I recently discovered Rivera now has happy hour. When the restaurant first opened, they famously didn’t have discounted cocktails or food for the hungry office workers. They’re fairly close to LA Live, the Convention Center and Staples. I wouldn’t want to discount my food or booze either. Then Rivera started doing reverse happy hour and […]
Negroni Week conceived by Imbibe Magazine, a magazine dedicated to drinking, has come up with a charitable endeavor we can get behind. Over 600+ bars across the country and even around the globe will be celebrating the Campari, gin and sweet vermouth cocktail; the Negroni. Some spots will be doing their twist while […]
When people talk about Fernet, most are referring to Fernet-Branca. However, there are more brands that are available. And I do get a bit excited every time I see a new Fernet. I’ve seen some pictures of ones produced in South America like Fernet Veneto that I wouldn’t mind trying. Recently I came across the […]
I was first introduced to Caliche Rum about a year ago at their launch party. I haven’t really seen it much on menus so I was glad to try a few cocktails made by Neve Ice’s Michel Dozois at Cana Rum Bar recently. There were also snacks from Rivera. I had been asked if I […]
As mentioned in my last Cana post, the late summer menu had just dropped. I stopped in recently to try some of the new cocktails. But first, a friend who hadn’t been before decided to get the best selling drink- the Rum and Coconut Water. Cana buys fresh coconuts almost every day and it’s a […]
Jeremy Lake, the bar manager for both Chef John Sedlar’s restaurants, Playa and Rivera, recently won the Galliano Golden Vespa Los Angeles regional competition with his cocktail, the Italian Motorcade. One of his prizes is the Galliano Vespa, a golden one of course. The finalists were selected from recipes they had submitted online. The […]
Some days you just want to go to a bar where it’s not about cocktails. I’ve been thinking about doing another dive bar crawl in Downtown Los Angeles and was checking out the Back Door Pub at the Milner Hotel. I’ve wondered about this place for ages as it’s next door to my beloved Bar […]
A week ago, I judged the LA Regional competition for Don Q along with Julian Cox (Rivera, Picca, Sotto, Short Order, Playa), Rich Andreoli (Areal), Rachel Burkons (The Tasting Panel) and Jason Schiffer (320 Main) served as the technical judge. The event was held at the Spare Room in Hollywood. There were pretty punches made […]
Arrack is a South East Asian spirit distilled from either the sap of unopened coconut flowers, grain (particularly red rice), fruit or sugar cane depending on which country it came from. Coconut arrack is from Sri Lanka, Batavia Arrack is from Indonesia and Arak is from the Middle East. For legal reasons, White Lion VSOA […]
I recently helped judge the Becherovka competition at Villains Tavern along with Dan “The Imbiber” Dunn and Zahra Bates who manages the bar at Providence. The local chapter of USBG put out a call to bartenders to mix it up. The winner got the admiration and love from fellow bartenders. It was organized by LA […]
