Apothéke

Apothéke opened its Los Angeles outpost in Chinatown in 2018, after founder Christopher Tierney spent more than two years hunting for the right site for a West Coast version of his New York bar. The room is the reason to go even before the drinks arrive: sconces made from scientific boiling flasks hold infused herbal tinctures that glow in the lamplight, and the rest is a Biedermeier-revival fantasy of ornate wooden furniture, velvet cushions, cascading velvet curtains and tufted wallpaper, with a glowing forty-inch marble bar at the centre. Its whole conceit is medicinal — cocktails are grouped as cures for what ails you, from stress relievers and stimulants to painkillers and euphorics. Head mixologist Nick O'Connor described the local intent at opening: in Los Angeles, juice culture and tonics and wellness are big, and their approach has always been to blend those worlds. It opens Thursday to Sunday evenings only, encourages sophisticated attire, and has paid parking on Naud Street behind the building.

Our previous entry needs correcting on two counts. We listed The Healer and The Baron's Cure as its non-alcoholic drinks; neither is on the current zero-proof menu, and The Baron's Cure now appears on the main list as a fully alcoholic cocktail built on milk-washed bourbon, cognac and overproof dark rum — not something to order expecting zero proof. And we described the bar as one where any cocktail can be made as a mocktail. That was the arrangement a reviewer found in early 2025, when there was no printed alcohol-free list and the bartender simply built to taste. It has since been formalised: there is now a printed Free-Spirited List of eight drinks, headed with the note that ingredients are house-made daily using organic produce, herbs and botanicals. Four are Elixirs, built on medicinal teas rather than spirits — ashwagandha with guarana, orange, turmeric, ginger and honey; schisandra with pineapple, aloe, cayenne and cider vinegar; dandelion root with green apple, aloe and mint; milk thistle with grapefruit, hemp milk and cayenne. The other four are Tonics on named non-alcoholic spirits, including one built entirely on Pentire's Adrift botanical with its Coastal Spritz aperitif, grapefruit, lime and sage. No prices are printed on the menu, so ask. The hemp milk in Elixir #4 is a seed-based plant milk, not a cannabis product.