Las Perlas: It's tequila and mescal time Downtown

Poblano Escobar mescal cocktail at Las Perlas

Downtown nightlife impresario Cedd Moses continues his run of single-liquor spots with Las Perlas, a faux-funky tequila and mescal bar just across from the cocktail mecca of Varnish, Cole's and the Association. I stopped by last night for a tequila tasting on the patio sponsored by Citysearch, where I tried some caramelly Anejo in a lovely French crystal bottle from new-to-the U.S. La Firma.
We proceeded to the bar to try some cocktails from Las Perlas' nuevo cocktailo-style menu. Most of the drinks seemed pretty elaborate, with ingredients like pinot noir and port reduction. I wanted to start with something simpler, something like a margarita with a twist, so the bartender concocted a spot-on blackberry margarita ($10). Served on the rocks with a blackberry floating at the bottom, it was utterly drinkable, with an ideal balance between tart and sweet. We also tried the Poblano Escobar, made with mescal, a poblano chile, cumin and pineapple juice. The Sombra Oaxacan mescal used for the cocktail dances on the edge of overly smoky -- it's a veritable taco in a glass. Mine didn't pack much heat, so Citysearch's Charlie Amter kindly provided me with a dried red chile from the bar, which eventually soaked in and spiced it up nicely.
Las Perlas is one of the only spots in town to get a selection of quality, worm-less mescals, and it's a lively, informal watering hole. And if it makes you wish you were drinking in a real Mexican dive complete with chips and tacos, instead of a $12-a-drink Downtown bar, well, then, the better to plan your vacation.
Las Perlas
107 E. Sixth St.
213-988-8355

Latin American desserts: Lots of ways to say Dulce de leche

Flan with guava shells, El Colmao

Panqueques with cajeta, Rincon Chileno

A dessert tour of Latin America? I was a little worried. Despite the fact that I know Bill "StreetgourmetLA" Esparza would never lead me astray (unless it involves tamarind margaritas), I had visions of tasteless starchy conchas from the bulk bin at the local Mexican market. But I showed up anyway at 9:30 on Saturday to see what he had in mind. In fact, we didn't hit any Mexican places on our tour of desserts of Latin America.
First up was Panaderia El Carriel, the most off-the-beaten path of the places we tried. The Huntington Park Columbian bakery is a tiny bare-bones place, but in addition to an array of only-in-Columbia pastries, it serves full Columbian breakfasts and lunches. We tried flaky chicharronitos filled with dulce de leche or cajeta milk caramel, called arequipe in Columbia; warm round bunuelos, tasting like fresh cake donut balls; pan de bono, small bagel-like savory cheese breads and arepa de choclo, a sweet corn-inflected disc sprinkled with cheese.
Next it was back to central L.A. to Amalia's on Virgil for Guatamalan sweets, where plantains are king. On the dessert menu were plantains stuffed with sweet black beans and crema (right); atol -- a hot, plantain-based drink and an unusual dessert mole, in which plantains swum in a cinnamon and chocolate-scented sweet mole sauce.

Fresh Colmbian bunuelos

Just down the street was Rincon Chileno, which I have been driving past for about 20 years never realizing I was missing out on Panqueques Celestino. These heavenly pancakes are thicker than crepes, heavily browned on the outside, sprinkled with powdered sugar and filled with rich dulce de leche, called manjar in Chile.

Running out of time, we had to regrettably skip Wood Spoon's Brazilian passion fruit mousse and press on to El Colmao, another longtime staple. Here we tried flan with guava shells, which were very sweet but paired well with a competent flan, and a less-common Cuban dessert of shaved sweetened coconut paired with Philadelphia cream cheese. Again, very sweet but I liked the unusual combo of creamy cheese and sweet coconut. While flavors like corn, plantain, dulce de leche and guava are common throughout Latin America, each country has a different and worthwhile take on how to present desserts. Next time you eat at a Latin American restaurant, save room for dessert!

Here's more pictures of Latin desserts and pastries from tourmate Elina Shatkin.

