The small cocktail bar, Old Lightning, in Los Angeles’s Venice Beach hides behind gastropub Scopa Italian Roots, making it difficult for some to find. Once inside, a unique experience awaits for all 25 guests fortunate enough to get into the cozy quarters. It’s a favorite bar to many in the area—including Dialogue chef Dave Beran.
Here, owners Steve Livigni and Pablo Moix curate rare and vintage spirits from estate sales and personal travels with dedicated attention to detail. Whiskeys, rums and tequilas take center stage in the duo's collection, offered on their own and in inventive cocktails like the Hotel Nacional Cocktail.
“Old for the sake of old does not mean it’s good,” says Moix. “Something that is right for one thing is not necessarily right for everything. There needs to be continuity, a sense of place.”
The decor and glassware at Old Lightning are mid-century, and, fittingly, its cocktail recipes originate from the 1930s through 1950s. “The Nacional was a very popular cocktail during that time and still is,” says Moix. “The daiquiri and drinks like the Nacional are what inspired the Polynesian movement with drinks. Tiki cocktails would not exist without Ernest Gantt [“Don the Beachcomber”] trying these drinks and morphing them into his exotic potions.”
The Hotel Nacional Cocktail
Courtesy of Pablo Moix, Old Lightning, Los AngelesIngredients
1 1/2 ounces Caña Brava rum
3/4 ounces fresh pineapple juice
1/2 ounces fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce Petite Canne sugar cane syrup
1 teaspoon Blume Marillen Apricot Eau-de-Vie
1 dash Angostura bitters
Method
Add all of the ingredients to a shaker filled with large, cold ice cubes. Shake and double-strain into a coupe glass.
Images courtesy of Old Lightning.
