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GQ’s 25 Best Cocktail Bars in America

thirstyinla — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 01:53:50 +0000

The Edison, the "largest and most impressive" bar on GQ's list. | Photo: The Edison

File this under Jobs We Really, Really Want: “We traveled 34,462 miles and sipped 400 gin fizzes, Manhattans, and Gibsons with one goal—to compile the first ranking of the nation’s best cocktail bars.” So writes Kevin Sintumuang in the October issue of GQ, describing what it took to create the magazine’s list of the 25 Best Cocktail Bars in America.

Sintumuang and the GQ team spent a year visiting 102 bars in twenty one cities, and after the last cocktail had been sipped, Seattle’s Zig Zag Café was named the Best Cocktail Bar in America. With Zig Zag’s “bartender superhero” Murray Stenson winning a Spirited Award for American Bartender of the Year, Seattleites are sure to see more cocktail enthusiasts make pilgrimages to the Emerald City than ever before.

Three Los Angeles bars (Tiki-Ti, Cole’s, The Edison) made the list, while a fourth (La Descarga) was named one of the country’s Best Spirit-Specific Cocktail Bars. Other sidebars in the article include Anatomy of a $15 Cocktail and Best Restaurant Cocktail Bars.

GQ’s 25 Best Cocktail Bars in America

Zig Zag Café – Seattle
Angel’s Share – New York
The Violet Hour – Chicago
Clover Club – Brooklyn
The Alembic – San Francisco
Death & Co – New York
PDT – New York
PX – Alexandria, VA
Comstock Saloon – San Francisco
Holeman & Finch – Atlanta
Tiki-Ti – Los Angeles
The Patterson House – Nashville
Eastern Standard – Boston
Rickhouse – San Francisco
Anvil – Houston
Arnaud’s French 75 – New Orleans
Elixir – San Francisco
Columbia Room – Washington, D.C.
Cole’s – Los Angeles
The Whistler – Chicago
Drink – Boston
Pegu Club – New York
The Edison – Los Angeles
The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. – Philadelphia
Needle and Thread (Tavern Law) – Seattle

Any “best of” list will inevitably inspire debate, and GQ’s list is no different. As much as I enjoy Cole’s, placing it at #19 and leaving The Varnish off the list is puzzling, especially if one of the reasons is because Cole’s has “small TV screens for Lakers games.” Grub Street San Francisco detects an anti-Sasha Petraske streak running through GQ’s list, which could explain the omission of The Varnish (which he co-owns), as well as Petraske’s seminal New York bars Milk & Honey and Little Branch. And speaking of omissions, how could the list not have one bar from Portland?

I had the pleasure of visiting Angels’ Share and Pegu Club on the same night a few months ago, but naming Angel’s Share as the second best bar in the country seems awfully generous. That said, props to the GQ team for even listing Angel’s Share, an often-overlooked bar considered by many to be the progenitor of New York’s current generation of craft cocktail bars.

I would love to see the spirit-specific sidebar expanded to a few lists that include more bars and spirits, even if that has to be featured online rather than in print. Agave dens like Las Perlas and Mayahuel could then be featured in the same tequila/mezcal bar list, rather than being lumped in with rum-centric venues like La Descarga and Smuggler’s Cove.

And any list of America’s great restaurant cocktail bars has to include Rivera. Mixologist Julian Cox has cut an unbeaten swath through cocktail competitions across the country, and his inventive drinks are among the city’s best, restaurant bar or otherwise.

The upside of GQ’s list is that it reminds me of bars around the country that I’ve been to and have yet to visit. I am really overdue for another trip to San Francisco, especially when Sintumuang mentions “our favorite whiskey drink in the country,” the Alembic’s Vasco de Gama: Buffalo Trace bourbon, masala-spiced apple syrup and Islay scotch.

Sintumuang puts it best in his introduction: “[Cocktails] are the great American invention. And there has never been a better time to drink them than now.” Cheers to all the bars in this year’s list, and here’s hoping that I’ll have a few more checked off by the time the 2011 edition is released!

The October issue of GQ is on newsstands now.

2010 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards Nominees Announced

thirstyinla — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:08:59 +0000

The Varnish, nominated for Best American Cocktail Bar. | Photo: ZagatBuzz - Flickr

The nominees for the 2010 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards have been announced, with Los Angeles represented by The Varnish (Best American Cocktail Bar) and its head bartender, Eric Alperin (American Bartender of the Year). New York’s Death and Company made a strong showing, with nominations in the Best American Cocktail Bar, World’s Best Cocktail Menu, International Bartender of the Year, and World’s Best Cocktail Bar categories.

