Caroline on Crack | October 2011

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Monthly Archives: October 2011

October 27, 2011

This Halloween Weekend: Narnia at La Descarga, Candy & Wine Pairing, Extreme Tim Burton

I LOVE Halloween. Candy, scary movies, costumes — now that’s a good time right there.

Thursday, October 27

Werewolves of London Halloween Hotel Package
Partying in WeHo for Halloween? Grab a suite at the London. The hotel is doing a special Halloween package for the holiday now through November 1. Room rates start at $365 and you get two cocktails from the Halloween Witches Brew menu, an overnight parking spot, breakfast at Boxwood Cafe Breakfast Table and, since you’ll probably be out getting into shenanigans the night before, a late 2pm checkout.

Through November 1. Starting at $365. London, 1020 North San Vicente Boulevard, West Hollywood (map). Reservations: (866) 282-4560

Friday, October 28

HallowedVine: Candy and Wine Pairing at Vintage
Enjoy Halloween candy like a grown-up: with a wine pairing! Vintage Enoteca has paired Halloween faves like candy corn and smarties with Viognier and Muscat Blanc. Hmm, what does the sugar blues paired with intoxication feel like I wonder? Other pairings include Raisinets & M&Ms with Merlot, Snickers & Junior Mints with Grenache Noir.

Friday-Monday. $25. Vintage Enoteca, 7554 W. Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles (map). (323) 512-5278.

La Descarga’s Narnia Halloween 2011
A rum bar turned Narnia wonderland for Halloween. La Descarga will be transformed into that storybook land with burlesque dancers and the house band putting scenes from the story to musical life. There will be guest DJs and live music by Saint Motel. Best part is that there will be a super premium open bar with Halloween cocktails and punch bowls. Only thing is that there is a 125-person max and naturally costumes are required.

Friday and Saturday. $100. La Descarga, 1159 N Western Avenue, Los Angeles (map). Reservations: narniahalloween[at]gmail.com.

Glow Ultra Lounge’s Halloween Costume Ball
I admit it, the one thing that caught my eye today about this party at the marina is the dessert candy bar. For $20-$30 you get hors d’oeuvres and a costume contest with a $300 grand prize. Drinks aren’t included but they have “cheap drink specials.”

8pm-2am. $20 advanced, $30 door. Glow Ultra Lounge, 4100 Admiralty Way, Marina Del Rey (map).

Villains Tavern’s and The One Eyed Gypsy’s Dark Carnival II
This sounds like it’s going to be an epic party: 12 live bands on the outdoor stage , a food court, eight punchbowl spirits with Milagro Tequila and Sailor Jerry’s Rum, and two outdoor bars. If that’s not enough fun for you, there will also be Foosball and Giant Jenga, Tarot card and palm readings, photobooth AND snacks like the infamous bacon caramel popcorn as well as cotton candy. Pfew! A free Haunted Shuttle will transport party-goers from the two venues which are just a mile apart. A portion of the proceeds will go to Sunset Free Clinic.

Friday 7pm-1am and Saturday 12pm-1am. Free admission. Villains Tavern, 1356 Palmetto Street, Downtown (map).

Saturday, October 29

Pumpkin-palooza at Blue Palms Brewhouse
Pumpkin ale gets a bum rap from beer snobs but leave it to Blue Palms Brewhouse to pick some tasty ones for its pumpkin beer event, like 2010 Beer Valley Jackalope Imperial Pumpkin Porter Ale, Dogfish Head Punkin and Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin, in addition to fall treats like The Bruery’s Barrel-Aged Autumn Maple and Midnight Sun Treat. The event will also have pumpkin-focused food like pumpkin quesadillas and smoked pumpkin seeds!

2pm. Blue Palms Brewhouse, 6124 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood (map). (323) 464-2337.

Halloween Horror and Hooch at Neat
If you don’t win my giveaway for the exclusive Halloween party at Neat on Sunday, get in on Saturday for the public blowout. $10 at the door gets you a Dirty and Dangerous cocktail or Wychwood Brewery beer. There will be a DJ to keep you boo-gying as well as a costume contest for what I’m told will be some “kickass prizes.”

9pm. $10. Neat, 1114 N. Pacific Avenue, Glendale (map).

Sunday, October 30

Tim Burton Exhibit’s Open for 38 Hours Straight at LACMA
The Tim Burton Exhibit at LACMA draws to a close but in celebration of what has to be the director’s favorite holiday, the museum will run the exhibit for 38 hours straight! If you haven’t visited it yet, Halloween AM would be the perfect time as tickets are half-price from 12am to 9am.

