- bar
While vacationing in Los Angeles in September, I hopped on a bus to spend two days in San Diego. I was staying with a friend in the middle of the Gaslight quarter, one of the city’s historical neighbourhood, now famous for its vibrant nightlife. While it’s true it was really busy, even on a Tuesday night, I was in search of a proper cocktail bar, that wouldn’t be too far from where we were staying. The good thing with following bartenders on Instagram? You will always find helpful suggestions when you’re travelling. In that case, it led me to Noble
Mexican restaurant Chulita in Venice Beach is another good address for food and cocktails in Los Angeles. Located further north from The Rose Venice on Rose Avenue, it boasts a cute little terrace made of wooden planks. The inside is even nicer and offers a true change of scenery. Wooden benches and stools covered with Mexican print throws and cushions, lamp shades in woven palm leaves, clay pots on the shelves… Erase the walls and concrete floor from your mind, replace them with ocean views and clear sand and you could be eating at a beach shack in Mexico. Modern
I ate five times at The Rose Venice over my two week stay in Los Angeles. That should be indicative of the quality of the food there (and of how slightly food obsessed I can be!). Lunch, dinner and brunch… I basically sampled a bit of everything on the menu and sat in each of the restaurant’s areas. Southern California cuisine with Latin, Asian and Mediterranean influence The number one reason I kept returning was the Di Stefano burrata, covered with summer truffle and avocado blossom honey and served with lettuce and garlic bread. The association of truffle and honey
Fia. Oh Fia. These three letters could stand for “food is amazing” but, as it is, it’s short for Fiacre, the Latin god of gardens. An apt name for the restaurant Fia in Santa Monica, which, as it describes itself, is truly a “garden oasis”. A small alleyway leads from busy Wilshire Boulevard straight to the outdoor patio of Fia. And what a sight to behold, especially at night. On the multi-tiered patio, wooden tables and chairs stand under trees, softly lit by string lights. On the bottom level, the bar stands tall and proud on soft sand-coloured gravel. Above
Remember, when you were a child, the excitement for the launch of the latest Disney movie at the end of the year? Yes? Good! That’s precisely that feeling the team at Little Barrel in Geneva wanted to recreate with this year’s winter menu. Adult drinks inspired by childhood memories Sending back people to their childhood memories and giving a nod to their friends who are now right in the heart of the Disney/Pixar craze with their kids, the gents from Little Barrel have taken inspiration from old and recent animation movies to come up with their 12 new cocktails and
Yesterday, to encourage sustainability in the bartending world, Werk8 in Basel invited 8 bars from across Switzerland (Angel’s Share and Werk8 from Basel; Atelier Classic Bar from Thun; Cinchona bar, Felix and Tales from Zurich, Die Taube from Bern and Little Barrel from Geneva) for a special event on their terrace: Liquid Garden. The Swiss bartending community working towards local plants’ diversity A few weeks ago, each bar drew a plant growing in Werk8’s garden to create a cocktail and a mocktail. The night’s profits will go to Pro Specie Rara, a charity supporting the diversity of Swiss plants and
Two weeks ago, on a whim, I decided to spend the weekend in Basel. I lived there for a year between 2008-2009 and had fond memories of the city. Back then I was impressed with Basel’s nightlife, finding it had incredible venues and a solid liquid offer (yes, I couldn’t resist the wordplay). What I got to see at Werk8 in terms of venue and drinks comforted my 10 year old opinion. Industrial setting for craft drinking Werk8 stands in place of what was my favourite bar when I lived in Basel, Eo Ipso. The bar is really special and
Named after Rome’s main railway station, Bar Termini is an oasis of calm, a little slice of Italy, in London’s ever busy Soho neighborhood. It is both a daytime stop for a coffee – Italian quality coffee – and an evening halt for a nice cocktail pre or after dinner. The bar is rather discreet with its Venetian blinds almost hiding it from passers-by. Inside, the atmosphere is cozy and laid-back with seven small tables and a few seats at the bar. The luggage racks on the brick wall give the atmosphere of a station bar. Vintage style posters on
I couldn’t go to London over Christmas and not visit Coupette. Its head bartender, Franck Dedieu, won the Bacardi Legacy competition in 2015 and is good friends with some of my bartender friends in Geneva. Two good reasons to visit him in his new venue to sample some of his creations! Also, the bar manager, Chris Moore, used to be head bartender at the Savoy’s Beaufort Bar. When I mentioned I wanted to visit Coupette while having drinks at the Beaufort, his former colleagues encouraged me to go. Discreet address for a golden bar Located in Bethnal Green, Coupette is