Taste of the Nation: This Sunday in West Hollywood

This Sunday from 1 - 4 pm the annual Taste of the Nation fundraiser moves to The Lot in West Hollywood to raise money for Share our Strength, the charity devoted to ending childhood hunger. 100% of all money raised will go to local Los Angeles food banks, which have seen increased demand during the long recession.

More than 40 restaurants will be participating, including newcomers such as Cliff's Edge, NIGHT + MARKET and Cooks County as well as classics such as Campanile and Joe's. Libations are given even more prominence this year, with many local bars, mixologists and craft brewers participating. The Spare Room at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel will be featuring Plymouth Gin cocktails, Harvard & Stone will be featuring Miracle Mile Bitters and St. George Spirits and for the folks in the VIP tent, Steve Livigni, Pablo Moix and the whole Pour Vous team will be making a bevy of French influenced cocktails. There will be a Craft Beer Tent, which this year is focusing on collaborations between breweries and beer bars. Pairings include the Bruery and Beer Belly as well as Brewery Ommegang and The Golden State.

Tickets for the event are $25 for children 12-18 years old and $110 for adults. VIP tickets are $160. You can purchase tickets here - just click on the large "purchase tickets" link on the Taste of the Nation blog. Organizers have said that few tickets remain and they expect to see out, so I recommend you purchase your admission tickets quickly so you don't miss out on supporting a great cause and getting to try so many great restaurants and bars. Prepaid parking is $25.

Waylynn Lucas of Fonuts at a prior Taste of the Nation

Taste of the Nation: 1041 N. Formosa, West Hollywood | June 10th, 1 - 4 pm | Website

Bringing Sexy Back: Pour Vous Debuts

Pour Vous is bringing sexy back.  Hollywood has undergone a resurgence but not since the days of Classic Hollywood has there been a venue this sexy in town.  La Descarga has sizzle but Pour Vous has a transporting effect.  Led by Head Bartender Dave Fernie (above), Pour Vous also benefits from a surfeit of talent behind the bar including Lindsay Nader, Adrian Biggs and Devon Espinosa, plus the team of Pablo Moix and Steve Livigni who worked with the Houston brothers to design and open this boîte.

The space was taken down to the studs and then some with a new bar, a new lowered seating area and a dramatic glass domed ceiling all part of the design scheme which evokes a soigné Parisian haunt where you might find Juliette Binoche at the next barstool.  Pour Vous is not only French in name and decor but in its cocktails and spirits selection; it has what may be the largest selection of Cognac and Armagnac in any bar in the United States.

In what has become a signature touch for Houston/Livigni/Moix establishments, there is an indoor/outdoor smoking area, in this case a converted trolley which thankfully isn't hurtling down the 110 Freeway at high speed.  My fellow intrepid enthusiast Caroline on Crack is pictured below on the steps of the soon to be infamous trolley.

One of the most eye catching cocktails at Pour Vous is the Moulin Rouge, below.  A sparkling cocktail made with Grey Goose vodka, aperol, Peychaud's bitters, orgeat, lemon juice, lime juice, fresh strawberry purée and champagne.  Garnished with a strawberry and with champagne bubbles floating up with each sip (no sparkling wine here, this is Pour Vous) the Moulin Rouge was designed for seduction.

In a classical French touch, (though it is not on the menu) a Pousse-café is available to those wanting a layered drink.  The eye catching beverage is rather sweet but is certain to gain the attention of those around you.  The cocktail is made by layering ingredients of different densities from heaviest to lightest in the glass.

The menu of 25 cocktails is just the beginning; Livigni commented that he plans to add several dozen more to the list in the coming months.  This may already be the largest list of craft cocktails in town and it is impressive that they have so many recipes in reserve.  The Samurai, one of my favorites on the list,  is indeed a powerful warrior, ready to attack with drawn sword.  It is quite evident from the first sip that this is a savory wonder as Armagnac, raspberry, rhubarb and umami combine in this cutting stirred cocktail.  This might just be a meal in a glass.

Another highlight is the The Lapin Fou (below), which translates as the Mad Rabbit and is made with Pear Eau de Vie, carrot juice, lemon juice, Velay Jaune, ginger and garnished with a slice of cucumber.  This comes from the "Sante" or healthy section of the menu. The other four categories of cockails are Aperitif, Parfum, Potion, and Par Avion.  Orange juice in a cocktail?  Jamba Juice this was not.  The pear brandy and herbal notes of the Velay Jaune were tempered by the juices.  This was a surprising cocktail that exceeded expectations and one I'd order again.

