What we’re into: The Thai Hi-Five cocktail at Wolf on Melrose
For many of us, brunch means mimosas, a stack of waffles topped with syrup, then a nap. At Wolf, “Top Chef” alum Marcel Vigneron’s new restaurant on Melrose Avenue, brunch means tables packed with beautiful people, plates of steak and perfectly cooked six-minute eggs — and all those sparkly cocktails we now expect from a weekend meal before 2 p.m., but fancier.
Order a mimosa at Wolf if you must, but it would be a shame when there’s something on the cocktail menu called a Thai Hi-Five. This is bar director Nathan Oliver’s version of an actual high five, albeit in cocktail form — it’s an homage to some of the restaurant’s Thai-influenced dishes.
“A Thai Hi-Five is basically a version of a secret handshake that means you know how to have a good time in Thai town,” said Oliver. And by “good time,” we’re assuming he means multiple orders of larb with extra chile sauce.
“This drink is made up of some of the key ingredients that are required to make a good Thai-inspired beverage,” said Oliver, who uses a mixture of Aviation gin, raw coconut oil, house-made lemongrass soda, lemon and lime in the drink.
The lemongrass soda is bright, refreshing and bubbly, and the coconut oil creates a silkiness that adds a richness to the cocktail. This is what you want to be drinking, regardless of whether you order the chai French toast, the tortilla espagnole or the chicken and waffles for brunch.
7661 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 424-7735, www.wolfdiningla.com.
Brunch=cocktails, then a nap. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @Jenn_Harris_
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