Ultra-seasonal, wildly inventive chef Matthew Biancaniello from Eat Your Drink is half Italian and half Greek and draws from both backgrounds—and so many more—when building cocktails and bites. He earned early acclaim at the bygone Library Bar in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel before hosting roving pop-ups across L.A. The devastating 2018 Woolsey Fire closed his 12-seat Mon-Li tasting bar in Malibu right after it launched. The sudden loss briefly left him in a “psychological coma,” he says, but prepared him for another colossal challenge: COVID-19.
Mon Li “was something I dreamed about for five years and put six months of work into, to only be open for a month,” Biancaniello says. “Everything was kind of at a standstill because we waited, thinking that power would be restored and then we could start rebuilding. That never happened, so I had to move on. When the pandemic started, I didn’t even hesitate this time.”
Matthew Biancaniello. Credit: Robert Cortez
Biancaniello had 500 empty bottles and labels delivered within a week and immediately started selling bottled cocktails ($100 for 4-5 servings) via pick-up and delivery. “Because I took advantage of that momentum early, I had a very successful year,” he says. “Not perfect. Not to full capacity, but I was able to take care of myself, provide for my family, do things, thrive, and also evolve my craft.”
He continues to offer bottled cocktails like the guava and curry leaf Old Fashioned and stinging nettle-infused bourbon with fresh grapefruit juice. He also provides bottled omakase: "Tell me the flavors that you like and let me create something for you," he says is philosophy. Complementary bites span the globe, including Italy.
When the pandemic hit, private parties — his “main bread and butter” — went away. Biancaniello did complete a consulting job with Akasha restaurant in Culver City last summer, which included hosting pop-ups on Akasha Richmond’s socially distanced back patio. He calls that experience a “great saving grace.” He also planned to open a bar in Tokyo last year, timed with the Olympics, and that is now very much up in the air, though he remains excited about the opportunity.
Now that Biancaniello is vaccinated and COVID-19 finally appears under control in Los Angeles, he resumed catering private parties and recently opened his Westside home to deluxe tasting menus that he personally prepares. Two to four guests per night ($200 suggested donation per person) get to experience 14-16 courses of liquids and solids at his kitchen island or in an outdoor space.
He also has two bottling projects in the works. Biancaniello collaborated with The Spirit Guild on persimmon brandy that fermented 2,000 pounds of hachiya persimmons and distilled it in DTLA’s Arts District, yielding 225 bottles. He’s also working with the actress, talk show host, and private party devotee Sara Gilbert on bottled infusions that synthesize his seasonal delights for the masses.
Biancaniello’s mother has roots in Greece, and he mainly explored that part of his heritage growing up. His father’s side of the family is from Nusco, Italy, a small town east of Naples. He didn’t know his Italian family very well, but his New York-born father would share stories about his parents, some centering on the dinner table. Biancaniello says, “Dipping bread in their sauce on Sunday, that was like the biggest compliment.” His late father went on to become a very good cook, becoming best known for sauces and lamb.
Biancaniello got his first taste of “real Italian food” on a summer trip to Rome and Florence with his family at age 16. That’s where he first enjoyed fettuccine Alfredo and thin-crust pizzas that were a world away from his neighborhood pizza parlor near Boston. He was “hooked forever.” His appreciation for Italian food blossomed in his twenties after moving to New York City to work as an actor. Italian food was so prevalent that he says he “couldn’t avoid it.” Biancaniello quickly grew to love dishes like risotto with mushrooms, veal chops, and tiramisù.
“When I started making cocktails, for some reason, all the Italian stuff started to come out,” Biancaniello says. Last Tango in Modena, Italian Greyhound, and Roquette have become three of his Italian-inspired classics.
The Roquette is a wild arugula gimlet that Biancaniello describes as “very dear to my heart… It goes really well with food, and it’s the only drink in my whole career that I’ve never altered.” He found inspiration for this drink after finding micro arugula in the Hollywood Roosevelt walk-in fridge. “I would take one ingredient and do it with either gin or tequila to start, see how that is on its own,” he says. Then I would build from there.”
To make the Roquette, he muddles lime juice with agave (for viscosity) before adding wild arugula and gin. He prefers spicy arugula rustica from Windrose Farm in Paso Robles. Biancaniello garnishes with arugula flowers when they’re available and blue borage flowers — which “taste like a cross between an oyster and a cucumber” and have vivid color that contrasts with green drink — when they’re not.
Biancaniello first developed an Italian Greyhound by balancing Campari (“too bitter”) and Aperol (“too sweet”) with a surprising ingredient. “When you mix those spirits with passion fruit, it’s like grapefruit,” he says. The flavor reminded him of a Greyhound, but with Italian spirits. Now he adds either gin or vodka, depending on each drinker’s preference, and serves it over nugget ice with Windrose Farm smoked grapefruit slices and spicy stewed Calabrian chiles.
Last Tango in Modena arose from a lightbulb moment that revealed some basic cocktail realizations. “A daiquiri’s rum, lime, and sugar,” Biancaniello says. “If I take out the rum and put in tequila, it’s a margarita. If I take out rum and put gin, it’s a gimlet. If I put mint, it’s a mojito. That became my blueprint for a very long time.” Last Tango in Modena broke the rules, replacing citrus and simple syrup with aged balsamic vinegar. This is also the first time he made foam, inspired by a conversation with fellow bartender Vincenzo Marianella, who suggested egg whites and warned against St. Germain. Biancaniello recalls, “I’m going to do it with St. Germain because I’ve never seen it.” He did and created a hit.
He breaks up his tasting menu with a jolt from Cappelletti and blood orange granita, garnished with bronze fennel or red shiso and served in orange “cups.”
Biancaniello has also become known for experimental infusions. In the past, he’s served Parmesan-infused vermouth and currently submerges Manchego in Dolin Blanc, vermouth that straddles the line between dry and sweet. He currently tops the taster with “very Italian” fig nocino that he made last year.
Italy also influences some dishes he serves on his tasting menu. He makes crudo, sourcing ahi from Wild Local Seafood, a farmers market favorite that’s based in Ventura. “I love crudo, and I’m not a Japanese sushi chef, so I’m thinking about how to utilize this in a very simple way,” Biancaniello says. He dresses ruby hued fish with Maldon sea salt, olive oil, crushed red pepper, grapefruit zest, and sometimes walnut oil. To add “zing,” he finishes by dripping either ume plum vinegar or white balsamic infused with roasted Poblano chiles.
The building blocks for Biancaniello’s tiramisù are recognizable, including espresso, ladyfingers, and mascarpone-based sabayon enriched with eggs and sugar. However, he takes the creamy Italian dessert in new directions. “People put different wines in the espresso,” he says. Recipes often call for Marsala wine, rum, brandy, or coffee liquor. He infuses sherry with candy cap mushrooms, which impart a distinctive maple quality. Biancaniello often shaves dark chocolate on top, though he did substitute black and white truffles for the holidays.
In the future, Biancaniello is planning a pop-up in Berlin with Roberto Cortez. “I might be more interested in doing pop-ups around the world, kind of like what Noma did, but not as long and not as intense,” he says. “Maybe go to different countries for a month and spend two weeks before putting the menu together using local stuff and running for two weeks. That would be a cool dream of mine.”
In the meantime, his home-akase tasting menus have ”been extremely fulfilling and get back to the roots of Mon Li, which is what I always wanted to do,” he says. “I don’t really see myself heading back to any restaurants, at least here, any time soon.”