Justin Pike is LA's Best Bartender

In the second annual Table 20 LA's Best Bartender competition, The Tasting Kitchen head bartender Justin Pike was named the champion.  The finals were held at Elevate Lounge in Downtown LA and a panel of notable judges including King Cocktail Dale DeGroff, last year's winner Matt Biancaniello of Library Bar, pastry chef and Top Chef Just Desserts judge Johnny Iuzinni, Bricia Lopez of Guelaguetza, Marcos Tello of the Varnish and president of the LA chapter of the USBG, and Jessica Gelt of the LA Times decided the winner.

LA's Best Bartender winner Justin Pike (left) with Devon Tarby

The results were:

1st Place: Justin Pike, The Tasting Kitchen
2nd Place: Joe Brooke, Next Door Lounge
3rd Place: Devon Tarby, The Varnish
4th Place: Brian Summers, Harvard & Stone
5th Place: Daniel Zacharczuk, Bar Kitchen

In addition to the ceremonial crown, which was passed from Biancaniello, Pike won a trip to Tales of the Cocktail and a billboard with his picture announcing his championship will go up on Monday October 24th at the intersection of Wilshire & Sweetzer.

The Judges Panel, from left: DeGroff, Tello, Iuzinni, Gelt, Lopez

The competition, now in its second year, was organized by Table 20 and sponsored by Karlsson's Gold Vodka.  Each finalist had to prepare six cocktails for the judges in only twenty minutes.  Three of the cocktails had to be classics, two were up to the bartender and one had to incorporate Karlsson's.  Attendance was high and several hundred spectators crowded Elevate Lounge to watch the competition and try the cocktails.  The attendees voted on their favorite cocktail and the winner was Brian Summers's Blues in Orbit, with Karlsson's Gold Vodka, fresh lemon juice, mango juice, chipotle syrup, and a celery salt rim.

Judges Lopez & Biancaniello

The only drawback to the event was the long lines for the drinks from the public bar (the competitors were making drinks for the judges only, not attendees) and the rapidly diminishing quality of those cocktails at the public bar.  Master of Ceremonies Dan Dunn kept the event moving smoothly and once the winner was announced, the attendees decamped to the Varnish for an unofficial after party.  If you didn't come to this year, plan on it for next year.

Artisanal LA Comes to Santa Monica this Weekend

Artisinal LA will be hosting their Spring Show at the newly revamped Santa Monica Place this weekend on both Saturday and Sunday.  The event, a celebration of local craft food and beverage makers will include chef demos, expert panels, talks on craft beer and local honey and opportunities to shop and learn.

The location is a 50,000 square foot space off of the 3rd Floor Dining Deck at Santa Monica Place.  Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door.  A full list of participants is here, but be sure to look for the hand crafted pizzas from Mystic Pizza LA and don't miss Library Bar head bartender Matt Biancaniello's market fresh cocktails demonstration (Saturday at 1 pm).  Sunday's highlights include a butchering demonstration and a local craft beer panel.

There will also be an opportunity to get a sneak preview of "The Market" at Santa Monica Place and the vendors there before next month's grand opening.  In addition to getting to shop and learn, attendees can nosh at two cafe areas, one from Intelligentsia and the other from the soon to open Daily Dose.  The icing on this delicious cake is that some of the proceeds will benefit St. Vincent Meals on Wheels, which brings hot nutritious meals to homebound senior citizens in Los Angeles.

Cocktail All Stars: Farmer's Market Edition

Fresh off his win as LA's Best Bartender at the Table 20 competition, Matt Biancaniello of the Library Bar at the Hollywood Roosevelt will join Juan Sevilla of Big Bar, Naomi Schimek, Aidan Demarest, Dan Long and Brent Falco, all of First & Hope at the Cocktail All Stars: Farmer's Market Edition at First & Hope on Monday evening (October 25).

The party begins at 6 pm, and in addition to their own signature recipes, this party is a Choose Your Own Adventure in which Demarest and his merry crew of foragers cover the bar with a bountiful array of produce, fruits, vegetables, and herbs and guests will be provided a basket and "harvest" any ingredients they wish. Attendees then hand their selections to the dream team of market driven bartenders who will whip up a handcrafted one of a kind cocktail. Choose wisely because all combinations are not created equally.

