There’s never the sense that Echo Park can have too many small, intimate places to grab a drink. Ostrich Farm owners Brooke Fruchtman and Jaime Turrey have completed the rather lovely build out of their new mezcal lounge called Bar Caló, and it opens July 6 at 4 p.m. With an unlikely strip mall location that takes inspiration from Turrey’s Chicano heritage and the couple’s trips to Mexico City, Bar Caló feels a lot like Bósforo, which serves top notch mezcals and small plates to a sophisticated crowd.
Fruchtman and Turrey bring on Jeremy Simpson, most recently at Bestia and Good Housekeeping, for a creative cocktail list that riffs on the classics but uses seasonal produce. There’s a “market margarita” that takes the well-known formula and employs whatever’s tasting great in the bar’s garden.
Ostrich Farm vet Carrie Funk puts together a tight list of small plates like a twice-baked sweet potato with chorizo, Oaxaca hot chicken, or quesadilla de jamaica with hibiscus flowers and mezcal salsa. Despite a small space, Bar Caló intends to be open for breakfast daily at 9 a.m., so Funk prepares a short stack of savory corn pancakes or chilaquiles en mole in the morning. See the full menu on the lounge’s website. Bar Caló is open 9 a.m. to midnight daily, with a later 5 p.m. start on Tuesdays.
Bar Caló. 1498 West Sunset Boulevard, Echo Park, CA. 213-278-0901.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/11647589/2018_07_03_BarCalo_001.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/11647605/2018_07_03_BarCalo_006.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/11647601/2018_07_03_BarCalo_004.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/11647591/2018_07_03_BarCalo_002.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/11647603/2018_07_03_BarCalo_012.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/11647557/2018_07_03_BarCalo_018.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/11647593/2018_07_03_BarCalo_003.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/11647607/2018_07_03_BarCalo_013.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/11647611/2018_07_03_BarCalo_019.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/11647615/2018_07_03_BarCalo_007.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/11647613/2018_07_03_BarCalo_008.jpg)