{"id":1613,"date":"2017-01-13T23:15:02","date_gmt":"2017-01-13T23:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/food\/one-of-the-best-selections-of-mezcal-in-southern-california-is-coming-to-long-beach\/"},"modified":"2017-01-13T23:15:02","modified_gmt":"2017-01-13T23:15:02","slug":"one-of-the-best-selections-of-mezcal-in-southern-california-is-coming-to-long-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/food\/one-of-the-best-selections-of-mezcal-in-southern-california-is-coming-to-long-beach","title":{"rendered":"One of the Best Selections of Mezcal in Southern California is Coming to Long Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"mezlbc3\"<\/em><\/p>\n

Photos by Brian Addison.<\/em><\/p>\n

When Padre moved into the 525 Broadway building it currently sits at, it brought in much-needed attention to an otherwise sad state of affairs for the corner: with Peppercorn closed at the time and Alien Sandwiches having health department concerns, Padre brought an elevated sense of both grub and cocktails that have made way for Great Society Cider<\/a> and Linden Public<\/a> to join in.<\/p>\n

Now, owner Jay Krymis\u2014the kind of Angeleno that is always on the go and equally always searching for something new\u2013has decided to take the rooftop and upstairs area of the restaurant and turn it into a Long Beach version of his DTLA mezcal-focused joint, Mezcalero.<\/p>\n

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RELATED<\/small> <\/p>\n

Great Society Opens to a Full House as SoCal’s First All-Cider and Mead Pub in Long Beach<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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That means one of the best selections of mezcal in SoCal is now coming to Long Beach, complete with a charming rooftop and one of the region\u2019s best bar program managers, Nathan McCullough.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe space upstairs is just too unique to let it not have its own identity,\u201d Krymis said. \u201cWith Nathan\u2019s talent, he deserves a space that caters to a very particular, specific experience\u2014and that\u2019s what we hope to achieve with Mezcalero LBC.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCullough is the kind of cocktail crafter that pays homage to his ingredients without letting the spirits completely tell the story\u2014a talent that earned him the reputation of making some of the most Mexican drinks ever.<\/p>\n

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The Oaxaca Shame – roasted corn infused mezcal, Hendricks gin, creme de violette, dry vermouth, hojo santo leaf tincture and absinthe.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mexican cuisine is going through a massive shift, with Los Angeles leading the way outside of Mexico City. Rather than being relegated to cheap ingredients and quick accessibility, Mexican restaurateurs and tastemakers are ditching the dollar tacos in favor of elevated plates\u2014just look at Lola\u2019s: long gone are the days of a bean burrito with a side of rice. Instead, Lola\u2019s brings a different perspective to the table, think: a puff pastry-wrapped chicken breast drizzled with smoked chipotle cr\u00e8me, the Mexican chicken\u2019s response to beef wellington.<\/p>\n

The same goes for drinks that use Mexican ingredients, but what McCullough does is take it a step further. Most cocktail menus at Mexican joints revolve around their use of tequila and mezcal to make the drink \u201cMexican,\u201d but McCullough dives into the vast array of ingredients used in Mexican cuisine to deliver concoctions that are nothing short of full-flavored salutes to our southern friends.<\/p>\n

We are talking handmade huitlacoche, the much sought-after corn fungus that is like the foie gras of Mexico, and De La Rosa mazapan syrups, inspiring the little Mexican kid in every Southern Californian. We\u2019re talking veggies and fruits and herbs\u2014from cilantro to cactus fruit, chile to corn tortilla\u2014that honor and highlight the wonderful flavors of Mexican gastronomy.<\/p>\n

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Smoke \u2018Em if You Got \u2018Em – roasted corn infused Maestro Dobel tequila, cinnamon, burnt tortilla syrup, byrrh quinquina, fresh celery and lime juice.<\/em><\/p>\n

And as always, McCullough brings a wit and intelligence to his drinks that are not only rare, but par none for the region. Take his Smoke \u2019Em If You Got \u2019Em cocktail served at the DTLA location. Honoring the many mistakes both Mexicans and white wannabes alike have made when putting a corn tortilla atop a gas stove, McCullough has created a wonderfully charcoal-colored syrup out of\u2014you guessed it\u2014burnt tortilla.<\/p>\n

Lifting up the sugar value with his staple roasted corn-infused Maestro Dobel tequila, he then adds a wine aperitif, cinnamon and fresh celery and lime juice to provide a wonderfully salty, sweet cocktail that is, well, unlike anything you\u2019ve ever experienced.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Mez LBC, I have a few tricks up my sleeve but none I\u2019m willing to part with quite yet,\u201d McCullough said. \u201cJust expect some of the highest quality cocktails you can experience. On a rooftop. In Downtown Long Beach. It\u2019s gonna be rad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mezcalero LBC is set to open within the coming months as renovations continue to take over the upstairs space at Padre.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jay Krymis\u2014the kind of Angeleno that is always on the go and equally always searching for something new\u2013has decided to take the rooftop and upstairs area of Padre and turn it into a Long Beach version of his DTLA mezcal-focused joint, Mezcalero.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":67008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","pmpro_default_level":0,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","footnotes":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[829],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1613"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/211"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1613"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=1613"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}