Answer 20 Questions — and Pay $3K — to Become a Member of Las Vegas’s New Cocktail Bar

The Continental at the Doberman. | Angelo Clinton One of Vegas’s best mixologists shakes up Tom Kha Fizz cocktails at the forthcoming Doberman Bar More than 4,000 people have filled out applications to become members of the Doberman — a new bar that opens this April in the Las Vegas Arts District. The bar, which features an inventive beverage program developed by one of the city’s top mixologists, will have five different rooms to explore in the old Artifice building, setting the stage for members to revisit prompts from the questionnaire: What do you do for work and, if applicable, what would you rather be doing? Have you ever been in love? Are you afraid of death? You wake up in hell — what song is playing? One of the most exciting new cocktails hitting the Doberman is a take on the Ramos Gin Fizz with savory notes of tom kha Thai soup. Head of beverage Juyoung Kang is leaning into flavors she has discovered while traveling. “A lot of the trends in cocktails right now all happen somewhere else, and then they come to the United States last,” says Kang. “When I approached this menu, I wanted to really tie in the global trends of the world in cocktails.” For the Tom Kha Fizz, Kang substitutes coconut water for soda water and adds dashes of fish sauce and bird’s eye chile for a drink that’s simultaneously creamy and citrusy with a touch of heat. The Doberman is the latest project from Corner Bar Management — the hospitality group behind Fremont East hot spots like Commonwealth, Lucky Day, and Park on Fremont. Kang created the first cocktail menu at the Laundry Room, the acclaimed password-protected and reservation-required speakeasy within Commonwealth, more than a decade ago. In the years since she’s worked as a lead bartender and mixologist at several Las Vegas Strip resort bars. Most recently, she was the director of beverage development at Fontainebleau Las Vegas, developing cocktails for locations such as the Collins Bar. In a full-circle moment, Kang has returned to Corner Bar as the head of beverage. Angelo Clinton Big in Japan. “I feel like when we make drinks for people that are coming in, we should be able to make drinks that they can’t make at home,” says Kang. “There’s a bit of more technique, there’s more preparation.” One example is a clarified punch that gets a 24-hour milk wash in tangy Japanese kefir before hitting the bar. The Big in Japan punch combines gin with green plum and watermelon, clarified to produce a fruity cocktail without any heaviness. And Kang’s play on a New York Sour, the Continental, tops off a rye whiskey sour with a lemon and red wine foam rather than a float. A non-alcoholic version of the espresso martini gets a bit of honey and a grating of nutmeg and Parmesan for a flavor akin to that of a coffee cheesecake. Angelo Clinton Tom Kha Fizz. When it opens in April, the Doberman will serve drinks to members and non-members alike from the Artifice centerpiece bar — remodeled with a soft leather-wrapped bartop. The other rooms include a lounge with a bronze fireplace and intimate nooks where customers can see the bar but people at the bar cannot see them. A library room will have booths, a piano, and a small stage for cabaret singers while a chandelier room is designed to resemble an outdoor courtyard. And then there’s the upstairs — reserved only for the Doberman’s members. Prospective members fill out the more than 20 questions, disclosing to Corner Bar founder Ryan Doherty answers to questions like What is your guilty pleasure? and What hill are you willing to die on? Applicants will have to wait for a committee to gather and review the submissions. Doherty says they are still workshopping membership tiers, but in general, membership will cost a $750 initiation fee and an annual membership fee of $3,000. In addition to access to members-only spaces like the upstairs room and its adjacent Juliet balcony, members will receive a monthly bottle of wine or other offering, a table without a reservation, and access to a special menu. “If a member sits down next to a non-member, you’ll definitely see more of a fuss made over the member,” says Doherty. “Bites and munchies, members will just have dropped at the table right away, as opposed to having to order them.” Angelo Clinton Juyoung Kang. The Doberman is one of several new venues opening in the Las Vegas Arts District north of Charleston Boulevard. Located at 1025 South 1st St #100, the bar borders the parking lot shared by incoming bars Nocturno and Audio Bar. Just a couple doors beyond, the Evel Knievel Museum and Chuck E. Cheese-style pizzeria will subsequently take up residence. Even high-rise apartments are planned for the area. “I think that’s going to be the most walkable portion of the Arts District,” says Doherty. “We’re banking on it. You can’t be a neighborhood bar without a neighborhood.”