Not many Average Joes and Janes make it past the model-gorgeous front desk girls of the Soho House in West Hollywood. This international clubhouse (there are 16 clubs around the world) is strictly members only. And even then you have to be a certain caliber of celebrity and cha-ching to make it onto their roster. Knowing…
It wasn’t supposed to be date night. As far as bf and I were concerned he was just accompanying me on a hosted dinner at Sean MacPherson and Jared Meisler’s (Jones, Roger Room) newish West Hollywood Italian restaurant, Il Covo. But then the hostess lead us to a corner table on the candlelit patio. All the surrounding tables were taken up by cooing, starry-eyed couples. Basket-weaved lanterns swung gently from the trees. Sexy music filled the air. It was all so romantic.
Ever since 10 Pound (£10), the Macallan exclusive bar, opened up at the Montage Beverly Hills earlier this year, I’ve been dying to get my grubby, unmanicured hands on its Scotch glasses. But since I’m on a broke girl budget, I could only fantasize about hitting up this reservations-only bar with its $50 minimum.
So when an invite to a special Macallan event came my way I impetuously said, “Yes! Yes! Oh yes!” Unfortunately I had completely forgotten that I was going out of town that same night. Argh! Not wanting this coveted invitation to go to waste I asked my friend, David (@kleemo) if he minded drinking fine Scotch in a private Beverly Hills bar for me. Unsurprisingly he acquiesced. Turns out he had a date scheduled that night but the two didn’t mind the fancy detour.
Lady Percy, a hot cocktail of pear cider goodness, was my absolute favorite off the list. Turns out it’s Dave’s favorite, too. Apparently, he went through six different pears to find the right flavor for this drink. Finally he settled on a combination of six Barlett pears with one Korean pear to get all that sweetness. And for spice, it relies on just a lone cinnamon stick. “I wasn’t going for spices,” says Dave. “Most ciders you’re going to find lots of big body spices in there. This one doesn’t really have a lot of spice. I really just wanted to bring out the pear itself.” And the result is a nicely balanced hot cider cocktail, not too much booze or too much sweet apple/pear-ness. It was the one cocktail that I really had a hard time putting down during the tasting. Would be perfect to warm your hands (and your soul) during a rainy day.
Firestone Walker Deconstructed LA had one of the most brilliant themes for a beer paired food event ev-uh! Take the eight beers that comprised its XV 15th Anniversary Ale and pair them with food by Homebrew Chef, Sean Z. Paxton, a culinarian well-known for cooking and pairing with craft beer. Genius! This had to be…
The 3rd Annual LA Beer Week kicks off this coming Monday with a beer-intensive party at Naja’s Place in Redondo Beach (which you can still buy or win tickets for by the way). What follows after that is 14 days of beerlicious events. Take your pick: a musical beer crawl, a 12-course beer paired dinner,…
It’s October and you may be relishing the first chill in the air, the L.A. StormWatch of the season and pumpkin flavor popping up on menus everywhere but The Spare Room at Hollywood Roosevelt will be celebrating sultry tropical islands and their delicious tropical cocktails tonight at its special Night of Tiki event, brought to…
It’s always a sultry night in La Descarga no matter what the thermostat says outside of the Hollywood rum bar. And yet, the Cuban-themed venue has debuted a new fall cocktail menu this week. Unlike usual seasonal cocktail menus at other cocktail bars, this one doesn’t really pay any mind to which ingredients are in…
Sunset Beer Company is finally opening up in Echo Park tomorrow at noon! It’s been a long time coming for many local beer fans who have kept vigil on the store’s Facebook page for any grand opening news. And sure, the store got scooped by the Beer Chicks’ 8th Street Bottle Shop for being the…
Finally, another reason to visit Century City, other than the mall! Across the street in the old Kula space is new sports bar/restaurant SmithHouse Tap & Grill by Curtis Nysmith (Capitol City). Yeah, I was skeptical of it at first, too, especially since I was not a fan of Capitol City. But when word got…
