Whiskey in Winter and Opening Day Races at Santa Anita Park

What did you do the day after Christmas? I went to a whiskey tasting and watched horse races at Santa Anita Park! Santa Anita Park held a Whiskey in Winter event in their beautiful chandelier room, coinciding with their opening day races.

Attendees tried half a dozen whiskeys and cocktails around the room and voted for their favorite. The favorite winner will get the cocktail featured at the bar here. I was in a dilemma because my favorite whiskey and my favorite cocktail of the day was different, but since they're featuring the cocktail, I voted for that one.

The whiskey we tasted that day included: Breakers Bourbon, Calumet, Koval, Lexington, Whippersnappers and Whistle Pig.

The winner might surprise you! You may not have even heard of it, since it's a newcomer from Buellton. Yep, that's near Santa Barbara. Ascendant Spirits is Santa Barbara's first distillery and their Breakers Bourbon is worth a taste!

The cocktail was called "Sure Bet", created by Jeremy Lake (Crossroads).

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Cinco: Solid Cocktails, Craft Beers, and Mexican Food Near LAX

I had always thought Westchester was a desert for food and drinks, but I discovered Cinco, a great place to grab some beers, cocktails, and food when you need to be around LAX. Its location is perfect for your friend's short layover.

They have a big list of craft beers and a surprisingly great cocktail program.

I came for brunch, which offers additional cocktails like the "Iced Coffee" made with aged rum, coffee, horchata, cinnamon, and nutmeg for only $6. This is how I want to take my coffee every weekend.

The most popular food item is perhaps the Coctel de Mariscos, a huge bowl of octopus and shrimp in tomato and lime juice topped with avocado, onion, and all that good stuff ($11)

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Cocktail Academy's Apartment A, Now Open for Education and Parties

Sometimes a job leads to new comrades and new opportunities, as is the case with the team behind Cocktail Academy. Meeting while working together at 41 Ocean are Max Kestenbaum (bartender at Sassafras), Brandyn Tepper (bartender at Hinoki and the Bird), Matt Landes (in charge of management, worked at Montage Beverly Hills), and Ana Moskus. They all left 41 Ocean but their friendship and common vision led to Cocktail Academy.

Cocktail Academy will eventually (soon!) open a couple of bars downtown, but in the meantime, they have Apartment A available for private events and for them to throw educational workshops. And parties, of course parties. You can check out what they have coming up on the Aparment A's website. Their previous events and tastings have showcased amazing punch and cocktails like this one made with Buffalo Trace, Averna, marasca maraschino, and Miracle Mile chocolate chili bitters

Apartment A itself is a beautiful space. The first thing I noticed while trying to find the place is the billowing white curtain by the door. Stepping up the stool reveals the dimly lit room decorated with hanging vines and lovely couches. It's cozy, charming, and comfortable. It won't hold a lot of people but it's perfect for small parties or intimate tastings.

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Tour and Tasting at Alaskan Brewing Co (Juneau, AK)

If you find yourself in Juneau, whether you're passing through on a cruise or spending some time there to hike the glacier, be sure to stop by the Alaskan Brewing Co.

No mini tasting glasses here, very generous pours

If you don't have a car in Juneau, that's fine. There's a shuttle that runs hourly from their downtown store location (the "depot") on Franklin St to the brewery. The shuttle costs $15 round trip but, hey, once you get to the brewery you get to taste all their beers for free! The shuttle driver even gave me some fun historical anecdotes about Juneau. The brewery itself is in a somewhat industrial part of Juneau, with not much around it.

You first get ushered in to the tasting room for their four standard beers while listening to the history of the brewery.

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Revisiting The Little Door

It's been many years since I last came to Little Door, and their outdoor dining area is still as charming as ever. The regulars still pile in for happy hour and dinner, and Executive Chef Nicolas Peters still personally makes runs to the farmer's markets after 17 years at Little Door.

I came in the fall for a tasting menu. Preparing for the colder weather, we started the dinner with a bowl of Celeriac soup with pomegranate and shaved walnuts

Maple sherry vinegar glazed chanterelle and frisee salad

Beautiful mushroom salad, perfectly complemented by the glaze and evoking the flavors of fall.

