![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Whatever-Lola-Wants-1453.jpg\")
<\/a>I have long sung the praises of McCullough’s work, even venturing to his Los Angeles digs to write about the drinks he concocts in the north<\/a>. And what is so wonderful about his drinks is how particular they are: balanced, never excessively sweet, always a hint of savory, McCullough has continually honed his cocktail-making talent ever since coming to L.A. via San Diego\u2019s Bracero Cocina de Raiz, Javier Plascencia\u2019s much-lauded, high-end Mexican joint where he apprenticed under Christian Siglin, one of San Diego\u2019s most respected and renowned bar directors.<\/p>\n Perhaps even more than his talent for combining flavors is his dedication to consistently using a variety of ingredients: huitlacoche\u00a0<\/em>syrups, burnt tortilla-and-salt rims, and even a Manchego cheese-centric cocktail dubbed “Cheezus Take the Wheel.”<\/p>\n And within gathering those ingredients, he noticed something very awry: The alarming amount of waste within both the restaurant and bar industries\u2014and that is precisely what he wants to change with Whatever Lola Wants.<\/p>\n “I\u2019ve worked towards a zero-waste program, trying to think of everything I can to eliminate what would normally be pointless waste,” McCullough said. “I\u2019ve always been conscious of trying to reuse whatever I can\u2014bits and pieces of a garnish makes its way into a cocktail in some way\u2014but I really wanted to delve into how far I could take it. It\u2019s been such an eye-opening and rewarding challenge.”<\/p>\n So he began examining the mini-restaurant empire of Jay Krymis, owner of Padre, Mezcalero DTLB and Mezcalero DTLA\u2014each of the three places which he directs the bar programs\u2014looking for byproducts left behind. From used coffee grinds to broken tortilla chips at the bottom of the bucket, McCullough was able to create a master list that allows him and his new right-hand man, Sam Eppel, the ability to be as sustainable as possible while also creating gorgeous drinks.<\/p>\n The results?<\/p>\n Coffee grounds- and celery-infused rums. Dehydrated banana peels used as a garnish. Charred corn husks for both aromatics and cup decor.<\/p>\n “Almost everything used is from byproducts, and the very few things actually brought in are used in their entirety,” McCullough said. “For example, I wanted to use peaches\u2014so I cooked them into a syrup, took the pulp leftover to create a fruit leather garnish [in the Rambunctious cocktail], and will be using the seeds to make an avocado seed-peach pit orgeat.”<\/p>\n Perhaps most surprising, beyond the ambitiousness of creating a zero-waste drinking space, is the fact that McCullough has brought on Eppel and allowed the man to directly contribute to the menu\u2014and after tasting Eppel’s creations, you can understand McCullough’s trust in his work.<\/p>\n He offers classic, stellar combinations, like the mighty duo of mezcal and green chartreuse found in his Trafalgar Bandit cocktail\u2014while bringing in deeply complex drinks whose dizzyingly grand list of ingredients somehow work together\u2014in that very same cocktail sits two types of rum, bitters, pineapple, tomatillo, cucumber, red bell pepper, serrano pepper, garlic, and fresh lemon. (A flavor profile, mind you, similar to McCollough’s Oaxacan the Garden cocktail that was a staple of Mezcalero’s inaugural drink menu.)<\/p>\n Inspired by McCollough’s admirable-but-sometimes-stubborn approach to cocktails, Eppel is discovering a new way of making drinks. (Those aforementioned dehydrated banana peels? Eppel created those as the garnish for his drink known as “There’s Always One Hundred Grand”.)<\/p>\n “Nathan can be rough\u2014definitely,” Eppel said. “But he makes you a better bartender.”<\/p>\n For now, Whatever Lola Wants has an iffy set of hours and requires some dedication getting there. While not an entirely formal speakeasy with a password required, they open when they feel like openings\u2014typically around 7 p.m.\u2014and the lovely hostess outside will direct you inward. To get there, step inside Padre, head up the stairs to Mezcalero; once facing Mezcalero’s bar, Whatever Lola Wants will be toward the right-back, it door adorned with a painting and title.<\/p>\n But more importantly, outside of attracting a steady and dedicated crowd who appreciates drinks made in an intimate space, McCollough wants the zero-waste portion of their operation to be inspirational.<\/p>\n “I\u2019m really hoping the program will make other bartenders look at their waste in a different way by me explaining how we get the flavors we do out of what most people would consider trash,” McCullough said. “Even if it\u2019s just in small ways here and there. It\u2019s a mentality thing, training yourself to perceive anything and everything as a potential useful ingredient… I catch myself thinking, ‘I bet those chicken feet would make a really cool Bloody Mary garnish\u2014and maybe I could infuse them first into a tequila for even more flavor!’ Someday I\u2019ll go too far I believe.”<\/p>\n Whatever Lola Wants is located at 525 E. Broadway.<\/em><\/p>\n Brian Addison is a columnist and editor for the Long Beach Post.\u00a0<\/em>Reach him at\u00a0brian@lbpost.com\u00a0or on social media at\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a>, and\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Whatever Lola Wants, the new hidden rum bar near the backside of Mezcalero, is less about secrecy and more about sustainability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":70436,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[2691],"class_list":["post-7580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/211"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7580"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=7580"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=7580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>