Simply Divine
This looks to be a great event here in Los Angeles in a few weeks. Eat, drink and mingle with chefs and fellow foodies on famed Melrose Place. What could be better? Not much. The participating restaurants, wineries, breweries, and spirit makers include:
I love QR codes…this one goes to the sign up form for my new site Eat+Drink. Check it out or just click through to the site. :) Sign up for some really awesome and EXCLUSIVE opportunities that we’re planning!!
Eat+Drink now has an Exclusive Offer/Newsletter sign-up button! It’s in the top right hand corner of the site. Just click HERE, add your email and we will selectively send you “no-one-else-can-get-these” type of exclusive offers from Los Angeles restaurants and ultimately from food, wine, spirits and entertaining creators and service providers. Spread the sign-up button around as the more people we have signed up, the bigger, better and more exclusive our offers will become!! Soon you will saunter into a restaurant, whisper “Eat+Drink” to the host and be summarily escorted to your own private table that no one else even knew existed….eat on!
This sort of sounds like heaven….
When Bitter Is Sweet: Sadie brings unique ice cream floats to Hollywood
It all started at Tales of the Cocktail.
On a sticky New Orleans night at that raucous annual bartenders’ convention, Giovanni Martinez had his first taste of Chartreuse ice cream.
Nearly a year later, that experience inspired Sadie’s head bartender to create a trio of bitters ice cream floats, each of which combines classic sodas with bitter-spirits-spiked ice cream.
The floats cost $8 and do double duty as both a digestif and dessert. Martinez worked with consulting chef Mark Gold, of Eva renown, on the flavor and texture of the ice cream, which proved tricky because boozy cream is difficult to freeze.
Flavors will change as inspiration strikes and seasons shift, but currently the menu features three standout combinations.
There’s a nod to Martinez’s inspiration, an ice cream starring Chartreuse that is joined by Bubble Up soda and an aromatic lime-peel garnish. Bright pink Peychaud’s ice cream tastes like bubble gum and joins orange peel and Sanbitter, Italy’s sharply bitter, nonalcoholic answer to Campari. Finally, medicinal Fernet ice cream achieves balance thanks to both a chocolate-mint infusion and chocolate chips; it floats in a bath of Mexican Coke and wears a mint garnish (pictured).
Sadie, 1638 N. Las Palmas Ave., Hollywood; 323-467-0200 or sadiela.com
Hmmm…I’m not a whisky drinker but I might try this!!
Cabin Fever Maple Whisky
There’s a rule somewhere that states that whisky has to taste like poison. Don’t get us wrong, we still love it. In the grand scheme of things though, it’s only really or step removed from lighter fluid in terms of potency, taste and flammability. It’s pretty potent stuff, so it’s, unfortunately, not really appropriate for the breakfast table. Cabin Fever may finally be the company that makes whisky a brunch drink with their Maple Whisky. Each bottle starts as top quality rye infused with 100% Vermont Maple that is aged in non-charred barrels. Then it’s chill filtered to remove the excess sugar because you don’t want to ruin the flavor profile. Cabin Fever is a harmonious mixture of oak and maple with sweet notes, lovingly crafted by a third generation American family, right here in the good ole’ US of A. Most importantly, it’s delicious. $20
OMG…these glasses are gorgeous. I need some! I edited Cool Material’s editorial below to also include girls who like a spirit in a whiskey glass! Heehee!
Rikke Hagen Whiskey Glasses
If you’re still consuming whiskey out of red Solo cups, it’s time to grow up. As men (and women), we are blessed with a few drinks that are both elegant and delicious, and while those cups might not do much about the taste, they sure as hell aren’t helping the elegance part. For a distinctively grown up way to consume some Johnny Walker Blue Label, we’re digging the sophistication of these Rikke Hagen glasses from Normann Copenhagen. The curve at the bottom of the glass is designed so you can hold and swirl your drink like The Most Interesting Man or Woman in the World (you know, when she’s not drinking Dos Equis). $61
How awesome is this? We all need something online that will tell us what cheese goes with what we’re drinking. :)
The Cheese Cupid
Your Gouda is, like, totally crushing. It’s begging to be paired up with that tall glass of Chardonnay.
Or was it the Beaujolais? Find out who your cheese has the hots for at Cheese Cupid, a playful–and instructive–online guide to pairing a wide range of cheeses with wine and beer. It’s incredibly handy when you’re hosting a cocktail party, or figuring out what to bring to your next holiday gathering.
Start by selecting your favorite cheese or your favorite drink. Perhaps you’d like to match that assertive wedge of Limburger with a beer that can handle the funk, or secure a soul mate for that sweet Riesling of yours. With a few quick clicks, Cheese Cupid works its magic and helps you make the right decision. Share your new knowledge with friends by “Liking” Cheese Cupid on Facebook. And don’t forget to download the Cheese Cupid app on your iPhone for those fits of indecision at the cheese shop.
All 23 cheese varieties included in the guide are produced domestically in Wisconsin, a state that knows its cheeses intimately. So don’t let your wheel of brie sit solo any longer. Find its perfect pairing at Cheese Cupid today.
