In prime time for summer drinking—and this weekend’s scorching heat—a breezy new bar is opening its doors in an Echo Park strip mall tonight, complete with oysters, a weekly farmers’ market margarita, all-day hours and a plant-dotted patio.
Brought to us by Jaime Turrey and Brooke Fruchtman, the husband-and-wife duo behind Ostrich Farm, Bar Caló sits just across the street from the wood-fired restaurant and sports its own menu of grilled and hyper-seasonal plates. Both bar and food menus take inspiration from Turrey’s Chicano roots, a decade-plus spent in the Echo Park community and the pair’s travels to Mexico City. Altogether it brings a vibrant mezcal collection and a velvet-hewn, comfortable atmosphere to that stretch of Sunset Boulevard.
Photograph: Courtesy Bar Caló/Skandia Shafer
Beverage director Jeremy Simpson’s menu offers roughly 10 cocktails, some involving plantain-infused tequila, Oaxacan black corn whiskey, hibiscus syrup or cumin-infused dry Curaçao, in addition to the selection of brunch drinks such as the papaya-and-grapefruit spritz, the iced coffee horchata with rum, and the Mezcal Popsicle, which is made from mezcal, strawberries, hibiscus, blackberries, Chamoy and lime (again, just in time for this weekend’s heat wave). The beer and wine menus, while brief, also focus on the flavors of Mexico, bringing draft beer from Tijuana and wines from Tecate, Valle de Guadalupe and Ensenada, in addition to a few U.S. and French labels.
Then there’s that mezcal list, offering nearly 40 options and spanning Jalisco, Oaxaca, Michoacán, Puebla, Sonora, Durango, Tamaulipas, Guerrero, Zacatecas and San Luis Potosí.
Carrie Funk, formerly of Ostrich Farm, brings food to the table with an all-day, small-plates menu that includes a smattering of chips and yucca fries to be paired with dips like salsa borracha, peanut-and-guajillo salsa and roasted garlic guacamole, plus churritos, caesar salad elotes and a twice-baked sweet potato with house-made chorizo and poached egg. At breakfast—which begins at 9am, available nearly every day of the week—find chilaquiles with mole and fried egg; poblano-and-corn pancakes rancheros; and the Room Service for Two spread, an assortment of fresh fruit and panes dulces. At dinner, find Oaxacan hot chicken, ocean-trout tostadas, salt-roasted spot prawns and more.
“Echo Park is such a great, historic neighborhood—we feel lucky to serve its community,” Turrey says in a statement. “We’ve been here for more than 15 years and designed this space with our neighbors’ needs in mind—you can bring your computer and plug in here in the morning with a coffee or agua fresca and breakfast, bring your kids for brunch on the weekend, share a fun dinner with friends and come back for a true bar experience at night."
Take a digital look around, then stop by tonight IRL:
Photograph: Courtesy Bar Caló/Skandia Shafer
Photograph: Courtesy Bar Caló/Skandia Shafer
Bar Caló launches tonight at 4pm at 1498 Sunset Blvd, open from 9am to midnight on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday; from 5pm to midnight on Tuesday; and 9am to 2am on Friday and Saturday.