This Saturday, Bigfoot Lodge West in Culver City/Palms is launching a brand-new cocktail menu and whiskey list. “But didn’t they just open? What’s with a new list already?” you may ask, and yes they opened just over a year ago. But this new whiskey list boasts to have “the biggest small batch bourbon selection and arguably the best whiskey selection on the Westside.” That’s big talk, right?
Turns out that the former spirits director of bourbon bar Thirsty Crow (1933 Group’s bar in Silver Lake) and “Bourbon Baron,” Brandon Ristaino, relocated to the West for the Lodge’s liquid makeover. He handpicked 80 whiskies, so now instead of just a couple of ryes to choose from for a Manhattan, there are 10 – Papy Van Winkle 13-Year, Rittenhouse 25-Year and Sazerac to name a few. Yesh! To show how serious they are about the brown spirit, they even brought over the ice ball-pressing machine like the one they’ve been using at Thirsty Crow to cool your whiskey without watering it down too much.
And now their Whiskey Lovers Night every Monday will be even more of a draw for whiskey lovers as well as whisky lovers. That’s $4 Buffalo Trace Bourbon, $5 rye specials and a rotating whisk(e)y flight list.
Thankfully, the Bourbon Baron also redid the cocktail menu. Sure, the Toasted Marshmallow cocktail is still there if you want it but now to match this more grown-up Bigfoot Lodge, there are about 19 cocktails ($10-$12), including five “for whiskey lovers” and some champagne cocktails. The Thirsty Crow’s house cocktail even makes an appearance. For a recipe of one of their signature cocktails, hit the jump.
I’m just happy that they have classics, too, like The Aviation, Side Car, Old Fashioned and Sazerac!
So when does this new-fangled menu launch? This Saturday at 9pm. Since this is going to be a big move day for me and my new place is within stumbling distance, you bet your sweet fanny that I’m going to be there. Hope to see you!
EVENT: SATURDAY, AUGUST 21 at 9pm
Bigfoot West
10939 Venice Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90034 (map)
(310) 287-2200
Twitter: @bigfootwest
Living in L.A. we come to accept that all these cars and all that traffic are an intrinsic part of our culture. Hey, this is a sprawl so we spend a great deal of time in our automobiles to get to work and play. But while we do that we end up skipping over a lot of the cool parts of our city, cruising past hidden gems, motoring past historic landmarks and only acknowledging charming neighborhoods by glancing at their road signs as we drive by.
Armed with only a water bottle, a camera, oh, and our Twitter, we started off in West Hollywood and hoofed it all the way down to Culver City (here’s our Google map itinerary), photographing and Tweeting our adventure.
Our loose itinerary took us from Duke’s Coffee Shop on Sunset to the caviar counter at Petrossian to a littered stretch of nothing in Beverlywood to tea at Royal/T Cafe in Culver City. Along the way I finally got to see everything up close, including Sarah Jessica Parker’s photoshopped schnoz in a Sex and the City 2 bus stop ad, huge crushed roaches in the street (no pictures of that!) and the colorful details of a children’s “No Drugs” mural on San Vicente. It was all so disturbing and wonderful.
The start of our trip was basically a pub crawl in the a.m. as we had drinks at the Abbey, Cecconi’s and Petrossian and sobered up during the wasteland portion of the boulevard, south of Pico. In total our journey took us about six hours and six miles.
I was so excited when I heard that gastropub Waterloo & City just opened up in my old crappy hood, down the street from my old favorite BBQ joint/car wash at Outdoor Grill. It’s only been in business for four days and yet has alreadyreceiveda ton of attention. Maybe this stretch of Washington Boulevard, a wasteland of tackle stores, liquor stores and hardware stores, is heading in the right foodie-friendly direction. They already have Alibi Room with Kogi BBQ and Pit Fire Pizza and now this gorgeous gastropub that has taken over the tired-looking Crest House, which closed back in 2006.
