Time Out LA honored an incredible group of bars and bartenders at their very first Bar Awards. The inaugural celebration of the city’s most sip-worthy drinks saw The Hollywood Roosevelt’s, The Spare Room crowned Bar of the Year.
Beverage director, Yael Vengroff has taken the bar’s drinks program to great heights. Named in Zagat’s 2015 ’30 Under 30’ list for her role in overseeing, “one of LA’s most prolific cocktail programs,” her inspired drinks have now earned her and her team Bar of the Year.
Here’s what Time Out had to say: “It has always been a place to congregate with good-looking people and never-ending bowls of punch, but this past year, the arrival of beverage director Yael Vengroff transformed it into something else entirely: a place to sip slowly, where handcrafted ‘tails could push the envelope while still feeling approachable. Take Vengroff’s martini, for example: the Salt & Vinegar Martini (pictured above), made with potato vodka, dry vermouth, pickle brine, celery shrub and a side of potato chips. It took Vengroff two years to perfect the drink; it takes two sips to realize how utterly unique the cocktail truly is.” Adding, “thanks to Vengroff and her talented crew, the Spare Room is having a bona fide moment in LA’s current cocktail climate. Don’t let it pass you by.”
The Spare Room also landed a nomination for Best American Hotel Bar at Tales of the Cocktail’s 10th Annual Spirited Awards. These Awards recognize the very best in the beverage industry, both within America and around the world. “Our judges have had a very difficult task to decide on our finalists because the standard of bars, bartenders and others has never been higher,” said Jacob Briars, Chairman of the International Judging Committee for the Spirited Awards.