bottoms up!

my first memories after moving to the city of angels include stumbling around east and west la with my sister chasing after the perfect cocktail. while i've now realized it can only be found in chicago ("two saints walk into a bar", anyone?) la does provide quite a number of creative concoctions and some of the *best* bartenders in the country.

that being said, i'm taking the liberty of tweaking/generalizing the list of libations and crossing off the below:

1. cocktail punch @ the radio room in the edison
found this gem of a joint after marcos tipped us off to their sweet speakeasy nights.

13. classic martini at musso & frank grill
blast from the past! the oldest drink in the book by the oldest resto on the block. def stumbled home from this one, but it was worth it

19. medicina latina at malo
been meaning to try this place since i learned christine from 7grand moved over, but alas by the time i made it there she was long gone .. still, they do tequila like nobody's business

25. magic mojito at bar centro at the bazaar by jose andres
some of my fave ingredients together at last: alcohol, liquid nitrogen, and magic.

43. bartender's choice at comme ca
michel dozois. 'nuff said.

73. ninotchka at bar lubitsch
очень вкусный !

79. cadillac margarita at el cholo
hit this spot soon after i moved to la, and apparently my sister's friend spotted me but didn't approach because he wasn't sure if i remembered him and was scared if, as a large black man, he suddenly tapped me on the shoulder and i didn't recognize him, i would freak out.
.. now lean like a cholo ..

85. sip mojitos poolside at the hotel roosevelt's tropicana bar
after jami(son) night, m + i ended the night here on the recommendation of some dude we had met @ 25degrees. bought him a birthday shot + woke up hungover as hell

91. apricot & honey 75 at the penthouse during sunset
full of suits post-pm. you have been warned.

97. yee-mee-lu "blue drink" at good luck bar
aka. the opium den. i will always remember this place bc the first time i went was right before a flight back to the city and i drank SO MUCH i blacked out and fainted on the plane and had to tell the flight attendant it was the first time i had been on a plane and the altitude was too much for me just so she wouldn't judge me. true story.

- copa d'oro, bar nineteen12, hungry cat, tiki ti, hop louie, varnish, nic's martini lounge -
see you soon.