Last week I was in Los Angeles attending the BlogWorld Expo, a tradeshow and media event for web workers in all kinds of media. Every tradeshow requires a few parties. Imagine 
my surprise when the first party at Icon, a rooftop club in downtown LA, was sponsored by Eu4rik make that U4RIK, a tequila that was making its first appearance at the conference! Seemed to me there was no excuse not to attend. However, the complimentary tequila did not arrive that evening, supposedly stuck in traffic.
Next day, next party. Friday night we had 3 party invitations, first sponsored by LiveWyre. Held at Seven Grand, not far from LA Live, this is an amazing whiskey bar with a huge selection of whiskey, six pages of selections in the menu! The selection was so large that there was a library ladder that would slide along the back bar to access the top levels of bottles.
They specialize in pre-prohibition cocktails served in vintage glassware and the bar tenders were true artists. Glasses sprayed with a glazing of absinthe, hand mashed mint, burnt orange peel (they actually did burn it right there). Every cocktail was 'constructed.' Amazing.
I had a Duck Hunter, limited edition rare 10 year old Kentucky straight bourgon, stirred with Carpano Antica Formula & Amaro Lucano! Honey, let me tell you, this is NOT available in Coldwater, MI. Scott, my son who attended with me, had the New York Cocktail, made with Wild Turkey, shaken with fresh lime, grenadine & brown sugar, served up with the Absinthe rinse! Did I say this was an amazing place? Put it on your list for your next trip to LA.
We had dinner at Mas Malo, a new restaurant based on simple, locally sourced and high quality ingredients, that is on the ground floor of Seven Grand. It is a converted jewelry store with amazing architecture and then there is the food! Mas Malo features a range of classic dishes, exceptional cocktails and an extensive tequila and mescal collection. Scott ate Goat Barbacoa and I had the Baja Shrimp tacos. Sorry, forgot to take photos of the food.
Then on to the conference's evening party at the J Lounge on Olive Street, where I confronted the publicist for Eu4rik U4RIK and he apologized for the delay of the previous night's tequila. He has promised to send me a bottle and I'll be sending it on to one of the members here. Still I did my best to remain true to the tequila drinkers on this site and did a little tasting.
The J Lounge was another amazing location deep in the heart of historic Los Angeles. I do care about food and drink but even more was thrilled with the old restaurants and historic architecture we found in the vicinity of the Convention Center including the Figueroa Hotel. I'll be back.
Comments
Jon Burk, the publicist for U4RIK just sent this message to me:
"We had a fun turning so many new friends onto U4RIK Vodka and Tequila and sponsoring the Thursday and Friday night parties. This was a coming out party for us, as our 100% organic Tequila just came over the border a few weeks ago, and our grape based, gluten-free Vodka is slowly catching on as the go to choice for savvy early adopters of a clean, smooth and premium spirit. Although we only have the product available now in San Diego, look for a larger product roll out in 2012 in select markets across the country.
How can U4RIK partner with Art Fair Insiders? Have an event coming up that might make sense for us? Let me know. We are also revamping our entire social media strategy and online properties and appreciate quality content as well as interview requests to discuss the premium, some might say "healthy", attributes of U4RIK products."
Do you have any ideas on how we can partner with him? Would it be cool if we could get him to Fort Myers and he'd host the ArtFest Fort Myers party in February?
What no comments? Been to any good parties lately? Hung out with some cool people? Tell me - make a comment and I'll send you a prize... I'm cleaning out my bookshelves and have some very cool books about places to hang out in Florida...