Columnist Susan Snyder: New Year’s cocktails mix us up

Thursday, Dec. 30, 2004 | 8:27 a.m.

The Teatro Kir Royale cocktail could be an anti-drunken driving advocate's dream.

After all, at $2,200 each, who could afford to drink more than one?

However, the price tag also includes the rest of the bottle of Louis Roederer Cristal Rose Champagne that's used to make the signature drink of MGM Grand's Teatro Euro Bar. So a Kir Royale and car keys still don't mix.

Let's work on the assumption that those of you who plan to imbibe Friday will not be operating anything other than, perhaps, the porcelain limo.

Going out on the town in this town calls for making some sophisticated choices.

If your best effort is a draft beer or a glass of house Chardonnay, then you belong at the corner sports bar rather than one of the Strip's ultra bars.

What is an "ultra bar"? It's a place where ordering what you usually drink makes you look like a buffoon -- unless what you usually drink is, say, a raspberry martini.

Flavored martinis are in, cosmopolitans are over, and an old fashioned, is, said Erick Korten, Teatro's bar operations manager.

One of the bar's most popular concoctions is a chocolate martini, made with Stoli vanilla vodka, sweet and sour mix and Godiva chocolate liquor. It's served straight-up (uh, that's without cubes, you rubes) in a glass with a sugared rim.

Other drinks that are telltale signs it's been a while since cool meant anything to you other than room temperature?

"Long Islands or daquiris -- those are out," Korten said.

Flavored vodkas and rums with hints of raspberry, coconut, vanilla or cherry also are in, he added. Mix them with 7-Up, juices or cola. Cristal and Dom Perignon still reign as the champagnes for those who want to be seen while they drink.

"The trend today is a foo-foo drink or that bar's signature drink," Korten said. "Those people are looking for that special touch."

They want that cocktail that says, "I'm here. I'm cool, and I think nothing of dropping $15 on a drink I can't pronounce."

I suspect what that same drink says the next morning, however, sounds a lot like what wine from a box says at the same time of day.

But, think not of the hangover. It's all about the mystique. And it's quite a competition among Las Vegas ultra bars. Many will roll out a new signature drink during the holidays or feature a special drink concocted only for New Year's.

Having one of those is more than just ordering a simple cocktail. It's an event -- sort of a grown-up version of the Christmas toy, for which parents stand in line because they can only find it at one store.

The bottle of Louis Roederer Cristal used in Teatro's Kir Royale costs $750 by itself. The cocktail mixes the champagne with Hardy Perfection cognac, Grand Marnier Cent Cinquantenaire and fresh muddled raspberries. Bellagio's bar Light has a similar concoction.

Korten said he has sold two of the $2,200 cocktails in the two-and-a-half months it has been offered.

To anyone we know? No, Korten said. "Regular" people bought them.

If you must drink, drink responsibly and drink martinis. With so many flavored vodkas available they can't all taste like paint thinner.