Tartine for Lunch at Esterel (Sofitel Los Angeles, Beverly Hills)

The restaurant inside the Sofitel Los Angeles hotel in Beverly Hills is now Esterel, a French-focused restaurant that kept the sleek interior of its predecessor.

The bread basket is generous and even included gougeres!

I came to try their lunch menu (although I tried them during dinner), which is mainly composed of a selection of tartine - open faced sandwiches - named after. Each tartine is served with a green salad and some fries.

There is a tartine for everyone here. There's the vegetarian friendly Beverly Garden (marinated heirloom tomato, cucumber, burratta cheese, artichoke, pesto, fleur de sel ). Executive Chef Marius Blin combines many ingredients to get

The creamy burrata is topped with crispy crumbles of potato chips.

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Caliche Rum Launch Party

To celebrate its launch in Los Angeles, Caliche Rum converted the Stone Rose Lounge at The Sofitel hotel into a Puerto Rican party house. Fedoras were given out and a photo room were decorated with bottles of Caliche and aging barrels. Celebs like Cindy Crawford were supposedly in attendance (although I didn't see any).

Inside the lounge, there were basic drinks like rum with ginger beer, a creamy coconut concoction, and others. Appetizers like empanadas and chicken tinga tacos made the round. Trying the rum itself, it was pretty smooth and smells sweet and coconut-y. Upon venturing out into the patio, who do I see? Michel Dozois! What a pleasant surprise!

At his station, Michel and his crew were making four of the more "interesting" cocktails.
Our favorite was the Cali Kick: Caliche rum, Thai chili, fresh lemon juice, cream

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