Farm-fresh, unique cocktails in Santa Monica

Choose Your Own Adventure tomes let you pick your path through worlds of time travel, spaceship battles, and the day-to-day of a monster, in the timeless You Are a Monster. Now that you're growns up, and've damn near forgotten how to read, it's time for a CYO Alcohol Adventure, at Copa d'Oro, opening tonight

Darkly lit, mid-sized, and Old World-detailed (tiled floors, exposed brick, candlelit booths), Copa's a menu-less cocktail emporium dedicated to making exclusive-to-you drinks, helmed by a former Providence 'tender. Barkeeps're expertly trained to pinpoint your poison by querying on things like basic taste (sweet/sour/bitter), fruity (orange, mango, blackberry, etc)/not (not), and obviously, base booze; you can also just order your go-to, and blow these cocktail savants' minds when you get "just a splash" of soda in your Grey Goose. Ingredients're fresh from the Santa Monica Farmer's Market, from fruits to rosemary and wasabi, as well as specialty juices (pomegranate, pear, etc) and sodas (Granny Smith apple, raspberry); there are also select drafts, like Old Speckled Hen and Maudite dark ale, made in Canada, Belgian-style, because Canada-style anything always has too much Bryan Adams aftertaste

To soak up the drunkenness, Copa's got a five-panini menu: ham & cheese, tuna melt, turkey BLT, Nutella, and PB&J, all creating another harrowing dilemma from your youth -- cut it diagonally, or shaft the yeti once again?!?