5 Tips for Throwing An Epic Holiday Bash by Johnny Luang-Khot, General Manager of Mizu Izakaya

The General Manager of restaurant Mizu Izakaya, Johnny Luang-Khot shares his advice for organizing a fun-filled holiday party with friends and family. We photographed Johnny at CUSTOM, a charity fashion event benefiting The Children’s Hospital and Coats for Colorado.

CUSTOM Event Venue: Mizu Izakaya

Custom Suit: Icon Custom Suits

Custom Hat: Encounter Hat's

Custom Lapel: Perennial Posey

"Contains Nuts" Cocktail: Bar Ginza

TIP 1: THE GUEST LIST

Guest lists are interesting to me because as event organizers we can become focused on our guests having things in common. As I put together more events I have begun to rethink that there may be too much of a focus on having guests with things in common.  Lately at Mizu, when I put events together I've moved away from that. I've found that at Mizu's events the crowd that has guests with less in common ends up being where people have the most fun and become friends with people they may not normally meet. That dynamic adds to the fun and value of our events.  The food, drink, and ambiance bring different people together really well.

TIP 2: THE FOOD

Being in the restaurant business food definitely plays a big role in my events.  For parties, I've really tried to prepare and present food in a way to feel inviting and inclusive for a party. It may be subtle for guests, but a lot of thought and care goes into that preparation and presentation.  That has a way of just bringing strangers together. I usually serve sushi and Japanese food.

TIP 3: THE SIGNATURE COCKTAIL

At Mizu, we have a new cocktail that I really love for holiday parties. It is an interactive cocktail where the guest gets to choose their level of smoke infusion. For more of an aromatic experience, the guest can choose to immediately pour their cocktail. For a more flavorful experience, the guest has the option to swirl their cocktail with the smoke. Here is the recipe for the cocktail ‘Contains Nuts’:

1.5oz Pecan Infused Courvoisier
.25oz Giffard Banane Du Bresil
.25oz Black Sugar 2:1 Syrup
1/2tsp Amaretto
1/2tsp Allspice Dram
Garnish with dehydrated orange and pecans
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass, stir for approximately 10 seconds and strain into a sealable container. Smoke, seal and serve with a Double Old Fashioned glass with a large cube.

TIP 4: THE MUSIC

As much thought that party organizers put into music, a funny thing happened to me at one of our dinner parties. The music service was playing a list that ended and it started playing random songs. The songs that started playing were guilty pleasure songs, which people started singing to. The random guilty pleasure songs got strangers singing together, which was an unexpected yet delightful thing at the dinner party. So I would say to create a music list of fun songs that can lead to lots of late-night singing!

TIP 5: THE VENUE

Lately, I've really enjoyed dinner parties in my small condo downtown with Chef Bou, an up and coming chef that the restaurant group is developing future plans with. Chef Bou represented Mizu Izakaya at the RARE: Denver Steak Championship and won first place in the creative category, an awesome accomplishment especially since our expertise is sushi and Japanese food.  We've been holding small dinner parties with a few guests and restaurant industry friends to try new recipes, techniques, and a new cuisine that has yet to make it's debut in Colorado (I'll keep you posted as we do bring this cuisine to Denver). For me, while I love feeding people at the restaurants, at home the business aspect isn't there. The focus can be completely on a fun party.  For myself, the guests, and the restaurant industry these parties are really unique as Chef Bou is trying new recipes and techniques that may find their way to the menus at our restaurants. These dinner parties have taken on a name, The Lao Lab, as these interactive dinners are treated as a laboratory. A lot of exciting and new things are being developed at these dinner parties.

Johnny: @itsateacuplife

Mizu Izakaya: @mizudenver

The Lao Lab: @thelaolab