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Hey, Barkeep: Whet Your Appetite

By Lindsay Nader — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 07:00:00 GMT

Popular in Europe, aperitifs are experiencing a stateside renaissance. Meant to stimulate the appetite, they work as complex, sexy sippers or as part of a low-alcohol cocktail that won’t give you a buzz. Aperitifs encompass a vast and colorful category that includes liqueurs (think Campari, pastis, and Amer Picon) as well as aromatized and fortified wines. Distinctly herbaceous vermouth, a fortified wine, is familiar to every self-respecting martini drinker and varies in style from dry and bianco to sweet and rosé. Lillet, a French wine-based aperitif spiked with quinine, is light, crisp, and semisweet. My current obsession is two ounces of Martini & Rossi Rosato, a fruit-forward vermouth enjoyed with a sliced strawberry and a splash of soda or sparkling white wine. It’s like tripping on a rosebush, grabbing at a grapefruit tree, and landing face down in a patch of strawberries. That’s a happy accident.

» Lindsay Nader mixes drinks at Hollywood’s Harvard & Stone and runs the food and drink blog The N.A.D.E.R.

Game Changers

By Lina Lecaro — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 22:21:00 GMT

Photograph by flickr/KR1212

BINGO A-GO-GO
At the roving Underground Rebel Bingo club, you get loud rock, a giant screen projecting expletives, and skimpily dressed assistants showing off the booty (and the prizes). On Wednesday and Sunday evenings, the drag queens who host “Legendary Bingo” at West Hollywood’s Hamburger Mary’s call out more than numbers. Prizes like restaurant gift certificates and time shares sweeten the catty quips, and the money goes to charity.

NEED FOR SPEED
Once a month in Los Feliz DIY woodworkers race their handmade cars in the retro Knotty Pinewood Derby at Bigfoot Lodge. Expect tattooed boy toys competing for free drinks, trophies, and Boy Scout patches. Bring your own turtle or rent one from the stable at the Marina del Rey pub Brennan’s. Though these little guys are notoriously slow, the crowd’s enthusiasm for the Thursday night races brings out the reptiles’ zeal. Winners draw kitschy prizes from a grab bag.

NEVER BORED
Day or night, anyone can play at Henry’s Hat in the Hollywood Hills. The screening room with a communal Wii console is the most popular option. For smaller groups, it’s all about chess, checkers, Twister, Jenga, and Connect 4. The Burbank beer bar Tony’s Darts Away switches to 21 and over after 8 p.m., though it stockpiles an extensive board game collection. Strangers often become friends—or mortal enemies—depending on how many battleships get sunk.

TRIVIAL PURSUITS
Two companies host many of L.A.’s top trivia nights: Action Trivia runs contests at Red Lion Tavern (Silver Lake), the York (Highland Park), and Sardo’s (Burbank); King Trivia sets up camp at Casey’s Irish Pub (downtown), the Cork Lounge (Sherman Oaks), and Barney’s Beanery (West Hollywood). Put those brain cells to work at independent trivia nights at Little Bar (Mid City), Ye Rustic Inn (Los Feliz), and Eagle Rock Brewery (Glassell Park).

Caliente Kitsch

By Lina Lecaro — Fri, 04 May 2012 00:18:00 GMT

Rustic minimalism may be the preferred aesthetic at trendy L.A. restaurants, but not when it comes to old-school Mexican joints. At El Conquistador in Silver Lake, the garish seasonal decor is legendary. During Easter, stuffed bunnies overrun the dining room. On Cinco de Mayo, expect an explosion of red, white, and green. Subtlety? What’s that? Platinum-haired host Ricardo De La Torre is as well known for his saucy one-liners as he is for his pearl necklaces and suits, ranging from satiny neutrals to blinding brights, accessorized according to his mood. Your mood should be good. The margaritas are so potent, many patrons don’t make it to the food.

ARCHITECTURE
Stained-glass windows with a flower pattern, like a skylight infused with color, wrap around the main dining room. During lunchtime and happy hour, they become spotlights—blurry ones when tequila is involved.

ART
Local artist Tom DeMille’s paintings of Liza Minnelli and Marilyn Monroe get the most attention—and they’re for sale. “These are female icons,” De La Torre insists. “Not drag queens.”

STYLE
Below a giant chandelier a sequin-covered pillar stands in the center of the room with a large floral arrangement perched on top. Crimson swags draped from the ceiling add to the theatricality.