L'Indochinois has an entirely different style of cucumber garnish as the delicate slice is meant to float like a boat on the sea of Bonal, lime juice and Curacao with Thai Basil as the sail on the voyage.  The cocktail is from the Par Avion category and was one of Espinosa's creations.

L'Indochinois

Pour Vous is a collaborative effort between the six bartenders who each bring their own style to the common goal of quality cocktails with a nod to France and the use of French liqueurs and ingredients whenever possible.  We were fortunate to have Lindsay Nader (below) make some of our cocktails, along with Fernie.  The team is truly a Murderers' Row of talent, with each bartender more accomplished than the next.  You literally can't go wrong with a cocktail from any of them.

There is nothing wrong with a well made Sazerac, but the Sazerac Fix provides a unique take on the classic that may entice more sippers into sampling the original.  Rather than being served in a coupe, it is served in a rocks glass with a piece of "big ice" and lemon juice is added to the rye, bitters, pastis, evaporated cane sugar.

Sazerac Fix

If drinking a Sur La Mer (Beneath the Sea) is a way to stay healthy, then I may trade in my vitamins.  Rum, lime juice, E3 living algae, Fresca, salt and evaporated cane sugar combine to form this healthy daiquiri.  The frothy cocktail has a strong citrus (lime) flavor and is garnished with the twisted peel of a lime.  Very refreshing and has a lot of visual appeal.

Management warned that the door was going to be tough at Pour Vous but they are not attempting to be like certain spots off Hollywood Blvd where you are either on the list or not going to get in; they just want patrons to dress nicely.  When a venue has gone through so much effort to get dolled up, the least you can do is return the favor.  The service is very hospitable, the drinks are delicious and the vibe is wonderful.  à votre santé!

 Pour Vous: 5574 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood | 323.960.0301 | www.pourvousla.com

Fall Cocktails At La Descarga Arrive Via Havana

Although you wouldn't know it from the heatwave, fall has arrived at La Descarga and fresh cocktails have come to town straight from Havana on a Pan Am flight.  For the first time Pablo Moix and Steve Livigni, who jointly created the cocktail program at La Descarga, left the list in the capable hands of head bartender Kenny Arbuckle (below), with the assist of a couple of his colleagues  What better way to beat the heat than by sipping several of these refreshing cocktails?

Kenny Arbuckle

My favorite of the list is the L.A. Lupe, made with Leblon cachaca, Velvet Falernum, St. Vincent's coconut, lime juice, and tonic.  The cocktail is served up in a highball glass with ice.  This drink is not technically new, but was a La Descarga favorite that has been brought back from retirement, and with good reason as the clean flavor entices sip after sip.

LA Lupe 

Another crowd pleaser is the Blood and Samba, a Caribbean take on the classic Blood and Sand.  In this version, cachaca stands in for the Scotch, alongside Cherry Heering, Carpano Antica and Orange Juice.  This shaken cocktail was served in a coupe and garnished with a lemon peel.  There is a lot going on in this drink and fans of classic cocktails should particularly enjoy this twist.

Blood and Samba

Other cocktails on the new list include:

Cartographer: El Dorado 12 Year Rum, Cynar, Angostura Bitters, Cane Sugar

Bermuda Swizzle: Goslings Dark Rum, Velvet Falernum, Lime Juice, Sugar, Angostura Bitters, Pineapple

Martinique Smuggler: Clement Priemere Canne Rhum Agricole, Disaronno Amaretto, Orgeat, Grapefruit Juice, Lime Juice

Avesta: Bulleit Rye, Benedictine, Lime Juice, Angostura Bitters and topped with Ginger Beer

Onbeat: House Spitis 100% Barley White Dog Whiskey, Lemon Juice, Mang-Basil Syrup, Bitter Truth Lemon Bitters

Circumnavigate: Blanco Tequila, Lime Juice, Tamarind Syrup, Bitter Truth Xocolatl Syrup, Ghost Pepper Salt

Maguey Sour: Del Maguey Vida Mezcal, Benedictine, Orgeat, Lemon Juice, Egg White, Garnished with Grated Nutmeg

Aperol M’ama: Encanto Pisco, Aperol, Lime Juice, Sugar

La Descarga has added several noteable rums to their program, including Plantation, Rum Abuelo and Rhum Clement and their total selection is now more than 100.  If you can't find a rum to satisfy your craving, then you aren't looking hard enough.  And on Wednesday nights, there is a new live band (the Conganas) playing samba and vintage Latin music, perfect for dancing the evening away.

