{"id":84365,"date":"2024-11-26T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=84365"},"modified":"2024-11-26T13:37:24","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T21:37:24","slug":"carved-ice-handcrafted-cocktails-tokyo-noir-is-long-beachs-japanese-speakeasy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/food\/carved-ice-handcrafted-cocktails-tokyo-noir-is-long-beachs-japanese-speakeasy","title":{"rendered":"Carved ice, handcrafted cocktails: Tokyo Noir is Long Beach’s Japanese speakeasy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Each block of ice served in Tokyo Noir, a speakeasy that opened on Fourth Street in mid-November, travels roughly 5,500 miles before slowly melting in your glass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[The ice] is a lot denser, so it doesn\u2019t break and then it cools faster without diluting,\u201d said owner Jesse Duron, who imports it from Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its pH levels and minerality also match better with Japanese whiskies, Duron said, of which Tokyo Noir has plenty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Link<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The speakeasy, stocked with high-end spirits, sits in a snug room at the back of El Barrio Cantina<\/a>, which Duron opened three years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Duron, who is half-Mexican and half-Japanese, it\u2019s a project that has been in the cards \u201cever since we took over the space,\u201d he said. A framed picture of his Japanese grandparents and his uncle sits on one of the shelves behind the bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A hand-crafted cocktail, the Truffle Fashioned, at Tokyo Noir, the city’s newest speakeasy with Tokyo-style cocktails and izakaya dishes in Long Beach, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Also among bottles of Japanese whisky sit vinyls from Snoop Dogg, 2Pac, Nate Dogg and other influential \u201890s rappers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Songs from that era provide audio ambiance to patrons sipping cocktails and enjoying food from Chef Pi\u00f1eda-Alfaro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bar eats are reasonably priced with a variety of options. Wasabi fries are $6, two Okonomi Corn Dogs come for $7 and the Wagyu skirt steak topped with Yakiniku sauce and Kizami wasabi is $15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Wagyu skirt steak at Tokyo Noir in Long Beach, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are also four types of temaki sushi \u2013 or hand rolls \u2013 available for $5 each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Craft cocktails range from $16 to $28, with three High Balls available for $12 to $14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An ounce of their rarest Japanese whisky \u2014 The Nikka Nine Decades \u2014 is available for $300.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other options on the whisky list range from $13 a pour to $150.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Astro Boy cocktail at Tokyo Noir in Long Beach, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For newcomers to Japanese spirits, Duron suggests the Astro Boy, which he said tastes like a \u201cHi-CHEW\u201d candy, or the Juice Theory \u2014 his favorite \u2014 that contains watermelon, plum sake, fermented tomato, Amaro and Puro Potro Blanco tequila.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hibiki Old Fashioned is served with a hand-carved ice ball. The Truffle Fashioned comes with an ice diamond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tokyo Noir bar manager Kevin Lee wears gloves to hand carve each ice block to keep the ice as cold as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attention to detail doesn\u2019t stop at the frozen H2O.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Kevin Lee, bar manager of Tokyo Noir, the city’s newest speakeasy with Tokyo-style cocktails and izakaya dishes in Long Beach, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When you\u2019re ready to enter the speakeasy, you press a switch that illuminates a neon-light Godzilla that signals staff you are waiting at the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The speakeasy walls feature framed photos from Los Angeles photographer Estevan Oriol, known for his black-and-white portraits of L.A. culture including shots of Snoop Dogg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind the bar is a book by Oriol, along with \u201cCocktail Techniques\u201d by Kazuo Uyeda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was my bible,\u201d Lee said of Uyeda\u2019s book, which describes a cocktail mixing technique known as the Japanese hard shake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pi\u00f1eda-Alfaro helped convince Lee to bring his cocktail mastery to Tokyo Noir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Okonami Corn Dogs at Tokyo Noir in Long Beach, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Initially, Lee agreed to consult and send over a few recipes. But one night, after a few libations, he told Pi\u00f1eda-Alfaro he was in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee previously ran the bar programs at Puzzle Bar in La Mirada and The Wolves in Downtown Los Angeles. At those programs, he made every cocktail ingredient from scratch, including the bitters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Puzzle Bar, Lee said his bartending staff would carve between 100 to 200 ice balls per day to serve in their slew of old fashioned cocktails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Blue Fin Tostada at Tokyo Noir in Long Beach, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Among the staff, he used to hold ice ball carving competitions to see who could craft the fastest ice sphere. The winner came in at around 90 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, Lee averages around four minutes per ice ball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee did have one request for patrons enjoying a drink at Tokyo Noir: don\u2019t let your drink sit too long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou need to have the first sip, and then it’ll evolve as it goes,\u201d he said. \u201cBut you need to, like, taste through that journey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tokyo Noir, 1731 E. Fourth Street, is open from 5 p.m. to midnight on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. <\/i>Reservations<\/i><\/a> are highly encouraged.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They’re serving drinks like the Hibiki Old Fashioned \u2014 served with a hand-carved ice ball \u2014 and the Truffle Fashioned, chilled with an ice diamond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23521,"featured_media":84346,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","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":[167,1230],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32323],"class_list":["post-84365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food","tag-bars","tag-speakeasy","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84365","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\/23521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84365"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84382,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84365\/revisions\/84382"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84365"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=84365"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=84365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}