LOS ANGELES _ The palm trees on the wallpaper and the back-lit glass blocks behind the bar at Pinky's, a new cocktail bar across the alley from Atrium restaurant in Los Feliz, give major "Miami Vice" vibes. The bar is named for Pinky, a once-famous dancing flamingo at Busch Gardens in Florida, who was sadly killed in 2016.
Pinky's is the latest in a slew of new bar openings turning the Los Angeles nightlife world into a first-rate cocktail town. Some of the drinks at Pinky's are served in Capri Sun-like pouches; others come topped with a cinnamon bubble that dissolves into smoke. And one of the drinks is adorned with a shard of house-made candy that tastes like a Jolly Rancher.
Jordan Young, the 26-year-old who runs the drinks program at Pinky's, said he created each drink "with care and an inherent campy yet fun flair."
The It Is What It Is cocktail is a combination of Jim Beam, Pimm's No. 1, Giffard Banane, burlesque bitters and brown butter-washed Harleston Green, which gives the drink a viscous, luxurious texture going down. The name is a nod to the uncertainties of life and the need to stop focusing on the little things.
"Life is what it is," Young said.
The cocktail tastes like a boozy apple cider with hints of banana, crisp apple and spice.
