For those who absolutely cannot wait til Christmas — eff Thanksgiving, you say — Melrose Umbrella Co. is already all decked out for the holidays. And I mean, ALL. DECKED. OUT. The Miracle on Melrose Avenue bar is only one of about 100 of the Miracle Pop-Up Bars around the world: 94 in the U.S….
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I refuse to put up Christmas decorations when Thanksgiving hasn’t even come and gone yet. But one thing I will allow in anticipation of the holidays are the cocktails. Beautiful, rich, cozy, festive-inspired holiday cocktails. And Big Bar in Los Feliz just kicked off their new holiday menu, which includes three hot cocktails and a…
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Quick, what’s your favorite L.A. movie and which cocktail would you pair with it? If it’s Amy Heckerling’s Clueless then you’re in luck! On August 19, as part of its summer pop-up series, ArcLight Hollywood is hosting swank West Hollywood cocktail bar, Bibo Ergo Sum, in its Balcony Bar. And the talented bar crew crafted…
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Nowadays, a cocktail bar has to do more than simply follow a classic cocktail template to turn heads. Housemade ingredients and a strong garnish game aren’t going to cut it anymore. Besides, there are so many great bars with new ones practically opening every day, not to mention the breadth of talented bartenders in L.A….
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Looking for something fun and different — with a touch of nerdiness — to serve at your holiday party? Lucky for you barman Christopher Day (Bar Tribute, Redbird) created this recipe for a boozy butterbeer. Your Harry Potter-loving guests will squeal. It’s no coincidence that this recipe uses a butter-washed Black Cow Vodka as Chris…
Continue Reading »Flickr Shot by dotsara Taste tester #2: dotsara. Qualifications: She likes cupcakes. Cupcake challenger #2: SusieCakes in Brentwood. dotsara said of the cupcake store: “The employees were great! They asked when we would be eating the cupcakes and since it was going to be the next day, they saran-wrapped the box so the cupcakes could…
I decided to undertake an ambitious task: eat cupcakes from six of L.A.’s best cupcake stores in one sitting to find out which is the bestest of the bunch. So I enlisted the help of five cupcake-crazy friends for this special taste test. We had to retrieve a red velvet cupcake, a chocolate cupcake and…
Got this tip from Andy, my friend at LAist and party bus alum: early bird Hollywood Bowl ticket sales! Woo! It just ain’t summer without nights spent picnicking at the Bowl and listening to music under the stars. The deal allows you to purchase tickets right now before the general on-sale date way the hell…
The other night I had the most delightful, unusual cocktail: Pearadis at Eleven. Eleven Nightclub and Restaurant recently opened up in boys’ town on Santa Monica Boulevard and their cocktail menu kicks the nearby Abbey’s ass with its variety and innovativeness. With offerings that incorporate unusual cocktail ingredients like Tang and pomegranate vodka, I want…
As a storyteller myself, I appreciated Frank Miller’s 300. Ya see, back in the day before books and whatnot, stories were kept alive by the telling of them. Memorized and passed from generation to generation. 300 is structured like that, where the narrator, one of the Spartan soldiers, is basically telling the audience — the…
Flickr Shot by Vera Devera Sick of restaurants and all their rules? 1) Must sit with your own party, 2) Must sit in a chair, 3) Must order from the menu, 4) Must talk amongst yourselves…. So many rules! For a completely different dining experience you might want to look into Ghetto Gourmet, for “improvisational…
My bro Gerard, the asstrologer, felt obliged to inform you all why you are suffering from ennui today: “Mercury sits still at the end of Aquarius, a dry spell, finally out of retrograde…because it is motionless, we have a very slow news week. Venus and Jupiter and Saturn are all in fire signs but the…
Last night Dre and I showed up at the Fairfax District’s Bar Lubitsch for a Mediabistro/metroblogging bloggers meet n’ greet. When we first walked into the crowded Russian-themed vodka bar and perused the Bolshevik propaganda pamphlet called the cocktail menu, our hearts sank as we saw the prices: $12 specialty cocktails, $6 beer and $9-$25…
I wanted to check out the “All Night Happy Hour” at the Arsenal last night: $4 well drinks, $4 appetizers and $3 beers. However, I soon found out that it was all a misprint, a leftover special from the football season. Now happy hour here is the standard 5-7pm variety. Disappointed! To make myself feel…
Tiny’s K.O. is giving Arclight’s 21+ screenings a run for its money. Every Monday night my fave Hollywood bar will be projecting some of the best dark and twisted flicks on its north wall. Who wants $5 popcorn and $6 beer when you’ve got a $2 happy hour food menu and $3 PBRs and Miller…
