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 MissShell321 Forget the DWP Griffith Festival of Lights. Why not double your holiday pleasure with 1,000 Christmas lights reflecting off the waters at Long Beach’s Shoreline Village? The Long Beach Parade of 1,000 Lights is celebrating its 23rd year of decorated boats showing off their luminescent finery in Queensway Bay. This year’s…
Flickr Shot by Kiracle Every winter Pershing Square is transformed into the “Rockefeller Center of the West,” except this little slice of an ice rink in Downtown L.A. is not as big or as popular. And as much as I wanted to like Downtown on Ice in my quest for wintry holiday fun in Southern…
I’m swearing off chocolate forever…OK, maybe not forever but umm maybe only until tomorrow. It’s just after having dinner, cocktails and dessert at Manhattan Beach’s Coco Noche I am all chocolated out. What could possibly have made me come to such a strange and unlikely point? In my enthusiasm to try out this wine and…
In car-obsessed L.A., public transportation isn’t really popular or convenient. We Angelenos need our cars to navigate the sprawl, run from West L.A. to Silver Lake to Long Beach at the drop of a hat. Something you definitely can’t do if you have to rely on the bus. However because we live in a city,…
Flickr Shot by uWink I don’t really do the Valley but uWink Bistro is giving me reason to reconsider. I’ve only just heard about it but apparently it’s a restaurant that was created by the former founder and CEO of Atari AND Chuck E. Cheese, Nolan Bushnell! I know! Fun! Glancing at the menu online,…
Wanna get a really unique Christmas gift or one-of-a-kind art for yourself that’s under $100? How about art work created by those born to see the world differently? The Exceptional Children’s Foundation Art Center will be having an art show this Saturday from 1 to 5pm. I’m not talking just paintings but also hundreds of…
Whoever thought these up is a genius…and my soulmate. Dark chocolate cookies covered in white chocolate with crushed peppermint candy all over. Since it comes in a cute peppermint-scheme package with a bow on top it makes the perfect hostess gift for those holiday parties OR you can just keep it to yourself, which I…
I first heard about Mandrake, Culver City’s newish bar, from CalendarLive. It sounded pretty cool; and a new bar in burgeoning Culver City is always a good thing. Located in the dodgy end of La Cienega near a bunch of art galleries, the bar was easy to overlook, nevermind the small neon sign out front…
McDreamy & McSteamy (pic lifted from Ford) It’s already that time of year again — fantasy car shopping time. Seems like just yesterday we had an L.A. auto show, or rather January of this year. I’ve always done these in the daytime but now that I see it’s open til 10 most nights, I’m thinking…
Imagine waking up one morning to find that you are the smartest person in the world — smarter than world leaders, CEOs and Mensa. Apparently that’s the premise of this movie that I never heard of before. Idiocracy is directed by Mike Judge of Beavis & Butthead and, more importantly, Office Space fame and it…
