Cocktail Recipe – Page 7

Moby Dick’s Pineapple Cosmo

June 11, 2010June 3, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Looking back from Moby Dick restaurant toward the blue skies and green mountains of Santa Barbara, we had to once again remind ourselves that we live in the place so many tourists wish they did. And we also have a job that others wish they had. But you know, it’s not all fun and games…in fact…

…well, I can’t come with anything right now. Will get back to you later on that. It was a gorgeous day.

So anyway, Moby Dick takes up prime real estate at the end of Stearns Wharf and offers many a ocean view table — inside and outside — and a tiny little bar set up for making cocktails. And make cocktails they do. Bartender Joseph Silva has been making drinks here for going on 18 months, having worked up from server. With no bar space to sit at, we took up residence at a table and watched kayaks, paddleboarders, sailboats and seagulls pass by.

Chili’s Grill and Bar’s Freshest Margarita

June 4, 2010June 3, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Is it possible to have a neighborhood bar in a big box mall? Hollister Brewing Co. is having a go at it, and next to them, Chili’s looks dinky by comparison, walled in on the other side by Pastavino and Holdren’s. A 10-seat bar, sports inevitably on the TV, windows that look out over the parking lot…and regulars.

Yes, Chili’s is corporate, but manager Israel Fuentes has been here five years (10 total in the Chili’s chain) and bartender Jen Bradshaw has been here three and a half. And during this economic downturn he hasn’t had to lay anybody off.

Mulligan’s Sangria

May 28, 2010May 26, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Back in the day when this cocktail chaser was a young lad, he used to play golf. And being young, he looked forward to the day when a strong 18 holes would end with a celebratory drink at the clubhouse bar. Only later did he realize the shocking facts of life: you can drink at the clubhouse and never raise a club.

That’s what keeps Mulligan’s going after all these years. According to bartender (and owner’s daughter) Melissa Osuna, patrons come from all over for a drink and a meal. The bar is small — four seats — but the happy hour menu is extensive and rather complicated, with special drinks and dishes for each day.

Tre Lune’s Negroni

May 21, 2010May 26, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Tre Lune on Coast Village Road offers Italian food, Italian wine, Italian(ish) photos on the walls…but would it serve Italian cocktails? We drove over at early dinner time last week to check out this very small bar in a very busy restaurant. Behind the bar we ran into several people we knew already. One was a former neighbor of mine. Another was Gabriel, who we had just met a few weeks ago at Las Aves. Another was Steven Goularte, who we swear has made us a cocktail before, but where, oh, where?

Patrick Rathbun and Goularte tag-teamed the bar for our sampling of cocktails, and we enjoyed watching them dance around each other while making various drinks and dodging the other servers coming in for orders.

Las Aves Café’s Raspberry Martini

May 7, 2010May 27, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

When Las Aves used to be known as A Capella, we tagged the bar and restaurant as a perfectly clandestine location for an affair, a nefarious business meeting or a place to hatch plots. And we meant that in the best possible way — to paraphrase “Cheers,” sometimes you want to go where nobody knows your name. But Las Aves, which has taken over the space and remains a part of the Best Western near Cottage Hospital, is having none of that. Remodeled into something bright and airy, with no division between bar and restaurant, you will be noticed, even by people next door at the pool. However, you get to watch them too, so, hey, it ain’t all bad.

Owner Ivan Arroyo, who last worked at CafÉ Del Sol, bought the place only recently and has spent the last month getting ready for the soft opening earlier in April. They just opened and waited to see who would come in, he says. Then we turned up, begging for cocktails.

Tupelo Junction’s Savannah Georgia Peach Squeeze

April 30, 2010May 19, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Third time was the charm when Tupelo Junction finally settled into its current location to the left of The Granada. It had previously tried a spot on Chapala and then moved into a space to the right of The Granada. But we like its final choice for one major reason: It allowed them to get a liquor license. When the food is Southern, what could be better than an accompanying cocktail in a hooch jar?

The Palace also does this jar business, so we assume that nobody in Louisiana ever pickles or preserves anything, as all the drinkers are busy using their glass. Unless you’re talking about pickling your own liver.

Tiburon’s Red Stag Manhattan

April 23, 2010May 19, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

RED STAG MANHATTAN Nik Blaskovich/News-Press — RED STAG MANHATTAN
Nik Blaskovich/News-Press

Eddie Beltran has that mix of friendly and imposing we imagine works well for a bar owner and bartender. Military background, stocky — we weren’t all that surprised to hear he also works the door on Tiburon’s rowdiest night, Friday’s karaoke. We could imagine him throwing some people out, literally. But he looked after us well on our return trip to the Tiburon Tavern, upper State’s neighborhood bar of choice. Five regulars sat at the bar, nursing beers and watching the game.

We first came to the Tib in our guise as cocktail wiseguys in 2007, but did not meet Beltran. Six years ago, Beltran bought the Tiburon and decided not to change the name of the five-year-old establishment. “It was on its last legs,” he says, and set about repainting, redecorating and revarnishing. A few large mirrors stayed, but most of the décor is his.

Shoreline Martini

April 16, 2010May 20, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Sitting on the beach, feet in the sand, kicking back with a cocktail. You’d think that in a place as desirous as Santa Barbara this would be a common occurrence. But the number of establishments where this is a possibility is actually quite small. The Shoreline Café is thankfully one of them. Located at Leadbetter Beach, right across from City College, what looks like a small and unassuming burger-and-fries shack offers more than a post-surf snackathon. Despite the lack of a bar, we found that it has a healthy cocktail menu.

Owned by Steve Marsh since 1997, the Café contains a list of about 10 cocktails all designed by Marsh himself. Location, location, location: that explains the New York style prices, so be ready. But value for money comes in the form of tasty, strong drinks. Joe’s Café strong.

Union Ale’s Mississippi Swamp Water

April 9, 2010May 21, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Union Ale thinks big. And it prints big too. Its menu looks something like a Wild West Wanted poster and can be read across the room. It’s sweet potato fries come in a metal bucket. Its ‘mini’ pizzas could feed a family of 10 (and they make the dough on the premises). So we expected big things from our drinks.

Now, of course, Union Ale is known for its beer. Its Albino Python, for example, contains ginger, fennel and orange peel.

Cody’s Cafe

April 2, 2010May 22, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

If you think the lunch specials at Cody’s Café (and bar) look similar to the Mesa Café, well, you’d be right. The two locations are owned by the same people. And much like the Mesa Café, the bar at Cody’s ? standing all by itself at the Turnpike shopping center ? has drinks that are strong and don’t mess around.

Six seats are at the bar itself, and three tables line the wall opposite; one regular told us he found it a year after going to Cody’s for the food, never knowing it existed. Like our other favorite “lost bars” around town, Cody’s is the place to go when you don’t want to be seen.