Venice Happy Hour will sadly not be celebrating Halloween this year in our favorite haunt... off to scare the folks in Hilton Head, and Hong Kong this season! But wouldn't leave you standing there at the doorstep with out any treats so... check in with our pals at Venice Paparazzi.com for a list of great events.
Little twittering birds have also told us that Salute, High,  and Joe's will be having a few tricks up their sleeves.
Happy Halloween, cuties!

Testasterone Tuesday= thats what I am calling it. Tonight it's all about beer and moustaches. REALLY.
Lets start with my preferred of the two...
Moustaches. Think all the dirty thoughts you want, but I had a gorgeous ( younger, hipper, New Yorker) boyfriend a few years ago who broke me into my affection for moustaches. Before? ICK! Now? Awwww. Anyway, he did this great fundraising "activity" (I guess you'd call it) called M'ovember. Started in Australia, its a worldwide race to grow mustaches in the month of November. Not only do they get all silly and hairy- the guys and the folks that egg them on raise money for prostate cancer. There is a kick off party tonight at Nikki. Yo! Venice has all the scoop- including an extended Happy Hour from 6-11PM.
BEER:  Primativo Wine Bistro is hosting a $37 all you can imbibe beer tasting party  from 7-9PM. "Taste 5 distinct beers from around the world and then compare them to their American counterparts all while munchin' on specially paired cheeses and e......xtraordinary food! Just $37 (+ tax) gets ya all the brewskis and grub you can handle..." is what they say! $37 aint cheap for me, since I can't really handle that much beer- but for those who love Suds... RSVP to their facebook page.

Who's your daddy? Urban DADDY. He's your Sugar Daddy- and he's about to buy you a bottomless champagne brunch at Casa Del Mar. No joke. Get the tip on all you can sip.

Oh we love a snack! Bring your carb-based, salt loaded, fried and drizzled food stuffs our way. The Venice Happy Hour cast  ( guest starring DD from Nevada)  snuck out of the village and braved Downtown on Friday. We caught the tail-end of  HH at The Must, a  buzzing little bar with an ingenious logo and fantastic after-school snacks: tater tots $4, cheddar & manchego grilled cheese sandwich $4, Mac'n'Cheese WITH BACON $5. This last item set the tone for the night, as these three little pigs sought out more savory bits as we hit the sidewalk. Next stop: The Varnish, which you reach by passing through Cole's ( French Dip with pork, bacon potato salad). Sasha, the owner of The Varnish, is famous for his speak-easy inspired ventures, the first of which was Milk & Honey in New York in 2000. Paul the Knife and I used to M & H  before it even "opened", calling Sasha's cell  at  4AM after sending Style.com live for the night. We'd sit on our winter coats on the floor ( the banquet seating had not yet been installed) while he made us amazing drinks and shucked oysters, musing about what the dodgey Lower EastSide tailor shop might become. For a while, it was a speak easy for real- but the trend has since exploded and eroded, but amongst the copycats, the Varnish holds its own to his original vision. Next Stop 7 Grand. If you love taxidermy and whiskey, billiards and fine leather, you'll love 7 Grand. Its beautiful really, artisian bartenders and lots of ATMOSPHERE, it was a " grand " stop before the Grand Finale: Library Bar. Pork Belly Skewers & Peppered Steak Fries drizzled with hot pork fat and sea salt, and a glass of Pinot Grigio. What more can I say other than, "oink oink", it was a great night.

As you all know, on most occasions I am hard-pressed to leave Venice (smartly, when one is Happy-Houring) but lately I’ve been feeling curious and adventurous. This Wednesday, my trusty research assistant Chi Chi and I went to downtown Culver City, to see if there was any action (READ: handsome men), or hoppin’ happy hours in that cute little triangulation of shops, restaurants and bars.

