A bar on the east side of downtown Dallas is hosting some cocktail big-shots in a two-night pop-up. The bar is Ginger’s, the cocktail lounge in the subterranean level of Downtown Dallas’ East Quarter, and it will host Happy Accidents, an award-winning bar from Albuquerque, NM, on August 12-13, from 6-11 pm.

Happy Accidents is owned by Kate Gerwin and Blaze Montana, and it won "Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar” at the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards in 2022, plus an award for best bar team, plus an award for bar of the year, plus other award-winning awards.

Gerwin has been in the industry for 20-plus years and has won even more awards single-handedly on her own, including being named by Drinks International as one of the industry's "Top 100 Most Influential Figures in the World" from 2019-2023. She was also a finalist on the Netflix reality competition series Drinkmasters.

Happy Accidents is known for maintaining a large cocktail menu with 40-plus drinks featuring unexpected ingredients and spirits distilled in-house such as Oreo-distilled gin, mushroom-infused tequiliana and mezcal, and green tea-infused whiskey.

As the photo above shows, Ginger’s provides a sophisticated setting for the event with its art deco decor, cozy U-shaped leather booths, and marble-topped walnut bar.

Truly, the best thing about the Bar Takeover by Happy Accidents — aside from all the awards — is the hours: It's on weeknights, early in the week, when less people are out and about: namely Monday and Tuesday. And everyone knows that Monday is a big service industry night, so there'll probably be lots of Dallas bartenders in attendance, and really, what a fun group those people are.

It's also nice and early: from 6 pm to 11 pm. Home by midnight! Good times.

The other key information on this event is the menu. The names of the drinks, like the drinks themselves, are very much extra. Time to roll out the bullets:

• Living on a Pear - vodka, manzanilla sherry, lemon, pear, pear smoke bubble
• Happy Little Accidents - Li Hing Mui infused rum, tequila, guava, lemon, passionfruit foam
• Corn Colada - rum, coconut, pineapple, sweet corn
• Hey Handsome - cedar whiskey, artichoke amaro, sweet vermouth, xtabentun
• Australian Banana Association - gin, banana, eucalyptus, soda water
• Pizza on the Beach at Sunrise - mezcal, absinthe, dry vermouth, tomato, coconut, basil, balsamic

Will a customer really go up to the bar and say, "I'll have the Pizza on the Beach at Sunrise"? I feel it'll be more like, "I'll have that Pizza-whatever-whatever drink, please."

Sushi | Bar & Ginger’s co-owner Ryan Stock says in a statement that they're honored to have the Happy Accidents team on-site.

"It’s a great opportunity for our guests and colleagues alike to be able to capture a taste of these incredible programs, in Dallas!" he says.