Down the Rabbit Hole in Vallarta
Friends are arriving from Canada tomorrow – both Patrice and I will be happy to see them, share some shows, foodie news and maybe intice them to pop into Vallarta’s latest Speakeasy for an amazing cocktail.
White Rabbit Lie is the creation of Andrea Wranik and her son, Chris, who moved from Las Vegas to live in Vallarta. They also brought a lot of Vegas pizazz.
Patrice and I stood across the street and looked over at the brightly lit ‘White Rabbit Laundry.’ The address was correct – 701 Morelos, and I knew White Rabbit Lie was the proper name of the bar, so they had to be connected, but my brain was thrown off by the incongruity of it all.
Where the hell is the door??? Found it and tried this latch and that knob to no avail. Pushed and pulled every lever and nothing worked. After a hot minute of ‘should I stay or should I go,’ the door swung open, and with a cheerful, Cheshire Cat grin on her face, Andrea let us in to the soundproof, dark but inviting space.
Rob and Sunny Rossi were sitting close to the door on a long banquette with a view of the stage and the rest of the bar; the best seats in the house, and we happily joined them and Lupe Patterson and Selena Luna, who were on the other side of Sunny from us. The conversation was linear and centered primarily on the list of cocktails that we, as invited guests, were there to test-drive, so to speak(easy… I coudn’t resist). With classic Alice in Wonderland-theme names, like ‘Through the Looking Glass’ and ‘Mad Tea Twist,’ we started with flutes of champagne and eschewing the gin, chose a couple of other drinks, but when Patrice ordered a simple ‘Old Fashioned’, and let us all give it a sip, the bartender was busy making us all one! OMG, it was delicious!
The dancers, choreographed by Andrea, whose parents were both professionals, were extremely well-rehearsed and comfortable with one another. Lots of hip hop with Latin numbers sprinkled in to make the repertoire interesting and varied.
The decor is fascinating, with parts of the ceiling dressed up as heaven, very cool wall lamps that resemble the coasters, and tables with chairs that mimic suits in a deck of cards.
The sound system is fabulous with zero leakage into the front entrance. Just know you will be fooled, and know too that on the other side of the baffling door is a closed-circuit camera with a rescuer in wait to take you by the hand and gently lead you down the rabbit hole, and see if you get larger or smaller with the signature cocktails of White Rabbit Lie.
Going to the Living Room Bookstore’s new location in 5 de diciembre tomorrow morning for coffee and some nibblies and to pick up some used books. I know owner Madeline Milne will have some cool things for sale mixed in with the bestsellers on her shelves. See you again at the crack of tomorrow.