Giant chairs!
The new venue was designed by local designers Thoreen&Ritter and offers a variety of seating like the 30-foot-long copper top bar, the large communal table and ample banquettes with high-backed wooden chairs. Touches of antique mirrors and silver platters along with the recycled church pews provide a nod to British pubness while still classing up the joint.
Now, usually I prefer to check out a place without the help of the publicist or the special attentions of the venue and had come here with that intention. But just when we were about to get our food, the publicist, who apparently was having dinner here, too, spotted me. “Caroline, you just snuck in here,” she said smiling, and then went on to introduce me to Carolos Tomazos, formerly of New York’s Per Se and Le Bernardin and now general manager and co-owner of the restaurant with chef Brendan Collins (Anisette, Palihouse). D’oh!
When I lived in Mar Vista for 10 years, I hated the fact that there weren’t any cool eateries or bars within walking distance of my hovel near Venice and Centinela. Cut to four years later and now there’s a fancified Alibi Room, Rockenwagner Bakery, the Curious Palate and, most recently,Pitfire Artisan Pizza, which opened last month. Hmm, maybe it’s time for me to move back.
I first became familiar with the gourmet pizza restaurant on my many trips to the Edison downtown as it’s located just around the corner from the bar. And what was impressive about it is that everything is of such high-quality and so fresh, what with its farmer’s market ingredients, artisanal beers and even homemade cookies.
Wood-burning oven
So, yeah, I was so de-lighted to find out that this good pizza joint took over the space of bad pizza joint, Shakey’s, on Washington Boulevard. The new space — designed by Barbara Bestor, the same architect who designed Intelligentsia and wine bar Lou — is spacious and modern. No cushy couches here. Several booths take up the wall of windows looking out at Washington Boulevard and there are a couple of communal tables, a marble counter and plenty of banquettes. Outside, off the parking lot, there’s an outdoor patio that seats 30 diners and features an olive grove and edible garden, featuring tomatoes and herbs.
Seems like all my old neighbors love the restaurant as it’s filled with families in the early evening hours, giving it a real community feel. Kids running around, standing on chairs…staring at me while I eat. That’s why I think I’ll go in the later hours after 8pm when the restaurant is filled with couples on dates and booths of friends drinking wine and beer. And on Thursday and Friday nights there’s a DJ from Venice’s Walnut Avenue Radio spinning some “atmospheric music.”
As for the drinking situation, currently the restaurant sells wine as well as bottled beer, but is looking to install a wall of 6 to 8 kegs where that cute picture of the welcoming alien is currently located.*
I’ve only been a couple of times since this location opened but so far my favorite eats are the farmer’s market plate which always features, you guessed it, fresh produce from the farmer’s market. And I love the spicy Big Sur pizza with wild Gulf shrimp, marinated tomato, lemon zest, roasted garlic and red chile flakes. For dessert, I recommend the off-the-menu pizookie but you should request that they heat up that delicious chocolate chip cookie in their bright red Mugnaini wood-burning oven first. YUMMY!
And the good news is that Pitfire Pizza (all locations) is debuting its new spring specials today!
Seasonal Spring Specials
Grilled Pineapple & Appalachian Country Ham Pizza ($10.25) grilled pineapple, charred poblano chile, Benton’s country ham, red onion, mozzarella
Sausage and Spring Greens Pizza ($9.95) rennel sausage, arugula, charred scallion, roasted fennel, fresh mozzarella, fresh garlic
Spring Salad ($9.00) grilled asparagus, roasted pee-wee potatoes, radish, goat cheese, pine nuts, lemon champagne vinaigrette
Broccoli Rapini Pasta ($8.95) gemelli pasta, pepperonata, rapini “pesto,” parmesan
Farmer’s Market Plate ($9.95) chili roasted fennel, roasted rainbow carrots with rosemary and garlic, grilled treviso raddichio with balsamic, grilled asparagus with parmesan
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
Stopped by the Bigfoot Lodge West for my friend Shelley’s celebratory cocktail hour. We’re celebrating her getting into UCLA med school. She had confused this Bigfoot with the Atwater one which has a happy hour. This one doesn’t but fortunately on Monday nights it IS whiskey lover night. Meaning we have our choice of a $4 Buffalo Trace Bourbon, $5 Sazerac Rye or $6 cocktail made with either of those. Awesomeness!
