The Bon Vivant’s Companion

I’ve been working on this blog post since March.  Not because it’s so special, but because life happened, and then death did.

Originally, my plan was to write about the St. Francis Hotel’s newly opened Clock Bar and their best selling cocktail, the Persephone — a new drink done in a classic style by mixologist Marcovaldo Dionysos (who, unless he’s using a nom de plume, was clearly born to be a bartender.)

The Clock Bar, run by Chef Michael Mina, features world-class bar snacks and a cocktail menu that thinks it’s 1935.  But it’s not 1935.  It’s not even March any more, and this blog post has lingered unwritten long enough…

I’m a sucker for all things mythological and the Persephone, a cocktail made with Charbay vodka, homemade grenadine, and pomegranate juice, struck me as clever (and made me wonder why more libations aren’t named after Olympians…the Hephaestus anyone?)

Persephone, the goddess of spring, and daughter of Demeter (harvest) and Zeus (everything) was a hottie, devil-may-care kind of Olympian until Hades fell for her, dragged her to the underworld, and made her his queen.

Demeter, unable to find her daughter, rendered the earth barren while Persephone was missing.  Needing live people to worship him, and seeing no upside to mass starvation, Zeus stepped in and forced Hades to release his new bride.  Persephone was returned to her mother, but having eaten several seeds from an underworld pomegranate, she was tied to Hades forever.

(Travel advisory – skip the roadside snacks in hell.)

In a rare compromise, the gods decided to share, and Persephone spent the rest of her days splitting time between her mom’s house and her husband’s kingdom.

Mythology meets modern mixology. That was the concept.  That’s what I planned on talking about back in March, but as I said, life happened, and then, ironically, death did.

Shortly after I got home, and busy, and sick, my cousin Jamie died.  She was more than the word cousin implies, she was my little sister, my friend.  Jamie died suddenly, and young, and without much explanation.  Reeling is what I’ve been up to since it happened. In general, mornings have not been seen, work has not been done, and blogs have gone unwritten.

In dealing with the loss of Jamie, and my aunt’s grief, the myth of Persephone has taken on a whole new meaning.  I understand it better.  I know first hand that, if she could, my aunt would make it snow every day until someone gave her Jamie back.

So as the weeks have passed, and the fog has lifted, I’ve decided to revisit the Persephone.  After doing research, and discovering that there isn’t a definitive version of this cocktail (all apologies to Mr. Dionysos) I decided to come up with my own.

Because it’s summer now, I turned to gin as my base spirit.  I added homemade grenadine, pomegranate juice, and a little muddled mint.

Turns out, mint is a sacred plant closely tied to Persephone.  As the story goes, Hades cheated on Persephone with a nymph named Menthe.  When she found out, Persephone trampled on Menthe until she became a sprig of mint.

Maybe I find retribution funny, but I get a kick out of that story.  I think Jamie would too.

Here’s the recipe:
The Persephone
1 ½ oz Plymouth Gin
1 oz Pomegranate Juice
¾ Homemade Grenadine (I chose a recipe created by Jeff Hollinger, owner of Absinthe and author of “Art of the Bar”)
¼ Fresh lime Juice
3 or 4 pieces of mint
Fever Tree Bitter Lemon to taste
Mint for garnish
Put 3 or 4 pieces of mint in a Boston shaker, cover with Grenadine, and muddle ingredients until completely mixed.  Add gin, pomegranate juice, and ice, and shake until chilled.
Pour entire contents of shaker into a rocks glass.  Garnish with mint.

Jamie

In search of my next post I went to Surfas (a restaurant supply store) for inspiration.  Their selection of mixers and syrups always gets me thinking, but I didn’t come away with a new cocktail idea, I came away with a bottle opener.  I couldn’t help it.  The thing stalked me.  Its big laughing face was everywhere I turned; by the mixers, by the bar gadgets, and finally by the register.  The last thing I need is another bottle opener. I own hundreds (literally), so I tried to fight my desire for this one.  But when I got up front and saw a basket of them sitting near the credit card machine, I was too weak to resist.  Damn impulse purchase marketing…

I’m now the proud owner of a brightly painted, slightly menacing Beijing Opera mask bottle opener, and I must admit, I love it.  It’s another “good object.”  The colors are glossy, the slightly tapered disk fits comfortably in the palm of my hand, and the angry opening makes quick work of bottle caps.  Not that I opened THAT many bottles last night…

And since it’s tough to have buyer’s remorse over something that costs $4.99, I’ve decided to make another trip to Surfas and wipe them out of their inventory.  There are multiple colors available, and each opener has a different, wildly painted image on either side (see pictures), making them two-faced, if you will.  I plan on giving them as gifts to friends who can prove to me they really love beer – or cool gadgets.  I’m also thinking these openers will score me points when given as hostess gifts.

To get one for yourself, or the discerning beer drinker in your life, you might be able to beat me to Surfas and get one while they’re still there.  If not, they are available online at Ebay (of all places), or this store (the only web store I could find – so you know these will be relatively hard to get and unique when you give them).  That is, if you can part with them….

My sister came across this fun find, the Stanley 8oz pocket flask.  She was doing research for a special event and was looking for something rugged to gift guests with.  The Stanley Flask fit the bill.  It is blue-collar-rugged, with stainless steel details, and wide flip-top opening (no funnel needed).  But iconic enough, with it’s gunmetal green and elegant grip, to accompany any design aficionado on the way to, I don’t know, a night at the opera.