Now in its eighth year, Tales of the Cocktail is an internationally acclaimed festival of cocktails, cuisine and culture taking place in New Orleans July 21-25. From the Tales of the Cocktail website:

Through its annual Spirited Award Ceremony, Tales of the Cocktail provides recognition to those individuals and establishments that have shown an outstanding talent for advancing the craft of the cocktail. To embody the ideals with which Tales of the Cocktail was originally founded, these awards will recognize both national and international honorees who will receive exclusive Riedel Crystal awards.

The winners will be announced at the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award Ceremony and Dinner on Saturday, July 24, 2010. Congrats and cheers to all the nominees!

For more information, visit www.TalesoftheCocktail.com.

Fellow nominees Eric Alperin (L) and Dan Warner (R). | Photo: Soul Brother Photography for Pernod Ricard

Award Categories with Criteria and Shortlist (in no particular order)

Best American Cocktail Bar
Criteria: This award recognizes the influence on cocktail trends within the United States and seeks to award the country’s best cocktail bar.

The Clover Club, Brooklyn
Death & Co, NYC
Rickhouse, San Francisco
The Varnish, Los Angeles

World’s Best Hotel Bar
Criteria: The classic ‘American Bar’ played an important role in the history and development of cocktail culture. The judges are looking for hotel bars, which uphold this tradition (but are not necessarily old) and offer five-star service and consistently well made drinks.

Best Cocktail Writing
Criteria: Great journalism is one of the best ways to communicate to the general public the value and significance of great cocktails and related products. This award is for any non-book journalism (Magazine, Newspaper, Website, etc) which promotes bars, bartender, or cocktails in general.

CLASS magazine
Gary Regan
Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller
Naren Young

Best New Product
Criteria: This is awarded to what the judges consider to be the best new cocktail ingredient (spirit, liqueur, syrup or juice) or piece of cocktail equipment (muddler, shaker etc.). To qualify products must be on general retail sale in at least three US states.

Celery Bitters, The Bitter Truth
Cocktail Kingdom’s barware
Crème Yvette by Cooper Spirits
Meehan Cocktail Bag by Jim Meehan

Best American Brand Ambassador
Criteria: An award that recognizes the importance of personality in the promotion of drinks brands across America.

Charlotte Voisey, Hendrick’s Gin
Jacques Bezuidenhout, Partida Tequila
Jamie Gordon, Absolut Vodka
Tals Nadari, Bols Genever

World’s Best Drinks Selection
Criteria: A venue stocking an outstanding range of spirits and liqueurs. The judges will favor discernment as well as sheer numbers of bottles stocked.

Artesian Bar at The Langham Hotel, London
Bar Lebensstern in Café Einstein, Berlin
Macao Trading Co, NYC
The Widder Bar, Zurich

American Bartender of the Year
Criteria: From Jerry Thomas onwards, American bartenders have been amongst the most influential on drinks styles and cocktail culture in general. This award seeks to recognize the most influential American bartender today. The winner should be proficient at making all recognized classic drinks and also have created contemporary cocktails, which have been copied by his/her peers.

Eric Alperin, The Varnish
Kenta Goto, Pegu Club
Murray Stenson, Zig Zag Café
Sam Ross, Milk & Honey

Best New Cocktail/Bartending Book
Criteria: The best book published in 2008 regarding cocktails, liquor, bars, bar design or bartending in general. New editions of existing works may also be nominated.

Beachbum Berry Remixed
Gin Compendium by Gaz Regan
MudPuddle Books by Greg Boehm
Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails by Ted Haigh

World’s Best Cocktail Menu
Criteria: The judges seek to reward innovative and thirst inducing cocktail menus. Both the design and content will be considered.

Death & Co, NYC
The Lonsdale, London
Mayahuel, NYC
Rickhouse, San Francisco

International Bartender of the Year
Criteria: The absolute best drinks mixer in the world. The winner must have received international recognition of their work with their own recipes crossing borders to appear on cocktail menus in numerous countries. (US citizens are not excluded.)

Agostino Perrone, The Connaught Hotel, London
Brian Miller, Death & Co, NYC
Salvatore Calabrese, London
Sam Ross, Milk & Honey, NYC

World’s Best New Cocktail Bar
Criteria: Only bars, which opened after 1st March 2009 may be nominated. This award aims to reward new creativity and ideas as well as well executed drinks.