Don Dae Gam: Korean barbecue takes the porky path

thin-sliced pork belly before cooking

I first heard about Don Dae Gam from Josh at FoodGPS, who checked it out in its early days last fall. So when an assignment came up to choose a restaurant to try for the upcoming Mid-City Press newspaper, I remembered that Don Gae Gam was on my always-evolving "must-try" list. It's owned by the same people as Park's, which always comes up in discussions of the best Korean barbecue in L.A. But here the focus is on pork, though beef is available in some of the combo dinners. The mini-mall restaurant uses real charcoal, with a powerful ventilation system that mostly gets ride of the smoke from the grills. Korean restaurants often order combo dinners, which will serve two to four people, depending on how many side dishes you order.
We chose the $40 combo, which comes with three cuts of pork -- pork belly, pork neck and shortribs -- as well as several types of panchan, egg custard, a beer or soju, tofu soup and rice soup. We added a kimchi pancake since I've been on a big kimchi kick for the last year or so. I liked the thin pork belly, which was unseasoned and presented a blank canvas for the rice noodle wrappers, soybean sauce, sesame salt and chili sauces. Matt preferred the marinated shortribs, which the server cut up into manageable bits while they were grilling. Pork Korean barbecue seems to have less marinade in general, so it's more about the flavor of the pork. I think I might prefer the sauciness of the beef when it hits the caramelization of the grill, but some of the combos come with beef also, the better to compare grilled meats. Adventurous eaters can also try pork diaphragm or pork intestine. The panchan wasn't quite as wide of a selection as at some places, though it seems to change with each meal. I'd go back for the kimchi pancake alone, which managed to combine crispy, soft, tangy and just a bit greasy in the most delightful way. If you've had Korean barbecue with beef plenty of times already, this is the perfect place to branch out, and even try other dishes like the spicy pork and baby squid stew that sounds fiery and pretty amazing.The restaurant has a couple of nice touches, showing that it's a contemporary style rather than old-school place: A small children's play area is available for tots who tire of unending courses of kimchi and pork, and at the end of the meal the host takes customers' photos and asks you to draw a pig or write a note on a card to hang on the wall.
Don Dae Gam
1145 S Western Ave.
(323) 373-0700

Mix 'n Munch: Why cereal and grilled cheese?

 A tuna melt from the now-departed Meltdown in Culver City

Here's some info on Mix 'n Munch, the cereal and grilled cheese cafe due mid-summer in South Pasadena. It's a family business started by Heather Apraku, her husband Abraham Apraku, her sister Kimberly Lee and brother-in-law Bryan Woo. All four went to South Pasadena High, and they're aiming to make it a community gathering spot for all ages, with Wi-fi and bigscreen TV and everything available to go for Gold Line commuters (just don't eat that cereal on the train, or you'll get a whopping fine!) So why the unusual combo?

Heather Apraku says, "When we first thought of opening a cereal bar, we wanted to offer an additional menu item that was simple and delicious. To us, it was a no-brainer to offer another classic food item that we believe most people grew up eating, and never really stopped loving, the grilled cheese sandwich. Instead of just one or two types of grilled cheese, we wanted to continue with our theme of customizable food and provide a variety of cheeses, breads and additional toppings (bacon, caramelized onions, etc) for people to choose from. On top of our grilled cheese selection and our numerous cereal combinations (30 cereals, 20 different types of mix-ins, and several milk options), we plan on offering additional items such as homemade tomato soup, fresh oatmeal and yogurt parfaits."

Also in South Pas. news, there's branch of the Menchie's frozen yogurt franchise moving in next to Mike and Anne's. I'm happy to see more activity in the neighborhood, though there's plenty of things we could still use (even more) -- a gastropub, a Counter-type burger place, a good Mexican restaurant with drinks, a healthy grab 'n go place like Forage or Larchmont Larder would all be welcome. Especially if one of them happened to bake great fresh French bread.

Bar Noir pairs with the Dessert Architect

Have you been to Bar Noir yet?The newish Pasadena wine bar with chef Claude Beltran is doing a special dessert-intensive tasting dinner Sunday with Robert Wemischner, The Dessert Architect,
as guest pastry chef.
The menu includes:
Appetizer:
Burrata with wild arugula and roasted red onions, parsley oil OR
Shrimp cake with lime-coconut broth, flowering cilantro and coriander root paste
Entrees:
New Zealand sea bass or hangar steak on sauteed NZ spinach with spring fava beans and roasted Wong farms tomato
Desserts:
Gateau fondant, served warm, with almond praline and candied orange
Fresh farmers market strawberries and cream mousse over a frozen mint mojito granita, sugar cane sorbet and a lime cream wafer and Mocha cream tart in dark chocolate crust, served with coffee-scented streusel.
$75 per person with wine pairings with each course or $49 with no wines.
Sunday, March 28 6:30 or 7 pm
Call 626-795-7199 to reserve

Mix 'n Munch Grilled cheese and cereal coming to South Pas.

