As we push toward celebrating Long Beach Food Scene: Last Call—a 10-day, multi-event celebration of our city’s rich bar culture and the people who make it happen—we will offer a series of features that highlight everything from our most stellar cocktail programs at restaurants to to the very events occurring (like this feature on Chez Bacchus on DTLB)… All in order to lift a glass to a social and economic driver that rarely receives the love its deserves: our bar industry. For more information on Long Beach Last Call, tap here.
Oh, Hennessy. Or, more properly, Henny. Whether it is at a Cambodian wedding—where you’ll find a bottle sitting at the center of your table when celebrating at Hak Heang—or the backyard cookout, Hennessy is a cognac that has come to define a form of celebration for many Long Beach communities.
That is why, for Long Beach Last Call 2025, Downtown Long Beach’s Chez Bacchus will hosting a Hennessy tasting event that will include a welcome cocktail and three tastings of the famed cognac.
So what is this tasting at Chez Bacchus all about?
Come Thursday, March 6, from 6PM to 7PM, guests will experience multiple iterations of the cognac—VS, VSOP, XO—while learning the history from one of its lead ambassadors, Matt Ellingson. Even more, this celebrates Chez Bacchus’s newly minted full-liquor license—so attendees are encouraged to stay for cocktail specials or even dinner.
“At the tasting, I plan on giving a full history of this special, special liquid. And that’s from 2025 back to 1765,” Matt said. “I just ask that people come with open hearts and palates as we get the chance to experience, truly, history in a glass.”
Tickets are $35 and include tastings and a welcome cocktail with small bites.
A bit of the story behind Chez Bacchus…
It is impossible to separate Chez Bacchus from its affable, knowledgeable owner and manager, John Hansen. Kind and a master of hospitality, John opened Chez Bacchus nearly three years ago in a time where the idea of a white-dining-cloth space seemed not just difficult to cultivate but an outright dying breed of restaurant going. With Executive Chef Danny Kay leading the culinary side, Chez Bacchus has cemented itself as not just an elevated option but a community cog as well.
That dichotomy should not feel strange: It is not odd—at any time in the late afternoon of any given day—to find John sitting down, ironing black napkins and folding them before dinner service. Not just for me but for his employees and patrons alike, it is a welcomed, familiar reflection of the man’s humbleness and dedication to the Chez Bacchus space.
Wait–you mention Long Beach Last Call 2025. What is it?
Long Beach Food Scene: Last Call—or Long Beach Last Call 2025 if you wanna keep it simple—returns March 1 and run through March 10 with a series of events on each day that celebrates the city’s rich bar culture, community, and its workers. From industry-only and unlimited tastings events to cocktail contests and proper Irish coffee lessons, Long Beach Last Call will continue to be the premiere event celebrating Long Beach’s bar and cocktail culture.
After the success of my restaurant in 2023, Long Beach Food Scene Week, bar owners and tenders rightfully asked: “What about a week for us?” So I decided to oblige and present Long Beach Last Call last year, a ten-day long celebration of Long Beach’s amazing bar culture, it’s even more amazing workers, and the industry that often goes without recognition as one of our city’s largest economic and social drivers. And thousands of people proudly showed up. With the alcohol industry going through a roller-coaster of layoffs and rearrangements—from brands leaving distribution companies to brand representation shrinking nationwide—now is the time more than ever to support these incredible people.
Hence, Long Beach Last Call 2025. And Chez Bacchus is a part of that—so go order a drink.
Chez Bacchus is located at 743 E. 4th St. The “Sincerely, Hennessy” tasting will take place on Thursday, Mar. 6, from 6PM to 7PM. Tickets are available here.
