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
Last week Silver Lake’s newest bourbon bar, The Thirsty Crow, opened its doors to a neighborhood eager to say good-bye to former occupant, Stinkers Truck Stop. Now, in the place of steaming skunk butts there are antique wall sconces, beer cans are cleared away for a bourbon barrel and the trucker-themed cocktails like the Diesel Martini and the Large Marge have been replaced with the classic Sazerac, Old Fashioned and even a variety of Manhattans. I had a chance to chat with 1933 Group co-owner, Bobby Green, about why Stinkers had to end, how a land-speed record inspired this bourbon bar, and which drink on the new cocktail menu he’s most excited about.
Caroline on Crack: Why a bourbon bar? Bobby Green: I’ve become a huge fan of bourbon ever since Bigfoot West [a 1933 Group bar] opened. But before that I was a fan of Old Crow whiskey. It’s been around since the 1800s. I build and race racecars as a hobby. I do land speed racing. My car is named the Old Crow after the whiskey. It’s like a torpedo with wheels.
Bobby Green's Old Crow racecar.
We race at the Bonneville Salt Flats once or twice a year. For the past three years we’ve gotten a land speed record. So every time we get a land speed record we have a bottle of Old Crow whiskey. So we get a record, then we open a bottle and then everyone in the pits gets a shot. And everyone that comes by the pits gets a shot. So once the bottle is empty we fill it with salt from the salt flats and then we write the date and the record and it goes on the shelf. So that’s been a tradition for years so I’ve always wanted to kinda incorporate that with opening a bar. I already planned to open the Old Crow bar. Well, it turns out you can’t name a bar after alcohol. You couldn’t open the Jack Daniels bar or the Absolut bar. So we named the bar the Thirsty Crow because it’s one of Aesop’s Fables.
CoC: What made you decide to end Stinkers? BG: Stinkers drew too much of a bridge-and-tunnel crowd. People from Long Beach were driving to Stinkers to check it out. And we’re more of a neighborhoodie kind of thing. But it was still a little too wacky for [the locals] and they were constantly asking for better stuff, better beer and whiskey. The local crowd was coming anyway but they were like, “You should get this or you should get that.” So we just decided the crowd around Silver Lake was maturing so much more than what we could give at Stinkers. That was our goal anyway, we want to give a neighborhood what it lacks. We can tell from the four nights of soft opening people are just flocking and they’re happy.
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.
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 theFacebook fan page and follow @theDrunkenArmy Twitter for boozy news, info and happenings. To sign up and be considered for a rank, click here.
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
I have sipped the ambrosia of the gods, the elixir of luuuve that is known as the $15,000 57-year-old Macallan poured out of a Lalique crystal decanter. And now I can die. I was lucky enough to wet my lips on this sweet, albeit expensive, golden nectar thanks to Michel Dozois of Neve Ice. His shiny, blue business card was one of three lucky enough to be pulled out of a bowl for a drawing to win a taste of the ultra-primo scotch. When he handed the snifter to me, I inhaled its scent deeply. “It smells leathery,” I noted. “No, no, give it back,” Michel said, trying to snatch the glass away before I could get a taste. Then he smelled it himself, “Yeah, OK, it’s leathery. You can taste it now.” He handed it back to me.
I had expected my world to be blown, for a choir of angels to sing. Instead…it was m’ok. “It tastes weird,” I said looking up at Michel who seemed heart-broken that the sip he so generously gave me was wasted. I was disappointed, too. But then realized that I may have messed up my palate by having enjoyed a Macallan 10 with Fever Tree ginger beer just moments before. Such a dummy. Oh well. At least I had the experience.
The other night as my bf and I were enjoying his birthday dinner at JiRaffe in Santa Monica, he mentioned how he really wanted a bottle of really good whiskey to keep at his own place. You know, since I insisted that the bottle of Macallan 12 that I gave him for Christmas stay at my place so that we could enjoy it together, heh. Anyway, after dinner I insisted that he allow me to buy him a cocktail at my fave barCopa d’Oro since he’s usually the designated driver and won’t even touch the stuff then. This time I’d be the DD so he wouldn’t have to worry.
But when we got to Copa and I perused the menu for a suggestion to give him, I was reminded that they offer flights here! Three to be exact: Around the World of Whisk(e)y, Highland and Lowland Reposado Tequila and Single Barrel American Whiskey.
Seeing as how he likes to travel, I sprung for the trip around the world for a Travelzoo-beating $35.
Unfortunately the bar was currently out of the Suntory so I left it in bartender Joe Brooke’s capable hands to find a suitable replacement. He chose the Elijah Craig 18 and I guess they were out of the Eagle Rare 17, too, as we got an Elijah Craig 12. But Joe said that was so we could compare how vastly different the years are. And instead of the Glenrothes, we got the cask-strength Glenfarclas.
So yeah, a bit disappointing that the tour kept us primarily in North America but my bf didn’t seem to mind all that much as each glass contained primo stuff.
Joe was good enough to go over each whiskey, describing its history and tasting notes, a process he says some people actually like to skip just so they could get straight to the drinking. Dumb, I say. It helps you appreciate what you’re drinking more when you learn a little bit about it. Of course we forgot all that Joe told us about each one, but we still appreciated the schooling.
Out of the whiskeys bf had, each was soo tasty that he was hard-pressed to rank them for me. However after much deliberation (and badgering on my part) he came to the following conclusion. I included his impressions of each. As you can see, he is a man of few words:
Glenfarclas: “Stands out as the most complex.” Subtle smokiness but not peaty.
Tullamore Dew: “User-friendly.” Light and watery compared to the others.
