Archive for the ‘SLS Hotel’ tag
Ice the Size of a Golf Ball : Bar Centro @ The SLS Hotel
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