10am Sunday to 12am Tuesday. LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles (map).

Nightmare on Elm Street and Eagle Rock Brewery at Barnsdall
Man, I love scary movie nights, especially scary movie nights with great brews to drink. Barnsdall is doing a special showing of Nightmare on Elm Street (filmed at our local Marshall High) and Eagle Rock Brewery will be providing the beer while City Sip pours the wine. And munch on fare from food trucks Heirloom LA and Border Grill truck.

Doors open at 5pm. $25. Barnsdall, 4800 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles (map).

Monday, October 31

Halloween Makeup Makeover at Ciel Spa
Is doing your own makeup the hardest part of your costume? Have the pros do it at Ciel Spa in the SLS Hotel. The spa has partnered up with Makeup Mandy, “eyelash bar to the stars” and will be offering lashes for $30, hair extensions like feathers and bling for $12 and full face makeup starting at $180.

Now through Monday. Ciel Spa at SLS Hotel, 465 South La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles (map). Appointments: (310) 246-5560 or on the site.

Categories: Art, Beauty & Fashion, Beer, Cocktails, Dining, Lists, Los Angeles, Movies, Nightlife, Sweets

Giveaway: Degenerates’ Halloween Ball at Neat With Open Premium Bar, Live Music, Bar Stars, Costume Attack

Believe me, Aidan Demarest knows how to throw a party.

Still don’t have plans for Halloween weekend, you procrastinator you? Yeah, I’m the same way. Well how about partying down en costume with L.A.’s hottest bar stars at Aidan Demarest’s new Glendale bar, Neat, this Sunday, All Hallow’s Eve eve? For this Degenerates Ball we’re talking OPEN premium bar (hosted by Cointreau!), nosh by Currywurst, a DJ, live French band and a costume contest! Best part is that you meet up at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery first and board a bus to the bar. Hold me!

The bad news for Joe Average is that this shindig isn’t open to the public and only those on the guest list can board the bus.

So why am I even telling you about it? Because I have TWO pairs of passes to give away! You win it and this awesome spirited spooky night is yours for the drinking.

***CONTEST CLOSED***

To win you must do the following:

Have a Facebook account.
Post on my CoC FB page what your Halloween costume is (you must have one to attend or else the attendees will dress you on the bus) and tag Neat and my page. (That’s how I know you liked our pages.) If you still don’t know what you’re going to dress as you can tell me about what was your best costume ever.
Sit back and wait to get a message from me on Friday morning around 10am telling you that you won. I’ll drop all the entries into Random.org and pick a winner. Check your Facebook email, my pretties! If I don’t hear back from you by 11am I’ll have to draw another winner and then you’ll be sad.

But if you don’t win this giveaway, not to fret! Aidan’s throwing a Halloween party on Saturday. It’s $10 at the door and you get a cocktail or beer, dj and dance floor and entry into the costume contest.

EVENT: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30 at 7pm

Neat
1114 N Pacific Avenue
Glendale, California 91202 (map)

Categories: Cocktails, Los Angeles, Nightlife

1 Comment

October 25, 2011

Dive Barfly Reports on Macallan Tasting at Exclusive 10 Pound Bar in Beverly Hills

Have you smelled anything finer? Photo by David Kleeman (@kleemo)

Ever since 10 Pound (£10), the Macallan exclusive bar, opened up at the Montage Beverly Hills earlier this year, I’ve been dying to get my grubby, unmanicured hands on its Scotch glasses. But since I’m on a broke girl budget, I could only fantasize about hitting up this reservations-only bar with its $50 minimum.

So when an invite to a special Macallan event came my way I impetuously said, “Yes! Yes! Oh yes!” Unfortunately I had completely forgotten that I was going out of town that same night. Argh! Not wanting this coveted invitation to go to waste I asked my friend, David (@kleemo) if he minded drinking fine Scotch in a private Beverly Hills bar for me. Unsurprisingly he acquiesced. Turns out he had a date scheduled that night but the two didn’t mind the fancy detour.

Roja Dove Macallan box by David Kleeman (@kleemo)

This box was 2 years in the making and is composed of scents of vanilla, tropical fruit and a floral note blend with a bit of spice behind it. Photo by David Kleeman (@kleemo)

Bonus for me is that David is a photographer so I knew he’d do a great job capturing the atmosphere of the event and lounge. And I liked the fact that David’s not a blogger or a scene-y kind of guy. In fact he prefers dive bars so his POV would be refreshing. He had worried that the Macallan and 10 Pound folks would be able to smell the dive bar on him but turned out fine. “(I initially got the ‘we’re better than you because we’re wearing ties’ vibe), not really (I got over it)…,” he texted me the night of the event.

