Like a Voltron of drinking, some of our city’s favorite bartenders are joining forces for a new beverage program.
Launching tomorrow, April 2, Spread Love LA is helping you score batched cocktail kits made by staff from the likes of the Varnish, Genever and Big Bar, and in the process it’s helping out-of-work bartenders.
As tempting as L.A.’s world-class cocktail scene is, you should never drive around the city to drink at multiple bars in a night—given statewide shutdowns that’s impossible anyway—but Spread Love is more or less giving you that experience: You can mix and match drinks from the talent behind the bar at spots all over the city, though the cocktails themselves are all being prepared in one place. DTLA’s Spread Mediterranean Kitchen is serving as the hub for the new initiative, and selling easy-to-assemble drinks that can serve four (at $30) or eight (for $50) and come with craft ice, garnishes and “a few surprises.”
Participating bartenders take home 50 percent of the sale of their respective kits, a boon for those in an industry that screeched to a halt on March 15 when Governor Newsom directed California’s bars to close. Those that served food could remain open, but those that didn’t were out of luck—and many that were fortunate enough to stay open couldn’t retain an entire beverage staff.
Now, Spread Love is giving a few of these bartenders another source of income and giving us sips from some serious bar talent, who are whipping up unique takes on the classics. Each bartender chooses one spirit and concocts a new recipe around it, with many adding flare to recognizable recipes: Briggs Brown of Bar Clacson and the Varnish crafted the “airline bailout,” a take on the paper plane cocktail, while Spread’s own Dom Hernandez will be serving the “quarentoddy.”
Other participating bartenders include Cari Hah of Big Bar, Jessi Smyth of Genever, and Cole Dickey and Raul Pool of Lowboy.
Kits are available from 4 to 8pm, from Tuesday to Sunday, beginning tomorrow. Call 213-537-0284 or email hi@spreadkitchen.com to place an order for pickup; delivery launches on April 7.