I ❤️ N.A. L.A.
Los Angeles is a rising star for non-alcoholic cocktails with numerous shops, pop-ups, and bars, including one of the best non-alcoholic cocktail programs in America.
When I stepped out of the parking garage into what looked like a movie set, complete with a quaint main street and warmly lit-windows, but it seemed there was no one around, my expectations dimmed.
I had been messaging with the beverage director of Kato, Austin Hennelly, for a few days after I had heard that he made some of the best non-alcoholic (NA) cocktails in L.A. As a Michelin-starred restaurant with a beverage director at the helm who was a former bartender at one of my favorite bars in the U.S., Amor y Amargo, I was excited. But in surveying the ROW DTLA, the development where Kato is housed, I felt that we had reached everything a little too late. Perhaps a casualty of the writer’s strike, I thought.
However, after I entered the soft gray building with a fish stenciled above the entrance, my hesitance was removed drink by drink. We sat at the bar and each NA cocktail came at the perfect temperature, in the perfect glassware, and with a level of detail I had only seen in the best cocktail bars and restaurants in the world. For instance, the much-regarded Amazake Swizzle (amazake is a fermented rice drink) came in a perfectly frosted footed-glass with crushed ice towering above the top, coated in lime zest and nutmeg.
For sure, the best non-alcoholic cocktail program I’ve ever seen. But it was also the apogee of a trip to L.A. where I found plenty to be excited about.
Bar Nuda
For my short four-day trip, I made a list of every non-alcoholic place I wanted to go. More than half ended up being NA bottle shops. The other half, pop-ups.
Being a pop-up means they have limited time frames. So, I missed most of the ones I wanted to attend (Absence of Proof LA is August 10th), but I luckily landed on a night Bar Nuda was in session.
Owner Morris Ellis, who co-owns Bar Nuda with Pablo Murillo, greeted us at the door of the former Abbot Kinney parking lot in Venice turned tropical alcove, De Buena Planta. As we made our way to the back of the lot, past the wood tables and under the straw-thatched light fixtures, guest bartender and Chun-tiki founder, Julio Gutierrez, held court.
There, Gutierrez was mixing up NA tropical cocktails, including his Ajua Fresca (Ritual “Tequila” Alternative, citrus drinking vinegar, watermelon shrub, frutus rojo syrup, Jamaica syrup, lemon and lime juice, and soda water). Along with DJ’s spinning and bar bites, Bar Nuda is what the owners describe as a “zero proof oasis,” a place where they can redefine social spaces. The concept is Mexican-inspired, evoking the more socially conscious Tulum than drunken revelry of Cancun.
Big Bar
If Bar Nuda is a “zero proof oasis,” Big Bar Los Feliz is an oasis with zero proof. Big Bar, a neighborhood bar in two former cottages with a sprawling patio, features serious food and drinks with a relaxed vibe. They don’t skimp on non-alcoholic either, offering four non-alcoholic cocktails, most of which were created by bar lead Abigail Smith.
My favorite drink of the night by Smith had a classic feel, similar to a Periodista, the Supernova (Lyre’s Dry Aperitif, Turkish apricot, cardamom, lemon, and Italian parsley). The parsley took a supporting role but added an underlying vegetal note that keep the drink grounded and complex alongside the richer and sweeter apricot. Not only do they make great drinks, but the bartenders are more than willing to talk you through the drinks, too.
Spago - Beverly Hills
Wolfgang Puck’s flagship restaurant Spago in Beverly Hills is an institution, formerly boasting Michelin stars, but also renowned for its people watching. Of course, even in the dimly lit lounge it was hard not to see Adam Fournier, who towered above the bar.
Fournier, a former Imbibe 75 Person to Watch, has created six NA drinks, including one of his better-known creations, Sakura Rose "Champagne” (Rose Petals, Sakura, Green Tea, Verjus Rouge, Champagne Yeast, Carbonated). However, there were also classics you could expect almost anywhere with subtle twists that made them unique to his menu, including his Zero Fashion (American Whiskey "Spirit", Mashbill Syrup, Non-Alcoholic Bitters).
La Dolce Vita
When you think of the culinary interests of Frank Sinatra, Martinis and red sauce come to mine. They’ve kept both at La Dolce Vita, formerly owned by Sinatra and previously a must-visit for everyone from presidents to celebrities, but have since added non-alcoholic drinks with the remodel from new owners Marc Rose and Med Abrou (also of The Spare Room).
Strong bitter non-alcoholic liqueurs like Pathfinder Hemp & Root and, Tales of the Cocktail Best New Spirit or Cocktail Ingredient of the Year, Martini & Rossi Floreale made a strong showing at the small, gold-topped bar with velvet green chairs perched on a leopard print rug. The perfect place to drink like the famed Rat Pack but actually wake up the next morning without looking like a pack of rats.
The New Bar
Yes, I tried a lot on this trip, but I wouldn’t have felt that I had completed the assignment without a visit to The New Bar in Venice, founded by Brianda Gonzalez. Gonzalez made a big splash by partnering with Coachella to have a non-alcoholic bar at their annual arts and music festival in Indio, California.
To find all the products I tried at bars and pop-ups, you can go Googling or, if you’re in L.A., just stop by The New Bar. There you can find just about every NA product you might want including L.A.-based Trejo Spirits Tequila Alternative, the first celebrity non-alcoholic Tequila (see Trejo interviewed by Gonzalez below).
Derek Brown is an author, NASM-certified wellness coach, and founder of Positive Damage, Inc.
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