Maguey Sour

La Descarga: 1159 Western Blvd, Hollywood.  Phone: (323) 466-1324.  Website: www.ladescargala.com

Black Market - Cocktails & A Top Chef in Studio City

Black Market Liquor Bar is a welcome addition to the San Fernando Valley dining scene.  The new venture, with a cocktail program curated by Steve Livigni and Pablo Moix of La Descarga and Harvard & Stone, is a comfortable local bar that happens to serve destination worthy drinks.

The star of the cocktail menu is the Smokin' Monk.  No two ways about it, this is a gorgeous drink.  It is made with mezcal, yellow chartreuse, lemon and orange juices and served with some large ice cubes with a lemon wedge for garnish.  The mix of the mezcal and citrus is magical and the mezcal provides just the right amount of smokiness to keep it intriguing sip after sip.  This might be my favorite new drink of 2011.

The Amber and Embers is made with Laphroig Scotch, Clement Canne Syrup Rum, Angostura and Orange Bitters.  Note, only a dash of each type of bitters is used.  The version I had used Ardberg in place of Laphroig.  I sampled versions with 2 dashes of bitters and one dash, and the one dash was superior.  Counterintuitively,  the version with two dashes was smokier and tasted more of the Scotch.

Red Hot and Bothered: Jalapeno-infused vodka, strawberry, blood orange, agave syrup and ginger beer.  There is nothing shy and retiring about this damsel.

The Boulevard Sour, a dangerous concoction of rye whiskey, cynar, lemon juice and egg white, is pleasingly frothy.

Punch is all the rage this days, but Black Market takes this trend one step further with its Punch for One, a pisco based cocktail with pineapple juice, agave syrup, angostura bitters and lime juice.  This is a mellow cocktail that is easy to sip on.  This has been a pisco week, after some pisco sours earlier at the new Picca.

Black Market has an all-star bartending staff, including Zach Patterson (below) of STK, Mia Sarazen of Harvard & Stone, and Tricia Alley, formerly of B-Side Lounge.  If any of these assassins offers to make you a drink, accept.  You are in good hands.

Zach Patterson

In addition to bringing in a stellar team of barkeeps, Livigni and Moix brought chef Antonia Lofaso of Top Chef fame to the equation.  The menu includes some Italian influences, not surprisingly.

A highlight of what I tried was the Ricotta Gnudi, served in a brown butter sauce.  The gnudi were soft and had a light consistency.  The only off note for me was the crunch of pistachio nuts, which were unnecessary.

Gnudi

The Duck Rillettes with bourbon raisins were served in a jar with ample toasts alongside.  The rilletes required some mixing to get the sweet and salty components into proper proportion.

My other favorite of the night was Oxtail Ragu with perciatelli pasta and perorino cheese.  The dish is rich and savory.  The noodles were perfectly cooked and were heavy enough to sustain the meat.  It was attractively plated as well.

I only managed a bite of my dining companion's Crispy Poussin with french fries, which was unremarkable.

For me Antonia's pastas were the highlight of the food menu.  With the cocktails, I enjoyed all that I drank, although the drink that is going to lure me back to Studio City is the Smokin' Monk.  Absolutely delicious.

Black Market Liquor Bar proclaims itself "purveyors of cocktails, bites and candy." I can vouch for the first two; the third you will have to explore for yourself.

Black Market Liquor Bar: 11915 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, CA.  Phone: (818) 446-2533.  Website: http://blackmarketliquorbar.com/

Kick off Cinco de Mayo with Cuatro de Mayo at La Descarga

Image: Steve Livigni

Why wait until Thursday to celebrate Cinco de Mayo?  Begin a night early on Wednesday evening at La Descarga.  The celebration begins at 8 pm and runs until close.  You can expect tequila and mezcal drinks and shots all night long. These bebidas include the "Wet Baquiri", "Kraken Micheladas" and more that were too top secret to be revealed in advance.

For your listening and dancing pleasure, none other than StreetGourmetLA aka Bill Esparza will be leading the band all night long.  DJ Henry Helix will also be spinning his sweet tunes.  Providing food will be the Camarena Taco truck, which will park outside from 9:30-12:00.  If you get there early, word on the calle is that there is free food for the early arrivals.

Other surprises are in store for revelers.  Make reservations while you can, as La Descarga fills up and this is sure to be a fun fiesta.

La Descarga: 1159 Western Avenue, just North of Santa Monica Blvd. Phone: (323) 466-1324. Website: www.descargala.com

Harvard & Stone: Ivy League Drinks in the land of Pad Thai

Harvard & Stone, a new craft cocktail bar focusing on American spirits, opened in the former Stone Bar location on Hollywood Blvd in the heart of Thai Town.  Steve Livigni and Pablo Moix, the creative team behind hot spot La Descarga, partnered with the Houston brothers (same owners as Descarga) to completely revamp the space and create a bar that delivers quality without pretentiousness.

