It’s August already. It’s uncharacteristically humid. Deadlines are still looming and school will be back in session soon. You deserve a you day. A you-and-your-person-or-people day. A chance to enjoy the dwindling days of summer as they should be enjoyed: with an ice cold beverage or five.
Come, join me. Let’s take a lil tour. I’ll walk you from 3 pm on Saturday clear through Sunday.
1. Block Party | 5052 York Blvd, Highland Park
Daytime
A retirement village sized shuffle board. A spacious, dog-friendly patio. Various local food pop-ups & trucks. Multiple frozen cocktails including horchata slushies, champagne-filled snow cones, and micheladas with paletas stuffed right up in there. If summertime day drinking is what you’re after, this is the place to do it.
The Highland Punch Boozy Snowcone | Champagne, Blackberry mint reduction, shaved ice
2. Good Housekeeping | 5635 N. Figueroa St, Highland Park
A Pre-Dinner Drink
After plenty of sweet and/or tart frozen drinks at Block Party, cleanse your palette and prep it for dinner with a charcoal filtered manhattan. Their version comes from a 126-year-old recipe that you can enjoy in their quiet back room. Now the easy thing to do would be to roll right into Cafe Birdie for dinner, and no one would blame you. But for the sake of momentum, let’s go to Pasadena.
Charcoal filtered Manhattans | Sweet Vermouth, Sazerac 6 year Rye, Angostura bitters, cherry
3. White Horse Lounge | 41 S. DeLacey Ave, Old Town Pasadena
Dinner & Drinks
As far as cocktails go, I’m partial to The Forbidden, but absinthe and fire aren’t for everybody. I’ve never seen anyone return a drink here, or even make a face less than, “Oh my gah,” upon their first sip. Cocktail Master and Clarkliving friend Jason Yu is behind the bar here, and his Midas touch is all over their drink menu. You’re in good hands. You’re also really going to need to get some food in you at this point, something more substantial than the tacos you said you wouldn’t get between Block Party and Good Housekeeping. The dinner menu at White Horse is surprisingly good, given the variant nature and quality of a lot of Old Town’s establishments.
Jason behind the bar. Photo courtesy of @jasonfyu
4. 1886 at The Raymond | 1250 S. Fair Oaks Ave, Pasadena
Nightcap
1886 consistently produces some of the best cocktails in Los Angeles, and the fact that the menu changes seasonally is both a testament to their creativity & drive as well as an excuse to come back on a regular basis. End your evening here with Mr. Jinks; This gin-based cocktail is a part of their classic cartoon inspired summer menu that features drinks like Popeye’s Punch and The Quagmire.
Mr. Jinks | London Dry Gin, organic raw coconut milk & multifloral clover honey, lemon, fresh nutmeg
5. Your House, the next day, when you don’t want to move or spend any more money at a cocktail bar.
Hair of the Dog
CL Zombie
Serves 1, generously
2 oz Meyers Dark Rum
2 oz Meyers White Rum
3/4 oz Triple Sec
3/4 oz Falernum
1 oz Fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
1 oz Fresh squeezed lime juice
Dash Allspice
Freshly grated nutmeg
Stir together all ingredients except for the nutmeg. Strain into a highball (or tiki) glass filled with ice & garnish with the freshly grated nutmeg. It’s preferable to drink this outdoors, but enjoying it on the couch in the midst of a Netflix binge is also acceptable.
I’d recommend pairing this with the first season of GLOW.
