Category Archives: cocktails

Enjoying Scarpetta Classics at the Chefs Counter

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Scarpetta Spaghetti

If you ever needed a reason to dine at Scarpetta inside the Montage Beverly Hills, I’ve got a few reasons.

After the unexpected exit of Executive Chef Alex Stratta and the re-entry of Freddy Vargas, a Scarpetta veteran, they’ve started offering a rather reasonably priced prix fixe menu featuring the restaurant’s classic dishes in a four-course dinner featuring none other than their famously simple yet delicious spaghetti (that is, if you choose it over the agnolotti, which sounds pretty decadent itself). It costs just $45 per person; the wine pairing option is additional.

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Spring Cocktails in Full Bloom at Comme Ça

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Basil Blush – White rum, strawberry, basil, balsalmic, built over ice

While we’ve gone back and forth for awhile, the weather has gotten pretty warm and I’m sure that it’s here to stay. Well, besides June Gloom in a couple weeks, that is.

But it’s hard to argue that Los Angeles is the place to be in Spring, and Comme Ça, fresh off their remodel, is the perfect place to celebrate and clink glasses. They’ve got quite an impressive cocktail menu that has been out for a couple weeks. Looks are deceiving, because while the Basil Blush, for instance, looks like your typical strawberry-basil cooler, it actually packs quite a punch thanks to its freshly muddled ingredients and tasty, spicy white rum.

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Giveaway: Tickets to Screening of “Viva Mezcal” with Free-Flowing Mezcal and Oaxacan Antijitos

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Viva Mezcal Documentary

What’s better than a documentary about Mezcal accompanied by free-flowing Mezcal and Oaxacan antijitos (street food dishes, if you will)? Probably the setting – which will be the iconic La Guelaguetza in Koreatown.

Viva Mezcal, a film directed by Pedro Jiménez, addresses the current state of the Mezcal industry, complete with interviews from biologoists, agronomes, ‘maestros mezcaleros,” researchers, distributors, bartenders and experts. Following the film, tasty treats by Chef Rodolfo Castellanos will accompany a Mezcal tasting.

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Test Drive a 2013 Lincoln MKZ, Get Treated to Dinner at Red Medicine

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RedMedicineLA.com

There are a lot of freebies and promotion deals to be had in our wonderful city, but I can’t say I’ve run across the offering of an entire dinner in exchange for the test drive of a car, before. And now, we have.

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First Taste: Paiche Brings Refined Peruvian Izakaya to Marina del Rey

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Uni Shrimp Toast

While I caught a peek of the new Marina del Rey restaurant’s interior and fare through one of the Best New Chef reunion dinners brought to Paiche by Food GPS (Portland’s Naomi Pomeroy was guest chef), last night was the first time I got a real taste of Ricardo Zarate’s new menu, taking center stage, thanks to a lucky invite to Friends & Family night.

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Sotto: An Amaro Wonderland in Los Angeles

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Dux di Lux – Luxardo Bitter, fresh lime, dry vermouth, Luxardo maraschino, egg white, housemade amaro “Sotto-pop”

With amaro cocktails being really popular right now – and with good reason – you can count on there being one to three of them on the menu of any semi-serious bar program. But I can’t think of any other bar that even compares to how Julian Cox’s program at Sotto has really advanced the cocktail classification in Los Angeles.

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Allumette Pushes the Envelope in Echo Park

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Short Rib cooked in Pho, Xiu Mai, Scallion Pancake, Herbs

I first visited the space owned by Bill Didonna and Charles Kelly when it was Allston Yacht Club. Since then, the space had taken a 180 degree turn away from its incarnation as a casual, neighborhood spot. Though there’s no warmth lacking from the feel that emanated throughout Allston’s dining room, it has evolved to the kind of environment that encourages diners’ curiosity for new things.

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RivaBella: Where Bold Flavors Lend Themselves to Lush Spaces

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Polibo con Patate e Olive – Roasted Octopus with Potatoes, Taggiasche Olives, and Salsa Verde

There’s a trace amount of apprehension I try to temper when I find myself dining in oversized spaces. The fear stems from the likelihood of spending time and money dining in a space that is less likely to feel personalized – whether in terms of physical sense of space and/or the quality of service enjoyed during the meal.

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The Hudson Updates Their Look & Menu

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The Hudson

The Hudson has been at the center of many a West Hollywood scene. So when they shuttered over the new year for 3 weeks to renovate their interior, they had in mind to update the feel of the place – without doing so much as to disrupt the reasons their patrons have become regulars. What you’ll feel immediately when you walk in is the added height – 8 feet, to be exact – and a now-exposed, beautiful A-frame ceiling.

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Monday League Nights at The Spare Room Hollywood with Caliche Rum Cocktails

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Jazz the Glass – Caliche Rum, fresh pineapple and basil, house orgeat, citrus, float of medium Fino Sherry

It’s always a good time to visit The Spare Room inside the Roosevelt, but in case you needed a better reason to visit on a Monday, they’ve got one. League Nights by Caliche Rum at this first-rate hotel bar give Naomi Schimek good reason to come up with some fantastic cocktails, and she runs the gamut with her cocktail menu that goes 4 deep.

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