I've heard of cereal cafes and I've heard of grilled cheese restaurants, but putting the two together is a first, I think. Mix 'n Munch Cereal and Grilled Cheese plans to open this summer in the former Puff cosmetics space on Mission Ave. in South Pasadena. It's just a few doors down from the recently-opened Great Harvest Bread Co. and catty-corner from soon-to-open Radhika's Indian Bistro. It's good to see this quaint stretch of town getting some new restaurant activity, even if some of the choices seem a bit quirky.

Edendale Grill sold; Covell Wine Bar makes progress

It looks like the Edendale Grill has finally been sold -- I guess owner Melanie Tusquellas wanted to concentrate on El Chavo, El Chavito and the upstairs mini-hotel El Tres Inn. The new owner will be Mixville bartender/actor/musician Eddie Ebell. Wouldn't it be wonderful if he decided to bring in a really good chef with a solid concept, since it's such a great space?
Kathy votes for a casual gourmet breakfast/lunch spot -- think Square One with a bar. What would you like to see there?
Update: Ebell says, I can tell you that after bartending there for the last 2 1/2 years, I look forward to giving it the TLC it needs." Hope he reads all these comments!
(photo LATimes)
***

Meanwhile, Matthew Kaner, formerly of Silver Lake Wine, is coming along well on the new Covell Bar on Hollywood Blvd. near Yuca's. He's got some construction shots up on his Facebook page, with a 4-6 week opening estimate.

Cocktail giveaway! Press preview at the Radio Room at Edison

Want to check out the preview evening for The Original Radio Room, one of L.A.'s best cocktail-themed evenings? You don't have to be press -- you just have to submit the best recipe for a Corpse Reviver or your own Pernod invention to me here: Pat. The Radio Room preview is at the Edison Downtown on Monday, March 29 from 6-8.

There will be specialty cocktail tasting with mixologists including Joseph Brooke of the Edison, Simon Ford of Pernod, Giuseppe Gonzalez of Dutch Kills & Painkiller, New York, Zane Harris of Rob Roy, Seattle and Don Lee of Momofuku, New York as well as oysters and crab legs for snacking.
And don't worry, if you're not a winner, you can catch up with the Radio Room on Tuesday the 30th at 8 at the Edison.

Worldfare Bustaurant: A real restaurant on a double decker bus

Worldfare bustaurant on Wilshire Blvd.

The Worldfare bustaurant, not to be confused with the Gastrobus, made its debut this week with the twist of having an upstairs deck for dining. The cuisine is fresh, gourmet fare with a South African twist: it's one of the few places in town to get the South African speciality Bunny chow, basically a stew in a big bread bowl. At Worldfare, this means slider-sized buns stuffed with a healthy quantity of beef shorttribs, BBQ pork, chicken curry or veggie chili (don't worry, no actual rabbit is involved.) I tried the shortrib bunny chow, which packed plenty of meat into a specially-made bun with a terrific vinegary marinade. Truffled mac 'n cheese balls were a delicious side. The market salad was made mostly from iceberg (I might suggest romaine), but the addition of cilantro, chives, mint, hazelnuts and dried blueberries gave it plenty of flavor. I love hibiscus, so I added a perfectly tart/sweet lime hibiscus drink to my order. All this came to about $13, not the cheapest lunch, but quite possibly the best I've ever had from a truck. And while the upstairs bus deck was bright and hot today, they're planning to add seats and umbrellas soon.

Cliff's Edge: reviewed in the Los Feliz Ledger

I don't always post my Los Feliz Ledger reviews because they're not written as blog entries, but as full reviews. And in case you're wondering about the three forks (out of four), I assess based on atmosphere and service as well as food, and against other restaurants in the Los Feliz area, not the whole city. That said, the food at Cliff's Edge is perfectly fine -- but of course it's the lovely back patio that makes it worth a trip. Here's an excerpt:

There’s no better place for a romantic dinner, and even casual gatherings of friends will appreciate the leafy rear patio with a giant ficus in the middle.
Open more than five years, Cliff’s Edge has settled in as a reliable date-night destination with solid, if not terribly special food.
On the Mediterranean menu, bistro classics like escargots and mussels meet up with Italian-inflected seafood risotto and pumpkin ravioli. A full page of rotating specials are worth a look, since some of the more creative dishes reside there.
Creamy burrata cheese makes a flavorful starter paired with tomatoes confit, polenta squares and a touch of pesto, while classic Caesar salad is crisp and fresh. Pappardelle noodles are topped with plenty of rich, satisfying braised oxtail. Traditional moules mariniere are available on the bar-only menu, but the mussels with tomato, fennel and Pernod on the regular menu are spiced with a bit too much kick.
Plenty of things would make Cliff’s Edge even better — an updated menu, good bread, better beer choices — but really, pourquoi? It’s pretty idyllic back there on the patio just as it is.

