Natalie ComptonAfter fighting the ticket line and the selfie-snapping crowd at the Broad, you’re going to need to take the edge off with a stiff drink. Walk over to Otium, the 6-week-old fine-dining spot by chef Timothy Hollingsworth, which boasts food and beverages as aesthetically stimulating as the adjacent museum. L.A. cocktail king Julian Cox is behind the Otium lunch cocktail menu that features seven whimsically crafted creations – plus a “Bartender’s Choice” for the indecisive. It’s no surprise that a restaurant that does foie gras funnel cake would have fun with its cocktails, too. There’s an array of interest-piquing ingredients like macadamia and bird’s eye chili that justify day drinking.
Bar manager Patrick Tang pouring drinks at lunch; Credit: Natalie B. Compton
Take the rickey. Forget what you know about the classic, because this one calls for rhubarb, raspberry eau de vie and vodka. The cocktail’s final touch is a dollop of “raspberry air,” an aerated mix of raspberry syrup, lime and salt.
“We only scoop the air so we don’t get too much of the syrup in the drink,” bar manager Patrick Tang says. “It sweetens the cocktail up and gives it a nice lightness.”
The raspberry air’s effervescence tingles against your lips like a low-key Pop Rocks experience.
Otium's rickey, finished with “raspberry air”; Credit: Natalie B. Compton
“We wanted to make our drinks picturesque as though they came from the museum,” Tang says.
Try the ornate Swizzle – perhaps the only kiwi cocktail to maintain the true flavor of a kiwi – and recap your day at the Broad, or maybe just pretend like you went and get your art fix inside this art-adorned restaurant instead.
222 S. Hope St., downtown; (213) 935-8500, www.instagram.com/otiumla.
A stunning light fixture by Neptune Glassworks; Credit: Natalie B. Compton
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