“Why is this night different from all other nights?” That’s one of the Ma Nishtana (four questions) that people recite from the Haggadah at Seders across the world. While plenty of Jewish people were celebrating Passover with family and friends in Los Angeles, I was at Paiche for the first of two FOOD & WINE Best New Chef Dinners. The first dinner co-starred Peruvian born chef Ricardo Zarate and Portland based Naomi Pomeroy. The evening’s bartending crew was nearly as prestigious. Steve Livigni and Pablo Moix are longtime collaborators at bars like La Descarga, Pour Vous and Harvard & Stone. Livigni and Moix worked alongside Paiche bar manager Deysi Alvarez and Pour Vous bartender Devon Espinosa.

Pablo Moix ensured the night would be different at Paiche by breaking out some special bottles for their cocktails. Select vintage pours included a full case of Seagram’s V.O. Whisky, which they featured in an Old Fashioned. The nearly 50-year-old whisky elevated the alchemy of muddled sugar, bitters, and complementary citrus peel. The vanilla notes were pronounced, and the cocktail was seriously smooth. A cocktail that incorporates a 49-year-old spirit isn’t quite as rare as a Halley’s Comet sighting, but the spirited effect was still cosmic.