I had first heard about Bar Toscana in Brentwood from Aidan Demarest (The Edison, 1886 Bar, Spare Room). A bunch of us bloggers wanted to thank him for putting together such an epic blogger barhop and he had picked Bar Toscana, which opened last December, as the place to celebrate a job well done.

After all, the new bar off-shoot of Toscana restaurant, boasted a cocktail menu created by Francesco Lafranconi, the director of mixology for Southern Wine & Spirits. It was heavy on Italian ingredients to complement the bar’s stuzzichini.

Haven’t had the chance to make good on my promise to Aidan yet so it wasn’t until I had a meeting with the beverage committee for Taste of the Nation LA (TOTNLA), of which I am a member, that I finally made it over to the bar.

Now at the risk of alienating myself from the LA cocktail community, my real disappointment here was the cocktails. To be frank, judging just from the menu, the drinks sounded unappealing in that they read too sweet with the doubling up of liqueurs and agave nectar and too bitter with the use of Cynar and bitters.

However, admittedly I’m not a huge fan of too bitter or too sweet flavors, apparent characteristics of popular Italian liqueurs (see: Aperol, Fernet Branca, Campari, Cynar, Limoncello). Shrugs. I just prefer my cocktails aromatic, simple and not too sweet.

In any case, I decided to go with the Toscarita ($16) made with tequila, orancello, agave and topped with grand marnier-blood orange foam and Sicilian orange peel sea salt. It sounded the least sweet of the bunch and comfortingly familiar with its margarita characteristics. However, I found it difficult to imbibe.

The salt which usually serves as a nice contrast to the sweetness of a margarita only rendered this cocktail even more unpalatable. It’s already tangy and bitter, but salty on top of it all? Not for me.

But what served as a double kick in the nuts…if I had nuts, were the prices. I mean $16 for a drink I could barely get through?! However I had to remind myself that this was Brentwood, after all. Looking around at the lounge, it’s definitely an older, affluent crowd, the kind who probably regard a $17 “Italian Sazerac” as a happy hour treat.

So, yeah, Bar Toscana suits the neighborhood. But as a drink destination on my shortlist of Westside watering holes? No.

I could bring myself to splurge on $15 cocktails at the Tasting Kitchen in Venice, but at least I usually walk out smiling. Here, I left asking “Che cavalo?”

Taylor made: It's $15 extra for curled hair.

I admit it, I’m no Natalie Portman. I’m not a glamorous girl with a team of stylists nor do I get my makeup and hair done for special occasions (unless it’s Blogger Prom, of course). Clean hair and red lipstick will do just fine, thanks. But when the PR folks behind make-up studio, Makeup&Go, invited me to check out their services to promote their new pop-ups in West Hollywood and Beverly Hills created for awards season, I couldn’t say no. What girl wouldn’t like getting pampered and dolled up (especially when it’s comped)?

Great product but no hard sell.

The story of Makeup&Go is that they provide quick and affordable makeovers for those in a hurry. And since they don’t sell any of the beauty products on site, they won’t waste your time with the hard sell. So those who turn to the MAC counter or Sephora for a quick makeover will appreciate that. While those who shy away from salon blowout prices (my fave salon Studio DNA charges $45-$75 for a blowdry) will appreciate what 45 minutes and $35 of blowout will get you here.

So I agreed to get my hair did and my face painted on at Makeup&Go’s original location near the Brentwood Country Mart — the WeHo pop-up wasn’t open and the Beverly Hills store’s stylists were pulled to the Brentwood store for a special event. Even though I had no special plans later that evening, save Season 5 of Law & Order: SVU on my Netflix queue, I just wanted to see if there’s something to this quick style makeover. Would it really be worth $35 for a wash and blowout and another $35 for “flawless” makeup application, all in a little over an hour or so?

When I arrived at the salon/clothing boutique, hairstylist Taylor, a model-gorgeous woman with long, stick-straight hair, sat me in a chair to lean back and wash my hair. Unfortunately, it’s $15 extra if you want a scalp massage and oil treatment, but at least the chair itself has controls for massaging and vibrating.

