So Dre and I were jonesin’ for cocktails and we didn’t know why, and then we realized it was because we hadn’t visited our fave bartender, Steve, at Ford’s in over a month! Gasp! So last night we were finally able to pay him a visit and were greeted with such enthusiasm that we felt bad we had been away for so long. Thomas, the bar manager, was just as overly friendly, laying a big wet kiss on my lips when we walked in the door — he has a thing for brunettes.
“Thomas has a bunch of new cocktails he’s teaching us!” Steve said with glee. “Oh yeahhhh? Like what?” we asked, intrigued. He proceeded to describe the Burning Man ($10), his favorite drink ev-uh! Not to be confused with Katsuya’s Burning Mandarin. It’s made of Absolut Pepper, a splash of OJ and a dash of tabasco with sugar on the rim. Steve offered this only to Dre at first since she’s the one who loves exotic drinks, while he fixed me up a hazelnut, banana, chocolate, butterscotch concoction, which tasted like you would expect it to. “I want the Burning Man for the next drink,” I told him.
So I hurriedly downed the sweet drink so I could start on the Burning Man. Steve delivered it with his usual reverent flourish. The cocktail was garnished with a slice of orange and a bit of sugar on the glass rim, a nice contrast to the spiciness I was about to experience.
The first sip cleared my sinuses, the next sip cleared my pores. The cocktail was soo spicy that it slightly burned going down my throat, but in a good way. Really. The sugar cut the bite of that spiciness a bit. It was surprisingly yummy and I usually like to reserve my hot spice for food and not refreshments. But here, it worked.
On a random note, Dre told Thomas he should rename the drink the “Burning Manhood.”
It’s not on the menu yet, but apparently it will show up soon with a bunch of other new liquid pleasures. However, you can probably still ask the boys for a taste.
9531 Culver Boulevard
Culver City, California 90230
(310) 202-1470
Cross Street: Washington Boulevard
Hours: Mon-Fri 11am-11pm; Sat 5pm-11pm
3 CHEERS for the “Burning ManHOOD” :)
Soooo good…sooo good…sooo good! They even made a YUMMY Bloody Mary-tini for me with the Absolut Pepper that was to die for! And I’m not big on Bloody Mary’s either..go figure!
I think we need a bottle of this to add to the ‘ol wetbar :)
Maybe the drink should be named Dean Phoenix.
BTW, Happy Chinese New Year! The year of the pig starts tomorrow.
I love the idea of the Burning Manhood! But sadly, I have to say that I had the worst service I’ve had in YEARS at Ford’s – and I had to send my drink back it was so bad. Oh well… Nice atmosphere though!
Scarlett, Really? which drink did you have and who served you? That sucks.
Well, I should say that I first had the coffee (cappucino?) martini and it was AMAZING. But not wanting too much caffeine, I asked for something different the second time around. The waitress said the bartender could make me something special, so I described the sort of flavors I liked, and the waitress went off to get it. I didn’t end up liking it in the end, which is no great tragedy, but she never came back. We were actually having dinner, so that was sort of annoying. When I was able to get her attention and ask for a different drink, she became so irritated that she pretended to be off duty and assigned us another server!! She said “He made something special for you” as if he’d distilled the vodka himself with me in mind. I was like “well, I didn’t ask him to…I didn’t end up liking it. I think I’d prefer someting safer and boring like an apple martini.” This incensed her. Her name was Ursula and I swear I’ve not had such bad service in years.
I assure you that the service you experienced has changed drastically. The new cocktail menu, dinner menu and new team are really making quite a difference.
[...] But I wanted a drink now and ordered up the Burning Mango martini — mango vodka, slivers of jalapeno, lemon and orange juice and a dash of peach bitters served in a sugar-rimmed martini glass. Suffice it to say it was gooood. It wasn’t too spicy like Ford’s Burning Man where my throat was set on fire but spicy enough to give it a kick and make my mouth water. I had to make sure I didn’t suck it down too fast in my enthusiasm. [...]