The Stanley Flask is, as a friend of mine would say, “a good object.”  An object for the wine-and-cheese, rough-and-tumble, and the bait-and-tackle set.  An instant classic, with a little something for everyone.  And it is so much cooler than the “flask in the fake binoculars.”  I mean, you’re not fooling anyone with those -– you really aren’t.

Pick one up at:

Design Within Reach

In the Midwest, ice the size of a golf ball is something you run from as it falls from the sky, in LA it’s something you swirl in a cocktail.

At Bar Centro, part of the newly opened SLS Hotel near Beverly Hills, ice is the centerpiece of their “Ultimate Gin and Tonic”.  Floating in edible flowers, herbs, and your choice of tonic, is a perfect, frosty sphere.  No clunky rocks, nothing from a 1,000-pound machine, just an elegant, crystal-clear ball of ice.  Thick and round it melts slowly, chilling the cocktail without diluting it.

Throw in cucumbers, spices, and greenery, and you have a garden in a glass; a deconstructed gin and tonic if you will.  Perfect for a party, and with the right tools, easy to recreate at home.  A trip to the produce department, and a spherical ice mold is all you need.

I recommend the mold from the MoMa store. Its thoughtful design is compact and doesn’t require an engineering degree, although filling it takes a little patience.  Running water slowly through a pour spout (the kind you put in a bottle of spirits) inverted over the mold’s tiny hole helps it fill faster.  The resulting little ice balls are fun and worth the time.

Having survived an icy Chicago Christmas, these cocktail spheres are the closest I’m getting to snowballs or ice for the rest of the winter.  Home in LA, I will gladly sip my perfectly chilled gin and tonic in 75-degree weather, and think fondly of friends and family stuck in subzero temperatures.  (Those suckers are going to need all the good thoughts they can get…)

If you are in the LA area, Bar Centro is worth a visit.  The bar is filled (almost exclusively) with Sex and the City-type women, and has been designed by uber hipster Philippe Stark.  The lounge buzzes and whirs with a modernity that will go out of style quickly, but be remembered fondly (like disco lights and Halston jumpsuits) so catch it while it’s hot. There are two restaurants and a sweet shop on the bar level as well.

Bar Centro @ SLS Hotel
465 S. La Cienega Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Phone: (310) 247-0400
Monday-Wednesday, Sunday 6pm-12am; Thursday-Saturday 6pm-2am
Map

Candy Dominoes, delicious treats that won’t threaten your relationship with blue jeans.

I discovered these little guys in the toy section of Jonathan Wright and Company (my favorite stationery shop), and used them as decorations at an adult birthday party.  The nostalgic images are retro in a way that makes grown-ups want to play with them (and play with them), but sturdy enough for a two year old to smash (and smash).

As a game, match the bright, candy tiles end to end until a player wins.  As party decorations, sprinkle them all over the table to whimsical effect.

Can’t get to Jonathan Wright’s in LA?  You can find Eeboo Candy Dominoes at Amazon.com.

To keep the game interesting, play while sipping on a grown-up Root Beer Float.  This cocktail was inspired by the soda fountain feel of the dominoes, and is a great example of how a small design choice can influence the overall theme of an event.

Root Beer Float Cocktail
1 ½ oz Original Grey Goose Vodka
1 oz Root Beer Schnapps
¼ oz Bailey’s Irish Cream
¼ Crème de Cacao
Vanilla Ice Cream
Splash of Cream Soda

Put Vodka, Schnapps, and Root Beer Schnapps in a Boston Shaker over ice.  Shake until chilled. Pour entire contents into a tall glass.  Finish with a splash of cream soda, and a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.  (A cookie dough scoop, or melon baller creates the perfect sized scoop for this cocktail.) Add a straw and enjoy!

The Soolip Wedding Show Crew

Welcome to our very first blog.

I’m in the events business in Los Angeles, and for the last five years I’ve owned a company called Bon Vivant Events. I started out by sending event staff to parties (some of the crew is pictured above). Over the years I added managing special events and planning the occasional party to the list of “things I do”.

Recently, friends began asking me to staff their parties (a dinner party runs smoother with some help in the kitchen), for cocktail suggestions, and general tips on where to get things, and how to get it all done.

It occurred to me that by cataloguing the information friends could check in and use it at their leisure. A blog is born. Its name? The Bon Vivant’s Companion.

Besides the obvious (my company’s name for one), The title comes from the first collection of cocktails ever published, How to Mix Drinks: or The Bon Vivant’s Companion was written in 1860 by Jerry Thomas and remains remarkably relevant today. That is — if shaved ice and fruit garnishes apply to your life at all in 2008.

Tipping my hat to Mr. Thomas I’ll share one cocktail a week from his book in a series called “Companion Cocktails”. Other posts will touch on general mixology, recipes for entertaining, great places to eat, and venues to throw your own events in. I’ll also talk about vendors I use as resources, and introduce you to my team of mixologists.

Most of my blogs will deal with life and times in Los Angeles and San Francisco, but I travel a bit and plan on sharing what I find while I’m out on the road.

Knowing exactly how to begin this blog or when has proven to be a challenge for me. I’m still working on the site’s design,  and want to make sure it’s easy to use, but in order to speed things up I’ve decided to make changes as I go. Please excuse the occasional dust.

My goal is for The Bon Vivant’s Companion to become a casual conversation with friends and those who stumble across us because they too enjoy good food and drink. So I’m going to do what I do best –and just start talking —

Thanks for stopping by.