With its ornate doorbell, the Doberman Drawing Room looks like a private club. But this Arts District bar isn’t members-only; anyone can enter with a reservation. You should get in there—not just to experience its genteel deportment, antiques-rich décor and tasty tinned fish, but because the Doberman’s head of beverage is Juyoung Kang, a legit cocktail wizard. No (pointy) cap.
Otter Festival
Kang’s outstanding drink menu favors natural ingredients, bright tastes and worldly influences. On a recent visit I enjoyed the winsome, summery Otter Festival ($20)—lemongrass shochu, white cacao, yuzu, elderflower and matcha, topped with a velvety foam. The Caninha ($20), an inventive variant on Brazil’s national beverage the Caipirinha, blends cachaça—a fermented sugarcane spirit—with lime, coconut, honey, assorted spices and herbs and a splash of tonic. The result is a smooth, splendidly balanced potation that I actually prefer to the Caipirinha, but please don’t tell Rio de Janeiro.
Kang’s love of horchata finds perfect expression in the Sahara ($20)—tequila blanco, cantaloupe, hibiscus, rice milk and cinnamon, topped with a game-changing sprinkle of peanuts. And abstainers can pick up a Good Vibrations ($16): tomato, lychee, lemongrass, strawberry, white pepper and sumac. It’s a tall, cool glass of sorcery.
DOBERMAN DRAWING ROOM 1025 S. First St., dobermandtlv.com. Daily, 5 p.m.-2 a.m.
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