Category Archives: Downtown LA

Favorite Dish: Rein Fall in with Mo-Chica’s Quinotto

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Quinotto – Quinoa risotto, wild mushrooms, parmesan, parsley infused oil

I was loving the weather this past weekend in Los Angeles. At one time, I may have been one of those annoying Midwest ex-pats that complained about “missing the seasons,” but let’s be honest: Heat wave after heat wave into October does not a City of Angels make. We finally get to bring out the boots and maybe even sweaters. Late October is better than never, as they say.

Inspired by the grey clouds as well as the feeling that we Southern Californians will always have one foot in the sunshine, I recalled Mo-Chica’s Quinotto – a quinoa-mushroom dish that invokes the consistency and tastes of a mushroom risotto. Drizzled with parsley-infused oil, this savory dish is perfect for the grey clouds that have been finally adorning our skies.

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Test Kitchen to Re-Open at Bestia Featuring Walter Manzke and Neal Fraser on October 16, 2012

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Test Kitchen at Bestia

The story of Test Kitchen is something of a legend. Legends, though, are usually long gone – relegated to a time past. And yes, that was the year-long story of the Westside Test Kitchen (which now houses Sotto), but it’s about to be revived come next Tuesday.

The series, brought to you again by Bill Chait, heads downtown to Ori Menashe’s (formerly Angelini Osteria) new digs at Bestia and it runs from October 16 through November 11. Notable chefs hailing from Los Angeles and around the country will rotate, just like the 2010 incarnation. Future menus and projects as well as collaborative exhibition nights will be the focus, much like before.

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Four Questions With Rob Samuels, COO of Maker’s Mark

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Rob Samuels, COO of Maker’s Mark

We all know Maker’s Mark. So when I had a chance recently to catch up with Rob Samuels, I jumped at the chance. He’s the 8th generation bourbon maker of the Maker’s Mark family, and just succeeded his father last year in the position. Theirs is the only bourbon distillery designated as a National Historic Landmark. With the amount of history behind the company, there were a few things I had to know…

What’s your favorite cocktail to drink with Maker’s in it? And how do you feel about how Maker’s fits in with the ongoing cocktail scene?

I was just at a nice event at Morton’s, where the bartender made a great Manhattan – [a cocktail] which I really enjoy. More than anything that’s what I love. With the growth of premium spirits, handmade spirits, and that’s the history of my grandparent’s legacy, when they started in 1952. That was the beginning of the modern era of bourbon. To incorporate their craft, what they created with the handmade craft of a unique cocktail is really nice. I love just working with bartenders.

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Things Learned From Two Years of Going Metro and Bicycling in Los Angeles

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Bicycling Los Angeles

People do walk in L.A., but – let’s be honest – they mostly still don’t. People drive alone, and they carpool. They vanpool and they shuttle. They ride their bikes. They Über or Taxi Magic all over town. And yes, we Metro railway. Do you ever get the feeling that just because we’re not New York, that’s the only thing they’re rubbing our noses in?

Which is not to say that I’m not envious of their subway access – and many other things. Yet having passed the 2-year mark living near a Hollywood Metro Red Line stop, I’ve learned a lot in the process about our own public transportation options. The Expo Line has opened during that time. And we’re looking forward to more.  Just experiencing the drastic transformation in how people choose to get around – myself included, and not only on the rail – have provided so many eye-opening revelations. So when Slate says that L.A. is being turned into “America’s next great mass-transit city,” we’ll take that little bit of validation. 

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Top Ten Picks For L.A. Beer Week: September 20 – 30, 2012

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Photo credit to djdphotos on Flickr

Beer cocktails. Beer floats. Sour beers. All-you-can-drink beer. Beer crawl set to music. Crappy-for-happy beer trades. Prickly pear beers from all over town. Los Angeles is comin’ up beer. And in its 4th year, not only is LA Beer Week bigger and better than ever, it’s also more unified. The camaraderie around the LA beer community is unmistakable – so get ready to drink some tasty brews while learning a lot and meeting some cool people along the way.

