Michele StuevenAccomplice Bar beverage director and occasional L.A. Weekly author Gaby Mlynarczyk celebrated the launch of her new cocktail recipe book, Clean and Dirty Drinking, during last Sunday’s Mar Vista farmers market, just outside the bar on Grand View Boulevard. Fittingly, the local farmers markets are ground zero for the fruits and flowers that have made Mlynarczyk one of the most recognized creative forces in the world of Los Angeles spirits.
The book is a compact collection of easy-to-understand techniques and seasonal recipes for infusions, compound syrups, juices and cocktails. Mlynarczyk simply breaks down the necessary tools, from tweezers to muddlers, microplanes and the proper mixing glass. She clearly lists which herbs and spices should be paired with the appropriate alcohol and how to enjoy the drinks “clean” as well, sans booze.
Flowing negronis; Credit: Michele Stueven
In a nod to her British roots, she makes use of various teas, including basil, chai, chrysanthemum, hibiscus and, of course, Earl Grey. And there’s a great recipe for beet kombucha foam to top off your negroni.
With the assistance of Little Fatty chef-owner David Kuo, the morning started off with chili wontons and tart non-alcoholic negronis for the crowd at the market, made with Mlynarczyk's recipe, which combines hibiscus tea, Szechuan peppercorns, coriander seeds, juniper berries, bitter orange peel and cinnamon (page 96).
Lettuce, celery juice and mezcal; Credit: Michele Stueven
Inside the bar with the focus of a mad scientist, Mlynarczyk treated guests to some of her “dirty” concoctions, including a smoky lettuce, celery and mezcal cocktail of freshly juiced vegetables sourced outside her front door.
A signature watermelon julep was served up as a thank you to Planned Parenthood, to which all sales of the book were donated on Sunday.
“I write a blog called ‘The Loving Cup,” which is a slang word for vagina,” Mlynarczyk tells L.A. Weekly. The blog covers everything from reflections on Lady Macbeth to the complex love story between Harold and Maude and what to drink as you navigate your way through.
“As a woman, I’m very pro women’s rights and choices,” Mlynarczyk says. “I think the way Planned Parenthood has been attacked recently as being immoral makes me want to support them. It ties in with my whole philosophy of the Loving Cup. More power to them, providing services to women in need.”
The book is available for $19.95 here.
Clean and Dirty Drinking; Credit: Clean and Dirty Drinking
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