At the new downtown LA Villains Tavern, which opened just last month, it’s not about the cocktails for me, rather it’s all about that groovy outdoor bar where they only serve beer and mix-and-match beer and shots! Yes, if you don’t feel like waiting in line at the indoor bar for a cocktail, just step outside to the bar on the side patio.
You can flashback to those college years of pounding shots or create your own premium version of a Boilmaker.
For $8 you have your choice of 20 beers and 20 shots. Hmm, PBR with Wild Turkey Rye? Racer 5 IPA with Fernet Branca? Tecate with Camarena Reposado? The possibilities are deliciously endless, unless, of course, you misjudge a match like I did with the Fernet and Woodchuck Apple Cider. Blech! What was I thinking? That herbaliness did not go well with the apple as I had thought it would. Oh well, you live, you learn.
Big spenders may want to opt for the “premium” beer like Maredsous 10, Chimay and Affligem. That’ll set you back $14.
I feel compelled to go back and see if I can come up with. What do you think would be a good mix?
Outdoor bar
Front patio
Villains Tavern
1356 Palmetto
Los Angeles, California 91003 (map)
(213) 613-0766
OMG, so happy that I found the Shady Lady Saloon in Sacramento. Ya see, my folks still live in Sacto so I have to visit on occasion but have resigned myself to breweries and dive bars for tippling. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; I just have to go without a good Manhattan during my visits is all. But just this past weekend, when I was hanging out with an ol’ high school chum at East Sacramento’s Club Raven, a really cool dive bar by the way, and lamented about the dearth of handcrafted cocktails in our capital, she mentioned the Shady Lady.
Manhattan
This speakeasy bar has only been opened for about a year and handcrafted cocktailing is its theme, making it the only one of its kind in Sacto. Sure, there’s Lounge ON20 and the L Wine Lounge but they don’t do the “forgotten” classics.
No, the Shady Lady boasts pages and pages of classic cocktails — Blood & Sand, French 75, Hemingway Daiquiri, Brandy Crusta, Zombie, the Last Word and SL fave, the Gin Daisy, to name but a few. Each spirit gets two pages dedicated to it, one side listing the different brands and the other the specialty cocktails which are only $8 each!
I was tempted to go with my beloved Mmmanhattan but figured I should order something different instead for starters. Hmm, never had a Horse’s Neck before, a popular Shady Lady cocktail. Bulleit Bourbon, housemade ginger syrup, bitters, topped with soda water and garnished with an entire lemon peel. The cocktail gets its name from the extra long lemon peel that is hung over the rim of the glass like a horse’s neck.
First it was going to be this Thursday but that had to be pushed back to next Wednesday due to filming. Anyhoo, I had happened to be downtown last night checking out J Lounge’s happy hour (great food and service but horrible cocktails). But after a very disappointing tequila Manhattan I needed to get a good drink in me right quick. Michael responded to my Tweet for help, “I’ll make you a good tequila Manhattan if you want to stop by.” M’OK!
With estarLA in tow, we made our way over. And that’s when I realized, “Heyyy, maybe Michael can give us a sneaky peek of the spring cocktail menu.” But when we got there he was mum about it…
At first. He couldn’t give us the menu or the names of the cocktails because both are still works in progress. But he was able to make us three of the cocktails from the new menu. No names or fancy garnishes, just ingredients for now. I offered to name the drinks but Michael said they had to be in Italian. So with the help of an Italian/English dictionary I’ve included my own suggestions for names. Heh. To be clear, these aren’t the real names for the drinks, just ones I made up because I was bored. When you check them out at Drago for yourself, just look them up in the new menu by their ingredients.
New spring cocktails:
“Fiore de Melo” (Apple Blossom): Woodford Reserve, Pink Lady apples, Cointreau, simple syrup, rhubarb bitters. Taste impression: Very, very light whiskey cocktail. You could taste the hint of the apples and the bourbon but since this was on the rocks, the flavors were almost watered down. This is not a sipping drink but rather a guzzle-it-fast drink for that reason. Michael said that they might just serve the finished product with one big cube of ice which I think would help.
“Abito di Lino” (Linen Suit): El Jimador Blanco, White Vermouth, Amaro Mirto, Angostura orange bitters. Taste impression: I loved this one but then again I am a fan of aromatic cocktails. This one is served up in a cocktail glass and was basically the well-made tequila Manhattan I was looking for.
“Terre Lontane” (Distant Land): Dewar’s 12-year-old Scotch, cardamom, lemon juice, soda, lemon zest. Taste impression: Another really light whiskey cocktail with a lemony aroma and a hint of spice. But Michael said a lot of the cocktails are light like that to be enjoyed during the warmer weather.
As for the other cocktails on the menu, Michael said that each spirit will be represented so there’s something for everyone.
