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LA’s Most Extravagant Cocktail Experience Kicks Off Tonight

The menu, and drinks, from Malibu’s new Mon Li

A cocktail at Mon Li
Noted Media
Farley Elliott is the Senior Editor at Eater LA and the author of Los Angeles Street Food: A History From Tamaleros to Taco Trucks. He covers restaurants in every form, from breaking news to the culture, people, and history that surrounds LA's dining landscape.

Barman Matthew Biancaniello has found his new home. It’s called Mon Li, and it opens tonight in Malibu.

Mon Li is Biancaniello’s first big solo act, after years of crafting savory, produce-forward cocktails for some of the city’s biggest bars. It’s also unlike any other drinking option anywhere in the greater Los Angeles area, fashioned as a standalone omakase sipping experience for just twelve drinkers at a time. The attention to detail, the real estate, and the ingredients don’t come easy — that is to say, tickets aren’t cheap — but the twelve-course evening is sure to be the talk of the bar industry moving forward.

So what to expect? Think sea moss-infused mezcal, hard-boiled quail eggs as a garnish, and mushroom-infused bitters. Each finished drink feels like the confident work of a madman cocktail lover, and that’s exactly the point. The opening menu is below, but expect drinks, ingredients, and ambiance to change often at the indoor-outdoor space along the ocean.

Mon Li opens tonight in Malibu at the Calamigos Beach Club, keeping evening hours only. Seats are by ticketed reservation only.

Mon-Li at The Calamigos Beach Club, 26025 Pacific Coast Highway Malibu, CA.

Mon Li
Poblano-infused 123 Tequila Dos with gazpacho and hard-boiled quail egg
Mon Li
Wild bay leaf, passionfruit, mezcal
Mon Li
Old Fashioned