Finding the ROOT at BLVD Bar (Studio City)

The BLVD Hotel in Studio City recently opened up their intimate lobby into a bar called BLVD Bar.

I was invited to their launch party and tasted the drinks they offered. It's a small place so the bar itself is not big, but enough to offer an eclectic menu.

All the drinks are named after boulevards in Los Angeles. Many of them are vodka-based 'tinis, which are appropriate for the target audience. There's even one with layered colors called Santa Monica Blvd, undeniably pretty, but for those who have gotten bored of those, there is still something here for you. The La Cienega Blvd drink is one of the best margaritas I've had in town, made with Don Julio tequila, agave syrup, and lime.

An unusual bottle of spirit caught my eye during the party: ROOT. The label says this 80-proof spirit was a "certified organic neutral spirits with North American herbs and pure cane sugar."

The ingredients listed included birch bark, wintergreen, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and more. They use this in a drink called Ventura Blvd made with Root , Canton ginger liqueur, black rum, grenadine and mango syrup. It was a sweet and balanced drink with an unusual herbal undertone.
I wanted to try the Root by itself so they gave me a shot of it. Upon the first whiff my brain said "root beer." Unmistakably root beer. With the first taste, though, it was most certainly not. It was potent, fairly thick, with strong herbal notes.
I was very happy with this particular spirit discovery, and pleasantly surprised that I found this at BLVD Bar!

BLVD Bar
10730 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, CA 91604
http://www.theblvdhotel.com/cafe-bar-lounge/

Brunching in Old Town's New Gastropub, Kings Row (Pasadena)

Bananas Foster Griddle Cakes

When a gastropub opened up in Old Town Pasadena, I admit I didn't pay much attention. That is, until I saw Deep End Dining and Trippy Food rave about the oxtail at Kings Row. They claimed it was fit for a king, and that intrigued me, so when they invited me to try out the new brunch menu, I accepted.

Kings Row opened in the old Neomeze space, which they have completely transformed from the pink and blue-lit lounge to the brick-walled bare space playing country music.

The brunch menu was pretty diverse with dishes ranging from chorizo fajitas to chicken fried steak to fish and chips. And buckwheat waffles a.k.a. the best waffles I've ever had. More on that later.

The fish and chips ($14) featured huge pieces of moist, nicely battered fish. We liked the fries as well, but could've skipped the mushy peas (is that a British thing?)

A hint for things to come: the portions are generous.

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Nespresso Pixie Launch Party with Ted Allen and Pixie Lott

My first exposure to Nespresso was from my former roommate who owned a machine. We would chat over an easily made espresso (pop in capsule, press button, and voila). And they were good! They may not be as good as the ones made by real baristas at, say, Intelligentsia, but they were certainly better than what I could achieve, and at $0.55 per capsule they make espressos a more affordable life style choice.

So, Nespresso recently launched a new model. A much more compact machine dubbed Pixie, which easily fits on small kitchen counters (my Pixie is smaller than my water kettle or my bread box). More about the machine later, let's talk about a party. To get word going about the Pixie, Nespresso held intimate parties around the US and I was invited to the LA one, held in a suite at the W Hotel in Hollywood. There were various reasons to come to this party, one of them was that Ted Allen from Food Network's Chopped was there to host the party.

A propos to the name Pixie, they had a British hit pop singer Pixie Lott perform a few songs for us also! Now, I hadn't heard of her before since I'm pretty unaware of the pop world, much less the British pop world, but apparently she's huge there and was actually named "Hottest Female" by Virgin Media Music Awards.

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