There are two bars; the bar in front serves a classic menu that is continuing to expand and the bar in the back focuses on one spirit per month, with the drink menu changing nightly.  My favorite drink on the front bar menu is the Scaffa (below), which is made with Aviation Gin, Benedictine and Angostura Bitters.  The cocktail is served neat, at room temperature and garnished with lemon peel.  The scaffas that Steve Livigni serves at La Descarga and Harvard & Stone are the only ones of their type I have tried and they are both excellent.  Most evenings you will also find Bar Manager Matt Wallace, formerly of Seven Grand, making cocktails and keeping things running smoothly.  The staff of the bar is impressive and includes Mia Sarazen and Rich Andreoli, both formerly of Big Bar, as well as several other alumni of the better joints in town.

The back bar is known as the R&D Bar and is located in the former kitchen of the Stone Bar.  Each month the R&D bar features a spirit, for February it was the products of Heaven Hill, for March it is gin.  The featured gin for the first week of March is Aviation; that is likely to change next week.  The R&D bar features American spirits and the menu changes nightly, so if you want to get a particular drink again, you are out of luck.  This brings a whole new meaning to "limited edition."  Each night a different bartender on staff creates a short list of cocktails and that is all that is served there.

On my various visits Francois Vera, Nathan Oliver and Mia Sarazen have each created the drink list for the night and manned the R&D bar.  I missed Pablo Moix's tiki night, which sounded especially fun.  On this past Friday night, Sarazen (below) created four cocktails.  The standout was the Farm to Bar top (below, bottom), with Aviation gin, egg white, lemon, strawberry, basil, sugar and topped with black pepper.  The egg whites gave it a wonderful frothiness and the black pepper on the top contributed a savory note.

Harvard & Stone is more casual than La Descarga and fits in its East Hollywood scene.  It feels a little incongruous to step out of Ruen Pair, walk down the block and find some of the best cocktails in town behind a very low-key signed wooden door.  There is some serendipity in "finding" the bar and it feels like a hidden gem.  The space and concept has been designed to be accessible, quality and fun.  The cocktails are mostly $10, which is less than other spots in town charge for drinks of lesser quality.  There is a doorman and some sort of dress code (no bright colors or logos?) but once you are inside it feels honest and authentic.  Cheers to the latest star on the cocktail scene!

Harvard & Stone: 5221 Hollywood Blvd, @ Harvard St.  Phone: (323) 466-6063.  Website: www.harvardandstone.com

Winter Cocktails have arrived at La Descarga

It is that time of year, when there is a chill in the ocean breeze and the mind races to the season, pondering what winter cocktails are available to savor, preferably in a comfortable armchair.  La Descarga has both the armchair seating and a frisky new list of libations created by Pablo Moix and Steve Livigni for your enjoyment.  Last night I was joined by an all-star group of cocktail aficionados including Ron from LushAngeles, Caroline from Caroline on Crack, Daniel from Thirsty in LA, and John from SocialDomain as we sampled our way through the new options, in order to find our favorites to share with you.

Tapping the Admiral 

The most unusual of the new offerings is the Barrel Aged Tapping the Admiral. Zaya Rum, Cherry Heering, Carpano Antica and Angostura Bitters are mixed together and aged in Tuthilltown Four Grain Whiskey barrels for two weeks.  The Scaffa style drink is served neat, at room temperature.  No ice, no chilled glass, nowhere for the subtleties of the cocktail to hide.  It is boozy and delicious and has a syrupy texture to it.  If you prefer your scotch or aged rum neat, then this cocktail should suit you nicely.  Scaffa is a style of cocktail that is neither shaken or stirred, but in which the ingredients are simply added to the glass.  The name derives from an old Norse term meaning "to make something yourself."  They were popular during the 1860s to 1920s when ice was sometimes scarce or expensive, according to Livigni (via Bariana).  This was the first Scaffa I have seen on a Los Angeles cocktail menu.

The Castilian

Rye at a Rum Bar? Yes, if it's the Havana Mobster. There is a shortage of Rittenhouse 100 Rye at bars all over the country. La Descarga foresaw the shortage and stocked up, so they have plenty to last them through the drought. While other bars are substituting other ryes in their Manhattan cocktails, La Descarga has added a Rittenhouse 100 cocktail, the Havana Mobster, to its menu. It includes lemon and orange juices as well as grenadine. The Mobster is a boozy drink with a strong citrus flavor; a spirit forward cocktail.

