Destination: Cocktail: Japanese Maple @ The Roger Room

The tiny Roger Room on La Cienega Boulevard with its ultra worn speak-easy feel is a place where true cocktail aficionados go to get their drink fix. The menu is filled with creative concoctions that play with classic recipes before departing into unexpected worlds of flavor guided by fresh, local ingredients and modern appeal. Bartender Damian Windsor lords over the aged wooden bar like a bespectacled madman with a shaker — always off to the next new cocktail idea in his head, he is quick to voice his opinion on spirits and even quicker to pour a fine drink. One of his favorites is the Japanese Maple. Japanese whiskey, lemon, pure maple syrup and frothed egg white align in a smooth balance of taste and feeling worthy of a Zen way of life.

Japanese Maple by Damian Windsor

1 1/2 ounces Yamazaki whiskey

3/4 ounce lemon juice

1/2 ounce maple syrup

3/4 ounce egg white

Add ice to a tin, then add all the ingredients. Shake well and strain into a chilled cocktail goblet. Spritz with a 50/50 mixture of Bacardi 151 Rum and Angostura bitters.

The Roger Room, 370 N. La Cienega Blvd., L.A. (310) 854-1300.

—Jessica Gelt