For sustenance, Chef de Cuisine Ian Gresik brought us out a a small cast-iron pan of gnocchi with sweetbread and English peas. OMG SO good! Buttery with fresh, tender gnocchi. And Pastry Chef Jashmine Corpuz fixed us up a beautiful plate of three arty samples from the dessert menu: Il Budino di Cioccolato and I Bomboloni, which will be transitioned out to make way for the new spring menu, and the brand-new La Torta di Primavera.
La Torta di Primavera
Naturally I gravitated to the creamy chocolate custard and caramel gelato of the budino as well as I Bomboloni’s small sugared doughnuts, brown butter ice cream and deconstructed apple pie-ness. However, if you’re not a big fan of grapefruit or tart flavors, then La Torta di Primavera isn’t for you. Sure, it had delicate puffs of olive oil cake and nommy avocado mousse but the grapefruit, although very juicy, was too tart for my tastes. Not to say this was a bad dessert. It’s just not my type.
You can look forward to the new spring dessert menu in about two to three weeks.
And if you’d like to sample the new spring cocktails, hit up Drago Centro next Wednesday, April 14 where the drinks will debut for a one-night only price of $6 each.
For a video of Michael making the Terre Lontane cocktail and estarLA’s taste impression of the drink, head for the jump.
Drago Centro
525 South Flower Street
Los Angeles, California 90071 (map)
(213) 228-8998
Twitter: @DragoCentro
Yup, as a reminder: Red Rover, Red Rover is First & Hope’s new bar night tonight. Yes, nearly a month before the supper club’s official opening on April 23. Like the Edison’s monthly bar night, the Radio Room, which goes off tomorrow night, Red Rover will bring in the best mixologists from all over the country who will create unique concoctions for cocktail enthusiasts to enjoy.
Tonight’s guest bartenders include Erick Castro of The Rickhouse in SF, Misty Kalkofen of Drink in Boston and Juan Sevilla of LA’s Soho House. Author of The Modern Mixologist, Tony Abou-Ganim, will also be in attendance signing copies of his book.
Here’s the menu for your drink strategizing pleasure, along with their creators in parens. Each cocktail is $12 and the bar will only accept cash tonight, no cards.
The Baby Daisy (Erick Castro): Martin Miller’s Gin, Clement VSOP Rum, lemon juice, housemade grenadine and sparkling water
Easy Living (Tony Abu-Ganim): Rhum Clement VSOP, ginger liqueur, pineapple and lime juices
La Revelacion (Misty Kalkofen): Spanish brandy, Dry Sack sherry, Rhum Clement, Creole shrub and absinthe
Little Monster’s Exotic Punch (Erick Castro): Rhum Clement VSOP, Dry Sack Oloroso 15-year sherry, allspice dram, lime juice, organic cane sugar, fresh grated nutmeg and sparkling water
Smokin’ Redcoat (Juan Sevilla): Martin Miller’s Gin, Carpan Antica Formula and mezcal
St. Pierre (Misty Kalkofen): Clement Premier Canne Rum, Green Chartreuse, lemon and grapefruit juices
The Statesman (Erick Castro): Martin Miller’s London Dry Gin, Rothman & Winter Pear, Green Chartreuse and Orange Bitters
Summer in Martinique (Juan Sevilla): Rhum Clement, housemade habanero-infused agave nectar, Aperol and lemon
Hmm, alas no whiskey drinks for this one but La Revelacion and Little Monster’s Exotic Punch sound mighty tasty!
For sustenance, guests can enjoy their fill of appetizers and First & Hope’s signature pimento cheese balls and housemade crackers, along with mini sandwiches, twice-baked potato bites, Swedish meatballs and desserts.
And if you’ve had too much to drink, designated driver service Y Drive LA will be on hand to drive you and your car home for a fee.
Hope to see you there!
EVENT: TONIGHT at 7pm
First & Hope Supper Club 710 W. 1st Street Los Angeles, California 90012 (map) (213) 617-8555
Rivera Restaurant‘s mixologist, Julian Cox, will be debut his brand-spanking-new spring cocktail menu featuring fresh seasonal herbs and fruits tonight for only $6 each. Cocktails normally range in price here from $10 to $14.
The cocktail sneak preview starts at 9:30 and goes til close. From the looks of Twitter, there will lots of bloggers in attendance. As you know we love our booze.
But here’s the entire menu hot off the presses, so to speak, so you can start planning your drinking strategy now. You might recognize some ol’ favorites.
Let’s just get this out there. I love Silverlake Wine. Really awesome selection of wine, helpful and non-snobby staff and fun, low-key wine tastings. So I was super excited to hear that they’re going to be doing their first ever RUM tasting this Wednesday the 24th …and then subsequently bummed when I realized the event falls three days short of my end-of-booze fast. Bah! But that shouldn’t stop you from going right?
