Chefs, bartenders teaming up for Whiskey in the Wilderness

Chef Justin Kingsley Hall and local event producer Lee Flint will bring back one of last winter’s most popular drinking and dining events, staging a 2018 edition of Whiskey in the Wilderness on Jan. 14 at an undisclosed location.

Held last year on Mount Charleston, Hall describes the gathering as “a grass-roots F&B event meant to celebrate the amazing talent working in the valley, (and) the geography outside the Strip.” It’s again expected to pair fire-cooked food prepared outdoors by top local chefs with high-end whiskeys and cocktails. There will also be a whiskey class, butchering demonstration, live music and a few other surprises.

Attendees can buy tickets before the location is announced. But wherever the second incarnation is staged (we’re told a return to Mount Charleston is a possibility), expect it to be chilly. Hall says that’s the point.

“It’ll be cold,” he says. “I want it to be. I want people to gather around fires while they eat, drink and get to know the people here in Vegas.”

The full lineup of nine chefs and 11 bartenders hasn’t been announced, but in addition to Hall, who recently departed Sparrow & Wolf to run the food program at Atomic Kitchen, it will include his old Sparrow & Wolf boss Brian Howard, Josh Smith of Bardot Brasserie, Restaurant Guy Savoy’s Julien Asseo and Momofuku’s local executive chef Shaun King. Bartenders lined up include Bryant Jane and Lyle Cervenka of Starboard Tack, Anthony Jamison of Sand Dollar Lounge and Kinson Lau and Adam O’Donnell of Station Casinos.

Tickets are $155, including tax and gratuity, and will be available beginning at 7 p.m. Tuesday at whiskeyinthewilderness.com. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Urban Seed Foundation, as well as California wildfire relief.

Contact Al Mancini at amancini@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlManciniVegas on Twitter.