Tipple and Brine Brings Excitement to The Valley (Sherman Oaks)

I never would've expected going to a restaurant in the Valley and running into so many friends. What kind of restaurant is drawing such a crowd to the valley? It's the new Tipple and Brine in Sherman Oaks.

Appropriate to the name of the restaurant, one of the most talked about item at Tipple and Brine is the oyster luge.

You can order one of the recommended scotches to go with your oyster, like the Bowmore. Sip the oyster brine, then pour some scotch into the shell and gulp it down with the oyster!

Another popular item is the Sea urchin toast, avocado mousse, radish, scallion ($14)

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August Food Events in Los Angeles Not To Miss!

Saturday, August 2
Plate by Plate
This is Project by Project's Annual Tasting which benefits the Pacific Asian Counseling Services. This year's 50 participating vendors including hot new restaurants Republique, Faith and Flower, Superba Food and Bread, and many more great restaurants like b.o.s., Bistro LQ, etc (check out the full list).
Tickets are $150 for general admission and $250 for VIP, which can be purchased here.
Time: 6:30pm (VIP), 7:30pm (GA)
The Vibiana
6060 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036


Thursday, August 7
LUCKYRICE Feast
Lukshon's Sang Yoon hosts the third annual LUCKYRICE Feast, this time overtaking a club in Hollywood. Participants include LA's Chef Jet Tila, Starry Kitchen, Lukshon (of course), Hamasaku, and more, along with Portland's famed Nong's Khao Man Gai. To keep you hydrated, bartenders from Pour Vous, Harlowe, Hinoki and the Bird, La Descarga, and more will be on hand, pairing each dish with a Bombay Sapphire East cocktail. Check out the full menu here.
Tickets are $150 for VIP early admission and $88 for general admission. Tickets can be purchased here.
Time: 7pm (VIP), 8pm(GA)-10pm
Create
6021 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028

Saturday, August 9
LA Scotch Club Peatin' Meetin' VI

This year marks LA Scotch Club's 6th annual celebration of peated whiskies. Along with over 100 whiskies, there will also be craft peated beers from local breweries and cocktails from LA's mixologists. Big Slim's Hickory Creek BBQ will be smoking meats over wood and peat. That's not all, there will also be a cigar lounge and Irish rock and folk live music.

Tickets are $100 pp and can be purchased here. Event starts at 5pm.
Brookside Golf Club
1133 Rosemont Ave, Pasadena, CA 91103

Sunday, August 17
Food GPS Fried Chicken Festival
Angelenos love fried chicken so much that we are having the third annual fried chicken festival. This festival gathers some of the city's best chefs, though, including Kris Morningstar, Jason Travi of Superba, and Brian Dunsmoor, along with those known for their fried chicken like Jesse Furman of Free Range LA. Beers and cocktails will also be on hand to wash down all the chicken.

Tickets are $65 for general admission and $90 for VIP which includes one hour early admission and guaranteed seating. Tickets can be purchased here.
Event starts at 3pm (VIP early admission), 4pm general admission
Chinatown,  943 N. Broadway Los Angeles, CA, 90012

Thursday-Sunday, August 21-24
LA Food and Wine

The fourth annual LA Food and Wine Festival returns with over 20 events spanning 4 days. Attendees can take their pick from special lunches with celebrity chefs to the big grand tasting events. Among the events offered are Caviar and Champagne, lunch at Scarpetta with Scott Conant and Graham Elliott, lunch at Republique with Walter Manzke and Michael Tusk, the two grand tastings, Asian Night Market, and cooking demo by Iron Chef Morimoto.
Times and ticket prices vary by event. See the LAFW website for more information.

Sunday, August 24
LA Weekly Pancake Breakfast
The annual Pancake Breakfast features breakfast and brunch items from some of LA's top restaurants. With brunch comes mimosas, Bloody Marys, juices, and coffee.
Tickets are $30 if purchased before July 20. Tickets are available here.
Time: 11am-2pm
Park Plaza Hotel
607 S Park View St, Los Angeles, CA 90057

Friday-Sunday, August 29-31
The Taste
Los Angeles Times' The Taste has always taken place over Labor Day weekend, and this year is no exception. Unlike the LAFW, there are five events over three days at The Taste, including this year's Sunday Brunch which is co-hosted by Chef Thomas Keller.
Ticket prices range between $100-150, or $299 for a weekend pass. Purchase tickets here.
Paramount Picture Studios

Calling Peat and Whisky Lovers: Peatin' Meetin' V on June 29

If you're not a member of the LA Scotch Club, you may not know about their annual Peatin' Meetin', open to anyone who enjoys peaty whisky. They will all convene next Saturday, June 29 at the Upper Picnic Area at UCLA's Sunset Canyon for over 100 peated whiskies including Laphroaig, Ardbeg, Bowmore, Smokehead, Lagavulin, and many more.
The great thing about this event is that the whiskies you will taste there are not just from sponsors, but they use their own club funds to source some rare whiskies. It's all about sharing a great whisky with fellow lovers.