A $30 Vieux Carre. Photo by David Kleeman (@kleemo)

The Macallan party was to introduce an aroma oil kit created by parfumer Roja Dove to “describe the essence of The Macallan in Spanish oak and in American oak.” Guests would get to sniff and taste all things Macallan as well as snack on bites meant to complement the premium Scotch. Yes, tres fancy indeed. My assignment for David: just take pictures to give me a sense of the event, especially the bar. But he gave me his notes, too. Here are the highlights, including his texts. (Yes, never text me anything you don’t want posted on my blog, heh.)

“This place is crazy fancy!”

“Well I’m drunk so… ;) pretty interesting. Very intimate place. I’m taking notes for later. Everyone here knows you!”

“I think we drank about $200 in free drinks so…score!”

“It was fun! Whiskey was great, of course, and the event made it seem even more so. Honestly, I was left with a little bit of a ‘so now what’ feeling, though…like they spent two years and who knows how much money to create a scent box that creates scents that hearken to the Macallan…which I could just go ahead and smell directly. I was expecting them to make some parallels (as they do with wine when doing similar things) to odor and how the spills would bring out the taste of the oak or something, but they made no mention of it. What I DID like, though, was that they took a jab at wine reviewers and said how they WEREN’T going to describe their scotch as having oaky undertones, etc. etc…it was funny.

“At any rate, I was talking about this with my date (who’s a big Macallan drinker…she LOVED the event, by the way!), and she had a more informed opinion. She said the point is that ‘it’s romancing your Scotch.’ A pretty good synopsis I think.”

So does David see himself coming back to the ol’ 10 Pound? “It felt refined and special…I could def see spending a quiet evening with great Scotch and scintillating conversation there, dressed up and enjoying the good life!”

But what did he do after the party? Hit up the Burgundy Room in Hollywood of course. Way to keep it real, David!

More photos after the jump.

£10
225 N Canon Drive
Beverly Hills, California 90212 (map)
(310) 860-5808

Categories: Featured, Los Angeles, Nightlife

3 Comments

October 20, 2011

This Weekend: Whiskey Schooling, Boilermaker Tasting, Tequila Dinner

Friday, October 21

Neat’s Distilleries Series 1
Aidan Demarest has managed some of the best bars in L.A. and in turn formed great relationships with distilleries. Now that he has what he calls the “hottest little Fotomat in Glendale” he’s kicking off a distilleries series at his new bar Neat. The finest distillers from all over will swing by and give walk-throughs of their spirits. This week is a Q&A with High West Distilleries, Utah’s finest whiskey. RSVP here.

2pm. Neat, 1114 Pacific Avenue, Glendale (map).

The Beer Chicks’ Late Night Penny Boilermaker Preview Tasting at 8th Street Bottle Shop
The Beer Chicks will be taking the Boilermaker to the next level by pairing fancy beers from their 8th Street Bottle Shop with complex whiskies at Schmeven Schmand. For a sneaky peek/taste at the roster of two-step cocktails, stop by their beer store in Golden Gopher tomorrow night at 11pm where whisky expert Johnny the Scot will also be on hand to tell us why this is an awesome thing. And on Tuesday at 7G they’ll be serving up the Boilermakers which are made to be shared with friends. Fun and yum!

11pm-1am. 8th Street Bottle Shop, 417 W. 8th Street, Downtown (map).

Sunday, October 23

3rd Annual LA Beer Week Beer Festival
Waaah! So sad that LA Beer Week is coming to an end. I think I need closure. Fortunately, closure will come in the form of a beer fest at the beautiful Union Station downtown. There, beer lovers will partake of over 70 craft breweries from all over the world. Good stuff featured will include rare beers as well as brews that were only available for beer week.

12-4pm. Union Station, 800 N Alameda Street, Downtown (map).

Los Angeles Magazine’s Food Event 2011
Such a fancy food fest what with the gorgeous venue at the Saddlerock Ranch in Malibu. Fine wine, lots of great food and llamas! Seriously, this is one of my fave food events and I’m sorry I’ll have to miss it this year. Here are my pics from last year’s. For this sixth annual event, they’ll have restaurants like Black Market Liquor Bar, Fonuts, Lukshon, Picca, Playa and so much more offering noms for guests to stuff their faces with. Grab a glass and peruse the grounds of this ranch, which is home to Malibu Family Wines, while feasting on some of the best food. Where flats, though, else your heels sink into the grass.