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Insomnia, An Intimate Magic Show at Hotel Casa del Mar, Santa Monica

Starting on January 26, Hotel Casa del Mar will host magician ("modern conjuror") Derek Hughes for his new comedic magic show, Insomnia. 

The $55 ticket (which can be purchased here) not only includes the show, a beer/wine reception ...

 ... with some hors d'oeuvres, but also parking. That's invaluable in these parts of Santa Monica! Given the price of shows in Los Angeles these days, this is quite a good price.

It's hard to capture a magic show with photos alone, so check out this video preview on youtube.

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Winter Cocktail Pairing at Trattoria Neapolis (Pasadena, CA)

Ken Baranda has left the bar at Trattoria Neapolis, but his successor, Chris Doyle, is doing just fine, as exemplified by his winter cocktails.

The first cocktail I tried during a recent tasting was a warm one, a variation of hot buttered rum: Fireside (Appleton dark rum, Matusalem light rum, butter, cloves, vanilla, cinnamon, orange zest)

Not too heavy, warm, and would be perfect on chilly nights.
The cocktails were paired with some bites. The Fireside was paired with some Beef short rib "manwiches" on house focaccia

Darling Clementine (Tito's vodka, fresh clementine juice, housemade cranberry ginger chutney, Combier, fresh orange and lemon juices)

Clementines are a great citrus alternative for cocktails! This drink was so refreshing but with some spice from the ginger chutney. We all loved this one. Despite my usual snobby tendency to avoid vodka cocktails, this was my favorite.

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Revisiting Picca with Gojuchang Lamb Chops and Avocado Cocktail

I never got around to writing about Picca when they first opened, so with the newly decorated upper level mezzanine (I love the warm lights) and new menu items come my opportunity to write about it.

They did not change the entire menu but there are plenty of new items, my favorite of which is the Anticucho de Cordero (lamb chops, gojuchang marinade, aji amarillo miso, $28)

It's a bit pricey for two lamb chops but I just can't get enough of that gojuchang marinade! The lamb was tender but even after the meat was gone I wanted to keep sucking on the bone ...

There are a couple of new cocktails as well, but one of my favorites remained from the old menu, which is the green one pictured below: The Avocado Project (5 Island white rum, fresh avocado, vitamin C (orange juice perhaps?), fresh lime juice, agave nectar, salt, $12)

When I first ordered this drink I was expecting a creamier drink, instead the citrus cuts it nicely, making it a beautifully balanced drink with a hint of avocado flavor.

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Dim Sum Carts, Liquid Nitrogen, and Canned Cocktails at The Church Key

The Church Key brought the "dim sum cart" concept to Sunset Blvd, except instead of the classic grouchy dim sum ladies pushing their metal carts, the servers at Church Key are dressed in PanAm stewardess outfit pushing airline carts (one said PanAm while another cart said Delta). Various small plates, canned cocktails, and liquid nitrogen cocktail otter pops can be found on these carts.

Just like at dim sum, they stamp your card with the dishes or cocktail you received. Unlike Chinese dim sum, the restaurant is large, spacious, and sexy.

You won't find Chinese dim sum here, though. Instead, look for one of our favorite dishes of the night: Crispy pork belly, gojuchang glaze, cashew butter, radish, sesame ($14)

Word of warning: this was a bit spicy, but I love the crispiness! Everyone raved about the pig's ear cheetos but unfortunately I didn't get to try them as they were sold out.

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Fondue by the Pool at Après at The W Hotel in Westwood

It's getting cold out. Cold enough for fondue, even. But you're still an Angeleno at heart so you're going to want your fondue by the pool. Well, you can at Après at The W Hotel in Westwood. Not après ski, but après skinny dip?

Available at the poolside cabanas (but they'll serve it inside or at the bar if you ask nicely) are cheese and chocolate fondues, s'mores, and special cocktails.
There are three choices for the cheese fondue ($16 for 2), including the Miss Swiss which is the traditional gruyere cheese with sherry and garlic, Dive bar made with cheddar, IPA, and bacon, and Jako-Dip made with goat cheese, white wine, and pumpkin puree.

My favorite is still the traditional Swiss style, but the pumpkin one is fun to try as well. They come with bread and vegetables as usual but also some cured meats.

The chocolate fondue also comes in three choices and served with strawberries, dried pineapples, marshmallows, Oreos, and graham crackers.

