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 »This weekend is going to be awesome: 70+ degrees and sunny. Gotta love winter in L.A. Friday, January 14 Fred Segal Sale Starts Hopefully you’ve had enough time to financially recover from the holidays to take advantage of the Fred Segal sale where everything from men’s and women’s designer clothes, jewelry, shoes, accessories and even…
The new offshoot of Silver Lake’s Malo Restaurant, Mas Malo, is mas in every way — space (9,700 square feet), menu, style and liquor. The new restaurant, which opened last Friday, shares the same downtown Los Angeles building as a certain whiskey bar and the same entrance. Booze fans rejoice, especially since Mas Malo boasts…
If you’re a member of The Bruery‘s 2011 Reserve Society, you are one lucky SOB. Sure, the $195 membership is pricey for a casual beer drinker but it’s an investment for beer enthusiasts thanks to all the goodies they get, i.e. several limited edition beers, discounts and members-only events. (By the way, membership for 2011…
Vandermemes from James Van Der Beek The first weekend of the rest of your 2011. How are you going to spend it? Thursday, January 6 Miss Dakota’s Burlesque Academy Forget the gym and all its New Year resolutioners. At this burlesque boot camp, which kicks off tonight, you get a great workout while picking up…
I’ve been on the wagon for a little over a month now. No Trader Joe’s peppermint Jo-Jos, no egg nog and certainly no Scoops ice cream. I decided to start this little dessert strike December 1st. In a cruel twist of fate, this was also the same day that Matt Kang opened his Scoops Westside…
Haven’t nailed down your New Year’s Eve plans yet? I can tell since everyone keeps asking me what’s going on. So I compiled this little list of events around Los Angeles which feature open bars, for a price of course. But you can do all your drinking in one place without worry of keeping track…
2010 was another good year for me and drinking. La Descarga and Hemingway’s opened, I gave up booze for a month and then was the judge for many cocktail competitions and even won an award for drinking a lot. But what really made this year awesome was the following cocktails, whether they introduced an innovative…
Jolie Klein, one of the four bartenders responsible for the cocktail menu at the new Vu Restaurant in Marina del Rey, seems to have the deck stacked against her: 1) Unlike a lot of L.A.’s renowned bartenders who can claim training under New York’s elite mixologists, she’s self taught; 2) she doesn’t have much on…
If you didn’t know better, you’d think that Biergarten in Koreatown was misplaced there on Western Avenue. I know I did when I first heard about it. After all, it’s not really a beer garden, nor do they have karaoke. While there is a selection of sake and wine, its main focus is on fine…
***CONTEST CLOSED*** In celebration of Christmas, Osteria La Buca in Hollywood is hosting a “12 days of Christmas” promotion where it offers a new gift every day via Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare. You can win things like a free lunch, dinner or holiday gathering and choose to enjoy it yourself or get it in the…
