You'd think we'd expect June Gloom by now, but somehow it's still a shock to be substituting our swimsuits for sweaters and fun in the sun for fog lamps after Memorial Day. So how do we lift the fog of June's persistent gloom? We asked four of our favorite L.A. and Top Chef food people — Akasha Richmond, Tom Collichio, Gael Greene and Kelly Choi — for food and drink suggestions.

Richmond, owner of Culver City's Akasha, told us her homemade punjabi saag would take definitely the edge off any gloom. Colicchio, owner of Craft and host of the Bravo's Top Chef, went with a warm weather favorite: soft shell crabs. Greene, famed New York restaurant critic and author of Insatiable, thinks a classic egg salad sandwich on multigrain bread chase would June gloom. “Of course,” she adds, “Jean-Georges caviar egg on egg would do it, too.” Finally, Choi, host of Bravo's L.A.-based Top Chef Masters, said her fresh strawberry and crisp cucumber summer salad topped with fresh mint and tangy vinaigrette would cheer us up.

SkyBar's June Gloom Martini; Credit: SkyBar

SkyBar's June Gloom Martini; Credit: SkyBar

If you can't beat the weather, you might as well drink somewhere swanky. Lucky for you, the first of three drinks in SkyBar's Summer Sips series is the “June Gloom,” made with SVEDKA Clementine, Funkin mango Puree, bitters and simple syrup. Too depressed to leave your house? Here's the recipe.

June Gloom Martini

From: SkyBar

Makes: 1 cocktail

1.75 ounces SVEDKA Clementine

1 ounce Funkin Mango Puree

2 dashes of bitters

3/4 ounce of simple syrup

4 limes squeezed into shaker

1. In a martini shaker, combine all ingredients.

2. Shake all ingredients until chilled.

3. Pour into chilled martini glass and serve with a light cloud covering.

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