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Langer's #19 is Chowzter's Tastiest Fast Feast in North America!

I had been recruited by a new website and app called Chowzter to curate the best of Los Angeles "fast feasts" - the dishes that are not from a chain or fine dining restaurant. I've been contributing items to their list which can be found here (although some of those still remain from the old list!)

Anyway, Chowzter recently held an award for North America's Tastiest Fast Feast in San Francisco, and I had nominated some of LA's finest including Langer's #19 pastrami sandwich and Tsujita's tsukemen! At the end of the night the winners were announced .... and Langer's took home #1!! That's right, New York, LA's pastrami is numero uno. They even made a nifty video for it. You can see the full list of winners here.

Chowzter's trophy for Langer's

You can see my post of Langer's #19 here. So, anyway, I found out I wasn't supposed to keep that nifty trophy but give it to the restaurant instead :p
I went over to the deli last week to hand over the trophy to Norm Langer himself and his family. Such an honor to meet them!

The new trophy will replace the golf balls on top of the cash register. The daughter couldn't wait to get rid of those golf balls :)

Of course, since I was there I had to get some lunch. #19 may still be my favorite but I wanted to try something new and went with #6: pastrami and chopped liver on rye bread.

The chopped liver is creamy and doesn't taste too much like offal. It's a nice accompaniment for the pastrami. Psst, they also have a secret off-menu item right now ... pastrami chili cheese fries!

Bulgogi Banh Mi and Juices at Fruit Farm in Little Tokyo

An unassuming cafe called Fruit Farm had popped up inside of Little Tokyo's Galleria mall, serving fresh juices, smoothies, sandwiches, and salads. What to know is that one of the owners is Korean so you can get fun sandwich mash ups like this bulgogi banh mi ($6.75 gets you the two pieces shown below and you can get half filled with something else!)

What I actually like even better was the spicy pork banh mi that I got in my other half of the sandwich.

The bulgogi tends on the sweeter side and I think the light spiciness of the pork works better with the banh mi accompaniments, but both were good and interesting.

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Top 6 LA Bites in 2013

It's almost the end of the year and looking back at 2013, I've certainly had many great meals! Here's a look at what I remembered to be the best bites in Los Angeles in the past year. Because the list only covers LA, it doesn't include the absolutely amazing kouign amann at B Patisserie, but you should definitely try that if you're in San Francisco. These also only include the things I tried for the first time in 2013, so while there are many great dishes in LA they may not be on this list. Also, I'm bound to have missed a few things due to my failing memory, so feel free to add what you think is the best bite in the comments!

In no particular order:

1. Uni Caviar Lobster roll at Petrossian

Chef Giselle Wellman has devised the ultimate lobster roll, topped with fresh uni and Petrossian caviar on a brioche roll. While the lobster roll and fries aren't cheap, each bite will assure you that it's worth it.

2. Mandilli di seta at The Factory Kitchen

I still dream about this silky smooth handkerchief pasta and that subtle almond basil pesto.

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A Chat and Taste with Evolution Fresh Juice Founder

With all the fresh pressed juice trend going around, have you tried the bottled Evolution Fresh juices? I've seen them around at Starbucks but never thought to try them until I got to chat with the Evolution juice founder, Jimmy Rosenberg. I thought they would be like the overly sweet, pasteurized Naked juices, but I was wrong!

Speaking of Naked Juice, it's interesting to know that Jimmy also founded Naked Juice. The original idea was just selling juices on Santa Monica beach in the summer of 1984. That grew, as I'm sure you know, but their subsequent partnership with Chiquita led to the partner demanding cheaper cost and the use of processed fruit purees. That was not what Jimmy had in mind, so he left, signing a non-compete agreement. After the non-compete period had passed (he was farming lettuce in the meantime), he started again with Evolution Fresh.

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643 North: Polenta Pizza and Craft Cocktails in Chinatown

While Italian restaurants and craft beer and cocktail bars are abound in downtown Los Angeles, 643 North occupies an unusual location: Chinatown. You might be confused driving there through a desolate part of Chinatown, but don't worry, it's there. Plus they have a free parking lot to the left, perks of a cheaper real estate.