Other than over 100 peated whiskies, 7Grand will also be on site making peated cocktails! You won't be drinking on an empty stomach, fret not. They will be peat smoking 175 lbs of New York strip sirloin this year. There will also be peated beer!

Tickets are $100 all-inclusive (or $40 for non-drinkers). You will also get a free t-shirt if you register early. Tickets and more information are available on peatinmeetin.com.

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. 

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Let's Talk About Luxury: The Macallan's £10 Bar at The Montage Beverly Hills

The names Macallan and The Montage Beverly Hills are already synonymous with luxury, but the £10 Bar is on another level. This Macallan exclusive bar is by-reservation only and has a $50 minimum per person. It's not hard to meet the minimum with the prices. The 12-year old Macallan aged in sherry oak is  £10, and the price goes up from there. Luckily I was there as Shop Eat Sleep's guest on her hosted media visit.

But I had to do a double take when I saw a $64,000 drink on the menu. Yep. I did say this bar was on another level of luxury, right? The 64-year-old Macallan goes for $64,000. That's for a glass/shot, by the way, but hey, they have the last two ounces of this stuff left on earth.

That beats the special Royal Marriage edition which was $12,000 for a whole bottle.
We sat outside since it was a nice day. Quiet, breezy, overlooking the garden and fountain. It is certainly a nice place to hang out and chat.

Of course, we had to order some Macallan. Our server told us that the sherry oak whisky tends to be smoother and fruitier. If you prefer something oaky, go with the ones in the fine oak section where the whiskies were finished in a bourbon barrel. For the smokier ones, there's the Highland Park line. So. When you order whisky here, they will bring you the four different ice options. There's the whisky soapstones, the ice cubes, specially made ice balls, and the one he most recommended - the ice ball made with Highland Springs water.

They actually ship water from Scotland to make these ice balls, no joke. It's supposed to be best since it's the same water used to make the whiskies. Even the "local" ice ball is no ordinary ball: it has the £ logo carved inside of the ice.

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Dining (and Drinking) at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (Edinburgh, UK)

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is a members-only club where you can enjoy specially bottled and rare whiskies from around the world. While a membership will cost £100, it turns out that the Edinburgh location (their first location) has an attached restaurant that is open to the public. Getting an affirmative answer to whether or not we can get their society whiskies at the restaurant, I booked a table of twelve to celebrate a colleague’s birthday.


Celebrating your birthday in Edinburgh drinking whiskies? Lucky dog.
Our party was big enough to warrant getting their private room (we feel special!)

The food at SMWS is indeed expensive, especially considering the currency conversion, but apparently if you come early enough they have a special 3-course menu that’s reasonably priced. Alas, we didn’t make the cut and had to order a la carte.

We each started with a wee dram our server had recommended: 21 year aged Glenkichie, cask strength.

Then, amuse bouche. Where else would your amuse bouche comes with a glass of whisky?

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Balblair: Tasting The World's Only Vintage Single Malt Scotch

Balblair scotch distillery has been around since 1790 but the name is fairly new to the American audience. Two of their products have finally made their way into the American market.

They claim to be the only distillery which bottles their scotch in vintages, just like wine.

Balblair 1991 ($129.99) and Balblair 1997 ($64.99) are the first two vintages that are available for purchase in the U.S. Distillery Manager John MacDonald handpicks the casks that he deems to have reached the peak of maturation each year and releases them as the single malt vintages.
To introduce these two vintages, Balblair recently invited some media and scotch lovers to a tasting party at The Edison (the ambiance there is a perfect fit with the bottle's design), where I sipped scotch and ate bruschetta with other bloggers and members of the LA Scotch club. I started the night out big with the 1991.

Balblair 1991 just received a rating of “Excellent Highly Recommend” in the Ultimate Spirits Challenge. Reminds me a bit of butterscotch and has a smooth and long finish.

The Balblair 1997, on the other hand, is spicier, has more bite but not as smooth and the finish isn't as long. I personally prefer the smoother 1991, but the characteristics of the two bottles are quite distinct and worth separate considerations.


By the way, the gorgeous picture on the gift box is supposed to be a hill behind the distillery. Makes you want to go visit, doesn't it?

At the tasting, a bowl of chocolates was prepared for us to pair our scotch with, starting from milk chocolate to 55% to 61% to 73% dark. Of course, I stuck with 61% and above :)
Dark chocolate and scotch? Yes, please. I will definitely keep that in mind next time I pop open my bottle of scotch.

*Photos courtesy of Balblair, bcs they look so much nicer than the ones I took.