Michele StuevenFinding true love via the kitchen during a pandemic, celebrating 7/10 Oil Day with Afters Ice Cream and extreme sushi from Sushi Ginza Onodera — here’s what’s popping up.
Artingstall’s Brilliant London Dry Gin and its founder Paul Feig, the director and producer behind Bridesmaids, Ghostbusters, Freaks & Geeks and The Office, have teamed up with Redbird’s bar director Tobin Shea to create a limited-time bottled cocktail, The Squeaky Door, from Feig’s cocktail recipe archives with 100 percent of proceeds benefiting the Redbird scholarship fund with C-CAP for Black students.
The Squeaky Door features Artingstall’s Gin mixed with cherry liqueur, elderflower liqueur, orange Curaçao and lemon and served sparkling in a ready-to-enjoy bottle.
Starting today, the bottled gin cocktail will be available while supplies last for takeout, delivery or to take home after dining al fresco at Redbird. The Squeaky Door is $20, serves two, and can be ordered at: exploretock.com/
The Squeaky Door (Courtesy Artingstall’s)
SAJJ Mediterranean, the Mediterranean fast casual concept known for its customizable eats, has launched three pre-designed SAJJ Plates at all locations, including downtown L.A. Expanding from SAJJ’s build-your-own format, the curated protein, vegan and customizable plates are designed for takeout and available to order ahead or delivery on the SAJJ app and website.
To celebrate the launch of the new pre-designed dishes, all SAJJ restaurants are offering buy one, get one free plates on Friday, July 10. Guests can cash in on the two-for-one deal when they place their Plates order via SAJJ’s app or website on Friday.
S’More, the dating app that launched earlier this year and in L.A. a few weeks ago has teamed up with start-up Kookoo Club to offer all of its members access to a free virtual cooking class via https://kookoo.club/ with the nation’s popular chefs. Both S’More users with Premium members, and those testing premium features, gain access to a tailored schedule of classes, with chefs from restaurants including Eleven Madison Park, Momofuku Ko, and Del Posto. S’More daters can also add a plus one to their virtual cooking class and bring along their new date.
According to smoredate.com, conversation lengths have nearly doubled, and app interactions have increased by over 50 percent in three months during the pandemic. More than 74 percent of S’More members say that they are looking for a more substantial relationship in a post-COVID-19 world — instead of a simple casual encounter. Ultimately, daters are looking for deeper ways to connect, and one of the most popular couple’s activities is cooking and dining together.
Mediterranean fast casual (Courtesy SAJJ Mediterranean)
Weedmaps has partnered with Afters Ice Cream (home of the #MilkyBun) to co-create free and fun ice cream flavors inspired by 7/10 Oil Day. (Disclaimer: neither the ice cream nor sorbet contain cannabis or cannabinoids.)
- Peanut Budder Shatter: A peanut butter and salted peanut butter ice cream filled with peanut butter swirls and crushed Nutter Butter cookie, topped with honey. The weed experts suggest pairing the Shatter with Peanut Butter Breath — a strain is known for its calming and carefree effects, ideal for a relaxing day at the park or an at-home movie marathon.
- Pineapple Dab Express (Vegan): Plant based coconut pineapple fused ice cream with crushed pineapple, dark cherry swirl, and shortbread cookies. Recommend pairing: Pineapple Express, a strain made famous on the big screen, known for its long-lasting energetic effects, perfect for productive afternoons and creative getaways.
These flavors will be exclusively available in L.A. on Friday, July 10 and throughout the week leading up to National Ice Cream Day on July 19. For up-to-date information on the location of the ice cream truck and details on how to claim the free deal, go to weedmaps.com/events/afters-2-0.
Want to treat yourself to something special or celebrate a special occasion at home with your pod mate? Executive chef Yohei Matsuki from Sushi Ginza Onodera has created two luxurious options to go — Hana, an extravagant chirashi box, and Iki, a selection of nigiri sushi, both featuring high quality fish flown in from Tokyo’s Toyosu market and expertly prepared using traditional Edomae techniques that bring out umami flavors and tender textures.
Chirashi translates to “scattered” and in its simplest form is composed of a variety of raw fish over rice, but for Matsuki’s Michelin-caliber version, seasonal fish and seafood from Japan in the Hana Chirashi Box may include hairy crab, Hokkaido sea urchin, bluefin tuna (prized otoro and lean tuna), caviar, tiger shrimp, golden-eye snapper, rockfish, conch, red snapper, razor clam, shrimp oboro, Hokkaido salmon roe and salt water eel ($175).
The Iki Sushi Box offers a variety of Edomae-style nigiri that typically includes bluefin tuna, sea urchin, tiger prawns, salmon roe, egg omelet and more ($200). Also available for the first time is the Chef’s Choice Sake Set ($120), which includes two 300 ml of premium sake selected to be the perfect accompaniment to the sets. Orders can be placed by calling (323) 433-4817 at least two hours before pickup time, which is Tuesday–Saturday from 12:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.–7 p.m.
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