As a lifestyle blogger, I have a thing for nouveau venues and spots. When I heard about this new Pop-Up Cocktail Lounge opening at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles in Beverly Hills, I wasted no time and called my friend to visit. It was almost an hour and a half commute. I thought it was pretty good time to go to LA from San Clemente where I live. We arrived at 5:30 pm.
Upon arrival, I was blown away by how the bar was transformed. I have been to this bar many times and was just impressed by the new botanical themed pop-up cocktail lounge. The lounge was aesthetically pleasing and elegant yet cozy. I was greeted by the personable general manager of Culina restaurant Adrian Horsburgh. We started with an early evening aperitif. On their “New Classics” menu I ordered Spiced L.A. Daisy (bulleit rye, grapefruit, cinnamon St. Elizabeth allspice dram). So refreshing. I love this drink. My friend Mariza ordered the Basil Cali Bliss (Ketel-One Vodka, butterfly flower tea blackberries, lemon, ginger beer) and she described it as “relishing”.
On the light bites, we had
- Truffle Sliders (beef sliders, onion jam, truffle aioli aged provolone, buttered brioche) Mouth watering and cooked to a proper level.
- Vegetable Crudité (farmers market vegetables, avocado green goddess dip) Delicious, fresh and healthy veggies. The avocado dip reigns.
- Beet Cured Ora King Salmon (yogurt beet emulsion, cucumber, petrosian caviar, squid ink, passion fruit) Our favorite of them all. Served with a fantastic presentation, tasted fresh and had a lot of good flavor.
Overall the cocktail menu was curated distinctively. The service was excellent. The hospitality was amazing. Our waiters Trish and Jojo were very courteous. The Pop-Up Cocktail Lounge had a mesmerizing ambiance with resplendent lighting and with different music genre played by the DJ.
I chatted with Adrian Horsburgh, Culina restaurant General Manager about the new transformed lounge.
Ruchel: Who thought of this concept a botanical themed pop-up bar?
Adrian: This is a concept that basically we came up as a team. We talked about last year we wanted to try to do something different with our lounge. This bar used to be called Windows. It was very dark, very gloomy. People used to smoke cigar and it was very popular 20 years ago. During and after Covid it became an empty space so we thought ok this is a beautiful hotel and has the Hollywood vibe but it was so sad and it was very dark. It was not used. It was shut down in every corner and people could walked through but there was nothing going on there.
So we have a partnership with Ketel One Botanical and they said “Hey we like flowers” and I said “We have a beautiful space for flowers” and they came up with these beautiful floral arrangement for the entire building which is basically the patio and three different rooms. And then we started adding different things. It was supposed to be a pop-up for a month then we added lighting, we added DJ… we bought these amazing two large screens where we display beautiful art everyday and then we came up with this amazing concept which is a pop-up bar Ketel One.
Ruchel: What can guests expect when they visit?
Adrian: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays start at 5 pm until midnight and sometimes the party get longer until 1:00 in the morning. Guests will have an amazing this amazing botanical inspired cocktails featured by Ketel One. Also we have a full bar and a food menu that is very Southern California bites which are very light. We want to offer people in Los Angeles especially the vicinity of Beverly Hills a place where you come in … have a beautiful table and just have a cocktail and some bites. Something very simple and have a great time.
I love the bar not because it’s our bar. It’s been a positive vibe for the neighborhood and it’s just beautiful and pleasant to see. Basically coming in to flower arrangement. If you just wanna come in and have a look you are welcome. If you want to have cocktail and have some food we’ll happy to host you anytime.
The floral installations was created by Poppy Lavender, floral-inspired cocktails by Ketel One and Ketel One Botanicals, and fresh menu items from Executive Chef Mitch Austin.
The Pop-Up Cocktail Lounge will be open weekly, Thursday-Saturday from 5:00 pm to 1:00 am and will be located on the lobby level of Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills. For more information call 310 273 2222.
Follow Four Seasons Los Angeles on Instagram.
Special thanks to Melanee and Adrian.
It looks beautiful! I’m sure the scent from flowers are just as alluring. Could be worth a trip to LA from OC.