For those who would like to experience some of these bartenders signature cocktails, each will be making one specialty, including Sevilla's Vermont Log Cabin made with Scotch, Smoke and Maple Syrup and Schimek's George Burns with Chivas 12, Cigar Smoked sweet vermouth and a dash of Averna and Luxardo maraschino.

Matt Biancaniello and his Library Bar team and Vincenzo Marianella and his Copa d'Oro team have both raised the profile and quality of market driven cocktails in Los Angeles. Monday night should be a great event and a wonderful opportunity to try six of the top practitioners of the Art of the Shaker work with all the fall fruits and vegetables on offer in Southern California.

First & Hope is located in the corner of the plaza at the Southwest corner of 1st and Hope Sts. Phone: (213) 617-8555 Website: firstandhope.com

Matt Biancaniello wins LA's Best Bartender award from Table 20

Matt Biancaniello, head bartender at the Library Bar in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, was announced as the winner last night at a party at Elevate Lounge in downtown LA to celebrate the six finalists in Table 20's LA's Best Bartender competition. The other finalists included Joe Brooke from the Edison, Max Diaz of Cole's Red Car Bar, Devon Espinosa of the Tasting Kitchen, Dee Ann Quinones of Susan Feniger's Street, and Alex Straus of the Hotel Shangri-La in Santa Monica. Each of the finalists created a punch using Don Q rum and poured their hot and cold punches to the celebrants to get the attendees in a festive mood.

Michel Dozois's (above) of Neve Ice greeted guests and provided glasses filled with his ice to attendees as they walked in, so they could sample all six punches on offer. The location at Elevate Lounge / Takami, provided amazing views of downtown as it is on the top floor of a high rise building on the corner of Wilshire and Flower in downtown.

Matt Biancaniello (above) served an Indian inspired punch called Queen of the Night, which included star fruit with husk cherries floating in it, for a dramatic visual effect (below). The punch also includes pomegranate juice, roasted cumin seeds, and Don Q rum (of course).

Joe Brooke (below) arrived late as he, Alex and Matt had all just returned from BAR (Beverage Alcohol Resource), a week long intensive educational program in New York City. He served a "State Fair Punch" whose preparation required the juicing of untold numbers of limes.

Devon Espinosa of the Tasting Kitchen in Venice (below) took a break from pouring punch to strike a pose.  The event was judged by five bloggers: Caroline of Caroline on Crack, Chris Archibald of Liquor.com, Liz Steinhart of FoodSheThought, Kevin Hsu of kevinEats and Victoria of Vixen's L.A. Happy Hours.  Alas Kevin was unable to attend do to a work committment, but the other judges were there in full force to celebrate the finalists and Matt's victory.

Table 20 founder Trevor Smith hosted the event and announced that the contest will happen again next year and that early in 2011, a "Bartender's Ball" will be held. Stay tuned for updates on that as more information becomes available. Table 20 is a new employment site for restaurants and bars, which recently launched in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

LA's most expensive cocktail?

Matt Biancaniello of the Library Bar in the Hollywood Roosevelt is known for his market fresh cocktails, utilizing fruit and produce he buys at the Santa Monica and other farmers markets. This summer he created a cocktail called the Krisomou, which means "the Golden One" in Greek and is built around a violet infused grappa. At launch the cocktail was priced at $35. Now, thanks to buying the ingredients in larger quantities, what had been perhaps the most expensive cocktail in the city is now available for the more attainable price of $15.



The Krisomou includes 2 ounces of violet infused grappa, 4 lime wedges, 4 mint leaves and 1/2 ounce of agave. It is muddled like a mojito and then double strained into a rocks glass with a single large ice cube. It is finally garnished with edible pansies.

The Krisomou is much smoother than I had expected a grappa based cocktail to taste, without the bitterness that can be found in some grappas. The drink can also be served in a martini glass, as is shown in the photograph above. The double straining ensures that no mint leaves or lime flesh make it into the glass. The Last Tango in Modena is still my favorite Library Bar cocktail, but the Krisomou is now in rotation. Now that it is priced comparably to the other drinks at the bar, get it while the violet infused grappa lasts.