Xania Woodman
Nightlife Editor
Graduating in 2000 from Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration with a concentration in Food & Beverage, Xania Woodman, 30, waited out the dot-com boom (and consequent bust...) by cooking and waiting tables at an Ithaca, NY martini bar and leading wine tastings in the Cayuga Lake wine country. In June of 2001 she put her degree into action by moving to Vegas, arriving just in time for the explosion of the Vegas nightlife industry.
After assistant managing at Club Rio inside the Rio Hotel & Casino and later managing Shadow Bar inside Caesars Palace, Xania left operations and found love in the arms of publishing. The affair began with her nightlife website TheCircuitLV.com and progressed with her column Nights On The Circuit, featured in the Las Vegas Weekly alternative newspaper. Xania's writing has since been declared "edgy and modern" and "wildly entertaining" by the Nevada Press Association. And so it is.
Today, Xania, one of 2007's "Top 30 Under 30" is the Las Vegas Weekly's nightlife editor, a consultant, and a freelance writer with an overly-ambitious to-do list; she has written for the LA Times, OK!, Us Weekly, Remix and on AOL's VegasPopular.com, and her work has also appeared in Greenspun Media Group publications Las Vegas Life and on Vegas.com. Xania is currently the Vegas Editor for UrbanDaddy.com and recently completed her contribution to the nightlife section of the The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas 2009, her first book appearance. She has guest-judged countless cocktail competitions including the Food Network's "Throwdown With Bobby Flay" and the United States Bartenders Guild's regional and national finals, painted the town red with MTV Australia's show "Full Tank" and appears regularly on LasVegasWeekly.com to present "Xania's Clubinar", a tongue-in-cheek look at the Vegas nightlife landscape.
When not covering a red carpet affair or chasing down exclusives in a cocktail dress, Xania volunteers with the Las Vegas Jewish Federation, Homeless Helpers, New Vista Community, and the Cornell Hotel Society.
Xania's favorite cocktail is Ketel One, rocks, dirty, three olives. Please.
Recent Stories (view all stories)
- The Bearded Clam
- Frankie's Tiki Room, $8 a la carte; $15 for the mug alone; $20 for both
- Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008
- A verrry distant cousin of the Mojito, the Caipirinha and the Batida is the Bearded Clam, created by Frankie's Tiki Room by bartender Alice Hartling. This one gets two skulls on Frankie's five-skull potency rating.
- In with the old
- Annual barstool musings at the start of a new year
- Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008
- Manhattan’s Pegu Club is heaven for this confirmed cocktailian, but rather than St. Peter wielding his keys to heaven, I’m met by a duo of bartenders wielding mighty muddlers and bar spoons.
- Booze, schmooze and Jews
- These are a few of my favorite things
- Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2008
- On a prominent VIP table, a massive menorah blazes, a first in VIP-table history, I’d imagine.
- French '09
- By bartender/mixologist Andrew Pollard, Noir Bar, Luxor
- Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2008
- Noir mixologist Andrew Pollard was given carte blanche by the Weekly to come up with the dreamiest cocktail possible for your big holiday soiree.
- The ultimate New Year's Eve guide
- with a little something for everyone
- Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2008
- A head-spinning, calendar-filling, dizzying line-up of New Year's parties to satisfy every taste and party style.
- Snow Day
- By mixologist Niles Peacock, Charlie Trotter, Palazzo
- Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008
- Everything tastes better when it's homemade, especially around the holidays. Last week, mixologist Niles Peacock showed the Weekly how he makes his famous Madagascar Vanilla Bean Cello (like Limoncello only vanilla!) in his home kitchen
- Getting Misty-eyed
- Celebrating five—no, wait!—six years at Mist
- Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008
- Celebrating its five-year staff reunion juuuust in time before turning six, the itty-bitty 1,500-square-foot Mist Lounge is bustling as usual, with drinks being briskly served, consumed and refreshed, again, as usual.
- At what price, love?
- Sugar daddies neither scrimping nor skimping during crunch time
- Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008
- Last Wednesday I should have attended a very special get-together at Rain, one bringing together two equally special groups of people: sugar daddies/mamas and sugar babies.
- Le Bohemia
- Sidebar, 3rd Street and Ogden
- Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008
- When lead bartender Jerry Vargas met tall, lychee-sweet St-Germain liqueur, well, it was love at first sip, and he was inspired to employ it to build upon a classic gin cocktail, the French 75.
- Into thin air
- Vanished from the nightlife landscape
- Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008
- “What do you mean they’re gone?” I don’t often find myself chit-chatting about Vegas’ aquatic citizens, but there’s no denying it—the piranha tanks at Piranha Nightclub are piranha-less.
Xania's Hot Spots - This Week's Special Events
- LMFAO at Don't Sweat the Sweatsuit Party at Pure (Tuesday, Jan. 06)
- The Frail and the Lazystars at Wasted Space (Tuesday, Jan. 06)
- Local Love at Satellite Bar at Moon (Tuesday, Jan. 06)
