Consider the Negroni … the perfect cocktail?
| [NOTE: This is a preview post highlighting an upcoming seminar at the 2011 Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, taking place July 20-24, and is is crossposted from the original post at Talesblog.com. It fits in rather well with my Negroni variation series posted here, here, here and here.] Do you remember your first [...] |  |
Jim & Rocky’s Barback Pro-Am, Part 2: The Alaskan Sour
| Jim and Rocky’s next victim — Quinn Sweeney of Libation Lab. Described as “under the weather and not sure of what he got himself into,” Quinn holds his own under the onslaught of his cruel taskmasters. Today’s drink is a riff on the simple but lovely Alaska cocktail, which is gin and yellow Chartreuse, 3:1. [...] |
An evening with Chef Ludo
| The intense and immensely talented French chef Ludovic Lefebvre just finished up the fourth incarnation of his “pop-up” restaurant LudoBites, a few weeks ago. This time it was held from early April ’til May 28 at what’s normally a small, respectable lunch-only spot in downtown Los Angeles, Gram and Papa’s (whose motto, “Slow food, fast” [...] |  |
American Trilogy
| This morning I watched an amazing cocktail video, produced by Shlomo M. Godder at the bar Dutch Kills in New York City. It’s absolutely gorgeous — beautifully directed and photographed, entirely visual (no dialogue at all), nicely integrated graphics and lush music. It begins with a fascinating look at the unnamed bartender’s custom ice prep [...] |
The St. Charles Punch
| This coming Saturday, May 15, as part of World Cocktail Week, Cure in New Orleans (one of my favorite bars anywhere) is holding an event called “Bartending by the Book” which will benefit the Museum of the American Cocktail and the New Orleans Culinary and Cultural Preservation Society. This’ll be an interesting event, because the [...] |  |
“Treme” – Beyond Bourbon Street
| Before you watch “Treme” this Sunday (and you are going to watch it this Sunday … right?), check out this terrific half-hour behind-the-scenes special for historical background, creator commentary, the Mardi Gras Indian tradition, the food and music scenes, and much more. Steve Zahn, actor (“Davis McAlary”): “It’s post-Katrina, but it’s really about life after, [...] |  |
Cocktail of the Day: The Blinker
| The Blinker Cocktail
2 ounces rye whiskey.
1 ounce fresh grapefruit juice.
1 teaspoon raspberry syrup.
Combine with cracked ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously for no less than 10 seconds, until very cold; strain into a cocktail glass. |  |
Jim & Rocky’s Barback Pro-Am, Part 5: Marquee Cocktail
| As the barback demolition derby continues, the next novice into the frying pan is … um, me. (Oh, crap.) I was a little nervous about this whole being-on-camera thing to begin with, and after hearing from Tatsu about how he ran the gauntlet the night before, I had a minor panic attack. (Not a real [...] |
Story time with Mickey D
| This morning as I was reading the news I was greeted by this chuckle-inducing headline: #McDStories, McDonald’s Twitter Hashtag Promotion, Goes Horribly Wrong As with most people I love a good PR FAIL story, and this one’s a doozy. Last Wednesday McDonald’s sent out two tweets on their Twitter feed — only two — to [...] |  |
“Treme” Explained
| “Hey, you seen ‘Treme?’” When I was back home in New Orleans, HBO’s new locally-based series was the talk of the town. With practically everyone I talked to, the feelings are overwhelmingly positive. Although there are some “Treme”-haters (and one is certainly welcome to dislike the show for one’s own reasons), they seem to be [...] |  |
ELEVEN! ELEVEN!! ELEVEN!!!
| It’s a magical day! (Some say. They would be silly.) For many it’s Veteran’s Day (and here’s to those folks). For others it’s just a big round scary birthday. Oh well, they say 1/20th of a millennium is the new 1/25th of a millennium … “What are you going to do at 11:11:11 on 11/11/11?” [...] |  |
RIP Steve Jobs, 1955-2011
| Thank you, Steve. You and Woz changed the way we use computers. You brought publishing to the desktop instead of the print shop. You changed animated motion pictures. You changed the music industry, and the way we buy, listen to and carry around our music. You changed our concept of how we use mobile telephones, [...] |  |
Eat Louisiana Seafood!
