tag: bar

I guess I’m pretty lucky. I am lucky to have stumbled into a job with an understanding boss who feels more like a mentor than a supervisor. I am lucky to be living with a fabulous roommate who I can hang out with on a Friday night, just watching chick flicks with some wine and our cats. I am lucky to be able to travel. I am lucky to have friends who can shift seamlessly from a deep discussion of experimental literature into a game of flip cup.

And I am very, very lucky to have this bar within walking distance of my apartment.

Oldfield’s Liquor Room is a bit of an anomaly. Along a wide stretch of Venice Boulevard speckled with laundromats and computer repair shops nestled among residential streets, Oldfield’s looks like it should be a workaday watering hole shilling whiskey Cokes. Not so. The classic cocktails here are accomplished and refined. The house concoctions are as varied, pretty, and as downright delicious as any in Paris or San Francisco. Not bad for a little bar in Culver City.

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Posted in: dining out, los angeles | Tags: bar, cocktail bar, cocktails, culver city, culver city bar, food photography, los angeles, oldfield's, oldfield's culver sity, photography | 2 COMMENTS

So, Pi.

SoPi. South Pigalle.

One of the big things that I miss about Paris is how a tiny sliver of the city can have its own distinct personality, completely different from its surroundings. South Pigalle, with its good coffee and music shops and its seedy past has that hipstery aura of fetishizing authenticity without going too far into the too-expensive bobo territory of the NoMa.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love the Marais — some of my favorite places are there, and in a very real way, it’s still my neighborhood. But it’s places like Glass here in SoPi, with its classy-ass drinks and artsy installations smutted up with just enough grunge, that had me switching to the metro line 2.

The art installation is embedded in the floor, to be danced and spilled on, if that gives you any indication.

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Posted in: dining out, paris | Tags: 75009, adam tsou, bar, carina tsou, cocktail bar, cocktail bar paris, cocktails, drinks, food, france, glass, glass paris, josh fontaine, paris, paris photo trip 2013, photography, pigalle, quixotic projects, sopi, south pigalle, travel | 4 COMMENTS

9th best bar in the world, and the best bar in Europe, according to World’s 50 Best Bars. You really can’t go wrong here.

One of the things I admire most here is the total lack of pretension. Despite the very serious cocktail program, and the incredible breadth and depth of knowledge the people behind the sticks have, it still manages to feel like a welcoming neighborhood bar — albeit welcoming in a dark and sexy way. Last time I visited, there were dudes in t-shirts and basketball shorts mingling with women in Chanel. Then again, it was fashion week.

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Posted in: dining out, paris | Tags: 75003, adam tsou, bar, Candelaria, candelaria paris, carina tsou, cocktail bar, cocktail bar paris, cocktails, drinks, food, france, josh fontaine, marais, noma, paris, paris photo trip 2013, photography, quixotic projects, travel, upper marais | 9 COMMENTS

Another photo assignment during my recent week in Paris: Le Mary Celeste!

Le Mary Celeste, or LMC for short, holds a special place in my heart. I attended the Brooklyn Brewery launch party there with a huge group of friends, which involved copious amounts of free craft beer. (Tests indicate that free craft beer will win you my friendship and admiration approximately 100% of the time.)

I also had the opportunity to interview chef Haan a few months ago, and I’ve got to say that his food just keeps getting better and better — not to say that I didn’t miss that incredible cauliflower dish they had on the menu a while back this time.

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Posted in: dining out, paris | Tags: bar, beer, Brooklyn beer, brooklyn brewery paris, ceviche, cocktail, cocktail bar, food, kimchi, korean, le mary celeste, le mary celeste paris, lmc, lmc paris, oyster bar, paris, paris bar, Paris Marais, paris photo trip 2013, paris restaurant, Rain Dog, restaurant, scallops, tacos, Toronto, watermelon, wine | 0 COMMENTS