1-4pm. $95-$100. Saddlerock Ranch, 31727 Mulholland Highway, Malibu (map).

Tuesday, October 25

Ford’s Filling Station Partida Tequila Dinner
Ready for a dinner pairing other than with wine or beer? Ford’s Filling Station has created a special 5-course tasting menu to be paired with Tequila Partida. For $55, guests get the dinner by Chef Gavin Lansdale and Chef Ben Ford, a 3-flight pairing of Tequila Partida plus two specialty cocktails created by Partida Brand Ambassador Jacques Bezuidenhout.

6pm. $55. Ford’s Filling Station, 9531 Culver Boulevard, Culver City (map). RSVP: (310) 202-1470.

Categories: Dining, Lists, Los Angeles

I Won My Very Own Leblon Cachaça Bartender for the Day

Lookie what I won!

I’ve always wanted to throw a cocktail party where I had my very own bartender for the evening. I wouldn’t have to worry about my guests going thirsty (read: sober) and it would just make things extra class-ay. But when I won Liquor.com/Leblon Cachaça‘s Win Your Own Caipirinha Party where I scored my own caipirinha-making bartender for two hours, I had only invited about 10 people. Primarily because I was told that I could only invite up to 10 people. Yeah, wuuut?

So I invited a group of friends who I KNEW could put it away: my food blogging friends. Hey, bloggers can draaank! Anyway, Busy Beth, EstarLA, LA/OC Foodie, Mattatouille, Squashblossom as well as a couple of civilians (shout out to Dre and Joanne) showed up at my place Sunday at 2pm.

Eyes Wide Shut Caipirinha party.

Our bartender du jour, a handsome young fella named Jayson Carvalho had already set up a bar in my kitchen, complete with an ingredients caddy of mangos, figs and limes as well as CDs of Brazilian music, green glittery masks and recipe pamphlets for the guests.

I felt bad that he had such a great layout and only eight people to make drinks for. “Yeah, usually people invite 20 or so to these things,” he said. “Wuuut?! I could have invited more people?” I replied, kicking myself when I realized I could have scheduled a Brazilian-themed Halloween or housewarming party around this. Bah! But then I got over it. It was nice having an intimate cocktail party with my friends.

We hung out in the kitchen with Jayson while he made us a variety of Caipirinhas — mango, fig, mango-fig, and traditional. He said he could also make mojitos but we stuck to the Caipirinhas. And boy, did we keep that guy busy. Even with just the eight of us, he was making drinks nonstop, save for one little lull as we took a collective deep breath and dove in again. I was just happy that we were drinking at my place. Heh.

In any case, all the cocktails were pretty good, a tad sweeter than I usually prefer but perfect for a Sunday afternoon. The group’s standout favorite was the Fig Newton Caipirinha. Mm, figs! It was a little sweeter than the mangos but then again the mangos, Jayson admitted, weren’t all that ripe. What’s perfect is that these are so easy to make at home.

The fave of the day: Fig Caipirinha

Leblon Cachaça’s Fig Newton Caipirinha

1 1/2 oz Leblon Cachaça
1/4 oz Fresh Lime Juice
1/4 oz Simple Syrup
1/2 Fig
Ginger Ale

Muddle fig with simple syrup and shake all ingredients over ice. Top with ginger ale and served on the rocks. Easy peasy!

In case you wondered just what is Cachaça (kuh-sha-suh), it’s been classified by the U.S. as a Brazilian rum but it’s really its own thing. Where rum is made from molasses, Cachaça is made from fresh sugar cane. So there’s this “Legalize Cachaça” movement to get the spirit’s identity recognized instead of lumped together with rum.

Thanks again, Leblon Cachaça for Jayson and his nommy Caipirinhas! Now I can’t ever throw a party without having my own bartender. Can he live in my kitchen? Please?

Hey out there, if you had your own Leblon Cachaça bartender, what kind of party would you have thrown?

Categories: Cocktails, Los Angeles

4 Comments

October 18, 2011

Oldfield’s Liquor Room: Time To Move Into the Era of Sophistication in Palms

Can you hear the shakers, Armando?

