Bar Toscana opens its doors this Friday, December 10, across the lobby from Brentwood staple, Toscana Restaurant. Designed by architect Hagy Belzberg, the space features a sitting area with white leather ottomans as well as tables and bar seating next to a flat screen television, so patrons can choose between a night of mingling, intimate conversation, or watching the game while grabbing a drink.
Like Toscana next door, Bar Toscana's focus is on Italian-inspired dishes and drinks. The menu features "stuzzichini" (or "small bites"), which owner Amy Gordon describes as "essentially light, small Italian plates that you can make a whole meal out of, or sample with a drink before going next door for dinner." Items like the Insalata di Zucca (roasted pumpkin salad with grilled chanterelle mushrooms, frisee, and goat cheese) and the signature Stuzzichino Toscana (eggplant caviar, tomato jam, and artichoke spread served with crispy Italian bread toast) are made with fresh ingredients bought at the local farmers market.
Gordon hopes that patrons find Bar Toscana's warm atmosphere, tasty bites, and its exotic cocktail menu both intriguing and inviting. "We hope people will come here to gather and mingle, maybe before dinner or after a movie, and make this their local hang out."
What really sets Bar Toscana apart from the average local watering hole, however, is that its cocktail menu, according to Gordon, "features the only Italian mixology in Los Angeles." Bar manager William Perbellini and bar consultant Francesco Lafrancon worked on creating cocktails that have bold, Italian-inspired flavors and fresh, seasonal ingredients. Such drinks include the Speziato, which blends together barsol primero pisco, aperol, fresh red bell pepper and basil, laced together with fresh lemon and agave nectar, and the Sorrento, which mixes partida blanco, Limoncello, mint, lime, and cucumber. With a menu that will change seasonally and fresh, aromatic drinks that will play with your senses, Bar Toscana invites adventurous patrons to try a cocktail while nibbling on some fresh Italian food in a local atmosphere.
Bar Toscana opens for business Friday, December 10 at 5:30pm.