Go inside Las Vegas’ first alpine yurt bar

Jerad Jay has an “antler guy” who supplied the horns, ethically sourced after they were shed, that decorate Viking Mike’s Alpine Yurt Bar.

Now, he just needs a Yoo-hoo guy.

The Lunch Box Nog ($14), one of Viking Mike’s signature cocktails, involves pouring a mini bottle of ULLR Nordic Libation, and its peppermint flavors that are followed by a warm cinnamon taste, into a box of the chocolate-y drink.

“We have sold the city out of Yoo-hoo and ULLR twice already,” Jay said during a recent tour of the new bar at 1500 S. Main St. in the Arts District.

The partnership between Jay, the founder of Vesta Coffee Roasters, and his longtime friend Dan Coughlin, the chef behind Le Thai and 8 East, was born out of the annual ski trips they’d take with their families.

Three years ago, at The Viking Yurt on Utah’s Park City Mountain, they talked about “how absurd” it would be to open something similar in downtown Las Vegas.

The result begins in the bar’s antler-covered anteroom, which hovers around 32 degrees to mimic the cold of the Alps before guests enter the warmth of the lodge bar. The lighting above that bar is designed to resemble an aurora borealis.

Through the lodge lies the yurt bar, a circular, wood-laden space patterned after the portable tents often used by nomads, which dovetails into the legend of the wandering “Viking Mike.”

“In the frosty heart of the 10th century, Mikkel — better known as ‘Viking Mike’ — was a figure of paradoxes,” the wholly fabricated story goes. “Jolly yet stern, predictably unpredictable, and always carrying a faint aroma of liquor, Mike’s adventures were legendary.”

Jay oversaw Viking Mike’s beer and wine programs, with the latter focusing primarily on bottles from Germany and the Alsace region of France. A selection of meads makes the establishment a proper viking bar.

“Our whole vision for the cocktail menu is all kind of crazy, Nordic, Eastern-European stylings and ingredients,” Jay said. “So we have a lot of Aquavit and Kümmel and Swedish Punsch and a lot of different flavor profiles that I think aren’t really being represented here.”

The Alexander Skarsgård ($16), named for the Swedish actor, is Viking Mike’s take on the Brandy Alexander. It swaps crème de cacao for the house krupnikas, a spiced, honey-based liqueur, before being topped with fresh caramel.

“We kind of have the same mentality when it comes to cocktails — like clean, bright, refreshing and balanced,” bar lead Camille Razo said of her relationship with Jay.

Razo, formerly of Sparrow + Wolf, said only about half the cocktail menu has been revealed. So far, she’s most excited when customers order the Yggdrasil ($17). Made with Scotch, house krupnikas, cranberry and Gilka Kümmel, a German herbal liqueur with a caraway flavor, it’s a cosmo named for the tree that connects the cosmos in Norse mythology.

Much like the cocktails, the food menu is in the process of expanding. So far, there’s house-made bratwurst ($15), steak on sticks ($12), hash browns ($9) described as “crispy fried potato amalgamations” and a cheese plate ($16) featuring a selection of hard alpine offerings.

“It’s bar first, food second, but at a high level,” Jay said. “It’s a very small menu, but some good stuff.”

Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567.