Gin Gin Mule

The Tar Pit, the much-anticipated new bar and restaurant from chef Mark Peel and general manager Jay Perrin, both of Campanile fame, and noted mixologist Audrey Saunders of Pegu Club in New York, made its debut late last week, and what a debut it was. From the 1940s art moderne decor (the simpler version of art deco) to the era-appropriate food and drink, The Tar Pit is a nice respite from the dark, often cramped, speakeasy style that has been popular among bars lately.

I attended the preview party along with Caroline of Caroline on Crack, Josh of FoodGPS, Pat of Eating L.A., Daniel of Thirsty in L.A., H.C. of L.A. and O.C. Foodventures, Esther of e*starLA, Kat of EaterLA and many others from around the blogosphere and beyond. We enjoyed sample-size cocktails of nearly everything on the drink menu and food from the bar menu. Overall, I liked most everything — I mean, it’s Peel and Saunders — but I definitely had my favorites.

My favorite cocktail that I tried that night was the Lemon Thyme Daiquiri made with white rum, muddled lemon thyme, house-made lime syrup, lime juice and topped with a sprig of lemon thyme. It’s pretty and tasty. The preponderance of citrus gives this a fresh, though not overly tangy, flavor.

Lemon Thyme Daiquiri

I also liked the Gin Gin Mule (photo at top) made with gin, mint, lime simple syrup and house-made ginger beer; the Cucumber-Mint Creole made with gin, Aquavit, sherry, muddled cucumbers and mint, and lemon juice; and the Old Cuban made with aged rum, muddled mint, lime juice, Angostura bitters and champagne.

Cucumber-Mint Creole

Old Cuban

The only cocktail I would actually avoid is the Trident, made with Aquavit, Fino sherry, Cynar aperitif, peach and orange bitters, and lemon essence. This drink had the strangest flavor, probably due to the combination of artichoke from the Cynar and tons of bitters. No one at our table liked this one.

Trident

I’m a little disappointed that there aren’t any whiskey or bourbon drinks on the cocktail menu, though if you like gin, this is the place for you — nearly half the drinks are gin-based.

One of my favorites from the bar menu was the crab cake, which was plump and buttery, and topped with preserved lemon remoulade and celery root coleslaw. I also liked the duck rillette, which was served on multigrain toast and topped with Stilton blue cheese, pickled pearl onions, mustard and smoked salt. The fried oysters topped with crisp ginger remoulade were tasty, too.

Crab cake

Duck rillette

Fried oyster

Kudos to the management for providing a wealth of food and drink samples so we could get a good idea of the menu. I also heard that some people were able to convince the bartenders to make drinks that weren’t supposed to be served during the preview party. There are other dishes that weren’t being passed around that I’d like to try, including the duck slider on the bar menu, and braised pork cheeks and ears served with orecchiette pasta, salsa verde, braised beet greens and dandelion greens on the dining menu. With nothing priced more than $17 on the food menus, it’s surprisingly affordable. Cocktails start at $11 and go up $16 for the ones containing champagne (now that’s expensive).

[UPDATE: The starting price for cocktails is now $12.]

Inside Akasha. From Eater LA.

It’s the day before Thanksgiving. You don’t have plans, but you want to have plans. What to do? Check out the holiday dinners from these L.A. restaurants, and take your pick.

Akasha: This Culver City eatery is offering a $55 per person, three-course meal ($30 for kids 12 and younger), including a pie buffet for dessert. All dessert courses should be buffets! But I digress.

Starter options include winter squash soup, a salad with persimmon, pomegranate and goat cheese and an assortment of biscuits. Entrees include slow-roasted turkey, pomegranate-jalapeno jelly glazed ham, and wild peppercorn and sage-roasted tofu. The pie buffet includes class pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie with candied pecans, spiced pumpkin cheesecake with gingersnap crust, and pear and cranberry tart with cinnamon crumble. There’s much more; take a look at the Web site for the menu.

Joe’s Restaurant: This veritable Venice Beach institution is serving up a $52 per person, four-course meal ($20 for the kiddos). You’ll start with sunchoke soup, then move on to your choice of a greens and squash salad, Swiss chard ravioli, sweetbreads, mussels, or diver scallops. Main dish options include turkey with all the fixings, lamb with a pumpkin risotto, monk fish and shrimp, or vegetables with quinoa. The dessert course includes your choice of pumpkin pie, persimmon and pomegranate bread pudding, apple pie, or chocolate marquise.

Campanile: Mark Peel’s Mid-City mainstay has a $65 per person, five-course meal ($39 for kids) on the menu. You really can’t go wrong at Campanile. To start, there’s a mushroom barley soup. Then it’s on to your choice of a bibb lettuce salad, chicken liver crostini, or warm roasted vegetable salad. Then comes turkey for your main and another course of savory bread pudding, sweet corn succotash, mashed potatoes, cranberry chutney, and Blue Lake beans. Last is a dessert of either pumpkin ice cream, spiced apple bundle, or mixed nut tart.

If none of those hit the spot, also check The Rundown‘s list of Thanksgiving dinners, including Anisette, Henry’s Hat, Jar, The Langham and Whist.

• Kaenon Polarized Sunglasses in Newport Beach is hosting Sup for a Pup, a fundraising event for rescue group A Wish for Animals, tomorrow (April 25). There will be a big sample sale from retailers such as SurfTech surfboards, Olukai sandals and Hinano Tahiti clothing, and food from Wahoo’s. Of course, there will also be on-site pet adoptions, and if you take one home, you’ll also take home a gift bag and discounts on future product purchases from the participating retailers. From Thrillist, which also has a great rundown on other sales happening through the weekend.

• During the month of May, Hill Street Cafe in La Canada-Flintridge is donating 3% of its net proceeds to La Canada High School’s football team. Seems like Yelpers like the restaurant’s breakfast.

• If you’ve got a lot of mulah to give to a good cause, check out the 4th Annual Tables of Ten: Dining for a Cause event May 29 co-hosted by the Pacific Design Center and Avenues of Art & Design, the WeHo’s area business improvement district. The $750-per-head or $5,000-per-table fundraiser for Inner City Arts, which provide art classes for, well, inner city kids, will feature food and table-top designs from a bunch of L.A. chefs and designers. Chefs include Mark Peel of Campanile, Neal Fraser of Grace and David LeFevre of Water Grill, and designers include Naida Begeta of Kao Pao Shu, Elad Yifrach of L’Object, and FIDM and Inner City Arts students.