Photo by: Christopher DeVargas
“Downtown is great; a lot of people underestimate it,” says flair bartender Luciano Pontiroli. And, for reals, he’s part of what makes downtown worth checking out.
Pontiroli has been flipping bottles and entertaining at The D Bar at The D for more than a decade. The bar is right on the famed Fremont Street Experience, and he pulls in crowds with his skills that have landed him top prizes in competitions around the country.
Pontiroli moved from his home country of Argentina at age 19 and landed in Miami, where some of his friends were already flair bartenders. “And I thought, ‘That’s what I want to do!’” After years of practice and working his trade, he made his way to Las Vegas in 2007 for his first flair bartending competition. “After that, I was desperate to move here,” he says. “I was like, ‘(Vegas) is the place I want to be a bartender.’” So he made the move in early 2012.
“My first job was at Bill’s Gambling
Hall at a slushy bar,” Pontiroli says. “I was just sellin’ slushies and flippin’ bottles!” He eventually got hired at downtown’s Golden Gate at the end of 2012 and moved to its sister property, The D, where he’s been bartending at The D Bar ever since.
“I’m really hyperactive, so flair bartending goes well with my personality,” Pontiroli says. “I like to entertain, be a character—I’m not a serious bartender. … What I love the most about (my job) is to make people smile and they say, ‘Thank you for everything you do.’ That’s bigger than the money—when people appreciate you.” And people love and appreciate Pontiroli so much that when they’re back in town, they make it a point to visit him at The D Bar. “I have customers, friends really, come back from all over—Canada, Michigan, Colorado, England, Scotland. The guys from Scotland always bring me a bottle of Scotch!”
When Pontiroli reflects on his bartending career, he is nothing but “very happy that I chose flair as a career—it’s such a big part of my life.” And he’s especially thankful that his tenure has been working at The D. “Derek Stevens (owner of The D) is really supportive of the flair bartenders, and thanks us all the time,” Pontiroli says. “He’s the engine to why we’re successful and he pushes us to be successful. Corporations can be tough to work with, but here it’s a family.”
Away from bartending, Pontiroli loves mixing it up in the kitchen. “I actually wanted to be a chef, but after six months working in a kitchen I found it really wasn’t for me,” he says. However, cooking at home has become his biggest hobby. “I love to cook at home. I love to do fusion cuisine, mixing together Asian, Mediterranean, Spanish cuisines. I’m really good at it!”
A man that can cook and can make drinks? Sign us up! “If you want to watch flair, have a good laugh, hear a good joke—it’s all at my bar,” he says. “Ask for Luciano!”
Vegas Tea Photo by: Christopher DeVargas
Libation: Vegas Tea
Ask Pontiroli to show you one of his most famous moves where he flips up to five bottles! Then ask him to flair you up his own cocktail creation, the Vegas Tea. The (strong!) layered cocktail is made with vodka, tequila, gin, Cruzan Hurricane Proof rum, peach schnapps, sweet and sour mix and cranberry juice.
Benefit: Flair bartenders aren’t the only ones entertaining at The D. Don’t miss the Dancing Dealers as they captivate with their moves in between dealing in the table games pit.
The D, 702.388.2400. thed.com
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