A passion project of Honeymooners Bartender Alonso Palomino and now wife Gabriela León, Lady Bee is a small bar located in the heart of Miraflores tourist area; the name comes from two classic cocktails, The Lady and the Bee’s Knees.
Lady Bee space can host 25 people in an open-door area, the bar has no bottles or brands on the back, just equipment and glassware, books, and decorations, and that tells a lot of what you can find; the bar is not married to a specific brand, a very bold statement on the cocktail industry.
The cocktail menu has 20 cocktails designed by Alonso; each one uses local produce, with commercial or non-commercial brands, prepared in batches during the day so they are ready to pour on service. These cocktails allow you to understand the land you are in and enjoy different fruits, plants, and local spirits.
What to order
There are a few musts on the menu, The Lady Bee, a homonymous cocktail with Gin, Amazonian honey from Gabriela’s family farm, citrus leaves, and flowery tonic water. The Coffee Negroni uses a cold brew by Ciclos café, gin, and a house blend of vermouth and Campari. Or the three sips martini, which has gin, cherry, no ill prat, olives, trout caviar, and pearl onion.
On the Nonalcoholic side, everything is off-menu. However, Alonso is always offering a new option of really complex nonalcoholic drinks using fruits, bark, plants, and fermented products; these are also a MUST.
Lady Bee has a small kitchen where Gabriela runs her magic to pair the cocktails, an ever-changing menu designed by her, food is tasty and well executed, also using locally sourced products, from small farmer’s cheese plates to fresh seafood and homemade baked goods like their brioche with mussels, and maybe if you are in luck, you will be able to taste the sea urchin doughnut. This fried dough is filled with cream of today’s catch of Urchin.
The Feeling
The sound and lighting go in hand with the experience, soft light, and a background soundtrack that helps you to interact with your friends while enjoying food and drinks; Alejandra, Gabriela’s sister, runs the service on quite an old-school tough hand; she keeps everything working as a tight machine. Servers and bartenders are great with the public.
Reservations are advised on Lady Bee, it will be easily packed every day, they run two rounds and sometimes three on each day, come on time and get ready to splurge into one of the best use of Peruvian produce in cocktails nowadays.
POP-UPS
Lady Bee has frequent collaborations with other international bars; Alonso was part of last year’s Central Pop-Up in Singapore called MASL, and now his bar serves as a channel to bring bartenders from all over the world, the most recent Scarfes of London and Martiny’s from New York. And they also travel frequently to different cities, like Santiago (Chile) for Clase Maestra, or Sao Paulo (Brasil) for a Pop-Up on Tan-Tan or Liquor Store.
IN THE KNOW: Lady Bee is located on the 329 of Ernesto Diez Canseco Ave. Miraflores District | Open hours from Tuesday to Thursday from 5 pm to 11:30 pm | Friday and Saturdays with extended service until 2 am. Reservations are recommended via Meitre. Avrg price 14 USD cocktail, 12 USD food plate.