Cure, New Orleans
Dutch Kills, Queens
Mayahuel, NYC
Rickhouse, San Francisco

World’s Best Cocktail Bar
Criteria: Only truly world-class bars will be considered for this illustrious title. Some bars attain worldwide recognition and this award recognizes the very best of the best.

69 Colebrooke Row, London
The Bar at The Merchant Hotel, Belfast
Death & Co, NYC
Quo Vadis, London

Best International Brand Ambassador
Criteria: An award which recognizes the importance of personality in the promotion of drinks brands and their creative use of brand communication to engage the trade and their ability to execute compelling education and seminars. This person will work in an International capacity or in a Country other than the USA.

Angus Winchester, Tanqueray Gin
Dan Warner, Beefeater Gin
Jacob Briars, 42 Below Vodka
John Gakuru, Sagatiba Pura Cachaça

Best Bar Mentor
Criteria: Not everybody who is having an impact on the quality of the cocktails we drink are working behind the bar as bartenders. There are many people who are creating fine bar programs, training the next generation of great bartenders, and playing an active role in designing the bars we all love to drink in. This award is to recognize those individuals who, in their professional life, play a crucial role in raising the quality of bars, bartenders, and cocktails without currently working as a bartender.

Dale DeGroff
Robert Hess
Sasha Petraske
Tony Abou-Ganim

Helen David Lifetime Achievement Award
Criteria: The impact that some people have on the general cocktail community can span over the course of many years. There are individuals who have worked long and hard to change the industry and educate the public. This award is to provide special recognition to these individuals and the wonderful efforts they have undertaken.

Brian Rea
Gary Regan
Murray Stenson
Tony Abou-Ganim

All the Booze That’s Fit to Print – February 2010

thirstyinla — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:25:55 +0000

An occasional roundup of L.A. cocktail culture in various media.

Just in time for Super Bowl Sunday, LA Times Magazine featured recipes for four classic tiki cocktails, “reimagined for a new generation.” Love the retro-style artwork, too.

On February 11, an LA Times Food article included a profile of Modern Spirits (TRU Vodka, found at some of LA’s best cocktail bars) and the ups and downs of being an artisan distillery.

Two articles in the much-discussed Los Angeles issue of Saveur (#127, Feb) focused on LA’s cocktail culture:

Drink City is a solid list of cocktail destinations that includes The Edison, Seven Grand, Rivera, Roger Room, and Copa d’Oro. The Varnish wasn’t listed, but was instead mentioned in a sidebar on the Cole’s-Philippe’s French Dip rivalry.

In Spirits of Polynesia, Jeff Berry takes a look at the wonderful Tiki-Ti, affectionately calling the owners “textbook examples of how not to succeed in the bar business.”

Also in the Saveur issue are cocktail recipes for Rivera’s Barbacoa and Tiki-Ti’s Cuba Kola and Puka Punch.

On Fat Tuesday, The Edison announced that Joe Brooke (named America’s Best Bartender and formerly at Copa d’Oro) would assume the role of Director of Spirits, a position formerly held by Aidan Demerest, now consulting for the cocktail program at the upcoming First & Hope.

The very next day, cocktail enthusiasts were a-Twitter over a Daily Dish post that said that Audrey Saunders had ended her Tar Pit partnership with Mark Peel. According to the LA Times, Peel said that Saunders “did all the training and designing for the original menu, and I think she did a great job. We just came to a parting of the ways.” It was announced that Marcos Tello would head the Tar Pit bar, until word came later that day that he was also leaving. Squid Ink followed up with a confirmation that Marcos had indeed resigned from the Tar Pit to return to The Varnish as well as consult on the aforementioned First & Hope.

Speaking of Squid Ink and First & Hope, Caroline on Crack posted a sneak preview of the forthcoming supper club, scheduled to open in mid-March. The preview also includes a recipe for the Champagne Julep, an upscale take on the classic mint julep.

A week after the dust had settled at the Tar Pit, the LA Times published a review by S. Irene Virbila. Tar Pit got two stars from Miss Irene, who gave it props for the cocktails but thought the kitchen was inconsistent.

On Thursday, February 25th, Alex Day worked his last shift at New York’s renowned Death & Company. What does this have to do with L.A. cocktail culture you ask? Well, according to his interview with the Village Voice, Alex is heading to Los Angeles to open a bar with Death & Co. owner David Kaplan. New York’s loss is L.A.’s gain; stay tuned, friends.

