- restaurant
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
Take me back to California! More specifically to Venice Beach and Santa Monica. It’s been four weeks since I’ve returned from an amazing holiday there and, boy, do I want to return. It was chilled, laid-back, creative, artsy, inspiring ; everything I was looking for. I’m telling you: there is a plane ticket to LA with my name on it for next year. But, in the mean time, let’s get to the cocktails in Santa Monica and Venice Beach now. The discouraging distances in Los Angeles Everybody’s been asking me how the cocktail bars were in Los Angeles. I’ll be
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
Open since September, Black Sheep Rive is one of my new go-to addresses in Geneva. It has everything one needs for a great night out: nice decor, awesome food, wicked drinks and a very friendly service. Concealed on a side street to the rue de la Terrassière, it is the younger brother of the original Black Sheep on Place Grenus. The venue is nicely sized with a split level overlooking the bar. The decor is a mix of industrial and vegetal with plants here and there. I have a special fondness for the quirky gin posters, especially for the one
When you reach Henri-Blanvalet street in the Eaux-Vives district, the sound of laughter and conversations will lead you straight to the two addresses of Bottle Brothers in Geneva, Petit Bottle and its younger brother, the Grand Bottle. All year round the trendy, cosmopolitan guests mingle on the terraces of the two establishments in a happy brouhaha. While adjacent and united by the same philosophy, each bar has its own “personality”. Petit Bottle: the original Bottle Brothers Opened in 2012, the original Bottle Brothers was meant to be a wine bar. It became a cocktail bar instead. Rather small and narrow,
HUSK is one of the finest examples of Charleston’s culinary and mixology scene. Located in a magnificent Victorian townhouse in the historic part of downtown Charleston, the restaurant is a staple in the city and beyond for its modern take on Southern cuisine, using only locally sourced ingredients. It is led by award-winning Chef Sean Brock who, as I learned from my American friends, is famous all throughout the USA and has appeared on several TV shows. I enjoyed an amazing dinner there last August and even tried and liked oysters! As my friends and I waited for our table
Sometimes you have fun in the most unexpected places, at the most unexpected time. Three weeks ago, on a Friday night, a friend and I wanted to unwind after a particularly tough week in the office. We decided to go for a drink right after work. After hitting two very quiet spots – we started at 8 pm on a Friday after all, at a time people usually go for dinner – we decided to innovate and go somewhere we’d never been before: Café Voisins. Café Voisins Café Voisins is located on the rue des Voisins, at the corner with
A fairly recent addition to Geneva’s cocktail scene, Bistrot 23 is not only a bar but a restaurant as well. It is located 3 min walk away from the Boulevard Georges-Favon, a street packed with quite a few bars, on the off street Rue de la Coulouvrenière. In the summer, you can enjoy its two terraces, yes two, one of which gives on the Rhone river. The bar You enter Bistrot 23 through the bar. The station stands right across the entrance and looks really classy with its metallic counter top. Art deco lamps hang from the ceiling and cast