| You may have noticed a certain lack of activity ’round these parts for the last couple of weeks. This is because I was back home as usual for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, which was great as always (and I’ll have recaps, plus a “good, bad and ugly” post later on). I did [...] |
Bulleit Rye Whiskey: A first look
| “Hi Chuck, hope you’re doing well. I am working on the launch of the new Bulleit Rye, and we’d like to send you a sample.” Well … sure! Okay then! Twist my arm, why dontcha? I love getting emails like this. It’s exciting news that Bulleit are putting out a rye. I’m a huge fan [...] |  |
Left Coast Libations Cocktail of the Day: 606
| After the typical, eye-roll-causing procrastination between the last post and now, we finally resume with a couple more of the cocktail featured on the menu at the Varnish during the Left Coast Libations book release party … two months ago. (Well, good things come to those who wait, I hope.) This one comes from bartender [...] |  |
Cocktail Racqueteering
| This delicious cocktail, dating from 1893, was contributed to a recent Liquor.com article by David Wondrich. This drink demonstrates how one small, simple addition can completely transform a cocktail. Remove the teaspoon of crème de cacao and it’s an old-school 2:1 Martini (which I frequently enjoy with orange bitters, as was the old method). Put [...] |
A change was made uptown, and The Big Man left the band …
| RIP Clarence Clemons, 1942-2011. “Clarence lived a wonderful life. He carried within him a love of people that made them love him. He created a wondrous and extended family. He loved the saxophone, loved our fans and gave everything he had every night he stepped on stage. His loss is immeasurable and we are honored [...] |  |
Yellow With Envy
| Zane Harris' tall swizzle consisting of yellow Chartreuse, lime and grapefruit juices, and a housemade black peppercorn syrup. Recipe inside. |  |
Cocktail of the Day: The Deshler
| So, the other day I found myself looking for a recipe for a Heavy Metal Cocktail, or a Black Sabbath Cocktail, or a Dio Cocktail, something that didn’t sound, you know, hideous. And they all did, every single recipe I found that even remotely fit the theme, mostly because they all revolved around Jägermeister (maybe it’s [...] |  |
The (Original) Hurricane Cocktail
| The legendary Pat O’Brien’s Bar in the French Quarter, New Orleans. Opened its doors on December 3, 1933, two days before the end of Prohibition (well, ya had to have a coupla days to get ready). As the story goes, back in the 1940s the bar’s partners Benson “Pat” O’Brien and Charlie Cantrell were forced [...] |  |
Creole Cuisine in Los Angeles
| Yes indeed, you can get good Louisiana food in Los Angeles, but you have to be careful. There’s my usual credo (with very few exceptions ever granted), in which I do not patronize a Louisiana restaurant outside of Louisiana unless someone from Louisiana is in the kitchen. Back during the 1980s “Cajun craze” there were [...] |  |
Je Suis Le Grand Zombie
| Glen David Andrews covers Dr. John’s “I Walk On Guilded Splinters” (originally on the album Gris Gris, from the early days of his Night Tripper era), featuring Paul Sanchez on electric guitar, and it is made of awesome. I’m way behind on posting, as you can undoubtedly tell, but I’m going to try to feature [...] |
The Negroni Variations, Part 1: Negroni’s Loss
| I do love me a Negroni. The bitterness of Campari sometimes scares folks away, but it shouldn’t — it’s a bracing flavor that’s perfect for awakening your palate before a meal. It can be a bit much if the first time you try it is in a Campari and soda (wildly popular in Italy), but [...] |  |
Spiced Pumpkin Pie Marshmallows
| Those of you who’ve been reading this babble for years on end (all nine of you!) may remember my having mentioned The Fat Pack in passing here and there. The Fat Pack consists of some close friends who are mostly if not entirely New Orleans fanatics and food fanatics, especially when it comes to pork, [...] |
L.A.’s Best Cocktails, according to Jonathan Gold
| It’s a Los Angeles-centric cocktail post, folks … so if you don’t live in the City of Angels or don’t plan to visit soon, this one might not hold your interest. You never know, though — you could end up here one day! Jonathan Gold, Pulitzer Prize-winning food writer from the L.A. Weekly, has been [...] |
Cocktail of the Day: The Heads Up, an “adult soda”
| One of the seminars I attended at Tales of the Cocktail this year featured the amazing Dave Arnold, director of culinary technology at the French Culinary Institute in New York and co-author of the not-to-be-missed website Cooking Issues. He was joined by the also amazing Tony Conigliaro, the owner, head bartender and chief mad scientist [...] |  |
The Decemberists: Live performances
| I regret that my music posting has been quite sporadic around these parts of late — sorry ’bout that. Here’s a brief (but content-rich) one, and prepare to spend some money on great music. Perhaps my favorite album of the year so far has been the new one by The Decemberists, The King is Dead. [...] |
The Negroni Variations, Part 2: Ransom Negroni
| None of this is particularly rocket science, as I’m sure you’ve caught on to. Substitutions of spirits, bitter and aromatized wine that basically hew to the basic Negroni formula are often quite tasty, and great springboards for experimentation. Last time I was at the venerable Vessel* in Seattle, bartender Jim Romdall made me a lovely, [...] |
Do you remember?
