Bar Toscana

Bar Toscana has a refreshingly different cocktail list; its drinks follow the Italian ethos of fresh, high-quality ingredients treated simply. In the Speziato ($14), for example, Aperol and pisco turn toward the savory, thanks to the addition of red pepper and basil (click here to download the recipe).

Perbellini would prefer not to make Bellinis until he has fresh white peaches on hand, so he’s offering a pear-driven drink, the Pearbellini, as a distraction. It’s an apples-and-oranges comparison, but one that works surprisingly well when pear and vodka are spun around bracing lime and the floral kick of St-Germain. You’ll gladly wait for peach season after a sip.

Snack-wise, we kept circling back to the delicately vanilla-scented fennel that accompanied pale pink slices of prosciutto ($11; pictured), while the thin sheets of music paper—a delightfully named Sardinian bread—made effective scoops for a cold lobster salad ($14).

To ignore the stuzzichini menu is to forego one of the best bar menus in town.

Bar Toscana, 11633 San Vicente Blvd., Brentwood; 310-826-0028 or bartoscana.com

(Source: jasonz)