Cheers!
The 'CityBeat' Drinking Issue
"I like bars just after they open for the evening. When the air inside is still cool and clean and everything is shiny and the barkeep is giving himself that last look in the mirror to see if his tie is straight and his hair is smooth. I like the neat bottles on the bar back and the lovely shining glasses and the anticipation. I like to watch the man mix the first one of the evening and put it down on the crisp mat and put the little folded napkin beside it. I like to taste it slowly. The first quiet drink of the evening in a quiet bar - that's wonderful."
-Terry Lennox in The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler, 1953
t CityBeat, we have issues. And we have drinking issues (even those of us who don't imbibe). So, we mused one evening at a favorite tavern near World Headquarters, why not combine the two? Voilà! The Drinking Issue was born.
We do some of our best thinking in bars, especially after a few rounds and when the Chief's jukebox selections kick in. We may solve the world's problems, invent entire sections of the paper, or engage in karaoke - without the machine - by belting out "Gimme Shelter" while dancing together like fools. (Thanks to the tolerant folks at Molly Malone's for not throwing us out. Or maybe they did. Can't remember.)
Much painful research went into this issue - hunkering uncomfortably on stools and in booths, to say nothing of the hangovers. So we now raise a glass to the establishments that supported our endeavor, purely by giving us booze when we paid for it.
Molly Malone's (575 S. Fairfax Ave., L.A., 323-935-1577) and Tom Bergin's (840 S. Fairfax Ave., L.A., 323-936-7151) are cherished for their decent jukeboxes, friendly service, and stumbling proximity. Canter's cozy-divey Kibitz Room (419 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A., 323-651-2030) is a brainstorming paradise before the music kicks in around 9 p.m. (because then it gets loud); mixmaster/music host El Diablo is our favorite bartender we know by name. He can whip up a mean anything, and the specialties up his sleeve will knock your socks off - if they don't knock you off your feet.
At the new bar in Highland Grounds (742 N. Highland Ave., L.A., 323-466-1507), we found amiable regulars, local musicians, generous cocktails, and a certain clarity while sitting under the palm trees. Conversation is possible at the classic Chinese-themed Formosa Cafe (7156 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, 323-850-9050), but we enjoy breathing in the history in a place that's miraculously survived an increasingly mall-ified Hollywood. Finally, we accidentally discovered the bar at Sterling Steakhouse (1429 Ivar Ave., Hollywood, 323-463-0008) after an Amoeba Music in-store; its swanky-cool sophistication should have rubbed off, but someone still managed to fall down on the way out.
Bottoms up!
-Natalie NicholsPublished: 12/08/2005
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