OVER-THE-TOP MEXICAN SPOTS

1. Maria's Ramada
At this tchotchke hoarder's tiki paradise, Latin music is always on the jukebox, but it's beer and wine only.
» Hollywood

2. El Chavo
Day-Glo sombreros and year-round Christmas lights fight for space with a shrine to Dolly Parton.
» Silver Lake

3. La Velvet Margarita
Blue velvet booths and black velvet paintings mesh Tijuana glitz and Las Vegas glamour.
» Hollywood

Clover Count

By Jeff Miller — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:51:00 GMT

10. The jet-setting bar at Finn McCool’s (2702 Main St., Santa Monica, 310-452-1734). The pub once lived in Dublin before it was packed up and resurrected in Santa Monica. Expect drinking songs from Irish musicians such as Slugger O’Toole (above) or any of the house bands (hopefully you like the lute).

9. The deliciously greasy burgers at Molly Malone’s (575 S. Fairfax Ave., L.A., 323-935-1577). In the 43 years since the place opened, the signature sandwich has been made the same way, with too-drippy cheese and hand-pressed patties, long before that was cool. Portraits of regulars lining the walls have been there since the ’60s, too.

8. Nostalgia for green puke. It’s been at least a year since you last saw it, and oddly, you miss it.

7. A block party (613 S. Grand Ave., downtown, 213-629-2353). The street outside the historic Casey’s will be closed for a massive Pershing Square-adjacent Saint Paddy’s Day fete, with booze, live music, and no doubt a few hundred crazy people in face paint—basically Occupy L.A., the Sequel.

6. Guaranteed fondling if you wear only blue.

5. The waitresses’ leg-baring kilts at Dillon’s (6263 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, 323-315-9744).

4. The hope that Tom Bergin’s (840 S. Fairfax Ave., Mid Wilshire, 323-936-7151) is throwing open its doors. The duo behind Little Dom’s was cleaning up the joint (while leaving the character intact). Hooray for shamrocks and Irish coffee.

3. A $38 shot of cask-strength Old Masters Peated at Seven Grand (515 W. 7th St., downtown, 213-614-0736). Order this or any of the more than two dozen Irish whiskeys at this fancy shrine to whiskey (and taxidermy).

2. The traditional Irish menu, complete with bangers and mash, at McG’s Pub (21356 Devonshire St., Chatsworth, 818-734-7056). Where else but in the Valley can you find a breakfast that sounds like a porn movie?

1. Your third (or fourth or fifth or tenth) Guinness. Nobody’s judging you. (Except maybe this guy.)

Photographs courtesy Shutterstock

Sugar or Spice

By Lindsay Nader — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 00:24:00 GMT

The sweetening agent you choose can have a major impact on the flavor, texture, and overall depth of your drink. Simple syrup, made by combining granulated sugar and hot water, is the most common, but it will give your cocktail only a neutral sugariness. For a richer, confectionary taste, try brown or demerara (natural) sugar. Agave nectar is a less processed and lower glycemic alternative that lends a warm, earthy roundness and a hint of toasted marshmallow. Orgeat, used mostly in tiki-style drinks, is produced using almonds and orange flower water and provides an elegant viscosity. My two all-time favorites? You already have them in your pantry: honey and maple syrup. How sweet.

Lindsay Nader mixes drinks at Hollywood's Harvard & Stone and runs the food and drink blog The N.A.D.E.R.

Snap, Crackle, Pop

By Charlie Amter — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:25:00 GMT

Photograph courtesy Petit Ermitage

The Churchill
It’s not wood burning, but the gas fire on the patio at this new 3rd Street favorite radiates plenty of warmth. Singles gravitate to the flame and mingle over warm cider.

Mercato di Vetro
SBE’s new Italian venture hosts a late-night scene for young expense-account diners and drinkers alike. In a hidden private room called La Terza, a stately fireplace is surrounded by a wall of books—though we doubt you’ll be doing much reading. .

Petit Ermitage
The quiet West Hollywood hotel is known for celebrity regulars, but its Private Rooftop Club has two gas fireplaces—one inside the Masters Lounge, the other outside (below)with views of the Pacific Design Center—that are ideal for sipping by.

Bubble Up

By Heather John — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 06:29:00 GMT

Few mixed drinks manage to be both as elegant and festive as the champagne cocktail. Who doesn’t love a little auld lang syne and the luxurious sparkle of champagne when it gets together with old friends like bitters, citrus, and spirits? While there are variations on the drink, it’s changed little since the original was served in San Francisco in 1850—bitters, a sugar cube, and lemon peel. Of course, champagne cocktails have since danced in and out of vogue, with more serious cocktalians (not to mention humorless champagne purists) dismissing them as frivolous. We disagree. The best versions, where bitter and sweet, tart and toasty align in one resplendent cocktail, are pure magic. They also make for a happy alternative to spirit-based drinks—and, for that matter, to the traditional flute of champagne everyone else will be hoisting at midnight. Clink, clink.

