Friday, December 6, 2024

Miracle at The Ordinarie returns to Downtown Long Beach with new drinks (Christmasaurus mug included)

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Miracle at The Ordinarie has officially returned to Downtown Long Beach, bringing SanTaRex, Christmasaurus, Krampus, lights, booze, and plenty of holiday cheer.

An annual tradition over five years in the running, owners Christy and Jaime Caldwell could very well call themselves the bearer of bringing the holidays to Long Beach. Nearly every inch of its interior space is covered: From retro, reflective red, silver, green, blue, pink, and gold tinsel to white and multi-colored lights to wrapping paper-wrapped frames to presents to nods to “Christmas Vacation” and “A Christmas Story,” it is a happily overwhelming, over-the-top and excessive in every significant way imaginable, including the holiday libations.

With a new no-reservations-accepted-after-3PM policy—“It was the reservations that were truly holding up everything last year,” Christy said, noting that reservations are now only accepted between 11:30AM and 3PM—and an earlier start day (today), this year is proving to be the space’s biggest.

miracle at the ordinarie
Miracle at The Ordinarie takes Christmas decorating to another level. Photos by Brian Addison.

Miracle at The Ordinarie is truly a family and communal effort—all led by Mrs. Claus

In the span of just a few days, Christy and Jaime deck out The Ordinarie. And, of course, with help from everyone ranging from Jaime’s parents to trusted patrons to myself and My Dude (of which both of us have happily added the effort to part of our annual holiday traditions).

It is a strategic-meets-creative endeavor where boxes upon boxes are brought in from storage along with any new purchases. And the leader of it all? Jaime. Unquestionably. “Make no mistake,” Christy told me last year, “the real person who makes Miracle look the way it looks is my wife.”

miracle at the ordinarie
Miracle at The Ordinarie. Photos by Brian Addison.

And Jaime has long understood the assignment: Miracle is kitschy as all kooky hell, outright overwhelming, and overwhelmingly over-decorated—and that’s the point. Pure sensory overload with a lack of gravity—but not to the point where it looks outright disorganized. There’s an art to the excessiveness and it has made Miracle at The Ordinarie the par example for holiday bars.

“There really is only one starting point: Getting the framed photos and posters and paintings covered in wrapping paper and getting the lights up,” Jaime said. “After that, it’s picking a specific task and going all in on it. Tinsel. Ornaments. Snowflakes. Table wraps. And then, filling in all the holes.”

miracle at the ordinarie
Miracle at The Ordinarie has it’s own little disco ball. Photos by Brian Addison.

Long Beach is becoming a ‘holiday bar Mecca’—and we’re here for it, thanks to The Ordinarie.

In the words of Baby Gee bar co-owner Daniel Flores, The Ordinarie brought in the inspiration to turn Long Beach into a “holiday bar Mecca.” ANd we’re here for it. When it comes to Christmas decorations, it directly inspired Bamboo Club’s annual “Tinsel Club” tradition, Port City Tavern’s own holiday get-down, Broken Spirits Distillery’s “Nightmare Before Christmas” takeover, and Baby Gee’s upcoming holiday blow-out. (More on that soon.)

And with that, the idea of holidays taking over bars began. Take a glance at this year’s onslaught of Halloween-themed cocktail menus alone. The Bamboo Club became the Treble Club. Port City went naughtical horror. The Social List honored some of Hollywood’s definitive monsters. The Stache bar stepped into the spooky season for the first time with its “Nightmare on 4th Street” menu.

Rather than being deterred by some false sense of oversaturation, businesses are owning Long Beach’s love of the holidays. But let’s be honest: no one goes quite as all out as The Ordinarie—which I take as a communal challenge.

miracle at the ordinarie
The chicken pot pie bites from The Ordinarie.

Before we get to the boozin’, a reminder: The food at Miracle will be just as awesome.

10,000. That is the number of chicken pot pie bites that were sold during Miracle’s season last year alone—and yes, you can expect that and more from Chef Nick DiEugenio.

What to expect? For small plates: Barely soup. Popovers. Mac’n’cheese. Wings. Loaded fries. Holiday Brussels sprouts. Two salads—one beet, one baby gem. For sandwiches: French dip. Fried chicken sandwich. And the absurdly awesome Ordinarie burger.

miracle at the ordinarie
The Ordinarie burger. Photo by Brian Addison.

And for the mains, a Christmas duck dish decked out with duck confit and an orange-cranberry glaze. It is served with Brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes, and candied maple bacon walnuts. There’s also a holiday ham dinner that has that same glaze, mashed potatoes, and walnuts.

If you’re feeling sweet, there’s a Gingerbread sundae.

There are two entirely new concoctions coming to Miracle at The Ordinarie this year.

miracle at the ordinarie
Photos by Brian Addison.

Santa Slide: Whiskey liqueur | Cream sherry | Dark creme de cacao | Dry orange cruaçao | Caramalized orange | Cream | Mole bitters | Orange chocolate

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miracle at the ordinarie
Photos by Brian Addison.

Christmasaurus: Pineapple rum | Mezcal | Velvet falernum | Apricot liqueur | Lime | Coconut milk | Toasted cumin | Coffee and pineapple syrup |} Aromatic bitters

And a look at some of the other drinks (and yes, the decorative mugs are available for purchase).

Looking to buy a mug? Hop on it: They perpetually sell out early each year—though this year, they will have a merchandise counter that allows you to skip the line if you’re not eating or drinking.


miracle at the ordinarie
Photos by Brian Addison.

The Krampus: Reposado tequila | Oloroso sherry | All-spice dram | Mezcal | Ginger | Hibiscus | Lime | Hellfire bitters


miracle at the ordinarie
Photo by Brian Addison.

Snowball Old Fashioned: Rye whiskey | Gingerbread | Aromatic & wormwood bitters | Orange essence


miracle at the ordinarie
Photos by Brian Addison.

Stocking Stuffer: Bourbon | Pedro XimĂ©nez sherry | Amaro | Cinnamon syrup | Iced “hot” chocolate | Aromatic bitters | Marshmallow


miracle at The Ordinarie
Photos by Brian Addison.

Yippee Ki Yay Mother F****r!: Barbados rum | Rhum agricole | Trinidad overproof rum | Ube and coconut orgeat | Acid-adjusted pineapple juice


miracle at the ordinarie
Photo by Brian Addison.

Crooked Antler: Brandy | Ruby port | Vanilla liqueur | Hazelnut liqueur | Chestnut orgeat | Lapsang tea | Acid-adjusted orange | Aromatic bitters | Nutmeg | Peated whiskey spritz


miracle at The Ordinarie
Photo by Brian Addison.

Rudolph’s Replacement: Vodka | Coffee liqueur | White creme de cacao | Orange curaçao | Chair syrup | Almond milk | Aromatic bitters


The Ordinarie is located at 210 The Promenade N. For more information on Miracle at The Ordinarie, click here.

Brian Addison
Brian Addisonhttp://www.longbeachize.com
Brian Addison has been a writer, editor, and photographer for more than 15 years, covering everything from food and culture to transportation and housing. In 2015, he was named Journalist of the Year by the Los Angeles Press Club and has since garnered 30 nominations and three additional wins. In 2019, he was awarded the Food/Culture Critic of the Year across any platform at the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards. He has since been nominated in that category every year, joining fellow food writers from the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Eater, the Orange County Register, and more.

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