For those who don’t know, Silverlake Wine does also sell a nice selection of spirits, not just wine. You really can come here for a last-minute stop before a party and score some quality booze that will impress your hosts.
The six rum picks (and two rum cocktails) at the Wednesday night tasting will be some primo stuff.
The six rums…consist of El Dorado White Rum, Guyana; Matuzalem Solera 10 Blender, Dominican Republic, Barbancourt Rhum Aged 8 years, Haiti; Smith & Cross Navy Strength Traditional Jamaican Rum, London; Rhum J.M V.S.O.P Martinique, French West Indies; and Batavia-Arrack van Oosten Island of Java, Indonesia Austria.
Guests will also be regaled with rum history and a breakdown of how it’s made. Plus, if you like what you taste and want to buy it, you’ll get a 15% discount off the regular shelf price when you order the rum at the event. (The bottles will be available for pickup at the store.)
To accommodate a bigger crowd of drink enthusiasts, the rum tasting will be held at low-key hipster bar, Three Clubs. Cost is $35 cash at the door but you still have to make reservations by calling the wine store (NOT Three Clubs), (323) 662-9024.
EVENT: WEDNESDAY, March 24 at 7pm
Three Clubs
1123 Vine Street
Los Angeles, California 90038 (map)
Reservations: (323) 662-9024
I did something the other night that I swore to myself I’d never ever do. I took a pole dancing lesson. Yup. Rush Street has an ’80s ladies’ night on Wednesdays on its second floor where ladies can take a free pole dancing lesson courtesy of Studio City’s pole dancing/fitness studio, Polistic. And I was invited to this girls-only media dinner which showcased this as well as the Culver City barestaurant’s new spring cocktail menu.
I told my friends who pooh-poohed the bar night that I was just going to take pictures and maybe some video of other bloggers taking on the pole but that I would never deign touch it myself. I’m not a big party girl and definitely not the type to sexy it up for some random male attention at a bar.
But then after our dinner of yummy portabello mushroom fries, miso and sake marinated salmon, crab ravioli and grilled shrimp and some tasty mocktails, our group of gals took the party upstairs. A couple of the instructors showed us around the pole, starting off with a basic spin around it. “The only thing I require is that we all cheer as loud as we can for everyone,” the instructor said. Little did I know how much this would help.
It also helped that most every girl had taken a turn on the pole and that the move was so easy I really had no excuse not to give it a try. Oh, except one. “I ate too much,” I warned the instructor when she tried to get me on the pole. But even then I already had one hand on it and the girls were already shouting words of encouragement from the sidelines. “Alll riiight, I’ll be a good sport,” I told myself while listening to the instructor’s instructions to put my left hand over my right hand on the bar overhead and then wrap my left leg around the bar. She then pushed me so I fell to the left and twirled around the bar in a not very graceful way.
The girls cheered loudly anyway, “Woooooooooh!” I know my style was a far cry from pro but it was kinda fun. Took me back to when I was a kid and loved playing on the monkey bars. I even got the friction burn on my hands like I did in the old days.
Now, I did this stone sober because I’m in the midst of a booze fast but this would probably have been a lot more fun and swirly if I had had a couple of cocktails beforehand. Fortunately Rush Street knows that and has some liquid courage specials on this ladies’ night: $6 X-Rated vodka cocktails, $9 Pretty in Pink Cosmo (X-Rated, vodka, pineapple, cranberry) and Pink-a-licious Martini (X-Rated, Sprite, cranberry, vodka). Yes, they’re made from X-Rated Fusion Liqueur, a very sweet and fruity drink ingredient. However, I suspect that those who love the pole won’t mind the girly drinks.
If, however, you’d prefer to imbibe something other than a melon/berry/mango-y drink, the bar has a new spring cocktail menu that’s heavy in the flavored vodka department and seems girl-drink-intensive but has some interesting concoctions:
Some of the drinks on the Spring Fling Cocktail Menu ($12 each):
I was able to try the mocktail versions of El Diablo and Strawberry Fields. Both were pretty tasty even without the booze. Although I have to say that just by reading the ingredients for El Diablo, it sounded like it had too much going on what with the grapefruit, watermelon, jalapenos and cranberry. Eesh! But the Flavorpill editor sitting next to me ordered it and loved it.
Anyhoo, if you’d like to give Rush Street’s ’80s Ladies’ Night a shot, it goes off every Wednesday night starting at 9pm. The pole dancing lessons are FREE. If you’re into this sorta thing, it could be a fun girls’ night out.
Rush Street
9546 Washington Boulevard
Culver City, California 90232 (map)
(310) 837-9546
