Issue 50 — When Is a Mocktail Literally Just a Soda?
Lots of Bevies, Summer Specials + Recent Bites
I’m Not Drinking Tonight.
I’ve been seeing a lot of micro press covering Ooso — a new sparkling tea drink. Jake Bell interviewed the founders about their natural wine inspired beverage a few weeks ago. The drink sounds good to me!
It’s been warming since 2021, but brands are starting to market themselves as non-alcoholic, even when their product wouldn’t typically have alcohol in it. It’s looking similar to how CPG brands leaned in to the No Gluten / No Dairy labels years ago.
I’m a firm believer that ‘The best mocktail is a Diet Coke’. I’m not interested in paying $12 for a glorified soda when I’m out, even if there are house made syrups involved. I can’t help but role my eyes a little bit when I see sodas marketed as non-alcoholic. IMO that classification should be used when the drink is mimicking an alcoholic beverage — like St. Agrestis’ Phony Negroni.
Virgin, Zero-proof, Low ABV… there’s a lot of different terminology.
In the U.S.
“Non-alcoholic” may be used on labels of malt beverages only if the statement “contains less than 0.5 percent (or .5%) alcohol by volume”
“Alcohol free” may be used only on malt beverages containing no alcohol. No tolerances are permitted for “alcohol free” malt beverages.
“Low Alcohol” beverages (LABs) are those with an alcohol by volume (ABV) of 0.5–1.2%.
IDK they’re all just sparkling water + sugar.
WHITE CLAW™ 0% ALCOHOL LIME YUZU
Purified carbonated water, natural flavors, cane sugar, citric acid, electrolytes (monopotassium phosphate, sodium citrate, sea salt), concentrated lime juice.
FEVER TREE LIME + YUZU TONIC
Carbonated Water, Fructose (Fruit Sugar), Lime Juice (2%), Yuzu Juice (0.2%), Citric Acid, Natural Lime Flavoring, Natural Flavorings, Sodium Bicarbonate.
7-UP
Filtered Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Citric Acid, Potassium Citrate, Natural Flavors, Calcium Disodium EDTA (To Protect Flavor)
POPPI LEMON LIME PREBIOTIC SODA
Sparkling Water, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Agave Inulin, Apple Juice*, Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Stevia, Lime Juice*, Lemon Juice*. *Concentrate
P.S. In case you didn’t hear, Poppi’s being sued for bullshit marketing claims.
‘Lawsuit alleges that in order to see any benefits —you’d have to drink at least 4 cans/day for 3 weeks minimum, but drinking all that sugar is counterintuitive for gut health’ — Snaxshot
Anyway, on to the normal BITES —
LA Grocery + Cafe is now open in Melrose Hill. Is this the end for Cookbook?
Apparently merch is dead, (Literally wearing my Cervo’s hat right now) Idk.. is it?
Summer Friday’s Cafe returned to NY last weekend to sling limited edition merch, reusable coffee cups + of course their Lip Butter Balm Iced Coffee. They also had Pop-Up Bagels, Wandering Bear Coffee, Tache + Minor Figures.
Foxtrot is opening again — curious which vendors will return to the market after they filed for bankruptcy, closing abruptly in April. Foxtrot turned their comments section off… but this comment section is open.
You can now order food from restaurants on Amazon, thanks to a revamped Grubhub partnership. — More on Expedite
Complex just acquired the Family Style Festival and is creating a new food publication and events arm — More on Eater
I’d be interested in a curated farmer’s market box from Sam Rogers. Just a thought!
Brightland’s Pizza oil is BACK. (Finally, I can stop rationing mine! I prefer this straight with bread more than actually on pizza. There’s no wrong way to enjoy it though! Great for picnics… 🍕
Now there’s a Little Angel — from the minds of @jonthoma and @holybasil_la, first tasting is happened 6/6 at Holy Basil, Atwater Village.
Graza’s doing an ice cream tour — drizzling all over the country, (but not LA)
People were so upset Sweetgreen got rid of Arugula, they brought it back. Now people want the return of lentils, feta, pickles + corn…
Big Night’s book is out!
BRB, still staring at this hyper-realistic painting of ramen. 🍜
Nīn Cupcake reached their $100k Kickstarter goal! — Thu invested a lot of time and money into the campaign - the content has been stunning. Her cupcakes are truly so special — I wish her all the best!