Stand up for beer at Men Are From Malt, Women are from Vinos

Are you a beer-loving chick? Or a wine-sodden dude? Actually, whichever sex you are, you should check out the Men Are from Malt, Women from Vinos beer vs. Wine Battle & Pairing meal Sunday March 28 from 2-5 p.m. It's a benefit for the culinary program at the College of the Canyons in Valencia, organized by beer lover and culinary instructor Gev Kazanchyan.Tickets are $55 with master sommelier Elizabeth Schweitzer selecting the wines and a crack team of beer experts from Blue Palms Brewhouse, Stone Brewing, Beachwood BBQ and the Verdugo and more choosing the beers. Culinary instructors will prepare the six-course meal, and diners will vote on which beverage works better with each course. Buy tickets here (Choose other, type in Beer Vs. Wine) or call 661-362-3425.

Slaw Dogs: Pasadena takes baby steps to better food

The Picnic dog

ABLT Dog w/bacon

Belgian fries

Slaw Dogs is the latest entry in the fairly recent move to expand the definition of common foods -- from Cook's Tortas rainbow of tortas to the Counter's burger bar to the Kogi taco. It's a big step forward for Pasadena, which badly needs a culinary shot in the arm, especially in the low-to-medium end category. And Slaw Dogs has a truly impressive list of toppings and combos, from kimchi to truffle oil, from the Green Monster with green chili and spicy garlic salsa to the daily Market dog with toppings like kumquat chutney. While the basic beef dog is a reasonable $3.50, the toppings add up fairly fast, with most of the combo dogs from around $4.99 to $6.59. Add some fries and a hungry teenager, and lunch for the two of us was $22, but that's ok, it's all in the interest of research. I liked the bacon and avocado combo of the ABLT dog even more than my kumquat-laden market dog, which might have been better with grilled onions instead of rawish pickled ones. My natural casing "snap dog" didn't really snap, but it tasted like a good quality dog. Sam said the picnic dog worked better than he thought it might, marrying potato salad, bbq sauce and onion rings all on a hot dog. The fries looked really good, but they needed all the garlic and chipotle mayo to really give them flavor. Same with the onion rings -- good tasting breading, but it soaked up too much grease and got kind of soggy. And the bun -- subject of much discussion on Chowhound, I'm going to have to come down on the "way too small and flimsy for all these toppings" side.

Thai slaw dog with chicken sausage, spicy peanut-coconut satay dressing, cilantro-carrot slaw

The verdict? Slaw Dogs has lots of great ideas and between the chicken sausage, veggie dog, turkey dog and several beef and pork varieties as well as burgers and salads, there's something for everyone. Love the concept -- but the bun and some of the executions could use a little tweaking.
The Slaw Dogs
720 N. Lake Ave. #8
Pasadena
626-808-9777

Quadrupel: The gastropub of my dreams, it's not

When I first heard about Old Town Pasadena's new Quadrupel, I was hoping for someplace with a good beer selection like Lucky Baldwin's, but with better food and fewer frat-boy type patrons. What I didn't expect was a full-fledged restaurant that skews towards the formal side, with only a few beer-friendly small plates. The wood-paneled restaurant is mostly tables with a small 8-seat bar tucked away in back. There are only four beers on tap and they're not listed anywhere, so the server has to recite them. Many more choices are available by the bottle, from a $6 De Koninck Flanders red ale to a $45 Deus Biere de champagne. But unless you're a real Belgian ale freak, the menu isn't very helpful -- no explanations of the different styles, no descriptions of the beers, no alcohol levels.
Quadrupel's Schreiner sausage plate ($11)

All we had were unremarkably bland fries and a sausage plate that seemed a bit skimpy for $11, so I can't really comment on the food, I just hope grilled orange-marinated quail with duck confit, warm grapes and blackberry lambic reduction is better than it sounds. But it's not Quadrupel's fault that it's not the relaxed gastropub I had hoped for -- it's just a different place than I imagined, more of a date night in Old Town kind of place.
Quadrupel
43 East Union St.
Pasadena
626-844-2922
You might want to study up with this article from Chow about Belgian beer styles before you order.