Elijah 18: “Damn good.”
Hirsch: “Peppery on the finish.”
Elijah 12: “Not bad but just preferred the others more.” Rough around the edges compared to the others.
Suffice it to say, the whiskey flight at Copa d’Oro is a fun way to sample some top-shelf stuff in one affordable sitting. Treat yourself or your fave whiskey lover or even a newbie whiskey drinker you want to get started on the right foot.
Copa d’Oro
217 Broadway
Santa Monica, California 90401 (map)
(310) 576-3030
As another year ends, I’m left to reflect on this year’s many cocktail adventures (see my map of Fave LA Bars of 2009). Much to my joy, many new cool bars opened up in 2009 and most were instant favorites like Copa d’Oro, Roger Room and the Tar Pit. And I’ve sampled many a cocktail but somehow managed to whittle down all the ones I loved to this manageable list for your perusal. It’s no coincidence that they’re all basically dark spirits — bourbon, rum, tequila. Oh but how I love aromatic cocktails!
Tar Pit's Jamaican Firefly
Here they are, my top 10 cocktail faves from Oh-Nine. They’re listed from most recent to not-so recent.
1) Jamaican Firefly at the Tar Pit: I love Dark & Stormys and this one off Audrey Saunders’ new La Brea bar menu is no exception. Dark rum, house-made ginger beer, lime juice, simple syrup. The house-made ginger beer is nice and spicy and I love the tasty candied ginger garnish which echoes the sweet and spiciness of the cocktail. I’d definitely make a habit of ordering this baby.
2) Superstizione at Drago Centro: Bourbon, Kahlua, Dry Vermouth, Peychaud’s Bitters, Orange Bitters. This tasty, aromatic cocktail created by mixologist/cocktail blogger Mark Blackhart is reminiscent of the Revolver, one of my most fave drinks ever, at Bourbon & Branch in San Francisco.
PDT's Benton's Old Fashioned
3) Benton’s Old Fashioned at PDT in NYC: Discovered during my trip to NYC last October, PDT’s yummy-sounding Benton’s Old Fashioned is made from bacon-infused Four Roses bourbon, Grade B maple syrup and Angostura bitters. The bacon flavor was so subtle but you could still taste it. And despite the maple syrup this wasn’t a sweet cocktail.
4) Last Tango in Modena at Hollywood Roosevelt’s Library Bar: Then hidden-gem-of-a-bartender, Matt Biancaniello, created this innovative cocktail comprised of Hendricks Gin, muddled strawberries, 3-year-old balsamic vinegar topped with St. Germain foam. I heart how he turned one of my favorite desserts into an impressive cocktail. It even looks like dessert in a glass. Yummy.
Bottega Louie's Manhattan
5) Manhattan at Bottega Louie: Knob Creek 9-year, Antica Carpano sweet vermouth, Angostura bitters and garnished with Morello cherries. Yes, it’s a Manhattan but you have to understand that I found this well-made cocktail after having been disappointed by the ones I had just hours before at the Gallery Bar in the Biltmore. And when I took that first sip, I had to wipe away a couple of tears. Relief, maybe. Happiness, definitely. The cocktail had the perfect measurements of everything. I wanted to swish it around in my mouth and gargle with it before letting it run down my throat. Dee-licious.
6) Tiger’s Milk No. II at Heaven’s Dog in SF: Tiger’s Milk No. II, mixologist Jacqueline Patterson’s creamy mix of Spanish brandy, rum, sugar, cream and nutmeg. OMG so tasty. I encountered the tiger at San Francisco’s Heaven’s Dog, a noodle shop/barestaurant with yummy cocktails. This one was dangerously drinkable in that I could down two of these one after the other. It wasn’t as sweet as its ingredients implied it would be but I think it would be an awesome way to finish off your dinner.
7) Thug at Roger Room: This is my favorite on the La Cienega Boulevard bar’s menu, created by Damian Windsor and Jared Meisler. With a combo of Maker’s and habanero pepper, how could you go wrong? Maker’s Mark Bourbon, Baronjager Honey Liqueur, lemon juice and spicy habanero bitters on the rocks. It’s spicy spicy, perfect for savoring.
Copa d'Oro's Diva
8) Diva at Copa d’Oro: Sazerac Rye, Sweet Vermouth, Mozart dark chocolate liqueur, orange bitters and rhubarb bitters. This cocktail, created by Vincenzo Marianella, appeared on the Santa Monica bar’s debut menu but frustratingly enough couldn’t be ordered for several months since its key ingredient, the Mozart dark chocolate liqueur, was difficult for the bar to get hold of. When it was finally available, its composition reminded me of a chocolate-tinged Manhattan. Its cocoa flavor was very subtle only showing up in the finish. It was tasty although missing some depth which was instantly corrected when made with Campari which provided it with a much-needed kick.
9) The Lullaby at the Malo Cocktail Contest: I was fortunate to have this during a cocktail competition held at Malo in Silver Lake which pitted a bunch of mixologists against one another. Matty Eggleston, formerly of The Hungry Cat and The Varnish, created this mother’s milk of a cocktail using Gran Centenario Rosangel, Nutella and steamed milk. His comforting concoction would make a lovely night cap. Despite the use of Nutella it’s not too sweet and the orange zest and grated cinnamon give it the spiciness it needs.
10) Donaji at Rivera: An unusual mix by Julian Cox of mezcal, citrus, pomegranate, agave nectar and Chapulin salt. So aromatic and smoky with a lot of kick. I’ve never tasted anything like it and it won’t be the last time as this will be my drink of choice here.