| I do. Vote. And for your Election Day amusement, here’s a new election-themed short story by one of my favorite writers, John Scalzi: “An Election,” a short story presented by Subterranean Press. (...)Read the rest of Do you remember? (1 words) © Chuck for Looka!, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us [...] |
Tales of the Cocktail: Colonial-Era Cocktails
| [This is a |  |
Tales of the Cocktail: Setting up your in-house soda program
| [This is cross-posted from the original post at Talesblog.com.] “The entire soda market is dominated by one or two huge corporations,” said Darcy O’Neil during today’s soda program seminar. “I think it would be great if we could get more sodas created by bartenders in our bars,” said his co-presenter Andrew Nicholls. Absolutely right. Don’t [...] |  |
So where y’all wanna eat? (This one goes to eleven!)
| [This is crossposted from Talesblog.com -- my annual post about where to enjoy fine food and drink while at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans.] “Oh yeah, we’re going to New Orleans for Tales this year! I hear the food’s good!” (Well … yeah.) I thought it only proper to continue the four-year series [...] |  |
Stay Up Late: A good idea, AND a highball!
| One more excellent cocktail instructional video by Shlomo M. Godder, produced for the bar Dutch Kills in New York. It’s a lovely-looking highball, a gin fizz amplified with a bit of Cognac — very refreshing. I like the technique used by the bartender here. Rather than straining the shaken ingredients directly into the ice-filled Collins [...] |
Vintage Temperance Postcard of the Day
| One of the fruits of a recent burst of eBay purchasing: I love how the last step before DEATH is … absinthe. P’shaw, load up the fountain with ice water and get out the Marteau! I shall cheat death right this minute! (P.S. — Always drink responsibly.) © Chuck for Looka!, 2011. | Permalink [...] |  |
Larry Ragusa King Cakes, Part 4
| Larry has a new King Cake commercial! Uh oh. I knew he was gonna show up sooner or later. No wonder Larry has anger issues. I’m becoming a big fan of Mrs. Ragusa. Just watch her in this video. She’s hilarous! Don’t watch unless you’ve been watching the commercials all along: Part 1, Part 2 [...] |
Cocktails on Arrakis, Part 1
| [N.B. -- If you 1) haven't read Frank Herbert's Dune novels, and/or 2) aren't a geek, then this post is likely to make little sense to you.] My old friend Chris Caldwell, a writer and cocktailian living in Denver, issued the following post on his Twitter feed the other day: “And how can this be? [...] |
Spirited Dinner at Feast, Drinks by Jackson Cannon
| [NOTE: This is a preview post highlighting an upcoming "Spirited Dinner"at the 2011 Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, taking place July 21, and is is crossposted from the original post at Talesblog.com.] You know what the worst thing about Tales of the Cocktail is? Well, other than oppressive heat in New Orleans in [...] |  |
Jim & Rocky’s Barback Pro-Am, Part 1: Jim’s Martini
| “Hey! I wanna recruit you for something!” It was back in January. I was at Rob Roy in Seattle, one of my favorite bars anywhere. My friend Jim Romdall, bartender extraordinaire at Vessel (which closed after it lost its lease, to reopen in a better location this summer) was guest-bartending. My friend Rocky Yeh, bon [...] |  |
Jim & Rocky’s Barback Pro-Am, Part 5: Neener Neener
| Jim and Rocky’s next victim — my friend Tatsu Oiye, professional drinker and fellow member of the board of the Los Angeles Cocktail Community (we help organize monthly social, networking and educational gatherings for local bartenders). Tatsu’s shift was at 320 Main, easily the best bar in Orange County and one of my very favorite [...] |  |
The unexpected brilliance of “Teen Wolf”