Actually, 643 North isn't really an Italian restaurant although the menu leans a bit in that direction. They also have other items like these Crab sliders (blue crab patties, chipotle remoulade, daikon sprouts, brioche, $13)

You shouldn't miss their pasta, though, especially the Ossobuco ravioli (braised veal, housemade ravioli, baby heirloom tomatoes, broccolini, Parmesan broth, Parmesan cheese, $17)

I was expecting a heavy dish, as ossobuco typically is, but this is light and lovely. The al dente ravioli sits in a bright parmesan broth, letting diners experience ossobuco in a different way. This was one of the highlights of my meal.

I was also pleasantly surprised with the cocktails here, created by Adam Acuff from Far Bar, which is more known for their beers rather than cocktails (643 North also has a good beer list). All cocktails are $12 and include drinks like Smokey the Pear (High West Campfire, St Germain, spiced pear syrup, lemon bitters) which was nicely balanced.

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Peru to Malaysia Test Kitchen at Zengo

Richard Sandoval's Zengo at the Santa Monica Place does a different "Test Kitchen" menu every once in a while, and the latest is a Peruvian Malaysian take. Malaysian food is very similar to Indonesian so I wanted to check this out! The Test Kitchen items are indicated with a "TK" to the left of the item's name on the menu.

I like the entrees on this TK menu. Try the Char roasted halibut, ginger chile marinade, crispy lentil rice cake, sambal butter sauce, charred banana leaf ($25)

The halibut was nicely cooked, sitting atop the aromatic banana leaf, and I liked that sambal butter! It's not that spicy as far as sambal goes but definitely packed some spices.

I also enjoyed the Arroz con Mariscos, mussels, scallops, calamari, shrimp, yellow curry, Malay rice, Thai basil ($14)

This seemed more Thai than Malaysian with the curry broth, but nonetheless it's a flavorful and comforting dish for the cold weather. The two dishes above are probably my favorites of the TK menu.

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Tiki Cocktails by the Beach at Larry's in Venice

Larry's was already a popular destination in Venice Beach for food and beer, but they have recently gotten a full liquor license as well and launched a tiki-focused cocktail menu.

Pina colada gets an upgrade with a red wine float in #Delicious (rum, coconut cream, lemon, pineapple, red wine - $12). Yes, the hashtag is meant to be there.

It's on the sweeter side but I'm still a fan of pina coladas after all, and a lot of people would love this drink. The red wine adds more complexity. For something a little less sweet, I really enjoyed the Sun Poison (gin, falernum, passionfruit, lime, orgeat, orange bitters - $12)

Falernum any day

The bar food menu is worth a look, as well. If you don't mind offals, get the Bacon wrapped chicken liver skewers, yakitori sauce ($6)

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Brunch at Caulfield's (Thompson Hotel, Beverly Hills)

Caulfield's Bar and Dining Room at the Thompson Hotel has started brunch service with pastries and a diverse array of dishes. We started brunch with their Whole grain blueberry muffin ($6) and Braeburn apple turnover ($7)

It's more expensive than going to a bakery and getting them to go but you're paying to dine there after all and I was happy that the muffins were full of blueberries instead of just a couple garnishing the top.

There are traditional mimosas and bellinis but I had to try the prickly pear one.

Inadvertently, I ended up having a vegetarian brunch! But don't be deterred by my brunch, because they do have hamburgers, pork belly, steak au poivre, chicken and waffles and the likes for brunch. 

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Fleming's Steakhouse Adds Steak Companions Menu

Fleming's Steakhouse has now added a "steak companion" menu to all their locations. These are seafood and other "toppings" that you can add to your steak!

The companions include a truffle poached lobster with bearnaise sauce and caviar, which obviously I had to get. Going to a steakhouse is already a splurge, but for special occasions might as well get lobster and caviar.

They had a bone-in filet mignon that night, which I highly recommend over the other steaks! My friend got the bone-in filet mignon and after trying hers I didn't want to return it ... especially the tender parts near the bone. We topped this with the King crab with herb butter.

The other companion options are Diablo Shrimp (baked with spiced barbecue butter sauce), and a Flavor Trio of steak spreads. They also have three sauces like chimichurri and peppercorn that are complimentary.

We also had fun with their new digital wine list. You can browse by types of wine or look at the recommended pairings for specific dishes.