Showing posts with label highland park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label highland park. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

ScotsFest at The Queen Mary, Feb 16-17

ScotsFest is returning to the Queen Mary in Long Beach this weekend, Saturday-Sunday February 16-17.

There will be a full day of Highland Games competition where you can watch strong men and women throw stones, hammers, cabers, and other ridiculously heavy things over long distances or high up in the air! The people throwing heavy things and the people in costumes will probably not be in the same group, though.


There's also competition for traditional Highland dancing like this Sword Dance from the 15th century, which I got to watch during the ScotsFest preview last week.

The whisky tasting ($15) will feature the lineup from the Edrington Group including The Black Grouse (the smokier version of Famous Grouse), The Macallan Fine Oak series, and Highland Park. 

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Little Cave Reborn as La Cuevita (Highland Park)

What used to be a divey gothic bar called Little Cave is now La Cuevita, a tequila and mezcal-focused bar modeled after a "Mexican Grotto", making Highland Park a little more interesting. The dimly lit interior is adorned with various artifacts the owners of the 1933 group found in Mexico, along with bat papier-maches and paintings made by a local artist. For a quieter evening, some seats are available outdoors by the entrance.

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One wall featured shelves of their mezcal collection, which may not be as extensive as La Guelaguetza or Las Perlas but impressive nonetheless. There are of course, a line of Del Maguey mezcals (from the lower end to the $40-a-shot-Pechuga), which I'm more or less familiar with, but there also Los Nuhuales, Don Amado, and other names I wasn't familiar with.

The cocktail menu is devised by Jared Mort from Oldfield's Liquor Room, another 1933 Group bar.
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My favorite of the cocktails was the Mole Manhattan ($12) made with Old Overholt Rye, Carpano Antica, Cointreau, Creme de Cacao, Chocolate Chili bitters and Hellfire bitters. It's a tad sweet and chocolatey, but don't be fooled, this drink can knock you down.

The Jalapeno Margarita ($10) is my next favorite with Tanteo Jalapeno tequila, honey, grapefruit juice, lime, and cilantro.

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The Mezcalada ($8) is an interesting take on the Michelada with roasted poblano peppers, clamato, Del Maguey Vida mezcal, Corona, lime, and house smoked salt rim. Despite the peppers and the mezcal, this didn't have as strong a flavor as the Micheladas I've had before, though. The Glutster told them so and he's hoping they would use a smokier mezcal (or just more mezcal) later.

There's usually no food here, but on Tuesday nights they bring in a taquero to whip up some carne asada, carnitas, and chicken tacos - and they're actually pretty good.
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La Cuevita 
5922 North Figueroa St
Los Angeles, CA 90024 (Highland Park)
323-255-6871
http://www.lacuevitabar.com/

Disclosure: this visit was a hosted media preview 

Monday, March 23, 2009

The York Gastropub

I never knew there was such a great gastropub so near Pasadena! The York is located in Highland Park, in between Pasadena and downtown LA. Now I don't have to necessarily go to Father's Office (although the draft beer selection at FO is significantly larger!) to hang out.

The place was packed when I went there. It was a weekday but on the other hand it was also St. Patrick's day! Complete with green beer for the special day, The York offers a small but adequate selection of draft beers (Craftsman, Telegraph, Kronenbourg, etc), a larger selection of bottled beers (Arrogant Bastard, Unibroue, Chimay, etc). On top of a full bar, they feature a small list of specialty drinks.

I loved the dark, industrial look, including the bird-cage lights hanging from the ceiling (LATimes called it 'edgy'). Despite that, the place is actually spacious and airy - although the front and the bar still gets really packed.
Waiting for a booth can take a while, and all orders must go through the bar. We got our drinks first (a Craftsman 1903 Lager for me) and scouted around. Luckily we caught a booth as the people sitting there were just getting up.

A friend of mine told me she might like the burger here better than Father's Office, so I ordered one. The Cheddar Burger ($13) comes with pickled onion, arugula, and (most importantly) spicy harissa aioli!
The patty is very juicy and flavorful, the buttery buns are great, and just as in the FO burger, the arugula works very well. But what really did it was the spicy harissa aioli! This bit of creamy spiciness really added a kick to the burger and every bite was a burst of flavor. This burger is at the very least comparable to the FO burger (if not better!) but unlike the FO burger which some ppl can still argue whether or not it's a 'burger', this one is inarguably a 'burger'.

Good meat + great buttery buns + arugula + spicy harissa aioli = 1 rockin' burger.

My friends had the fish n chips which apparently were good but nothing special. I have yet to try other items here, but the burger alone would have me coming back.

The York
5018 York Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90042
(323) 255-9675
www.theyorkonyork.com

York on Urbanspoon

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