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The day Dennis Farina made me a cocktail

This post was originally written in 2015

I was sad to read about the passing of Law and Order actor Dennis Farina this week.

I met him once, 10 years ago. Not that I knew who he was at the time as he hadn’t starred in Law and Order at that stage. In fact he had just won the part and was talking about it. Or at least the people he was with were all going on about it. He’d also been in loads of other stuff, but once I saw him on that, I felt a teeny bit famous.

You see Dennis Farina made me a cocktail at Bar Noir in a small boutique hotel in Beverly Hills, at Maison 140.

Dennis Farina
Dennis Farina. Do you recognise him?

Ironically I was there to write a story for the NZ Herald about stalking celebrities in LA and came away not realising I had.

(You can read my story here if you so desire, My other job is acting, darling)

Instead my story was about the barmaid who told me she was an actor, yet didn’t have an agent. But working in that bar frequented by media moguls and Madonna (she’d been there with Guy Ritchie the night before I arrived) was hopefully going to be her break. I hope it was.

Anyhoo, Dennis came in and we were introduced, as by this stage I was hob nobbing with a few of the regulars in this tiny dimly lit nook of Bar Noir in the very chic French/Asian inspired hotel.

I’d been fascinated by a huge glass flagon with a tap on it filled with vodka and pieces of ginger resting on the bottom. Homemade ginger-infused vodka. Suddenly Denis was behind the bar to let me have a taste and next thing you know I’m sipping a cocktail made for me by a Hollywood star.

Rest in Peace Dennis. And thanks for the drink.

Read my top picks for the best things to do in LA, including the best hotels I’ve ever stayed in (and yes Maison 140 made the list).

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Hi, I'm Megan Singleton and I'm the word slinger of this travel blog as well as on radio in NZ every Sunday. Former Travel Editor at Yahoo NZ and current freelance writer for a few newspapers and mags from time to time, I set off on this travel writing journey 20 years ago and I've pretty much always got a suitcase half packed (or half un-packed!) I'd love you to join me on Facebook or Twitter and sign up for my newsletters if you want loads of travel tips, advice and deals!