If Seymour Lazar invited you inside the barroom of his Old Las Palmas hacienda, he might have poured you a gin on the rocks while recounting the tale of one of his copious escapades: Acquiring the latest piece of tribal artwork for his massive collection. His courtship with Maya Angelou. Those times he took LSD with Timothy Leary.
Foundation 10 Creative’s new back-room bar at Mr. Lyons Steakhouse was affectionately named Seymour’s after owner Tara Lazar’s father when it opened in May.
“He was very bohemian,” Lazar says of her father, who passed away in March. A hotshot attorney through the 1950s and ’60s, he represented some of the most recognizable names in Hollywood. Later, he made his mark in the finance scene as an independent trader.
PHOTOS BY EMILY CHAVOUS
At Seymour’s, the new back-room bar at Mr. Lyons Steakhouse, try the Pineapple Tequila Sour, made with Arette reposado tequila, pineapple gomme, fresh lemon, and egg white.
“We have all these spaces at Mr. Lyons, and we didn’t know when we were going to energize which one. I felt like a homage to him would probably be appropriate,” Lazar says.
Set apart from the restaurant’s dining areas — the white-tableclothed “Salon,” relaxed “Conservatory,” private dining room (known as “the PDR”), and swanky “Lounge” — the new bar serves up its own menu of craft cocktails.
F10 beverage director and co-owner of Seymour’s, Steen Bojsen-Møller concocts libations that blend traditional flavors with a nuanced, avant-garde technique. The juices are hand-squeezed and the liquor top-shelf. “With the clientele that’s coming out here, I think it’s time to take it to another level,” he says. “It’s fun to experiment in a micro-environment. … And I think that’s something [we’re] ready for in Palm Springs.”
Seymour’s can hold about 20 people and features seven seats at the bar.
The French 75, typically crafted with Champagne, gin, lemon juice, and a dash of simple syrup — an effervescent aperitif — instead is made with cane sugar and chardonnay. Bojsen-Møller uses a CO2 machine to create the quintessential stream of bubbles and bottles the fizzy beverage in-house. Seymour’s signature cocktail is the “Little Owl,” which pairs rye whiskey with walnut liqueur, amaro, and a homemade IPA syrup.
The plush loungers and seven seat bar holds about 20 people, an ideal size for for an intimate tête-à-tête or quiet nightcap. Step behind the curtains, a few paces past the host desk, and you’ll find it, filled with Seymour’s well-thumbed first edition novels and law texts, and storied works of art.
Mr. Lyons Steakhouse, 233 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, 760-327-1551; www.mrlyonsps.com
VIDEO: Watch F10 beverage director and co-owner of Seymour’s, Steen Bojsen-Møller create a Pineapple Tequila Sour.