Last week, the LA Weekly published Jonathan Gold’s 99 Things to Eat in L.A. Before You Die, a list that covers everything from “fugu to foie gras, pizza to panuchos.” Best of all, you can also have a great cocktail when you check off a few of these must-eat dishes:

Rivera’s tortillas
Musso & Frank’s Welsh rarebit
Cole’s French Dip
Akasha’s quinoa with edamame
Comme Ca’s cheeseburger
Michael Cimarusti’s squid with piquillo peppers and pig’s ear
Hungry Cat’s lobster roll

Mezcal and tequila fans have been eagerly anticipating the debut of 213 Downtown’s Las Perlas, and according to blogdowntown, the opening could happen as early as today. The post describes the interior in detail, noting that Ricki Kline is especially happy with how his latest design for 213 turned out.

Los Angeles Magazine – Best New Bars 2009

thirstyinla — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 01:46:50 +0000

The September issue of Los Angeles Magazine has hit the stands, featuring a “Best New Bars” cover story.

According to Editor Mary Melton, the article is intended to “herald the return of the bar—not the velvet-rope animal of yore but the chummy neighborhood pubs, crowded wine bars, and fanciful cocktail emporiums that now constitute our nightlife.” With that in mind, the story covers 15 bars, divided into three sections: Cocktail Bars, Wine Bars, and Local Bars.

The Cocktail Bar section is spot on, featuring Rivera, Bar Centro, Roger Room, the Varnish, and Copa d’Oro. Other than Bar Centro, they’re all personal faves and places I’d highly recommend to anyone. As interesting and unique as Bar Centro is, I don’t go there regularly and can’t really say it’s a favorite. LA magazine certainly likes Bar Centro; in last month’s Best of LA issue Bar Centro was crowned with the city’s Best Manhattan.

The Local Bars list is great as well, including Tony’s, Laurel Tavern, Wurstküche, and Verdugo Bar. Tony’s and Wurstküche are pretty close to each other and are regular stops on my downtown excursions. The Arts District is very lucky to have them both! Also listed is Simmzy’s, which I haven’t been to but will definitely check out the next time I’m in Manhattan Beach.

Besides the capsule reviews, there are nice sidebars like the Varnish’s Marcos Tello demonstrating how to make a Sazerac, and Musso & Frank’s Manny Aguirre critiquing a few classic cocktails at Seven Grand, the Edison, and Mandrake.

All in all, it’s a fun read and well worth checking out.

Best New Bars
Los Angeles Magazine
September 2009
On sale now
www.lamag.com

Tales of the Cocktail 2009 Spirit Award Winners

thirstyinla — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:38:12 +0000

New York dominated the 2009 Spirit Awards, announced last Saturday at the 7th annual Tales of the Cocktail, the internationally acclaimed festival of cocktails, cuisine and culture held annually in New Orleans. This year’s five-day event took place July 8-12. Spirit Award winners received exclusive Riedel Crystal awards.

New York City’s PDT lounge was named the World’s Best Cocktail Bar, and PDT co-owner Jim Meehan was awarded American Bartender of the Year. New York’s Pegu Club won Best American Cocktail Bar, while Brooklyn’s Clover Club won World’s Best New Cocktail Bar.

Challenging New York’s supremacy was The Merchant Hotel of Belfast, Northern Ireland, which took three top honors: World’s Best Hotel Bar, World’s Best Drink Selection and World’s Best Cocktail Menu.

Following are the 2009 Spirit Award Winners.

World’s Best Drinks Selection: The Merchant Hotel (Belfast)
Best American Cocktail Bar: Pegu Club (NYC)
World’s Best Cocktail Bar: PDT (NYC)
World’s Best New Cocktail Bar: Clover Club (Brooklyn)
World’s Best Hotel Bar: The Merchant (Belfast)
American Bartender of the Year: Jim Meehan (PDT)
International Bartender of the Year: Tony Conigliaro
Best New Cocktail/Bartending Book: The Essential Cocktail (Dale DeGroff)
Best Cocktail Writing: David Wondrich
Best New Product: Bols Genever
World’s Best Cocktail Menu: Merchant Hotel (Belfast)
Best American Brand Ambassador: Simon Ford (Plymouth Gin)
Helen David Lifetime Achievement Award: Peter Dorelli

Tales of the Cocktail 2009 Spirit Award Nominees Announced

thirstyinla — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:23:46 +0000

The nominees for the Tales of the Cocktail 2009 Spirit Awards have been announced. Tales of the Cocktail is an internationally acclaimed festival of cocktails, cuisine and culture held annually in New Orleans. This year’s five-day event takes place July 8-12, and the Spirit Awards will be held on Saturday, July 11.

