Sidling up to the bar at newly opened Hatfield’s: More elbow room (plus a cocktail recipe for the Chimayo)

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Hatfield’s opened Monday on Melrose Avenue: The white tablecloths, the toques worn by chef-owner Quinn Hatfield’s kitchen staff, the tasting menus and painterly plating might indicate fine dining, but at the bar one can kick back to the not-too-loud emo rock and enjoy a cocktail or three.

The new Hatfield’s is twice the size of the former Hatfield’s on Beverly Boulevard, including an enclosed patio, private dining room and the full bar, complete with lounge seating. (You may have flashbacks of Meson G, the restaurant that was in the same space before it was transformed into the more recent Red Pearl.) At the minuscule bar at the previous Hatfield’s, there was barely enough room to lift one’s martini glass.

Now, along with Quinn Hatfield’s California-French menu and his wife Karen’s desserts, there are cocktails created by the general manager and beverage director, Peter Birmingham (of Norman’s, Il Grano and Pourtal) -- and plenty of space in which to drink them. Originals include a rouge-y version of a caipirinha with cachaça, orancello, grapefruit and a little pomegranate juice. On the list of classics is a Vesper (‘stirred, not shaken’) made with Monopolowa vodka, Plymouth gin and Lillet. Among Birmingham’s seasonal drinks is a tangy, agave-tinged cocktail called the Chimayo: Arette Blanco Suave, Cointreau, cassis and fresh apple and lemon juices. (See the recipe after the jump.)

And there are bar snacks, including crispy sous-vide chicken tenders with paprika honey sauce (called chick en nuggets); soft-scrambled eggs with braised pork belly and fried oysters; beet-cured fluke (looks like tuna!) with herbed yogurt, pickled shallots and rye chips; shots of carrot ginger soup; twice-fried fries; and deviled quail eggs with smoked trout.

There is just one thing missing thus far: bar hooks.

6703 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, (323) 935-2977, www.hatfieldsrestaurant.com.

-- Betty Hallock

Chimayo

From Peter Birmingham. Makes 1 cocktail.

2 ounces tequila blanco (such as Herradura silver or Arette Blanco Suave)

1/2 ounce Cointreau

1 teaspoon Creme de Cassis

1 ounce raw apple juice

1/2 ounce lemon juice

Lemon wheel for garnish

In a cocktail shaker with ice, add the tequila, Cointreau, cassis and apple and lemon juices. Shake hard for at least 30 seconds and strain into a martini glass, served up. Garnish with the lemon wheel.