BAR BRAWLER TO BOSS MAN
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Kyle Mason makes every pour count BY ALISON BAILIN BATZ
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PHOTO BY MARK MORGAN
o say that Kyle Mason has been busy this past year would be an understatement. On the personal side, he got engaged and welcomed a new baby daughter into the world. On the professional side, Mason won last summer’s “Bar Brawl” series at the Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort and Spa’s famed jade bar, and he then took over as general manager of La Bocca Urban Kitchen + Wine Bar on High Street in the fall. Then, this past February, Mason joined fellow jade bar alumni Micah Olson, Jason Asher, Clint Spotleson, Jillian Vose and Tyson Buhler for a reunion during Arizona Cocktail Week and induction to the venue’s coveted Hall of Fame. “Back in college, I pitched for the University of New Mexico,” Mason says. “If you told me back then that I would be ‘getting my number retired’ for highballs over baseballs, I wouldn’t have believed you.” With his move to La Bocca, he plans to bring the same spirit of innovation – both with the team they’ve assembled in-house and with the now-evolving menu – he enjoyed for so many years to the Mediterranean-inspired restaurant. “We’re building one helluva dream team,” Mason says.
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Tell us about this Dream Team. Our parent company not only brought me on, but also superstar sommelier Ty Crandall, United States Bartenders’ Guild (USBG) Spirits Professional JT Tillman, resident “beer geek” Nick Nitz and USBG bartender Tony Pharias. We are like kids in a candy store together. How did you get your start? Believe it or not, I got my start at Outback Steakhouse in high school. Of course, there was the Sanctuary, Hotel Valley Ho and Montelucia too, but those came after a lot of hard work at the “Home of the Bloomin’ Onion.” What cocktail won you Bar Brawl? I made a series of drinks over the course of the competition all based on various ingredients thrown at us “Iron Chef” style. One was “Can’t Drive 55” in honor of rock icon Sammy Hagar, made with his own brand of Hawaiian-inspired rum, which is called Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum, as well as gin, Chartreuse liqueur, fresh pineapple juice and mint. SO SCOTTSDALE! |
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| JUNE 2016
5/25/16 7:32 PM