Fashioned and an Iwai passion fruit whisky sour. The restaurant requests 48 hours' notice to prepare for the meal, although a weekly special plucked from the menu highlights one pairing à la carte. So you can still get a sip and a bite even if your next Vegas run is just a one- and-done-er. PHOTO: CHRIS WESSLING PHOTO: CHRIS WESSLING SushiSamba (in the Canal Shoppes at The Palazzo) has debuted the city's largest Japanese whisky program as well as a pairing dinner that includes dishes such as whisky braised beef cheeks. SHAKERS ON THE MOVE Tenured 'tender Gene Samuel leaves Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill (in Caesars Palace) for a position as a reserve consultant with Diageo; he remains a co- founder of Las Vegas barbecue-for-a-cause outfit Black Tiger BBQ. www.blacktigerbbq.com SeongHa Lee has decamped from Mandarin Bar (in Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas) to join the opening bever- age team at Zuma in The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The Golden Tiki barman Trey Picou departs the state altogether, having been lured up to Flathead Lake, Montana, to run the cocktail program at The Raven, a bar by honorary Las Vegans and Whistling Andy Distilling co-owners Lisa Cloutier and Brian Anderson. No doubt Picou was enticed by the promise of seasons other than just "hot" and "cold." Las Vegas slinger Matt Graham knows exactly what to do with Humboldt Vodka and Red Bull Tangerine: Just add lemon and dill! DRINKABLE DISPATCHES FROM LAS VEGAS (WRITTEN AT A BAR, NATCH) by Xania V. Woodman