Everyone is clearly now jumping on the “iced metal/stone cube” bandwagon. Here’s one that’s GIGANTIC! :)
Skybar Chill Cubes
Not all that long ago, people rediscovered the bottled excellence that is quality liquor. We prefer whiskey or scotch, but rum, tequila and even vodka are having a straight up renaissance. The Japanese, generally on the cutting edge of cool gadgetry, made a sweet ice maker that made one enormous ball of ice for your drink. It’s fantastic, but it also costs thousands of dollars and eventually waters down your expensive libation. These stainless steel ice cubes give you all the chilling benefits of one huge cube (except you get two of them in the set, so you can share), without the mess or expense. Throw them in your freezer, then your drink and Bob’s your uncle.$40
OMG…I soooo want to go here!!!
Greystone Manner Supperclub
You already know who you’d invite to your imaginary anybody-in-the-world dinner party. Pitt. Mendes. Angela Merkel.
Now you just need a place to hold it, and there’d better be a dance floor.
Allow us to introduce Greystone Manor Supperclub, La Cienega’s beautifully insane new mansion of dining, dancing and showgirls, now open Thursdays and Saturdays for your next over-the-top dinner soiree.
First step: call out of work on Friday. Second step: wait for Thursday, when you’ll step inside SBE’s glittering redo of the Industry space for dinner. It’s a vast, cavernous manor with velvet seating, towering gold columns and giant crystal bubble chandeliers—sort of like your place, just a bit more subtle. You might expect stuffy food, but you’ll get platters of short rib grilled cheese from the Cleo chef.
But around the time you wave over another round of cucumber watermelon margaritas, things will start getting louder. Dance-ier. Behind the DJ, a huge LED light wall will begin moving to the music. Old-Hollywood showgirls will appear, moving to the LED light wall. And as you step out to the dance floor to debut your patent-pending new move, some limber aerialists will descend from somewhere above to try to steal your thunder.
Wouldn’t be a dinner party without limber aerialists.
I love these…maybe I’ll have to get them for my Dad since I’m not a scotch drinker!!
Steel Ice Cubes
Ice is pretty simple. Pour some water into a plastic tray, throw it in the freezer, and wait. It’s easy, cheap and will, ultimately, make your drink cold. Unfortunately, that also means it’s going to water it down which is not something you want when you’re drinking the fancy, special occasion booze. These one inch stainless steel cubes are the perfect alternative to whiskey stones because they’re not porous and won’t absorb any of the good stuff. Each stainless cube in the four pack is filled with a non-toxic gel that will keep your drink as cold and delicious as it is shiny.
I’m so bummed this place is in Glendale. I want one in Santa Monica so I can go visit and drink unique spirits!! I mean, how gorgeous is that glass of whatever that is? Lovely. Neat A friend recently shared her favorite “cocktail” recipe with us: Open a bottle of good whiskey and pour a few fingers into a glass. Drink. It’s a dead-simple prescription that’s arguably the only way to drink finer spirits. Aidan Demarest, who has left a trail of exceptional cocktails behind him at various Southland bars, has taken this purist’s approach as his own at Neat, which opened earlier this month in Glendale. Housed in a minimally rehabbed dive, Neat is no showy affair; there isn’t even a drink list. You order by the liquor, and the chosen spirit is served with a chaser, the pair of glasses tidily resting in round recesses on a small wooden tray. Bundaberg ginger beer complemented the glass of caramelized-orange-tasting Elijah Craig 12 we partook in (pictured; $12), while the Curious Cola-backed pour of Ron Zacapa XO ($35) was a sublime recollection of our long-past rum-and-coke days. The Zacapa is one of a handful of bottles at Neat culled from Demarest’s personal spirits collection. The unmarked cut-crystal decanter glinting at you from the top shelf? That’s Demarest’s stash of Macallan 30 ($50), a Scotch with a finish as long as the booze is old. Neat, 1114 N. Pacific Ave., Glendale; 818-241-4542 or theneatbar.com
Ok, like I don’t need this product because I’m a parent now and NEVER drink but just in case you do…. :)
Snap Fusion - hangover remedy!
Candy.
Delicious in many forms. Handy for bribing the IT guy. A fine name for a dinner companion.
Also: the perfect tonic after a long night of illicit carousing.
We can explain…
Introducing Snap Infusion, a new candy-based remedy for your roughest mornings, available now.
Yes, we’re talking about a hangover-curing candy. Here’s how it’ll go down: you’ll wake up… eventually. The light: it burns. Your head: also burns. You need a few things—like water, large sunglasses… and pants. Any pants at all. Oh, and B vitamins and electrolytes.
You need to get yourself to the nearest greasy spoon for a recovery breakfast. First, collect yourself. Then, look to the only thing that can restore order: a jelly bean. Or maybe some gum. You see, the husband-and-wife team who created this stuff thought it’d be a good idea to make it in a bunch of forms, including gummies, caramels and tarts. (Note: they also envision you using it to climb a mountain.)
By the time your omelet arrives, you should be feeling at least slightly better. And because we know you’re concerned about taste at moments like these: well, they’re stunningly reminiscent of Flintstones vitamins.
In a good way.