Molly Baz is the first pregnant woman on a cereal box. She still has time to be the first pregnant person on a hot sauce bottle or a bag of coffee beans if she’s quick! That baby’s college fund is locked.
Summer Specials — On the Menu Somewhere
Lonely Oyster’s Bad Bunny- Mezcal, Pisco, Pistachio Orgeat, Lacto-Fermented Carrot Juice, Fino Sherry, Dry Curacao, Herb Oil, Za’atar Rim by Philip Ross
Kumquat’s Golden Mule: Summer refresher made with mint, espresso, organic lime juice, ginger beer, and citrus bitters
Erewhon Smoothies:
Gra’s Bacon & Pickled Pineapple Pizza + vegan Tahini Torpedo
Etra’s Pasta Alga Marina: nori, sesame, blue crab — carried over from family meal.
A couple openings…
Minik Market, Altadena
Bar Seco, Silver Lake
🗓 Coming Up…
6/12 Ozma is kicking off their summer pop-up with swim brand Anemos + Sleepers flip flops. Grab a summer spritz + cheers.
6/17 Domenica Dinette’s Greek-Italian inspired guest chef series begins at Arroyo Club. (Mondays + Tuesdays)
6/19-6/23 Homage turns 8!
6/27 The Bear Season 3 (All episodes drop)
7/01 California’s ‘Junk Fee Ban’ goes into effect.
Recent Bites
Etra — Went to dinner a few weeks back with some fellow substack people, Austin Tedesco, Chloe Walsh, Emily Wilson, + Nour. We ordered every pasta. My fave was actually cold — Pasta Alga Marina, with nori, sesame, blue crab. A family meal dish that made it to the menu. Love that.
Hi Dozo — Last issue, I mentioned this new delivery-only sushi. Lauren and I brought our boxes down to the meadow with some sake. High quality picnic perfect sushi. Will definitely consider for my next Hollywood Bowl / Cinespia summer night.
Sweetgreen — Took a risk and ordered a different bowl. IDK.. but this might be my new order. (I used to be a Shroomami girl, and then I switched to Crispy Rice.) This is a take on the miso salmon bowl, but I wanted it with greens instead of rice. LMK if you try it!
Canyon Coffee x J.Hannah — J.Hannah teamed up with an iconic trifecta of Echo Park favorites in celebration of their MILK Glacé Tint Nail Polish. (Honey Hi, Canyon + Fluffy’s) Canyon’s special, brainchild of Kristian, is a ‘CocoMILK Cream Top’ house-made coconut milk sweet cream, infused with vanilla bean and Muscovado sugar, atop the on-tap beverage of your choosing — Cold Brew Coffee or Matcha Pistachio. 🥥 ☕️ (Also I loooove the Milk nail polish color. Feet pics here.)
Some Wine — Loved this Angelo Negro Rosso I had at Capri Club - super drinkable, slightly effervescent. ALSO Red Lion offers a house orange now lol. (I hate beer.)
SUPR Marg with Siesta Smoked Ginger Salt Rim — (I know… a lot of beverages this week…) But when life gives you limes, you make a marg! Siesta’s seasoning salts are perfect for this. Supr juice is 10/10. Just need blue skies now…
Pasta Salad Potluck — Threw a party with W+R in celebration of their new Lemon Print Collection yesterday. Everyone brought a different pasta salad, we tried them all and voted on the best one! Winner took some shop goodies and a piece from the collection. Highly recommend adding a theme or a competition component to your next potluck or dinner party. People really bring it. (I made a Caesar Pasta Salad, and no it didn’t win.)
Taco Zone — The later you eat, the better it tastes.
🔗 Last Week’s Most Clicked Link
H.I.G.T.E. — (aka How’s It Going To End) Not my favorite name for a coffee shop. Whether you’re typing it, or saying it aloud, it’s clunky… BUT it sure is pretty!
The new Montrose spot was designed by @wrk_shp, the architects behind a ton of Blue Bottle’s spaces. The landscaping was done by @terremoto_landscape, who worked on some favorites of mine — The Walker House, Sea Ranch Lodge, Platform Park + Scribe. (I hear the coffee is good too. I think they serve Heart.)
**I finally made it to HIGTE and I loved it! Worth the trek. Great coffee, even better people. Don’t sleep on the chai. ;)
still thinking about that cold pasta