Afterward she brought me to another station. We had already decided that even though I wasn’t going anywhere after this, that I should at least experience a Victoria’s Secret hairdo — “long, luscious curls” is how she described it. Naturally I was nervous when she started rolling my hair in big curlers and spraying lots of hair spray on them. “Great,” I thought, “now I’m going to have to sleep with sticky, hard helmet hair.”

Hair in curlers.

But when she took out the huge curlers and set me in front of the mirror, I shook my head in that typical “I’m a girl!” fashion. The long tendrils swayed and when I ran my fingers through them, they didn’t get tangled in a web of shellacked hair. But what really amazed me is that my ‘do was gor-jus! “I didn’t realize I had so much hair!” I exclaimed. My normally flat hair now had some volume and I was struck with an inexplicable compulsion to strut down a catwalk in my chonies.

However, my transformation wasn’t yet complete. Taylor handed me off to Anna, the head makeup artist, who sat me down at a makeup station near the front of the store. Anna asked me for what look I was going for. “How about we just do something that matches the hair? Maybe something ‘romantic’ like for Valentine’s Day?” I asked.

Anna quickly cleaned off my old makeup off and then began to airbrush foundation on. I so want to get my own airbrush applicator after that. It sprays a fine mist of foundation on your face. All my redness and imperfections were erased. The process itself was a tickly affair, especially around the jawline. Anna was going to go easy on the eye makeup but heavy on the sparkle and maybe even add some bronzing.

About half an hour later, my look was complete. I liked the simplicity of the eye and eyebrow makeup as well as the subtle lip gloss but wasn’t all that crazy about the bronzing. It might have been fine in low-light settings but anything brighter than candlelight would expose its orangeness as well as how it was two shades different from my chest. But I just chalked this up to Anna not wanting to get makeup on my dress’ neckline. Definitely not something I’d wear in the daytime because of that.

Makeup artist Anna.

I was pleased with the results, though. I felt so glamorous that I couldn’t waste all this Victoria’s Secretness on TV night. So I convinced bf to take me out to dinner. He readily agreed.

In any case, I’m considering making an appointment for Valentine’s Day, when I’ll be judging prom king and queen candidates at Big Bar’s V Day prom shindig. I gotta look goood.

The store expects to do big business on that big date night so if you’re thinking the same thing, best make your appointments now. For any other day/night, Anna recommends calling in at least a couple of days ahead.

Pop-Up Hours:

• Beverly Hills – 152 S. Beverly Drive  (makeup application and blow outs – open 12 to 7 daily)
• West Hollywood – 8654 Melrose Avenue (makeup application – open 12 to 7 Wednesday – Sunday by appointment)

Makeup&Go in Brentwood
13038 San Vicente Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90402 (map)
Hours: Monday-Saturday 10am-7pm, Sunday 12-6pm
Twitter: @Makeupandgo

The Tavern's Taverine mocktail

Bored and alone, I found myself having dinner at the bar in the Tavern in Brentwood. No biggie if I were able to drink cocktails but since I’m liquor free for Lent-ish this made keeping my own company a boring prospect.

Fortunately the Tavern has a nice cocktail menu comprised of fresh juices. Unfortunately, they don’t have ginger beer. I’d have to get creative.

Looking over their drink menu I tried to figure out which cocktail could easily be a born-again virgin.

The Taverine made with vodka, Grand Marnier, grapefruit juice and tangerine vanilla syrup seemed like a good candidate. I could just sub orange juice for the booze, right?

The resulting mocktail poured over ice in a tall glass simply tasted like tangerine juice with the grapefruit’s subtle tartness. It was ok. Makes me wonder if the booze version tastes like a tarty Screwdriver.

Anyway it was a nice change from the usual ginger beer.

Tavern
11648 West San Vicente Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90049 (map)
(310) 806-6464

Ten HUT! Drinkers! The Drunken Army is taking new recruits this Thursday. Only serious drinkers need apply because we’ll weed out the lily-livered with some good ol’ whiskey drinking at Bar Food in Brentwood. No mixers here as the bar is armed with only a whiskey list.