My roommate Kristina ordered a ginger and Buffalo and found out that it was mostly the latter with only the teeniest hint of the former. Yes, our bartender Esther is awesome. My Buffalo Manhattan was equally potent.
And the best part? You can order food to be delivered here. Just ask for the big binder of menus. I ordered some green curry with mixed veggies from Thai Boom down the street to fortify my stomach for the mean Manhattan.
Apparently this awesome deal is every Monday night and there is also a whiskey tasting later at 10pm.
The last time I had dinner at Beacon in Culver City was, wow, a boyfriend-and-many-bad-dates ago and pre CoC. I vaguely remember having the Bento box and not really having anything stand out about my dining experience. I’ll blame it on the company back then. Heh. In any case I hadn’t gone back til I got the 30% off discount for dinner from Blackboard Eats recently.
It was closing in on the last day when I could use the BE discount code so my bf and I decided to take our chances and show up at the Asian restaurant without any reservations. Fortunately there was some room at the bar which was lucky considering they apparently have a great happy hour here.
Green Tea Soba Noodles With Grilled Shrimp
While the other bar patrons enjoyed their HH spicy tuna rolls and vegetable tempuras, we dug into the dinner menu, first letting our server know that we had a discount code. He was so nice about it. I don’t know why I was expecting him to look down his nose at me for having one but then again Blackboard Eats is always good enough to remind discounted diners to tip their servers on the full amount.
Anyway, bf and I decided to split the green tea soba noodles with grilled shrimp and each ordered our own entrees of miso-marinated black cod with sesame-tossed green beans (him) and Thai-marinated grilled organic chicken with green papaya salad (me). OMG all were so frickin’ delicious! Couldn’t really taste the green-tea-ness of the soba noodles but didn’t care. Still couldn’t get enough of them and was sad to have shared the dish with bf. Loved the finger-licking goodness of the shrimp as well.
My chicken was so tender and I especially loved the skin. Yes, I love eating chicken skin especially when it was made like this where it was crisp and seasoned-savory. However, I wasn’t all that crazy about the green papaya salad, but then again I’m not crazy about pickled-flavored things. I don’t know why I thought it would be sweet. But I’m sure those who love that tarty flavor will love the side salad. I ended up giving it to bf who polished it off for me, appreciating its freshness.
As for bf’s cod, I’ll let him speak for himself: “Tender as can be, fell apart when I placed my fork on it. Freshfreshfresh. The sauce stuff was also quite tasty and complemented the fish, and the beans were every bit as fresh. Portion size was tidy, the ‘right’ size, quality not quantity — this was some delish stuff.”
Butterscotch Pudding
We were both so happy with our dinner that I was ambitious enough to go ahead and order the butterscotch pudding for dessert. “Really?” asked bf when I placed the order. I was so sure of my decision that I told the waiter before he could even hand us the dessert menu. I first spotted this baby on Beacon’s online menu and hoped it would be as tasty as the one I had at Rush Street’s grand opening party a couple of years ago.
Sure enough, it did not disappoint. Even bf dug in and he isn’t even into sweets. “This is actually pretty good!” he said spooning gobs of the yumminess into his mouth. The pudding was soo creamy and buttery and yet not overly sweet like butterscotch usually tends to be. I kinda wished bf hadn’t tasted it because what started off as MY dessert became ours.
We’ll definitely return. I especially want to give that happy hour a try.
Beacon
3280 Helms Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90034 (map)
(310) 838-7500
