The Aging Bartender

N.E.C.I. Commons: Part One

When I returned from Florida, I moved in with my father and stepmother. Back in my old childhood room, my childhood bed. The first night sleeping there, I gazed up at the ceiling and felt the dual twinge of depression and comfort. Opposing emotions battling for dominance over my psyche. On the one hand, it

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  • N.E.C.I. Commons: Part One

    When I returned from Florida, I moved in with my father and stepmother. Back in my old childhood room, my childhood bed. The first night sleeping there, I gazed up at the ceiling and felt the dual twinge of depression and comfort. Opposing emotions battling for dominance over my psyche. On the one hand, it…

  • New Cocktail: Sherry Garcia

    Sometimes I experience delusions of grandeur. The psychologists call this “positive fantasy.” I like to also call it “Destined for Greatness” where I think about something to such a degree that it seems real before any of the actual work is complete. This used to happen to me in the early days when I first…

  • Does Eating and Drinking Seasonally Really Matter?

    This has been in my thoughts a whole lot lately, the seasonal bar ethos…Using as much of the ingredients as possible, remaining organic despite the cost, trying not to throw out the scraps (sorry to those who call it trim, don’t like that term), going to the farmer’s market, yada, yada, blah, blah, blah. What…

  • Heat and Really Awesome Chicken

    “Don’t let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.” They don’t make ’em like that anymore. The really good cops and robbers movies are pretty few and far between these days. Heat is almost 30 years old.…

  • Cherries!

    Finally, something different. Yes, yes, yakity yak about the lame green almonds all you want but I’ll be honest, they’re a little gross. Why is it ok to eat a green almond but not veal? Anyway, the cherries have landed. The true symbol of spring. I went through a half flat yesterday like butter in…

  • Eating and Drinking with the Seasons

    Just a couple of random chumps at the bar last night…Or so I thought…I was speaking with a couple of regulars I hadn’t seen in almost a year, just flapping my gums as usual about how most restaurants and their bars don’t follow along with the seasons, which to me is a little puzzling considering…

  • Bar Hack: Raspberry Hibiscus Syrup

    Hey Ma look! That’s my old, gnarled hand! It’s a dated picture of The Right Decision, one of our staple drinks I somehow came up with on my own. In the picture you can see that’s how we used to rim the glass, so you could have an unaltered, non salty sip if you so…

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    May the Schwartz Be With You

    Yes, it’s May the fourth and every asshole Star Wars fan (including myself) will be saying “May the fourth be with you.” Thing is, and this is tough to say… But, Star Wars blows. I love it, but it’s an iconic part of my childhood that died on the vine. Two good movies, maybe three,…

  • Bar Hack: Leche de Tigre

    Want to infuse some life into your…Uh…Life? Ok, maybe you don’t. Maybe you want to do it for your drinks though…This ingredient is featured in one of our recent seasonal cocktails, Tooger’s Revenge, which is gaining some steam…We had a guest in last night who told us, “I normally drink wine, but I’d love to…

  • The Search for McQueen

    I’m sure many of you are unaccustomed to the tyranny of a toddler, but at some point have heard some exhausted parent speak of having to watch the same cartoon ad infinitum. Yes, children become laser focused to the point of pure insanity and are somehow able to watch the same damn cartoon over and…

  • The Five Spice Cafe: Part Three

    Read Part Two here. After a couple of months, I started training with the kitchen manager, Jennifer, to work lunches. Blonde, burley, intense. A bright and capable, strong woman, just like Chef Mef. Not afraid to rip into someone and tell them how much they sucked. My training with her was instantly controversial, as the…

  • Caipirinha Diaries: 4.30.23

    Imagine this. Something bad happened–extreme drought, nuclear war, all of the above–and now the entire world looks like the stretch from Wilshire Boulevard between 18th and 12th. Trash blowing, storefronts gone, the glass behind the shuttered safety cages broken. The occasional glow from a fire lit inside where the forgotten huddle to keep warm and…