What’s the Drunken Army, you ask? Eyes forward, Soldier!

Straight from our elusive Commander in Chief’s…fingers:

The Drunken Army is an elite team of drinkers dedicated to the time-honored tradition of imbibing quality spirits and celebrating (in style) those who mix them. It’s a lobby, it’s a lifestyle, and it’s going to get messy.

To citizens: Basically this is a Tweetup for those interested in joining this online and virtual society of elite drinkers which is made up of bartenders, drink writers/bloggers and drinking enthusiasts.

More details are forthcoming but you can join the Facebook fan page and follow @theDrunkenArmy Twitter for boozy news, info and happenings. To sign up and be considered for a rank, click here.

I love the smell of whiskey in the morning! Heh.

RSVP for the Tweetup.

If anything, come out and join me, Colonel on Crack, and General Thirsty in LA for some whiskey. Yum! Unfortunately this isn’t a hosted bar but whiskies here range in price from $7 to $12. The whiskey list is still growing (currently has about 25) but Jason of Bar Food hopes to make it extensive and competitive with some of the better-known whiskey bars in town. Let’s see if he’s on the right track.

By the way, if you arrive hungry for the tweetup, Bar Food has an all-night happy hour menu with a $6 bar burger, chicken pesto or calamari.

EVENT: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4 at 8pm

Bar Food
12217 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90025 (map)
(310) 820-3274

Spicy Tuna (Photos courtesy of Bar Food)

Frankie and MJ

5 of 25: Sure, first impressions count but if you went into Bar Food in Brentwood last year when it first opened, you probably were confused by its Japanese restaurant remnants paired with the gastropub menu and the Irish owner. And even though it serves up wonderfully unique bar food and has 24 beers on tap, the venue’s Web site with its Comic Sans font would be enough to turn off any curious diner, regardless of what all those glowing Yelp reviews said. I didn’t care though. I felt like I stumbled into a hidden gem. Yay for me and HA-ha to all those folks squeezing into Q’s and Cabo Cantina.

But when I had stopped in recently after too many months away, I found a brand-new Bar Food with a brand-new snazzy Web site, complete with new Web address, to match. And not only were the sake jars lining the wall now replaced with a collection of decorative beer taps but owner Jason Killalee even added a selection of bourbon, scotch and whiskey to his beer/wine menu, and fancy escargot vol au vent to his food menu. No longer is this a diamond in the rough.

The newest element that’s sure to have people flocking here in droves, however, is the new ALL NIGHT happy hour, formerly 5-7pm. Yup, now you can get house beer for $3.50, house wine $5 and even have a nice dinner of tasty bar food for only $6 each any ol’ time you want. And yes, the free happy hour hot dog is still available, but only til 7pm.

Edamame With Black Bean Sauce

But my ultimate fave combo which I have every time I go here is the spicy tuna ($6) with the savory, finger-licking-good edamame with black bean sauce ($4) and the pear, blue cheese and arugula salad ($7.50, not on the hh menu). My bf and I split the edamame and salad but order our own spicy tuna dishes. They fill me up but don’t leave me feeling bloated or gross.

If you are looking for something heartier, though, Jason serves up a mean Guinness beef stew ($15.50) as well as Shepherd’s Pie ($14.50). Perfect for the chilly weather. And one day (maybe after that 13.1 half marathon, heh), I really want to try that mac & cheese with the scallions and bacon ($8.50). Yummy!

Although Bar Food is all prettied up now to showcase its good eats and drinks, Jason realizes that its name still makes it hard for folks to find on the Internet (just try Googling “Bar Food”). So right now he’s holding a contest where the person who can help make the gastropub’s name more search engine friendly will win round-trip tickets to Dublin as well as a four-night stay in a hotel in the Emerald City. Unfortunately only one submission per email so make it a good suggestion!

POST EDIT: Contest is now closed but Jason says he’s going to do another one.

Bar Food
12217 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90025 (map)
(310) 820-3274
Twitter: @BarFood