Oldfield’s Liquor Room in Palms/Culver City opens this Friday in the old Saints & Sinners spot. Those who remember the 1933 Group‘s den of iniquity wouldn’t recognize it now, though. Gone is that white rock fire pit, the naughty wallpaper in the back room and, most importantly that cocktail menu with drinks involving energy drink and flaming shots of cinnamon schnapps. “[S&S] was too much of a crazy party and it just kind of burned itself out,” said owner Bobby Green.

Manager Jared Mort with owner Bobby Green.

“And besides, I’m getting older, the same people who were drinking here for 10 years are getting older. It was time to move into the era of sophistication. The madness and the debauchery are over, now we can all be adults,” he continued.

The new streamlined diner-esque bar, a tribute to Barry Oldfield — a world-famous speed racer from the 1900s who raced and was buried in Culver City — now boasts a well-crafted menu created by bartenders from the Sporting Life, a Los Angeles-based bartenders and cocktail enthusiasts club. Here, you’ll find Armando Conway from La Descarga, Aaron Stepka from A-Frame and Rivera and Robin Jackson from Club Mallard in the Bay Area.

The spirits used here are only the best. Gone are the soda guns which are now replaced with, gasp, actual bottled soda like Fever Tree Ginger Beer. And like any good cocktail bar the menu will change with the seasons offering fresh ingredients and the bartenders make all the syrups themselves. Bobby credits the staff for the great menu. “They make their own ginger beer, root beer, all their own shrubs, own bitters, own reductions.”

The drinks are classic-based with some takes on old favorites like the Manhattan and Pink Lady. Hit the jump for the amazing-looking menu. The Dauntless with Bols Genever, Poire Williams, lime, housemade falernum, Fever Tree Ginger Beer is delicieuse!

A nice place to grab a classy drink. Just make sure you're dressed nice.

There will also be some nosh available as well in the form of little “European-type” sandwiches by Chester Hastings, author of The Cheesemonger’s Kitchen and formerly the cheese guy at Joan’s on Third. This month’s selection includes Challerhocker cheese with rosemary and apricot mostarda as well as Valhrona Bittersweet chocolate with extra virgin olive oil and sea salt. About 50 will be prepped before the bar opens each night and when they run out, they run out. Pricing is still tentative though. “We haven’t picked a price, maybe they will be free. We open on Friday so we have a whole week to figure it out,” Bobby said. If you’re not into bready sandwiches, you might be able to order/bring in food from nearby restaurants like you can at the other 1933 bars. But this is still under consideration.

Other things that are still pending are whether Oldfield’s will have a dress code and a reservations-only system. “We’re at a point in our career where we don’t have to pack people in and try and make as much money anymore,” Bobby explains.

“I want everyone to get served. I don’t want anyone to wait an hour for a drink, and those drinks take awhile to make. We might just let a certain amount of people in. We don’t know the number yet because this is only our third night of practice. But we’ll probably do reservations and some walk-ins and figure out the perfect number so everyone’s happy.”

So on Friday when the bar opens, Bobby suggests that people just show up, “but dress nice…no shirts, no flipflops, no sports gear.” Showing up early is a good way to go, too. And if you can’t get in this time, there’s always 1933′s whiskey-serious bar, Bigfoot West, within stumbling distance down Venice Boulevard.

The bar opens this Friday, October 21 at 5pm.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Oldfield’s Liquor Room
10899 Venice Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90034 (map)
(310) 842-8066
Facebook: Oldfields Liquor Room
Twitter: @Oldfields_bar

Categories: Cocktails, Los Angeles, Nightlife

16 Comments

October 14, 2011

Villains Tavern’s New Fall Cocktail Menu: Strange Spirits Warm Your Soul

Ah, autumn. I'll drink to that!

Last night Villains Tavern mixmaster Dave Whitton invited me to the downtown bar for a private unveiling of his new fall cocktail menu. “The majority of the list is herbal and smoky. I went with stuff that was gonna be more off the grains and less of the normal kinds of creams,” he said. So less creamy liqueurs, less heaviness. I can dig that. Think butternut squash at the Thanksgiving table and the smell of wood fires, NOT a bag of Halloween candy, especially not that Mellocreme pumpkin candies.

We started off the tasting with the lightest in the lineup: the Lady of the Lake, which is made with a spirit Dave found at Barkeeper in Silver Lake. “We were running through bottles we hadn’t tried so me and Joe [Keeper, BK's owner] were just going back and forth,” he says. And he seemed really excited about his find which hasn’t been used in any cocktails, at least that we know of.

