Happy Hour At Nick & Stef’s in Downtown LA

Recently I enjoyed a media comped Happy Hour experience at esteemed downtown LA steakhouse Nick & Stef’s. I’d never eaten at the trendy establishment, but when I saw a glimpse of the cocktails on display, I was more than intrigued. $5 Moscow Mule? Drop EVERYTHING (although, ironically I didn’t have one). Anyway, I didn’t get …

Judging the Southwest Regional Barista Competition, or How I Learned To Live With Abdominal Cramping

Photo via LAist This past weekend I had the supreme joy of judging the Southwest Regional Barista Championship, which saw baristas from California, Hawaii, Arizona, Colorado descend on Hollywood all with the hopes of advancing on to the U.S. Championships. Some of you may have read my tortured account of getting certification for this event, …

THE QUAFF: More National Margarita Day Fun

Since today is National Margarita Day, I knew I had to post a bonus Quaff. The only problem is that I haven’t recently created or sampled a new margarita to profile (actually, not true — I tasted my friend Sly’s margarita at the Thompson hotel last week, but I neglected to take photos; so that …

THE QUAFF: A National Margarita Day Celebration of Don Julio!

Today is National Margarita Day, and in honor of the day, I plan to a) have a margarita later, and b) celebrate its most vital component: tequila! I’ve gained a recent appreciation for the notorious spirit, which had previously ranked low on my favorite alcohols. However, thanks to a handy tasting seminar in December courtesy …

THE QUAFF: Cocktail Hour at the Allston Yacht Club

Angelenos might be shocked to learn this, but there’s a yacht club in Echo Park, the otherwise landlocked Eastside neighborhood that’s known for its gentle mix of hipsters and low-income Latinos. Granted, there are no yachts at the yacht club, and the closest thing to a marina is a puddle of water at the Walgreens …

THE QUAFF: Supperclub LA’s Cactus Margarita

Handcrafted cocktails have become de rigeur in Hollywood, and nearly every hip, hot, and trendy club now offers their own nifty concoctions for the masses to consume. Not all libations are created equally though. Thankfully, Supperclub LA has a doozy of a cocktail menu, featuring many creations that have made me very, very happy at …

THE QUAFF: Thai Boxer Edition, Featuring An Epic Feat of Strength

About a week ago, I saw an intriguing cocktail book on sale at Williams-Sonoma. It was called Artisanal Cocktails and written by Scott Beattie, who apparently is a big time mixologist up in the Bay Area. I figured it would be a nice change of pace from Paul Abercrombie’s Organic, Shaken, and Stirred, which I’d …

THE QUAFF: Dark & Stormy Edition

On the occasion of my 32nd birthday last weekend, my crew and I (née The Lametourage, since renamed The VC — as in, The Vicious Circle) decided to take in a viewing of the latest Twilight movie (a.k.a. laugh at the screen). There’s absolutely no way to slog through the vampire saga sober; so clearly, …

THE QUAFF: Sun Gold Zinger Edition

For the past several months, my friend Sly and I have been trying to see the film Winter’s Bone, but thanks to Sly’s unpredictable nature, we were never able to nail down a time to see the flick in the theaters, and thus we missed it. Thankfully, the DVD arrived in my mailbox last week, …