When a Wine Bar Reaches for Rum: Ada's One-Night Spirits + Supper

The Arts District's award-winning wine room sets its Burgundy aside this Thursday for a five-course dinner built entirely around rum, a rare detour for a list that has spent years collecting the wine world's attention.

A Wine Bar's One-Night Swap

Ada's has spent its run in the Las Vegas Arts District building a reputation as a serious wine address, the kind of room where the list gets as much attention as the plates. So it says something when that same restaurant decides, for a single Thursday evening, to set the wine aside entirely.

On July 23, 2026, Ada's is hosting Spirits + Supper, a five-course dinner built around rum rather than the bottles that usually anchor the room. Tickets run $75 per person before tax and gratuity, a price that puts the evening in reach for guests who might otherwise only visit for a glass and a shared plate.

It is a small gesture in the scheme of a full calendar year, but a telling one. A restaurant confident enough in its wine identity to step away from it, even briefly, is usually a restaurant that trusts its kitchen and its hosts to carry the night on personality alone.

The Team Pouring the Glass

The name attached to Ada's wine program is Kat Thomas, who goes by the Wine Goddess around the restaurant and holds the Advanced Sommelier credential. Originally from Atlantic City, Thomas moved to Las Vegas in 1997 and pivoted from a psychology degree into hospitality after landing an opening role at the Bellagio, where she was mentored by master sommelier Rob Bigelow.

From there she held wine director posts at Aria and at Sage, building the kind of resume that could anchor almost any serious cellar in town. She met owner James Trees at a wine bar during the pandemic, and what began as a casual conversation over a glass turned into an invitation to help run his own project. Roughly six years later, she is still there, still shaping the room in her own voice.

Behind the kitchen door, Executive Chef Jackson Stamper builds the seasonal shareable plates that give Thomas's pours something to talk to. It is a partnership built on restraint: food designed to support the glass rather than compete with it, a philosophy that will presumably carry over even into a night built around rum instead of wine.

A Cellar Built on Accolades

The wine program Thomas oversees has not gone unnoticed nationally. Wine Enthusiast named Ada's one of its Top 50 US Wine Restaurants in 2023, and Wine Spectator followed with an Award of Excellence in 2024. Most recently, World's Best Wine Lists recognized the list with its Most Original Wine List distinction in 2025, a rare honor that speaks to a cellar built on curiosity rather than blue-chip names alone.

That philosophy carries through to Ada's own membership structure, the Nine Lives Wine Society, a two-tier program built around personality traits like comfort, curiosity, elegance, and boldness rather than the usual points-and-vintage checklist. For guests chasing something rarer still, the restaurant also runs Cellar 27, a deeper reserve program for bottles that do not make it onto the printed list.

Taken together, it is a wine program that has earned the right to step away from itself for a night, confident that a rum-driven detour will read as playful rather than a departure from what the room does best.

Why a Wine Room Reaches for Spirits

One-off theme dinners have become something of a fixture on the Las Vegas calendar in 2026, from collaborative wine dinners at spots like Bar Boheme to seasonal tasting menus built around a single ingredient or region. A wine bar trading its own identity for rum, even briefly, fits neatly into that same instinct: give regulars a reason to book a Thursday they might otherwise skip, and give newcomers an easier, lower-stakes way to walk through the door.

For a room this decorated, the bigger signal may simply be confidence. A restaurant does not host a night away from its strength unless it trusts that strength to still be there waiting the next evening.

If a thoughtfully hosted evening built around pairing sounds like your idea of a good night out, we would love to set a table for you here at Pamplemousse Le Restaurant, where a considered glass is never far from whatever lands on the plate.

What Defines Ada's Wine Program

A quick look at the people, accolades, and programs behind the Arts District wine bar hosting this week's rum detour.

1. Spirits + Supper Rum Dinner: A one-night five-course dinner on July 23, 2026, trading the usual wine list for rum, priced at $75 per person before tax and gratuity.
2. Kat Thomas, the Wine Goddess: An Advanced Sommelier mentored by Bellagio's Rob Bigelow, with wine director stints at Aria and Sage before joining Ada's.
3. Executive Chef Jackson Stamper: Builds seasonal shareable plates meant to support the glass rather than upstage it.
4. Owner James Trees: Brought Thomas on after meeting her at a wine bar during the pandemic, and she has led the program roughly six years since.
5. Nine Lives Wine Society: A two-tier membership program curating pours around traits like comfort, curiosity, elegance, and boldness.
6. Cellar 27: A deeper reserve wine program for guests chasing bottles that never make it onto the printed list.
7. Wine Enthusiast Top 50, 2023: National recognition as one of the Top 50 US Wine Restaurants.
8. World's Best Wine Lists's Most Original List, 2025: A nod to a cellar built on discovery rather than blue-chip names alone.

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