The Primo Sips
Want a drink that really sizzles? Four local bars that serve champers at its best

No. 1
The Varnish
Downtown
French 75
A splash of gin, lemon juice, and a sprinkling of castor sugar topped with champagne make up a pitch-perfect version of this potent champagne cocktail.

No. 2
The Tar Pit
Mid City
Death in the Afternoon
Hemingway himself created this classic: “Pour one jigger absinthe into a champagne glass. Add iced champagne until it attains proper opalescent milkiness. Drink three to five of these slowly.”

No. 3
Stark Bar
Mid City
The Steel Magnolia
This deceptively strong champagne cocktail packs a pretty punch with rum, freshly squeezed lemon juice, simple syrup, strawberry, and basil.

No. 4
Oldfield’s Liquor Room
Culver City
Standing 8 Punch Bowl
If you’re traveling in a group, proceed directly to this beguiling mix of Torres 5 brandy, Plymouth sloe gin, house-made falernum with citrus and spice, and naturally, champagne.

Latin Infusion

By Krista Simmons — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:26:00 GMT

Chicha Pisco
Osaka riffs on Peru’s version of chicha, a fermented Latin American beverage, by mixing pisco (made from distilled grapes) with purple corn and using it as a base for its pisco sours. 6327 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood.

Rocoto Mescal
At Picca, Julian Cox imbues Del Maguey Vida mescal with the snappy taste of rocoto (a flaming relative of the bell pepper from Peru). The mix finds its way into Cox’s Zarate Tomahawk #15. 9575 W. Pico Blvd., L.A.

Mexican Cacao Tequila
Cacao-based mole negro is a specialty at Tlapazola. Using nitrous oxide, bartender Edwin Cruz creates mole negro mescal to complement the Oaxacan menu. 11676 Gateway Blvd., L.A.

Jumpin’ Juniper

By Krista Simmons — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:49:00 GMT

Photograph by Dustin Snipes

Duck down the narrow courtyard at Hollywood and Schrader and you’ll find a 1902 turreted Victorian behind a wrought-iron fence. Once a school for the offspring of Charlie Chaplin, Cecil B. De Mille, and other machers, the space was most recently home to Janes House, a club that came off more Animal House than golden age. Now nightlife impresarios Mark and Jonnie Houston are revamping the space into a spiffy venture called Hotel Juniper, expected to open this month. The 33-year-old Houston twins—who grew up in Koreatown—have had a good run channeling the past in Hollywood: Their La Descarga is a rumcentric bar conjuring Old Havana, while Harvard & Stone is a post-World War II watering hole that evokes a boiler room. With their most recent project they’reenvisioning a quaint inn inhabited by a Prohibition-era gin joint. The historic building’s given them a lot to work with. It’s been accented with a mahogany bar, red tufted antique love seats, and “cigarette girls” selling candies and cigars. Borrowing from the enchanted armoire you walk through at La Descarga, the brothers have created a surprise entrance by the Juniper’s “concierge desk.” But set dressing—pretty much de rigueur these days—will get club owners only so far. The Houstons have brought in mix master Steve Livigni, a frequent collaborator, to craft a cocktail menu around small-batch gins, including an homage to bathtub gin (a punch bowl libation served atop dry ice). A speakeasy called 1902 is slated to open upstairs a few months down the line. The only thing missing is turndown service. // 6541 Hollywood Blvd. (entrance on Hudson St.), Hollywood,323-465-1902.

The Countdown

By Krista Simmons — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 01:04:00 GMT

Classic Hollywood
Hollywood Roosevelt
Each year the historic hotel hosts a glamorous affair (with a hint of hedonism) that includes world-class DJs, dancing, and cocktails—all at a volume that allows you to hear the person next to you speaking. What a relief.Go to thompsonhotels.com.

Cleopatra’s Ball
Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre
Home to the first-ever Hollywood film premiere in 1922, the Egyptian is steeped in L.A. history. The venue’s outdoor area will be decked out for an elegant happening, with multiple bars and a dance floor. Go to californianightlife.com.

Moulin Rouge
Barre Vermont
Cabaret meets dinner theater at this Los Feliz show, which is based on the Parisian burlesque film directed by Baz Luhrmann. Go to showatbarre.com.