When BierBeisl closed in Beverly Hills last November, L.A. lost some of the city's best sausages, as well as chef Bernhard Mairinger's gorgeous Austrian cooking. Marigner promised to reopen this year, in an undisclosed location west of Beverly Hills. What we didn't lose was any cocktial-based fun – BierBeisl served liquor, but there wasn't really any mixology going on. 

But the new (still undetermined) location of BierBeisl will have a cocktail component, and a BierBeisl pop-up on Sunday night at Messhall  gave us a glimpse into what that might mean.

It also got us pretty excited for BierBeisl Imbiss, the stall in the Spring Arcade building downtown that Mairinger plans to have open early this summer. 
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For the pop-up, Mairinger was serving a short menu at Messhall, including a ridiculously juicy kasekrainer sausage that oozed Swiss cheese. The sausage came with mustard, fresh horseradish and soft slices of pretzel bread. There was a veal wiener schnitzel, as well as a few dishes that showcased Mairinger's elegant side, like a stunning trout duo with cured and smoked trout surrounded by a tiny dice of cucumber topped with trout roe. A hefty and savory shrimp toast-style smoked trout toast anchored the plate. A tender marinated duck breast came over asparagus brightened by a tangy tomato-lemon caper vinaigrette. 

See also: Bernhard Mairinger on BierBeisl's Closing, and Reopening

On the cocktail front, Mairinger brought along some classic Austrian eau de vies, and worked with Messhall's head barman Ben Scott to create some drinks around them, and the results were fantastic. Rock Me Amadeus paired gin with pear eau de vie, sweet vermouth and lemon, for a refreshing but not too-sweet cocktail that I could easily drink all summer long. There was also a drink called a Freudian Slip, which relied on apricot eau de vie, gin and Cocchi Americano. While BierBeisl Imbiss will only serve beer and wine, the Westside location will serve these cocktails when it opens. 

BierBeisl Imbiss (imbiss means food stalls or snacks in Austrian) will be a stall with counter service and a lot of Austrian lunch items. As well as those sausages. Which is reason enough for impatience. 

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