Lady of the Lake: Pur-Geist, fresh lime, bitters

Pur-Geist, Dave says, is actually a beer, which I couldn’t believe after sipping the spirit. Having just had some very strong beers at Firestone Walker’s Deconstructed event the night before, this one possessed more of the kick of hard liquor and none of the thickness of the most potent bocks out there. “They make it the same way they make beer with the malted barley,” said Dave.

The Lady of the Lake cocktail was very straightforward and simple. Its strong flavor was smoothed out by the lime and bitters. The finely grinded smoked sea salt over the rim (not rimmed like a margarita, mind you) accented the oceanic flavor of the spirit. If you’re looking for something different and spirit focused, this is a good one to sip on. Although, it’s so light, I could easily drink a pint glass of the stuff. But then would need some help off my bar stool.

Lady Percy: Tullamore Dew, stewed pear cider, honey, lime, chocolate chili bitters, cinnamon stick

Lady Percy, a hot cocktail of pear cider goodness, was my absolute favorite off the list. Turns out it’s Dave’s favorite, too. Apparently, he went through six different pears to find the right flavor for this drink. Finally he settled on a combination of six Barlett pears with one Korean pear to get all that sweetness. And for spice, it relies on just a lone cinnamon stick. “I wasn’t going for spices,” says Dave. “Most ciders you’re going to find lots of big body spices in there. This one doesn’t really have a lot of spice. I really just wanted to bring out the pear itself.” And the result is a nicely balanced hot cider cocktail, not too much booze or too much sweet apple/pear-ness. It was the one cocktail that I really had a hard time putting down during the tasting. Would be perfect to warm your hands (and your soul) during a rainy day.

Dastardly Whiplash: Metl Mezcal, chamomile syrup, Yellow Chartreuse, citrus, egg whites and grapefruit bitters.

Although its dangerous-sounding name may cause you to shy away from the Dastardly Whiplash, it’s actually a very drinkable, frothy mezcal cocktail. And that’s due to the Metl mezcal, according to Dave. “It’s so light but still had so much flavor in the middle without being super smoky like so many mezcals,” he said. Marry that to his chamomile syrup, Yellow Chartreuse and citrus and it’s an entry-level mezcal drink for those who shied away from the smokey spirit in the past. “This is acceptable for those people who really like tequila but want a little bit more body and a little bit more to bite on. But it was subtle enough for me to mix with it and accent it and blend it well without you going, ‘I KNOW mezcal’s in here.’”

What I really enjoyed about Dave’s cocktails is that they’re all simple but with great, unique flavors. The Cacophony cocktail (top picture) is like no spicy Manhattan you’ve tasted what with its Russell’s Rye, Cardamaro, honey, Swedish herb bitters and basil leaf. That Cardamaro’s liqueurness lingers, leaving a mintyness at the tip of your tongue. Weird and neat!

Zodiac: Zaya Rum, butternut squash-organic brown sugar syrup, ginger, lime, sparkling water and nutmeg

While the Zodiac is a spin on a Mule and tastes like pie without that ubersweetness. “I didn’t have to throw in bitters because the Zaya already has those herbal elements running through it. The butternut squash combined with the ginger and a little hint of nutmeg gave it that herbal flavor that we were looking for that runs through the entire menu,” Dave said.

I liked the cocktail for the most part save for the lime which I found too astringent. But then again I’m always superaware of when lime is used in a cocktail. Otherwise it’s a great drink that I can see enjoyed apres Thanksgiving.

The only cocktails I wasn’t too crazy about, and I told Dave this, were the Sweeney Todd — a hot vodka cocktail that tasted more of tea than anything — and the Headless Horseman — a dessert cocktail that’s heavy on the cream. But if you’re seeking a drink that doesn’t taste of booze go for the Todd; or if you want to follow up your dinner with something sweet, you have the Horseman.

It’s still warm out but Dave said that Villains is better prepared for the cold weather than it was last year, what with its new roof on the patio. Plus it has heaters out there so if it’s a cold and rainy day, you shouldn’t let that stop you from enjoying a cocktail. Especially when we’re talking about the Lady Percy. Mmm!

The fall cocktail drinks are available now.

Halloween Happening: For Halloween weekend, Villains’ party is spreading out into its parking lot, showcasing 14 bands! Keep an eye on the bar’s site for more details.

Villains Tavern
1356 Palmetto Street
Los Angeles, California 91003 (map)
(213) 613-0766
Facebook: Villains Tavern
Twitter: @Villains_Tavern

Categories: Cocktails, Featured, Los Angeles

1 Comment