Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/832383
26 / the tasting panel / june 2017 SIN CITY SNIPPETS O kay, 10 a.m. is a little early to be sitting at a bar, even in Las Vegas. But no one is here to get liquored up. In two hours, the doors to District One in Chinatown will open for the first-ever #OPPSfest Career Fair for bartenders, presented by the Las Vegas chapter of the United States Bartenders' Guild, and right now I have place cards to fill out for our eminent guest speakers and resumé "clinicians," cases of Mixwell soda to ice down—you know, 'cause booze doesn't "mix well" with the hiring process!—and display tables to set up to welcome Las Vegas's explosion of beverage catering companies (Constellation, Misc Key, VIP Bar Groups). It's a great time to be a bartender in Las Vegas—there are just so many new venues and projects springing up this summer! Some big moves, however, are made without giving notice and swapping uniforms—these days, it's all about the side hustle. Right at the end of last year, former Delmonico Steakhouse Lead Mixologist Juyoung Kang eased on down The Venetian's Restaurant Row to join the opening team as Lead Bartender at The Dorsey, where she is executing a smart, New York-inspired program created by Attaboy owner Sam Ross. But when she's not sling- ing Penicillins and King Kong Cocktails, Kang has been working with Phoenix, AZ's Next Phase Enterprises on the rollout of a new line of entry-level home bar products to thousands of Walmart stores across the nation. The Cocktail Artist Essential Bar Ingredients line (www.cocktail-artist.com) comprises eight bottles with some familiar faces beaming from their labels. In addition to Kang's versatile mint syrup, the portfolio includes Atlanta's Sadiyyah Iddeen (simple syrup), Dallas's Bonnie Wilson (grenadine), Boston's Tenzin Samdo (lemon juice), Chicago's Luke Andrews (lime juice), Philadelphia's Vincent Stipo (gin- ger mule mix), Phoenix's Robert Porter (Manhattan mix) and Los Angeles' Matthew Biancaniello (Old Fashioned mix). With an aim of making mixology more accessible to the general drinking public, each bottle also includes a signature recipe. Repping her adopted hometown of pool-loving, sun-worshiping Las Vegas, Kang chose the Mojito, "because that's something everybody knows, everybody wants to make and can make easily." Juyoung Kang is Lead Bartender at The Dorsey in Las Vegas; she also has worked on The Cocktail Artist Essential Bar Ingredients line, comprised of eight bottles with some familiar faces beaming from their labels. by Xania V. Woodman The Art of the Side Hustle Samdo (lemon juice), Chicago's Philadelphia's ger mule mix), Phoenix's Robert Porter and Los Angeles' Biancaniello With an aim of making mixology more accessible to the general drinking public, each bottle also includes a signature recipe. Repping her adopted hometown of pool-loving, sun-worshiping Las Vegas, Kang chose the Mojito, "because that's something everybody knows, everybody wants to make and can make easily." PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE COCKTAIL ARTIST ESSENTIAL BAR INGREDIENTS