Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/21004
THE MESSAGE Left-to-right: Joe Brooke, Director of Spirits, The Edison; Drew Coleman, Executive Chef, The Edison; Jim Piser, Senior On-Premise Manager, Jim Beam; and Gus McShane, General Manager at The Edison, enjoy Hornitos and Knob Creek in front of the bar’s massive boiler, where guests warm themselves on the lounge’s famed and fabulous cocktails. L.A.’s favorite Industrial Era lounge/cocktail mecca, THE TASTING PANEL tagged along to get in the Halloween mood with some ghost stories and seasonal spirits. We were regaled with tales of uncovered bodies in the historic building that houses the Edison, and Joe Brooke, Director of Spirits, treated us to a blood orange– and Hornitos-based cocktail, called The Platelet, which he described as “bloody delicious.” Not to be outdone, General Manager Gus McShane rallied with his Undead-nog, made with Knob Creek—the perfect day-after solution to a night of one-too-many of Brooke’s Platelets. Rounding out the bunch, we spoke with Executive Chef Drew Coleman, whose high-end take on bar food (bacon maple beer nuts and Chesapeake blue crab and potato fritters, oh my!) is enough to keep the bar’s dedicated customer base coming back for more—ghosts and ghouls be darned! Beam Brands Shine on L.A. W hen Jim Piser, Senior On-Premise Manager for Jim Beam, stopped in at The Edison, Downtown —Rachel Burkons Our Favorite Flower in Seattle W hen I told her I would be making a trip to Seattle, THE TASTING PANEL’s Editrix Extraordinaire/Publisher, Meridith May told me that there was one restaurant I simply had to check out: Poppy, a bastion of outstanding food and drink in the city’s Capitol Hill district. This was one suggestion I was happy to take—and boy, am I glad I did. With outstanding fare that’s focused on the mixing of unique spices and herbs, Poppy is a gourmet take on the Indian tradi- tion of thali (a collection of small-plate dishes served together), offering an ever-changing selection of menu items based on what’s local, fresh and in season. The wine list is bursting with producers from the Pacifi c Northwest and, at the bar, clean, fresh fl avors rule popular cocktail choices like the Shiso Cool and the Wild About Saffron. “We try to stay simple and not mess with fl avors too much,” explains bartender Hideki Ampo, who told me that he chose Svedka vodka for his saffron-based cocktail and picked the shiso leaf for the Shiso Cool from the restaurant’s lovely outdoor herb garden. This is one fl ower I’d happily pick more than once. —R. B. 1 / the tasting panel / december 2010 Bartender Hideki Ampo and General Manager Kate Johnson at Poppy. The restaurant is helmed by James Beard Award—winning chef Jerry Traunfeld, whose food explores the richness and variety of spices and herbs. PHOTO: RACHEL BURKONS PHOTO: LANA BORTOLOT