Deep summer cocktail: Peach-infused bourbon, Bleinheim apricots and sweet corn cream.

July 17th, 2013, 6pm

Cliff’s Edge is the closest bar to my house. It’s always been a great place in the neighborhood to grab a beer or a glass of wine on their incredibly lush patio, one of the best outdoor dining spaces in Los Angeles (if not the best). Recently, however, a legendary mixologist named Matthew Biancaniello has established a Wednesday night residency here, which is drawing crowds from all over the city to sip his adventurous, exquisitely crafted concoctions—I once had a cocktail here made with bone marrow, bourbon, egg white and lavender. Matthew combs the local markets, partners with farmers, and even forages some of his ingredients, all of which are on display, tucked into glasses around the bar like edible floral arrangements. I sat at the bar with my friend Emily Ho, who also performs magic with produce, and listened to them speak in a secret language of tinctures, infusions and liqueurs while I sipped summer from a highball. Between drinks, Matthew handed samples of his exotic and impossibly poetically named ingredients to us over the bar—lovage, warm sweet corn cream, blueberry nectar, Surinam cherries, anise hyssop shrub, elderflower foam.


Christine, Amal, Frances, Anne and 2 others said thanks.

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Alissa Walker

I'm a writer, a gelato-eater and a walker in L.A. More at awalkerinLA.com

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