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Question of the Day - 04 August 2007

Q:
I heard there is a bar in Las Vegas made of ice. Is this true?
A:

Yes, sort of.

The bar in question is at Red Square, a restaurant at Mandalay Bay with a post-revolutionary Russian theme and "Russian-inspired" steakhouse food (caviar, Siberian nachos made of smoked salmon, citron caviar, and crème fraîche, stroganoff, and strawberries Romanoff). The headless statue out front is of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, a.k.a. Lenin. (The statue was decaptitated and defaced with simulated pigeon droppings after the uproar it created when it was unveiled with the head, especially in the local Russian community, which likened the display to a statue of Adolf Hilter outside a trendy German restaurant). The décor features monumental wall art glorifying the Great Workers Paradise, with abundant hammers and sickles and other symbols of both Czarist and Communist Russia.

The whole Red Square bar isn't made of ice, only a 30-foot-long portion of the surface of the bartop. The idea is that you set your glass down on the ice, which keeps your drink cold. In reality, since this bar is famous for vodka and many of the glasses are stemware, the ice on the bar keeps the base of the glass cold, but doesn't change the thermal environment of the liquor that much. The icy bartop is a conversation starter and it's great for fingerprint designs.

While you're there, check out the Vodka Locker, which is kept at around 10 below zero degrees Fahrenheit and stores upwards of 200 different varieties of the alcohol. You can don mink coats and fur hats for vodka tastings in the freezer ($250 min. bottle service rules apply), where Lenin's head sits on the floor. (We actually featured this in the QoD for 7/21/07, where you can see a picture of the interior.)

If you're looking for a real ice bar, you have to venture farther afield and to some colder climes, which seems somewhat ironic, since an ice bar sounds like a better idea in the blistering heat of Las Vegas than it does in London or Scandinavia, where log fires might be deemed more appropriate for much of the year. Nevertheless, if you like your drink (and everything else) really chilled, there are genuine ice bars, where pretty much everything is made out of ice (often including the drinking vessels), in London, Paris, Copenhagen, Milan, Stockholm, Montreal, Shanghai, and Tokyo, not to mention the ice hotels in Kiruna, Sweden, Chena Hot Springs near Fairbanks, Alaska, and Quebec, Canada. In the latter, it's not just the bars that are made of ice, but also all the interiors, decorations, and furniture, including the beds. Suitable clothing, thermal sleeping bags, and animal skins are provided, along with plenty of hot drinks.


Red Square ice strip
London ice bar
Italian ice
Ice hotels
Update 11 July 2008
The Ice Lounge Cometh: Due to open this fall in the space formerly occupied by 55 Degrees Wine & Design in Mandalay Place, Minus 5 will be an ice lounge where "you can touch, feel, and explore intricately handcrafted ice sculptures and one-of-a-kind ice architecture made from 100% pure Canadian ice." While we're not sure what the mystique about specifically Canadian ice is, apparently everything in this New Zealand-originated concept bar will be made from pure, crystal-clear, glacial ice -- from the seats you sit on to the glasses you sip your premium vodka cocktails from. It will be open from 10 a.m.-3 a.m. daily and available for private hire for receptions hosting up to 150 people. For more info contact the Functions Manager on 702/632-3768. (Item appears courtesy of LasVegasAdvisor.com's Today's News column.) 08/04/2007 Some feedback on today's answer: "Not a question, but a response to your Aug 4 QOD: I spent a couple of days in January 2006 in the Ice Hotel near Kiruna Sweden. I can vouch for the fact that it was a magical place! Each year the hotel is re-carved from the ground up using ice and snow ("snice") from the Torne River. Ice sculptors from around the world are invited to each carve a room at the hotel. Some of the results are wondrous."
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