Today’s Traveling Bar features a downtown Los Angeles location where you can get good cocktails, amazing food, AND excellent wine all in one place. Whitney Adams, my go-to wine expert, takes us there. ~ Elana
Who: Whitney Adams
Website: Whitney A. & Bottle Stock
Bar: Bestia
Where: Los Angeles
1. What do you look for in a bar?
Good vibes, first and foremost. Good people, good music, good lighting…and of course, good drinks and wine. My very favorite bars have not only excellent cocktails but an interesting and well-edited wine list.
2. Here’s the scenario: your cocktail lovin’ friend is coming to your town for ONE night. You only have time for ONE bar. Which one is it?
I would probably head to Bestia. Kill several birds with one stone. The food is amazing, the cocktails are on point and the wine list is great. You can’t not be happy when perched on a stool at the Bestia bar.
3. What makes this place so special you’d bring them here? The energy of the restaurant is almost electric and buzzing, you feel like you are on the pulse of something. And it helps that I know a lot of the staff there, so it’s nice to be able to be amongst friends.
4. What do you order for your friend? What do you order for yourself? This is tough to answer because my drink order totally depends on my mood and changes all the time. I usually start with a cocktail and then move to wine, or the other way around. If i’m bringing a friend I would order us both one of their White Negronis (gin, kina l’avion d’or, suze, grapefruit oil) and then let Maxwell, Jesse or Ryan pour us literally any wine they have open. The “wine rave” is also a show stopper. Think flashing LED lights, bass-thumping music on a portable speaker and shots of riesling (or whatever).
5. Does the bar have food? If not, where would you go for a bite? Because it’s officially a restaurant, they most definitely have food. And outstanding food at that. Their pizza and pasta are some of the best I’ve ever had. I also love getting a house cured salumi plate with mustard and pickled things.
*Photos courtesy of Whitney Adams.
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Love that place! GREG