DTLA: On the Dance Floor at Honeycut

Lounges are taking a back seat to the newest craze to hit the LA drinking scene– clubs. Say what? After years of hearing how people prefer to chill over dancing, I’m so happy to see people shaking what their mama gave them on Honeycut‘s new light up dance floor. The new bar and disco is a collaboration between 213 Nightlife (Seven Grand, Cole’s, Cana Rum Bar, etc) and Proprietors LLC (Death & Company, The Rose, Rosa Mexicana, etc).

Honeycut is divided into the dance floor and the bar in two separate rooms. The hidden club is accessed through the alley. Back in the day I considered Bar | Kitchen one of my favorite bars and I was sad when all my favorite bartenders and management left. You can find them at Honeycut these days.

The disco features quite a few great cocktails on tap. I tried the Step & Repeat which gives a spin to my favorite Campari. Consider this your new Campari and soda. Oh, and there’s tequila to keep you dancing loco on the dance floor.

Step & Repeat – blanco tequila, Campari, cocoa nib, pineapple soda

Another cocktail on draft I tried was the Adrenaline Nightshift. This one features another housemade soda Honeycut has made to go with their cocktails. Try the birch soda with rum or whiskey for a simple highball but I prefer Honeycut’s revved up version.

Adrenaline Nightshift– rye, aged rum, cinnamon birch, Honeycut aromatic bitters

Recently Honeycut’s disco was flooded when a pipe burst in the upstairs laundry room of the O Hotel. My first panicked thought was did it affect the dance floor. Fortunately, it didn’t and the disco is now reopened.

 

Chareau, an aloe vera liqueur, has been showing up on a lot of cocktail menus lately. It’s a fresh taste that works well with all the spirits I had it with. I enjoyed it in the Sneak Thief which actually enhances the apple brandy and pear cider.

Sneak Thief– Oregon apple brandy, Chareau, lime, pear cider

 

The disco features either live music or a DJ. I’ve been for both and as much as I love live performances, I like it more when people get down to boogie.

 

One of the bartenders, Josh Lucas (formerly of the Writer’s Room, the Magic Castle) made me the best Dark and Stormy ever. He follows the Caribbean style of adding a little peach to the drink. And the Honeycut housemade ginger is great.

Dark & Stormy a la Caribbean  – rum, ginger, lime, Giffard peach

 

I’m amazed by the main room. While the disco is beautiful with the enormous back bar of many, many bottles, the main room has gone even further. Bottles crowd around everywhere. And many have been decanted. Only the best bartenders can remember what is in which bottle for Honeycut’s cocktail menu of 50 cocktails.

 

For boozy good times, try the Dumb Luck. With overproof bourbon and the orange flavored Bigallet China-China Amer, sherry and an astounding combination of celery and coconut bitters, I wasn’t sure I was going to like this drink but everything went well together.

Dumb Luck – Old Grandad 114 bourbon, Bigallet China-China Amer, Lustau East India Solera Sherry, Miracle Mile Celery-Coconut bitters

I’m always looking for a great pisco cocktail. The Argonaut features pisco, Aperol and grappa. Wow! Everything is wonderfully fizzy with Honeycut’s seltzer, something I can just drink buckets of.

Argonaut– Campo de Encanto pisco, Aperol, Clear Creak Pinot Grigio grappa, strawberry, lime, seltzer

 

I have found tequila and cinnamon go well together. Find this flavor combination in the Exit Row. The sweetness is tempered a bit by the pine notes in the Douglas Fir eau di vie making this a great refreshing sipper.

Exit Row – Siembra Azul blanco tequila, cinnamon syrup, lemon, Douglas Fir Eau de Vie, Miracle Mile Castilian bitters, Domaine Pacory Poire Domfront

 

For brown, bitter, stirred fans, the Windsor Knot is the way to go.

Windsor Knot – George Dickle rye, Pierre Ferrand 1840 cognac, Dolin dry vermouth, Cynar, Benedictine

Honeycut generally opens at 6 p.m. every day and the disco opens at 8 p.m. I would recommend going on non-weekend nights as there may be a wait. I’m excited to go on a Sunday or Monday to check out the piano player.

Honeycut

819 S Flower St (enter from the alley, accessible via 8th or 9th streets)
Los Angeles, CA 90017  —  (213) 688-0888

 

© The Minty 2013