Bitters from the Miracle Mile and Germany will make your cocktails sing

Bitter Truth has an adorable Traveler's Set of three mini-bottles of bitters.

If all you know about bitters is that you're supposed to put a few drops of Angostura bitters in a Manhattan, then you've got some catching up to do. There's been an explosion of flavored bitters to go with the exploding mixology scene, and even amateur cocktailians can benefit from adding the new breed of bitters to the cocktail mix.
Start at Barkeeper in Silver Lake, where Joe Keeper has a bitters tasting bar with a wide variety of flavors available. Fee Brothers bitters have been more widely available for a while; I've been enjoying the orange ones in my Manhattans in the past year.
Now, take a deeper look at the selection of bitters. Miracle Mile Chocolate Chili bitters are a local, artisanal product made from Valrhona chocolate nibs and a blend of chilis. Their deep flavor is round and tingly, and would make an amazing addition to a dark rum drink, something made with a smoky Scotch or any number of other cocktails. These bitters are made near L.A.'s Miracle Mile, of course, by Louis Anderman, a former Miramax exec who is exploring the newly-popular bitters field and contemplating new varieties based on ingredients such as exotic Asian citrus.
The founders of The Bitter Truth are German bartenders Stephan Berg and Alexander Hauck, who started making bitters in 2006 and have recently started importing their products to the U.S. Their celery bitters are a terrific aromatic, floral blend that would add a whole other level to a bloody mary or cucumber martini. The wide range of flavors are more powerfully herbal than some of the other makers' fruitier, sweeter blends, with complex, historic-tasting flavors like Creole bitters and Aromatic bitters. They also make a terrific Sloe Gin made from real sloe berries (actually small plums), not the sickly sweet supermarket stuff that would ruin your Slow Comfortable Screw or other Sloe gin recipe. Good bitters aren't cheap, but at around $17 a bottle, they're well worth it to enliven dozens of cocktails.

For more about The Bitter Truth and the history of bitters in cocktails, see this Q&A from FoodGPS.

Delphine adds to W Hollywood buzz

Since I missed the opening of the W Hollywood hotel, I was surprised to find a full-blown schmoozing scene spread throughout the patio bar and lobby of the brand-new hotel when I arrived for a press dinner at the W's restaurant Delphine. Ex-Balthazar and Pastis chef Sascha Lyon is adamant that it's not a typical hotel restaurant -- run by the same dining group that owns Boa and Sushi Roku, the French Riviera-style bistro has its own signature style but certainly feeds on the hive of activity that is the hotel. The menu is seafood-intensive, but with prices that are reasonable by glitzy hotel standards and plenty of staple items -- burgers, macaroni and cheese, croque monsieur -- to satisfy late-night noshers and hotel patrons. Open at 6:30 am for breakfast and late into the night, the restaurant should be a handy commissary for all manner of folk who pass by Hollywood and Vine. In keeping with the South of France theme, there's specialties like pan bagnat ($11), pissaladiere ($13), moules frites ($17), brandade, giant seafood towers and bouillabaisse as a special some Fridays. As for the food? My arctic char had a pleasantly crisp skin and was nicely cooked, but the cocktails we tried from the adjacent Station Lounge were uniformly way too sweet.
If I had a lunch meeting or was hosting visitors who wanted to hit Hollywood Blvd., I'd still check out Delphine for some moules or pan bagnat, just for a little Riviera reminder.
(And don't miss the lovely historic Cote d'Azur photos on Delphine's website.)

Radhika's expands to South Pasadena

Radhika's, which used to have a location in Pasadena, is opening a "modern Indian bistro" in the Mission Ave. space formerly occupied by the Little Parlor and 750 ML. It will certainly be the only Indian spot in the immediate area -- did anyone trie Radhika's when it was on Shopper's Lane where the Counter is now?

Bug tacos at Machine Project next Friday!

Machine Project always comes up with amazing events, often related to food or vaguely food-like substances. At Eat Bug Eat next Friday, March 12, Phil Ross and Lauren Allen of CRITTER will prepare a meal of gourmet bug tacos with fresh tortillas and spicy salsa (you'll likely need a lot of heat to cover up the buggy taste.) A $5 fee covers all bug-eating supplies including mead to drink (get it? it's made from honey).
They're also looking for volunteers to help process the bugs and get in free to the "dinner" -- email machine@machineproject.com.

Mixt Greens: Wilshire gets a little leafier

Servers choose from a large selection of lettuce, on the rear wall, and various add-ons.