After perusing the 10-day schedule, I’ve come up with a few events I’d personally want to attend. With the LA beer scene at the strongest it has ever been, there’s bound to be some (or a lot of) conflicts during this extravaganza, but all we can do is do our best, right? While you’re at it, you might as well check off the four quandrants of this LA Beer Week Bucket List. Then, bring your four stickers to the LA Beer Week Festival on September 30th and get a free bottle of the official beer of the week, Unity, from Eagle Rock Brewery – a play on a traditional Berliner Weiss, yet jazzed up with a touch of rye as well as red and green prickly pear. You’ll also get to enter a drawing for tickets to the BAM Fest on October 6th in Santa Monica.

(If you don’t complete the bucket list, never fear – it’ll be on draft at select retailers throughout Los Angeles and Orange county as well as at the LA Beer Week Festival itself.)

Without further ado, here are my Top Ten of LA Beer Week:

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Revisiting Baco Mercat for the Breakfast Baco and Banana Cream Pie Rice Pudding

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Breakfast Bäco

Anticipation of Josef Centeno’s upcoming Bar Amá reached fever pitch recently as a result of Bon Appetit naming Bäco Mercat one of America’s 10 Best New Restaurants (Michael Voltaggio’s Ink also received a nomination in this category – bravo for Los Angeles). But nothing prepared me for the day on which my cravings  actually led me to leave the 49ers-Packers game on my TV during free DirecTV NFL preview week. I wanted eggs. I wanted a Bloody Mary. I also wanted a Bäco.

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Checking Out The Parish With Glenrothes Single Malt Scotch Whisky

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Fried Chicken, Grilled Peaches, Tomatoes & Currant Vinaigrette

My 2-day crash course in all restaurants Casey Lane was a bit of an accident. I scheduled a business brunch at Tasting Kitchen on Venice’s Abbott Kinney while not realizing that a media lunch at his new, cross-town joint, The Parish, was to take place the next day. But I found no coincidence in the fact that both places serve stellar food – Downtown Los Angeles should be so lucky to receive such an addition by Casey, who brought the concept of farm-to-table to fruition before the term got hackneyed. (Soon, Melrose will get their own dosage in Itri, a pasta shop.)

Scotch Lace with Glenrothes Select Reserve

While I missed the one-month-ago opening since it was during Tales of the Cocktail, I was lucky to have gotten my first taste at a Glenrothes Scotch Whisky lunch. (As this was a special event, The Parish isn’t open for lunch – but it seems as though they are aiming for breakfast service in the near future.) What a treat it was to have tasted The Parish’s stellar food alongside one of the top three Single Speyside Malts in different vintages: 1998, 1988 and, ultimately, the 1978.

We started out with a Scotch Lace, John Coltharp’s variation on a whisky sour, but utilizing Glenrothes Select Reserve with a splash of Rose. It was super refreshing (especially since I had Metro’ed and biked there) without much tartness at all.

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Get Your Tickets For Los Angeles Food & Wine: August 9-12, 2012

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Kin Medai Snapper w/Geoduck, Papaya, Peanuts & Coconut foam – Morimoto Lunch at WP24, LAFW 2011

Los Angeles Food & Wine: It’s basically the hottest ticket of the year, in that there’s a hodgepodge of over forty events all packed into four days. There are out-of-town culinary stars that join with local forces to grace us with their presentations of different food and wine themes.

Caviar & Champagne at The Montage? Check. Asian Night Market with Andrew Zimmern? Check. Chocolate & Chocolate with Jacques & Hasty Torres? Check. There are also plenty of cooking demonstrations by a few chef extraordinaires.

For those with Fridays off or non-business hour workdays, don’t forget to check out one of the lunches available – for instance at CUT, which is usually not even available for lunch service.

