Rethinking the Mezcal Negroni
The old spirit switcheroo is a common happenstance in any restaurant or bar created by the mostly innocent guest and in turn, must be realized by the bartender via the waiters who are oftentimes bad communicators or just uninformed. It can be a frustrating situation for any professional booze slinger, not just your friendly neighborhood
Recent photos
-
Rethinking the Mezcal Negroni
The old spirit switcheroo is a common happenstance in any restaurant or bar created by the mostly innocent guest and in turn, must be realized by the bartender via the waiters who are oftentimes bad communicators or just uninformed. It can be a frustrating situation for any professional booze slinger, not just your friendly neighborhood…
-
Cocktail: Vesper of Total Enlightenment 2.0
If you do it right, a Vesper ain’t so bad. Instead of adding vodka, use a decent pisco and what you now have is something with more structure and mouthfeel that might even be worth drinking. Yes, I’ve turned a corner from a couple of years ago when I wrote this article about how a…
-
New Cocktail: Black Martinez
I thought I made this one up, but other online presences have naturally bridged the gap, as I did, between Black Manhattan and Martinez. Still, mine goes the extra distance by using an oaked gin instead of regular old gin and I think it comes closer to a perfect mash of the two drinks. The…
-
Movie Review: Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein
2025 has yet to end and we already have updated Dracula, Wolfman, and Frankenstein movies under the belt. Yes, a banner year for our old school Universal Pictures movie monsters. There is certainly a pattern at work here where we see new iterations of these guys in different but predictable spans of time. Frankenstein was…
-
Movie Review: They Live
When you talk about cult 80s sci-fi classics, John Carpenters (again, please excuse the lack of all apostrophes and quotations, the button fell off my keyboard), They Live, will always be in the conversation. In terms of rank, I would place it in the high quality pantheon of flicks from that era like The Evil…
-
From Tavolo to The Ashmont Grill or, Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire: Part One
There had been complications during my tenure as GM at an Italian joint in Dorchester. A two fold disaster, mine and theirs, called Tavolo. Chris the owner and the executive chef, now wanted me fired after about a year of being their personal axe man. I heard it from the lips of my friend who…
-
Movie Review: Sorcerer
Sometimes you go with the recommendation from a reputable source, especially when said source has turned their skeptical eye toward the recent developments in show biz the same as you (thank you, M.B.), and that recommendation turns out to be a home run. Yes, if you haven’t noticed, movies aren’t as good as they used…
-
Movie Review: American Ninja 2: The Confrontation
New Beverly, Monday 8/25/25. Double header: American Ninja and American Ninja 2: The Confrontation. I asked Melodist-K if he was game, unknowing of the background, the pure nostalgia and beyond, this suggestion was soon to generate. His response, an enthusiastic hell yeah. Because we both have children, the 7 p.m. showing for the original was…
-
Failed Bar Hack: Watermelon Rind Tepache
Watermelon. Delicious on the inside, pretty gross on the outside. My spirit fruit. Eat the good stuff and throw out the rest, right? Hold on a minute. The typical thing to do is to vinegar pickle the rind two different ways, either in chunks or by using a peeler and making strips. Either way it’s…
-
Movie Review: Superman 2025
Let’s face it, unless were talking about the Nolan Batmans, historically, the DC Universe movies have always played second fiddle to Marvel. The perfect personification of the old adage ”Next to her I look like a turd with eyes.” Like Pete Davidson standing next to Kate Beckinsale, DC movies are always looked upon with an…
-
Restaurant Review: South Beverly Grill
Hillstone Group. Ever since moving to L.A. I had heard the name reverberate from the mouths of guests and co-workers like some whisper of the mythological wendigo in the shrill winds of dark summer forest nights. Did you hear that? I think I just heard something. Hillstone, Hillstone…Did you hear that? Yes, Hillstone is the…
-
New Cocktail: Timmy Bird
Classic cocktails, the good ones, have legacies. And quite often, the originals are not as good as the ones they spawn. This is simple evolution. Cocktails, in this case, are like cars. The next year’s model always an improvement. Case in point: The Last Word. In my opinion about as so-so a cocktail as one…
The Aging Bartender 