Mixt Greens is the latest addition to the Miracle Mile office corridor, and it's a welcome one indeed after several months of Korean tacos, pork belly French fries and other truck-borne delicacies. I was looking forward to something healthier, and Mixt Greens more or less fills the bill, although it might take a few visits to perfect the system.
Mixt Greens, which also opened Downtown recently, uses the by-now familiar Tender Greens set-up: choose from several salad and protein combos from a buffet of varied, fresh ingredients and watch the counterpeople toss them in front of you. Several sandwiches are also on the menu. The spicy peanuts were a nice touch in the Siam salad.

I chose the Siam salad with grilled chicken ($11.50 including tax), but it seems like the ingredients didn't quite come together. It needed a crunchier base, like cabbage, and though I like that they included green papaya like a real Thai salad, it doesn't really work on a bed of baby greens with a light dressing. Maybe next time I'll create my own mix -- say, baby spinach, bacon, blue cheese and roasted potatoes for $6.95?The redo includes a communal table and a living wall of lettuce.

Pros:
-Anything would be better than O to Go, and they did a nice job on the remodel.
-Love the lettuce wall.
-Large selection of ingredients.
-Counterpeople seem efficient enough.
Cons:
-Not sure my salad was worth twice as much as a similar combo from the Ralphs' salad bar.
-It's hard to hear all the questions the counterperson asks, so I wasn't sure if I ordered medium or heavy dressing, and apparently I refused the bread.
-I'd like to see some more cruciferous veggies -- cabbage, broccoli, maybe roasted cauliflower.

Mixt Greens
5757 Wilshire Blvd.

Atwater Farmer's Market: Pig candy, and vegetables too

The irrepressible Big Mista himself.

The Atwater Farmer's Market always seemed like it had lots of potential, but until a year or so ago, it was notable mostly for having cheaper produce than the Silver Lake Farmer's Market, with more selection of Asian vegetables. But then Big Mista arrived with his smoker full of pig candy, and at some point the market extended down another aisle. It's still compact, but now there's meat, fish, more jams and desserts, and a few stands that really stand out.I had my first duck egg the other day at the Dervaes farm and it was terrific. This stand offers duck eggs and several types of mushrooms.
The curly, seasonal Bloomsdale spinach from South Central Farmer's Cooperative caught my eye and the LA Weekly's too this week.
The meat stand has rabbit (shown above), pork from Jimenez Family Farms, grass-fed goat and American lamb.
There are several prepared food stands -- the pupusas are fine -- but the piece de resistance in Atwater is Big Mista, who cooks up chicken, ribs, pulled pork, brisket and the inscrutable Moink balls -- bacon-wrapped meatballs. Pig candy is thick-cut bacon smoked with a brown sugar glaze. It's a dollar a piece -- more than one piece might kill you -- but it's hard to imagine how I'll ever get through a Sunday again without a piece now that I've tried it. I also had an excellent pulled pork sandwich that lasted me for three meals. Big Mista puts an awful lot of black pepper in his coleslaw and his BBQ sauce, which wouldn't be my choice. But it's hard to argue -- this is just great Q, and it's probably just as well you can only get it once a week (unless you follow him to Torrance).

Surly Goat off to a sudsy start in West Hollywood

Ryan Sweeney opened the Verdugo two years ago and has branched out to West Hollywood with the Surly Goat.

West Hollywood now has its own high-end beer bar with The Surly Goat, from Ryan Sweeney, Adolfo Suraya, Brandon Bradford and Alen Aivazian. The Goat has been quietly open for about three weeks, and Sunday night the clubby, pubby Santa Monica Blvd. beer bar held a grand opening celebration. There were some intense brews flowing. I tried the complex, high-alcohol Firestone Walker 13 anniversary ale, with hints of fig, bourbon, chocolate and maple syrup; just-right Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale, a medium-bodied, drinkable Sierra Nevada Glissade Golden Bock and an overly light Speakeasy Public Enemy Pils. The spacious pub has a patio, a cozy semi-private room in back, and lots of seating in three other areas. There's no kitchen, so Sweeney plans to let patrons eat sandwiches from Shoop's or barbecue on the patio from Baby Blues next door. With a staff who are all carefully trained in beer styles, 27 craft beers on tap including Eagle Rock brewery beers, cask ales and 100 bottles, many of them rare beers, The Surly Goat is setting the bar high for beer bars and giving the Third Stop some stiff competition.
The Surly Goat
7929 Santa Monica Blvd.
West Hollywood
323-650-GOAT