When you get John C. Dupont talking about the art of cocktail mixing — not something hard to do — he becomes a proselytizer, a teacher, a raconteur and a pal all at once. He’ll explain to you the finer points of bourbon making, what makes a good vermouth, and how he developed his “New World” cocktail recipe (he wanted to force every bar in America to buy a second bottle of Galliano) at the drop of a hat. But he also wants you to leave his bar a smarter drinker than when you walked in. From the arcane to the practical (e.g. what type of ice to shake or stir into what type of drink), he is there to help…and an education never felt so good.
Category: Reviews
BORDER GRILL
It may seem incongruous to some, but it’s pretty much a given that the two best Mexican restaurants In America are Topolobampo in Chicago (founded by chef/owner Rick Bayless — a guy from Oklahoma) and the Border Grill in Santa Monica (owned by a couple of gringo-white, California gals named Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken). Why more chefs/restaurateurs don’t try to duplicate the passion for authenticity found in these two places is a puzzlement to ELV, but we’re just glad someone in America has brought faithful renditions of this marvelous cuisine north of the border.
Added non-food-related bonus: Thanks to a groovy re-design by assemblageStudio, you can now enjoy all this organic, true-to-its-roots food amongst rammed earth subsoil paneling (whatever the hell that is.) ELV is no arch-i-teck, but assemblageStudio’s Eric Strain (an Official Friend of ELV) is, and if he tells us this textured decor method (?) dates to the days of the Anasazi, we believe him and assume this must be a good thing.
PIN KAOW THAI RESTAURANT
Pin Kaow isn’t our favorite Thai in town. In fact, it probably doesn’t even make our top five. But it’s been around for fifteen+ years and is very popular with Northwesterners and other Summerlin-like folk on that side of town. They recently opened two other branches — at South Rainbow and Robindale, and Eastern at I-215 — with identical menus, so we dropped in for the first time in a long time. FYI: Back in the day, when ELV was young, virile, voted Democratic, and often mistaken for any one of these guys, we were regulars.