Another winner was the Cora Middleton, a frothy cocktail made with Appleton Reserve Rum, raspberry syrup, lemon juice, sugar, egg white, lemon zest and our old favorite Angostura bitters. This is a shaken cocktail and despite the sugar it is not too sweet. The froth from the egg white gives it a pleasant consistency.

Not all the new drinks are as noteworthy. I found the Castilian to be too sweet for my palate. It includes Bacardi Anejo Rum as its base spirit and Peychaud bitters, sugar and Aguardiente. The La Lupe is made with Leblon Cachaca, lime juice, St. Vincent's coconut goodness, Velvet Falernum and tonic water. If you don't like the taste of alcohol, this would be my recommendation as it is quite a mellow drink with the light flavor of the coconut predominating.

Don't worry, favorites such as the Hemingway Daiquiri (Papa's Daiquiri) remain on the cocktail list. If you want to try the unique barrel aged Tapping the Admiral, I'd recommend trying some before they run out as due to the aging process, they can't immediately create more.

La Descarga: 1159 Western Avenue, just North of Santa Monica Blvd.  Phone: (323) 466-1324.  Website: www.descargala.com

The Rivière: A planeflight to paradise in a glass

Last Tuesday Atlantico Rum launched in Los Angeles with a party at Havana-themed rum den La Descarga.  Manager and cocktail maestro Steve Livigni created several cocktails for the occasion.  For me the standout was the Rivière, a tropical beverage with pineapple and lime juices.  A sip of the cocktail transported me to a beach on vacation somewhere with ocean breezes, warm water and an endless supply of these cocktails.  I wish the drinks on my recent trip to Hawaii had been half as delicious as this.

Livigni stated he was seeking to make “a more fruit-forward cocktail with the Atlantico and since the other drinks were more masculine it seemed appropriate to do something with a softer flavor and mouthfeel.  Pineapple and rum are natural compliments to one another, especially given the nice toffee, marshmallow flavor I get from the rum.  I decided to use mezcal to give the drink some backbone and an unexpected smokiness.”  He tried the drink with several combinations and ratios and after several iterations he finally had a cocktail that worked.  With rum and pineapple juice there is the danger and stereotype of just a sweet one note drink but the Rivière is well balanced, “tropical but not foo-foo,” as Livigni described it.

La Descarga is known for the quality of its ingredients and its fresh juices.  According to Livigni, one of the keys to the success of the Rivière is using real pineapple juice made from pineapple in the blender, which is significantly different than using anything that comes from a can or a syrup (sorry Dole).  In his words, “it should taste like fruit not pineapple candy.  The fresh juice makes anything taste tropical, the key is to not use too much and balance it with a citrus, lime in this case, which doesn't just add acidity but really just brightens the flavor.”

Atlantico Rum is a blend of sugar can juice and molasses based rums.  It is a solera rum meaning that it has been aged in a solera system where the rum is aged in casks and the younger rum is progressively moved to “older” casks as part of the contents of the casks containing the oldest product are ready to be sold, meaning that each barrel, and consequently each bottle contains rum that has aged a variety of years.  The average for Atlantico is 15 years of aging in the solera system.

As Livigni was developing his recipe for the Riviere, he wanted to highlight the flavors of the Atlantico rum while offering a fresh juice based cocktail.  Livigni noted, “Atlantico is much leaner than other solera rums like Zacapa so it works better in the sour format.  I get toffee and marshmallow from the rum, which are delicate flavors that can get covered up easily with citrus, liqueurs, sweeteners, so I wanted to use soft ingredients that would allow those flavors to still exist after shaking.”

The Rivière incorporates the essential components of a sour: the liquor (rum in this case), citrus (lime juice), egg white and a sweetener (pineapple juice and sugar).  The The egg white provides a bit of froth/foam at the top of the cocktail and a creaminess in the consistency.  The mezcal helps to make it a more well rounded cocktail and elevates it above a traditional sour.  Kiss that cocktail with an umbrella in it goodbye and say hello to the Rivière.

If you’d like to make the Rivière at home, here's the recipe:

1.5 oz   Atlantico Rum

.75 oz   Fresh Lime Juice

1 oz      Fresh Pineapple Juice

2          Barspoons of Super Fine Sugar

.5 oz     Vida Mezcal

.5 oz     Egg White

Dry shake all the ingredients until you get a nice froth in the shaker.  Add ice and re-shake the ingredients for about 10 seconds.  Strain into a coupe or cocktail glass.  Garnish with a spear of pineapple leaf.