Category Archives: DRINKS

MELROSE UMBRELLA COMPANY AND MEZCALI ME BANANA COCKTAIL

The recipe for a luscious mezcal based cocktail from the Melrose Umbrella Company cocktail bar/restaurant on Melrose Ave. In Los Angeles.

THE PANAMA HAT COCKTAIL 

The Panama Hat cocktail brings on the happiest of happy hours. Here’s a recipe invented by master bartender Policarpo for Salsipuedes Restaurant and Bar in the hotel Bristol Panama.

WHITE WINE SANGRIA HEADS-UP TO HAPPY HOUR

Recipe for Mita’s White Wine Sangria as a heads-up to happy hour.

TEQUILA: 10 TIPS FOR BUYING AND DRINKING

I was lost, but now I’m found. Lost in a murky, all-is-acceptable-when-it-comes-to-drinking-tequila-sort-of-a-way. But now my cup runneth over with knowledge. I credit Javier Moreno, the charming sommelier at the Grand Residences Riviera Cancun resort (located on the Caribbean coast of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula). Javier conducted a tequila tasting seminar for a few guests of the resort and, like the resort itself, the seminar couldn’t be better.

HAPPY HOUR: UNION 30’S COMFORTABLY NUMB

So here is  the way I was told to drink the Comfortably Numb cocktail served at Union 30, a restaurant located inside the smashing Hotel Saint Louis.  See that little bud sitting in a white dish at the side of the drink? It’s a Szechuan button flower. I was told to eat the button and […]

HOTEL LUTETIA ADDS SPARKLE TO THE CITY OF LIGHTS

Spoiled as it sounds, I would try to plan a trip to Paris every year on my birthday, so that I would look forward to aging. Now that I have ripened with multiple years of Paris pleasure I still crave the city. It just gets better and better. The same could apply to Hotel Lutetia, […]

MAMMOTH EATING IN MAMMOTH LAKES, CALIFORNIA

Mammoth Lakes offers vast opportunities for outdoor activities. The Sierra Nevada Mountains provide a winter wonderland for skiing, snowboarding, cross country skiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling. The Lake Basin supplies majestic lakes for fishing, boating, canoeing, kayaking and swimming. And the entire region is a scenic playground for hiking, biking, camping, photography and exploring nature. But […]

BRUGES, WEST FLANDERS, BELGIUM and COCKTAIL

Bruges could be Europe’s most perfect little medieval city. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its historic significance, Bruges overflows with charm. Old graceful canals, ancient cobbled streets, distinctive gothic architecture, archaic cafes and bars fill the city. In addition, Bruges sports a variety of contemporary pleasures, such as fine hotels, divine restaurants, nice […]

LUSCIOUS RECIPES FROM THE BEST OF THE BEST KITCHENS

The very best (no fooling), the most divine (really) recipes from people and places (all totally superlative) to make for gift giving. (Marvelous to the max!) COFFEE RUB SEASONING MIX A coffee and spice and everything nice recipe from Jim Leonardo, chef of Vinology, the spiffy wine-bar and restaurant in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Recipe HERE.   […]

KANE RUM BAR AT JW MARRIOTT ISLAND BEACH RESORT MARCO ISLAND

Yep. It’s true. I love rum. So imagine my delight discovering a rum bar at the newly refurbished and rebranded JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort. The bar is named Kane—I thought because rum is deliciously divinely made from sugar cane and drinking too much can muddle spelling, but not so. Marriott officials say that […]