| I watch a lot of TV. I freely admit that some of it is crap. I also see a lot of horror films, and I likewise freely admit that some of them are crap. While a stylish, classy horror film is a thing of beauty and a joy forever, the simple truth is that I [...] |  |
Adios, motherf–
| Oh, um … yeah, I probably shouldn’t cuss in an actual post title, should I? Well, you may have noticed — if you’re a New Orleanian, there’s no way you wouldn’t have noticed — that the disastrous regime of would-be Mayor C. Ray Nagin is finally over. There was an inauguration on Monday, Mitch Landrieu [...] |  |
Embarrass the vegetables …
| You may have noticed a scarcity of posts ’round these parts of late. Then again, you may not … is there no one to yell at me when I haven’t posted in a while?! Someone step up to the plate! Truth be told, we’ve been doing a fair bit of travelling recently, compounded with my [...] |
Brandy & Herbsaint Milk Punch
| (Catching up yet again with stragglers that never made it into the big Cocktail Index …) This anise-scented variation on our local beloved milk punch comes from Chef Susan Spicer of Bayona and Herbsaint restaurants) and features Herbsaint, New Orleans’ original absinthe substitute. While you may substitute Pernod, Ricard, or any pastis or anise liqueur [...] |  |
Sodatender or Barjerk: Lost Secrets Revealed?
| [NOTE: This is the first of several preview posts I'll be writing to highlight upcoming seminars at the 2011 Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, taking place July 20-24. This is a crosspost from the original post at Talesblog.com.] Last year I had the best Ramos Gin Fizz I’d ever had in my life. [...] |
By the pricking of my thumbs, something bitter this way comes …
| It’s fun coming up with cocktail names. Then comes the hard part … coming up with the cocktail. Most of the time the process is reversed, at least with most bartenders I know. The spirits and flavors form the initial idea, and the name comes afterward. Sometimes, though, you just come up with such a [...] |  |
Tales of the Cocktail: The Emperor’s New Bitters
| [This was cross-posted from the original post at Talesblog.com.] The long line in which I waited to get into this sold-out seminar last Thursday was unsurprising. Bitters, as you’re undoubtedly aware, are a hot topic among bartenders and cocktail enthusiasts. We were hoping we’d taste things both new and old, and we weren’t disappointed. (As [...] |  |
Martinique, meet Italy
| So the other night—it was in point of fact Wednesday evening—it was my turn to mix. (We take turns at our house, as do civilized gentlemen everywhere.) I had a vague feeling that I wanted something Manhattan-esque, but Chuck had made superlative Manhattans just the previous evening, so that was right out. I felt that [...] |  |
New Year’s Broccoli Soup
| Happy New Year! If you overindulged yourself during the holidays as much as I did (and are having just as much trouble buttoning that top button on your pants), you might want to lighten things up a little bit. Here's a terrific soup I cobbled together that's entirely good for you, delicious, satisfying and filling. |  |
Port Cocktails: The Suburban
| “Drink more Port, boys and girls. Drink more port,” said Wesly. “I like that,” I said. “May I quote you?” “It wasn’t terribly profound; it just came out.” “Sometimes the stuff that just comes out is the best stuff of all.” “That’s what SHE said.” Welcome to my life. Ever since he saw that episode [...] |  |
Coming to A Warehouse …
| I grew up hearing those words on radio ads for concerts, coming out of my tinny car speakers via WNOE and WRNO … “Coming to A Warehouse.” They referred to a big, dank, cavernous music venue on Tchoupitoulas Street that was just that — an old warehouse that had been converted (relatively minimally) into a [...] |
