🎙 Pouring Stories Ep.18 - Giambrone sits down with Nathan Grates, co-owner of The Sand Dollar LV, Sand Dollar Downtown, and La Casa De Juliette, to talk about the grind behind building three of Las Vegas’ most respected cocktail and live-music destinations.

From brutal late nights as a beverage manager to wild college bar shifts, Nate opens up about the real costs of success: Physical, emotional, and financial. We dive deep into cocktail competitions, sobriety in the industry, Las Vegas dram shop laws, and why authenticity beats hype every time. If you care about Las Vegas bars, cocktail culture, or the business of hospitality, this episode is pure gold.

💡 Why Watch / Listen

✔ Inside story of The Sand Dollar Las Vegas-from concept to cult status

✔ Brutally honest look at the hospitality industry: burnout, sobriety, and creative passion

✔ Cocktail nerd talk: Trinidad Sour, additive-free spirits, and Martingale Cognac

✔ Lessons on entrepreneurship, partnership, and staying authentic in a world of influencers

⏰ Chapters & Key Moments

00:00 Intro Teaser

01:04 Ole Bison Bourbon - Tasting room with Jeremy Wilkinson

02:30 Building a foundation

04:19 Beverage Manager Hell - “It Destroyed Me Physically & Emotionally”

07:55 First moments bartending - “Is this legal?”

11:26 Enthusiasm for bartending

12:18 Cocktail Competitions (Presentation)

14:18 Cocktail Competitions (Scoring bias)

15:45 Over-drinking & Sobriety in the beverage industry

18:35 D.U.I., Taking their Keys, & Dram Shop Laws in Las Vegas

22:45 Davey’s Locker

24:40 Bartending a College Bar - “I overserved everybody”

27:20 Media Dinners!

29:46 Concierge

31:31 Trinidad Sour - What did G do wrong?

35:00 G realizes his mistake!

37:00 Additive Free in the news!

42:55 Ghost Busters44:10 Corrected Trinidad Sour (after 2 bottles of ango)

45:54 La Casa De Juliette

50:00 No Smoking at The Dollar!

52:25 Girls love the most horrific content - Last Podcast on The Left

55:10 Nate & Jamison - Origins of true partnership

1:08:00 Born to work - It’s how you’re raised

1:14:00 10 Years of The Sand Dollar (Cancelled Comp?!)

1:26:00 Additive vs. Additive Free

1:28:10 Martingale Cognac

1:31:00 Guillaume Vallet - Louis XIII

1:32:00 “Certain cultures are notoriously poor at making beer”

1:33:50 Vegas Brewers

1:37:00 People who talk but never do

1:38:30 Bringing authenticity to content creation

🍹 Featured Drink – Trinidad Sour

The Giuseppe Gonzalez recipe:

1.50 oz Angostura Aromatic Bitters

1.00 oz Orgeat

0.75 oz Lemon Juice

0.50 oz Rye Whiskey

Shake with ice, double strain into a Nick & Nora, garnish with a lemon peel.

🎧 Pouring Stories

Hosted & Produced by Michael Giambrone & Kyler Fleming

Executive editor: Kyler Fleming

Follow for more conversations with bartenders, spirits pros, and the people shaping cocktail culture.

For more info on Nate's venues click the links below.

https://lacasadejuliette.com/

https://thesanddollarlv.com/

Dario Doimo spent half of his life abroad, sneaking into an international competition at 19, and falling in love with bartending ever since. He went on to win the World Flair Bartending competition, open venues, became a U.S. Citizen, and is now The Agave Ambassador for Bacardi! Dario finally sits down with his old friend Giambrone, to share some of the wild ride he has been on!

0:00 Dario Doimo Ep.17 Pouring Stories teaser

1:30 Cuba Libre (Bacardi Select)

3:00 Old limes

4:10 Born to bartend: How it started.

6:56 So many cocktail names

9:30 Soda-guns suck

12:00 Health Department

15:35 Bad vs. Good Bar Design

21:10 "He drank Cocchi with Cocchi" (Jozef)

22:44 Restaurant opening woes

33:00 How Dario ended up at Mr. Coco

37:00 Negroni Bianco

40:00 Las Vegas prices are out of line

45:50 Spritz & Carver Steak by Francesco LaFranconi

53:00 THE SUDDEN BRAMARE CLOSING

1:00:00 Vegas lost exclusivity...

1:04:00 Binge Drinking

1:07:00 The Art Of Italicus 2019/Comps

1:17:15 The Flair Life

1:30:00 Bopitty Boo Boo

1:31:00 Training for World Flair

1:37:40 Outdated process for citizenship

1:46:57 Bartending teaches you about people

1:48:10 Dario performs for a village

1:54:10 Patron Cristalino

1:55:40 Tennessee Whiskey = Lincoln County Process

1:57:00 Ilegal Mezcal Caribbean CaskSpecial T

hanks to Dario Doimo for years of friendship and excellence. Thank you to Bacardi, Patron, & Ilegal Mezcal for lending your Agave Ambassador and for delicious spirit

Kristi De Vita joins us on Pouring Stories, to share her family's French connection to Chartreuse, adding needed context to her hidden tattoo reveal during the podcast. Kristi goes on to talk about leaving Boulder City for a new life in New York City, gaining the attitude she needed to navigate the sidewalks, and becoming the Business Development Manager for Gallo in New York! She finishes by teaching us a trick, opens a bottle of Champagne, and detailing the finer points of the glassware we choose.

0:00 Kristi De Vita | Pouring Stories Ep.16

2:30 The Dillinger, Boulder City

6:00 The managers struggle

10:40 Chartreuse in the blood

14:00 Proper tipping, over tipping, & tip fatigue

23:25 Moving to NYC (flibbertigibbety)

29:50 New York State Of Mind

35:03 "Gear-Head's, I'm sorry" - Giambrone

38:06 Know one needs another "How-To" (Last Word)

41:22 Episcopal & other Chartreuse gems

44:35 Total Wine & Lee's Discount Liquor

49:38 The French & Kristi's shirt glitch

53:20 Kristi's Tattoo (Chartreuse fun facts)

57:10 Chartreuse Green vs. Yellow vs Vegetal

59:21 Wine for breakfast

1:06:00 Kristi's Disclaimer

1:06:59 Rombauer Chard to Sauv

1:08:22 Sauvy B's, Menty-B's, and S&M!

​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​1:12:25 Super Tuscan, Chianti, Sangiovese

1:17:00 Corked Wine TCA. Cork Soakers!

1:23:38 Why people go out to eat!

1:25:58 Gallo and Rombauer

1:28:18 Sideways quote that crushed Merlot

1:35:50 Opening Champagne with Kristi De Divta

1:41:30 Best Glass for Champagne

1:47:00 WORKING WITH INTENT in your career

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Hosted & Produced by Michael Giambrone and Kyler FlemingSpecial thank you to ​⁠Kristi De Vita ​& Gallo