From the Tales of the Cocktail website:

Through its annual Spirit Awards, Tales of the Cocktail provides recognition to those individuals and establishments that have shown an outstanding talent for advancing the craft of the cocktail. To embody the ideals with which Tales of the Cocktail was originally founded, these awards will provide recognition to both national and international guests, as well as to local New Orleanians. Winners will receive exclusive Riedel Crystal awards.

Following are the Spirit Award Categories, Criteria and Nominees.

World’s Best Drinks Selection
Criteria: A venue stocking an outstanding range of spirits and liqueurs. The judges will favor discernment as well as sheer numbers of bottles stocked.

The Merchant Hotel (Belfast)
Le Lion Bar de Paris (Hamburg)
Zig Zag Cafe (Seattle)

Best American Cocktail Bar
Criteria: This award recognizes the influence on cocktail trends within the United States and seeks to award the country’s best cocktail bar.

Death & Co. (NYC)
PDT (NYC)
Pegu Club (NYC)

Door 74 (Amsterdam)
High Five Bar (Tokyo)
PDT (NYC)
Pegu Club (NYC)

World’s Best New Cocktail Bar
Criteria: Only bars which opened after 1st March 2008 may be nominated. This award aims to reward new creativity and ideas as well as well executed drinks.

Clover Club (Brooklyn)
Drink (Boston)
Quo Vadis (London)

The Dukes (London)
The Connaught (London)
The Merchant (Belfast)

Best New Cocktail/Bartending Book
Criteria: The best book published in 2008 regarding cocktails, liquor, and bars, bar design or bartending in general. New editions of existing works may also be nominated.

Cocktails Made Easy (Simon Newlyn Difford)
Mud Puddle Books (Greg Boehm)
The Essential Cocktail (Dale DeGroff)

Best Cocktail Writing
Criteria: Great journalism is one of the best ways to communicate to the general public the value and significance of great cocktails and related products. This award is for any non-book journalism (Magazine, Newspaper, Website, etc) that promotes bars, bartender, or cocktails in general.

World’s Best Cocktail Menu
Criteria: The judges seek to reward innovative and thirst inducing cocktail menus. Both the design and content will be considered.

The Hawksmoor (London)
Le Lion Bar de Paris (Hamburg)
Merchant Hotel (Belfast)

Best American Brand Ambassador
Criteria: An award which recognizes the importance of personality in the promotion of drinks brands across America.

Jacques Bezuidenhout (Partida Tequila)
Julio Bermejo (Tequila)
Simon Ford (Plymouth Gin)

Esquire's Best Bars in America

thirstyinla — Fri, 15 May 2009 00:30:06 +0000

The Edison | photo: Esquire

The June 2009 issue of Esquire (which hit the stands on May 10) features another round of the annual Best Bars in America list. The list is part of a nifty ten page section titled “The Esquire Bible of Drinking,” or “The Collected Wisdom of Esquire as it Relates to Drinking.” (The issue also features a super hot cover and portfolio of Megan Fox, but I digress.) As always the list is eclectic, almost to a fault. New this year are craft cocktail bars like The Varnish in LA and SF’s Alembic, but also new is The Buffet in Tuscon, a “classic Arizona dive.” With such a broad range, it’s hard to pinpoint the criteria for how a bar gets listed. Esquire will only say that these bars are “harmonious and radiant places where the bartenders are generous, the taps are clean, and the conversation is at least mildly amusing.” Doesn’t exactly narrow it down, does it? At least Esquire is more specific about why a bar is bumped off: the Chateau Marmont was deleted “for cause,” and an unjustified “sense of self-importance.” At any rate, it’s the kind of list that starts conversations (or arguments) and gets the imagination going.

So how did the locals do? The Edison is currently in the Top 5 with a 77% rating, jockeying with SF’s Bourbon & Branch for the 4th and 5th spots. I say “currently” because the online polling is always open, and depending on when you check the list, The Edison is either number 4 or 5 in the country. As expected, 213 is well represented with Broadway Bar (69%), Golden Gopher (77%), and the Varnish (N/A). And Musso & Frank (76%) and The Polo Lounge (71%) are among several LA landmarks on the list. You can search and view the entire database here.