Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/692319
PhotograPhy courtesy of Levy restaurants (ganim, drink); mgm resorts internationaL (arena) MIX Master CoCktail kingpin tony abou-ganim embraCes a new role as head of t-mobile arena's drinks program. by tess eyrich When Tony Abou-Ganim landed in Vegas in 1998 to helm the beverage department at a brand-new resort called Bellagio, he couldn't have predicted he'd end up making the city his permanent home base. "I thought I'd be here for maybe two years," Abou-Ganim says. "Now I can't imagine living anywhere else." Since then, he's had a hand in cocktail menus up and down the Strip—including that of Libertine Social, the Mandalay Bay restaurant he's currently developing in partnership with award-winning chef Shawn McClain—authored books like The Modern Mixologist and Vodka Distilled, and even launched his own line of signature bar tools. Abou-Ganim's most challenging project yet, however, involved linking up with Levy Restaurants to develop a custom beverage program for MGM Resorts International's new T-Mobile Arena. Artisanal carved ices, punch bowl services, and Vegas-themed cocktails like the venue's signature drink, the Atomic Fizz (Grey Goose vodka, Aperol, prickly pear and Eureka lemon juices, and agave nectar), form the foundation of the lineup, but Abou-Ganim empha- sizes the menu's flexibility, adding that guests can look forward to a range of one-time-only concoctions tailored to enhance special events. "The beverage program at T-Mobile Arena is a living entity," he says. "It's meant to grow, but always from a fresh, handcrafted base." T-Mobile Arena, 702-692- 1300; t-mobilearena.com . Vegas cocktail guru Tony Abou-Ganim was the natural choice to create the drinks program for the city's first major arena; the Scratch Margarita can be ordered on draught, or, for suite-dwellers, in a DIY kit with booze, mixers, and bar tools. How suite it is! ArtisAnAl cArved ices, punch bowl services, And vegAs-themed cocktAils form the foundAtion of the lineup. 54 vegasmagazine.com SCENE DRINK