Unfortunately, really not much to report, even though FlavorPill claims that Ugo is good- it looked like all chicks and romantic dates to us. Snore. After combing the sidewalks and poking our noses in many an eatery with an acclaimed “ bar scene”, we ended up at Rush Street. At the bar we encountered slap-stick bartenders, giant screen TVs silently playing sports (loathe), and upstairs, we watched as a few guys from an Ivy-League Alum Club event unwittingly execute P. Dempsey’s African AntEater Dance from “ Can’t Buy Me Love.” My Chi Chi was in a chatty mood, and thankfully so, as she struck up a conversation with a straggler from the Smarty Party upstairs, a Harvard grad Bone Surgeon, with a sparkling personality, and the face of a 15-year-old. He admired our ability to score a bottomless bottle of Prosecco from the bartender, and we admired his nametag.

Rush Street Happy Hour Weekdays 3:00- 7:00. Wine & Well drinks $3, Bottled Beer $4, draft beer & “premium “ drinks  $5.


 

I am working on a rating system forVeniceHappyHour.com, per the request of my friend Tony. He was at The Enterprise Fish Company with me for Happy Hour last night, which was, I am sorry to report, a bit geriatric. The food is fabulous- don't get me wrong- the seared poke and $1 Oysters,  really fresh and tasty. Enormous glasses of wine for $3.50, and snappy service made us very happy! But...ahoy, the bar was populated with aging oarsmen and some of your parents' friends. No catch of the day for this urban mermaid.
Anyway, back to Tony's ( a bit of a catch himself)  rating system. In his perspective, an empty glass is a happy glass, so that would be the highest rating, half full/half empty is self-explanatory, and a full glass is a not a place you want to go out of your way for. Concerns: Is that confusing? And if I tell everyone where my fav Happy Hour is, will there still be a spot at the bar for me? And what if you're  60-year old cutie looking for a handsome Seamen, my rating would really throw you off course. SO much pressure here...I think this requires more thought. Must meet with my trusty research assistant Sara a cal to discuss further, at 5:00 sharp!

I love Flavorpill. It gives me a weekly, and even a daily dose, of all sort of arty goodness, bands to hear, gallery events to swish at, YouTube to be consumed, personalities to be envied. ..etc. What a gem today's twitter was, and so appropriate as we slippery slope into the weekend.
NEW BOOK release October 20th:  Drunk: The Definitive Drinker’s Dictionary, which contains 3,000  entertaining synonyms for “drunk.” , By Paul Dickenson. I'd write more but I am off to check out the crowd and the $3.50 chard at Enterprise Fish Co. with Sara, where we might get " zipped" "slammerd" " "extinguished" ...so you'll have to click here to read more. 
http://www.stumbleupon.com/s/#6nOzgh/flavorwire.com/42636/drunk-paul-dickson-review/

Updates can be few and far between, as although I love a bit of happy hour, a girl has got to work, study, and do a little upward facing dog every day! No matter, here's the scoop on what's been up. High, on top of the Erwin Hotel- sweetest spot in Venice, and Hash, below offers some pretty great specials. If you want to be in the know, follow them on Twitter http://twitter.com/HashnHigh . Seriously, they will be good to you. Tonight there was a free app if you were paying attention!!!

REWIND.Strange Invisible Perfumes premiered a new fragrance tonight, called Fire & Cream, with (free)cocktails to boot. Although priced against the gold standard, if a roaring fire and egg nog don't get you a boyfriend by New Years, this fragrance will. GO and sniff. REWIND.
Bar Copa. Saturday night. Can't say there were any drink specials, but the DJ had lighting speed with some of the unlikeliest tunes you've ever loved, kept us sweating and ordering bottles of cheap chard all night. Recommended.
REWIND. Canal Club, Wednesday with Chi Chi and the Queen of Nice, enjoying Sake-To-Me Wednesday like it was the last on earth. Good rolls, good service, good company, good times.
REWIND. Last but not least, Abbot Kinney afterburner for those of us who work on the street.
Thank you to Bruce who hosted the after- after party- the HRHS of Nice Cream for pistacio gelato ( if you like peanut butter you will pass out!  GO TO N'ICE CREAM) and Gjelina, for still having some killer dishes after August.