Some restaurants are turning to high-priced consultants to bolster their cocktail programs. Cafe Pinot General Manager Brian Cousins looked next door to the library. The Los Angeles Public Library downtown flagship has one of the largest culinary collections in the country. When Cousins isn’t on the restaurant floor, you can probably find him in the stacks studying culinary history and recipe hunting. His efforts resulted in a list of nine French-inspired cocktails. Cousins makes Avec Monsieur with dry vermouth, dark cassis and lemon soda. Le Baisé features gin, St. Germain, blood orange, and a lemon squeeze. Cocktails cost $10 each and $7 per cocktail on Thursday evenings.

To end July, Cousins and Executive Chef Kevin Meehan also plan to launch a “Cooking the Masters” series at Café Pinot. They’ll base monthly specials on recipes by industry giants like Julia Child and Alain Ducasse. They plan to feature one chef per month and hold special dinners and cooking classes. This will help to promote the library’s collection and offer Cafe Pinot diners something special.