Art & Soul’s Ronald Flores Takes Top Prizes At Corcoran’s 2011 ARTINI Competition!

NORTHWEST -- Artist William Christenberry would surely crack a smile at Art & Soul mixologist Ronald Flores’ dual wins on Saturday evening of both the popular vote and a special “critic’s choice award” at the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s 2011 ARTINI cocktail competition.

The winning “Coleman’s Juice” cocktail.
Indeed, it was Christenberry’s own Coleman’s Café sculpture (1982, painted wood and clay soil) that served as the inspiration behind Flores’ similarly named “Coleman’s Juice” cocktail (1.5 oz Gentleman Jack, 0.5 oz Mezcal, 1.0 oz Yuzu-Agave syrup, a dash of rhubarb bitters, house-made vanilla cola, house-made Slim Jim).

The victory was made all the more sweet by the fact that Christenberry is both a fellow Washingtonian (Washingtonian magazine was the chief media sponsor of this year’s event), as well as a former professor at the Corcoran.

Raising a glass to the Corcoran….
The culmination of a month-long, city-wide friendly cocktail competition among a dozen of the District’s best bartenders and mixologists (see our prior coverage for full details: Part I and Part II), Saturday’s sold-out celebration saw hundreds of art and beverage lovers turn-out for the only chance to sample all of the contending drinks under one roof.

Guests were dressed to the nines for Saturday's celebration.
VIP ticket holders were invited to begin the evening at 7:30 p.m., thereby eschewing the lines that followed shortly after general admission, and also had the opportunity to chat briefly with the various participating mixologists as their drinks were being prepared.

Unlike in years past, judging was split into two different categories for 2011 with an online vote serving as the popular one and a panel of respected industry judges, including Top Chef All-Stars runner-up Mike Isabella, providing a “critic’s choice” component.

Chef Mike Isabella served as one of this year’s “critic’s choice” award judges and indulged gourmet groupies with the occasional photo op.
However, in the end, there proved to be no distinction, with both awards going to Flores’ Slim Jim-stirred creation.

Now in its fourth year, the ARTINI celebration is hosted by the Corcoran’s 1869 Society and benefits the museum’s dynamic exhibition programming.

2011 ARTINI Host Committee members.
We’ll drink to that!