Of course, for those of you who just can’t decide, it’ll be easy to pick a Lexus Grand Tasting on one of the two afternoons or evenings, wherein you’ll get to walk around L.A. LIVE while sampling plenty of eats & wines from kitchens and vineyards that hail from all over.

And get your tickets fast, because the event starts in a matter of 3 days. Some events are already sold out. This is your final warning.

 

Los Angeles Food & Wine

August 9 – 12, 2012

Various events at L.A. LIVE (and elsewhere)
800 W. Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90015

Summer Hotel Rooftop Bites and Sips Around Los Angeles

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Dark & Stormy, Thompson Beverly Hills

Who doesn’t love a good rooftop in the summer? Fortunately, there are a few hotels around Los Angeles that are holding special events designed especially for the high peaks from which we can enjoy our Southern California sun … or sundown. At night, the city lights make for a beautiful view. Why not watch a movie against the outdoor backdrop, high in the sky?

Blues & BBQ (Photo credit: Mi & Mo Photography)

The ION at JW Marriott at L.A. LIVE is hosting Blues & BBQ event every Sunday through September 2, 2012 from 12  – 4 PM at the outdoor poolside deck. Blues and soul musical guests like George Dez Blues Band and Gregg Wright “King of the Rockin’ Blues will be performing. For $18, you get one main entrée with side dish accompaniments

  • BBQ Chicken brined in fresh herbs
  • Grilled Skirt Steak with brown sugar spice rub
  • boneless Baby Back Ribs with pineapple-bbq sauce wash
  • slow-cooked baked beans, corn cobettes

If you’re more into Taco Tuesdays, they’re also offering $3 tacos, $3 tortilla chips and salsa with specially priced margaritas and Mexican beer from 5 – 8 PM.

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Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards: The Varnish is America’s Best Cocktail Bar

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The Varnish, Downtown Los Angeles – Photo courtesy of 213 Nightlife

“Five years ago at Tales [of the Cocktail], it was just a small group of us from L.A. The guys from Portland, New York, OH MAN SAN FRANCISCO … would ask, ‘Where are you from?’ … ‘L.A.? Oh, that’s nice. How’s the bottle service?’” – Aidan Demarest, Tello Demarest Liquid Assets

“The Varnish didn’t just win. All of us, all of L.A. won.” – Cedd Moses, 213 Nightlife

I’ll never forget my first time in New Orleans this past weekend at the 10th Anniversary of Tales of the Cocktail. There’s something about getting to witness your favorite bartenders in your home city come together to celebrate their craft with their big shot counterparts from other cities. Going from seminar to tasting room to industry party to Spirited Dinner (while catching some not-to-miss eats of the city in between) in the humid, 90° swelt of The French Quarter was a new junket to me, but the presence of Los Angeles was unmistakeable, making Tales all the less intimidating and more familiar, much faster.

Post-Spirited Awards Celebration at One Eyed Jack’s

We are all bartenders, brand ambassadors, educators, writers, photographers and more – with many wearing more than one hat – and as with every year at The Spirited Awards on the last night of Tales, the best of the best are officially recognized. A winner in each category is announced after an initial top ten finalists are narrowed down to four. Though Eric Alperin and The Varnish have been our bastions of Los Angeles in these awards for the past couple years, it was the 2012 Spirited Awards when the L.A. bar community finally felt taken seriously.

There was a plethora of Top 10 finalists representing Los Angeles, announced back in May. Their mentions are below, with the Top 4 denoted by an asterisk: Eric Alperin(*) and Vincenzo Marianella of Copa d’Oro were recognized in the American Bartender of the Year category. The Huston Brothers and Steve Livigni’s and of course Pablo Moix’s Harvard & Stone and 213 Nightlife’s The Varnish(*) were both nominated for Best American Cocktail Bar(*) and World’s Best New Cocktail Bar.

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