Photo by: Christopher DeVargas
A longtime favorite of both tourists and locals, Bazaar Meat by José Andrés enjoyed tremendous success at SAHARA Las Vegas, but recently the restaurant made the move to The Venetian Resort. Its new home is a beautiful mix of light and dark with the Blanca Room, bright and airy with a large outdoor patio, and the Rojo Room, a deep-red, dimly lit, sexy space, and it’s also where you’ll find the slick-looking bar. It’s behind this bar that mixologists are mixing up some photo-worthy, uniquely tasting cocktails that we say demand a visit to the restaurant, whether you’ve come to dine or not.
“When people come to Bazaar Meat, they talk about this amazing, well-rounded experience, so with the food you want cocktails that match that,” says Eduardo Sanchez, Bazaar Meat general manager. “You don’t want one part to be underwhelming than the rest. We have these amazing dishes, but we didn’t want to limit ourselves to just that. We have this beautiful bar and this beautiful space, and we wanted to elevate our beverage program when we moved to this new location. The goal is to keep innovating; new ideas with new dishes and new cocktails, like with the Martini Service.”
Heads turn whenever a table orders the new Martini Service. “The martini is served below freezing, served colder than you’ll ever get shaking it,” says Kevin Gorham, Bazaar Meat mixologist. “That coldness, what it does is it softens flavors and rounds out the harsh edges. It makes it a silkier version of a martini.” The Martini Service includes a wheeled-to-your-table cart stocked with the prebatched vodka or gin martini—your choice. Removed from a portable freezer, the cocktail is then garnished to your liking with choices like lemon peel, onion, blue cheese-stuffed olive or regular olive and lemon oil. Lastly, you pick a fragrance, which is a spritz of rosemary, thyme, dill or red peppercorn.
Photo by: Christopher DeVargas
For another showstopping cocktail, heads will turn again when the Nitro Caipirinha cart is wheeled to the table. The prebatched Avuá cachaça caipirinha is added to a steel bowl along with liquid nitrogen. The mixologist then stirs the two together until a sorbetlike consistency is achieved and then piles the mixture into a glass and tops with some fresh lime zest. “This is all about having a cocktail in another form,” Gorham says.
For brown spirit lovers, another cocktail experience comes in the form of the Aladdin Manhattan. “Think of it as a reverse Manhattan; it’s very vermouth-driven,” Gorham says. “In Spain, they drink vermouth as an aperitif, the starter, to get their stomach ready for the feast. So this cocktail is Spain meets America. It’s the classic Manhattan recipe, we just flip the ingredients to be more Spanish-style, so it’s vermouth-driven with a little backbone of American bourbon and orange and Angostura bitters, and finished off with cedar smoke and orange twist for garnish.” The cocktail is brought to the table in a box and poured tableside, allowing for the smoke to billow out and swirl around in the air, preparing the taste buds for a unique Manhattan experience. “If you’re a Manhattan drinker, you’re going to love this cocktail,” Gorham says. “This isn’t gonna destroy you like a classic Manhattan—you can have a couple of these, pace them throughout dinner.”
The list of cocktail treats continues with more favorites like the Floral Cloud, a gin cocktail served with a cloud of hibiscus-rose smoke; the Salt Air Margarita, a classic tequila on the rocks topped with a salt air concoction, and the Ben Franklin Milk Punch, a perfect-for-fall blend of brandy, nutmeg, lemon and sugar, clarified with dairy.
The Venetian Resort. 702.607.6328 or venetianlasvegas.com
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