Alcademics.com

Joel Baker to Take On Tres Tequila Lounge in San Francisco

Joel Baker, formerly a bar manager at Bourbon & Branch and Burritt Room, will be taking over the bar program at Tres Tequila Lounge & Mexican Kitchen in San Francisco, the bar/restaurant formerly known as Tres Agaves. 

 

Image stolen from Tres website

 

Most of the plans are still a bit nebulous and we shouldn't expect to see any changes until early March, but Baker told me he'd look into expanding the tequila program into other agave spirits including adding more mezcal and sotol. They'll begin serving tequila shots with a choice of sangrita chasers in red or green as well.

He'll also work on staff education and take some time getting up to speed himself on their huge tequila selection. Baker does plan to expand the cocktail menu, keeping on classics like the margarita (of course), La Paloma, Batanga, etc. and adding a half dozen or so house cocktails. He'll also be putting a few non-tequila drinks on the menu, meant to pair with the restaurant's food. 

I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store. 

A Look at The Ice Cream Bar in San Francisco

The Ice Cream Bar opens Saturday, January 21 in San Francisco. I popped in last night for a preview. 

A bunch of jerks! (Soda jerks, that is.)

The beverage program is run by Russell Davis, formerly of Bourbon & Branch, and the program is based around Fix the Pumps, the recent book on soda fountains by Darcy O'Neil. 

The menu is split into Frappes & Floats, Crushes, Malts & Milkshakes, Phosphates, Panacea (a tonic), Lactarts, and Classics. There is also a list of fountain syrups and house-made extracts to flavor sodas. 

 

The physical soda fountain is from the 1930s and Davis says he had to tune it to get it working right. The soda water dispenser releases cooled soda water at a specific temperature, and has two settings for fine or course streams. The fine stream is used to froth the soda at the end of the pour. 

The glasses for the sodas have to be cold, as otherwise it kills the bubbles. Thus they won't be able to serve these drinks to go. (I forsee long lines here.) They serve drinks without straws for the most part, as these affect the flavor of the drink. 

I started with a root beer soda that was heavenly. It's made with real sassafras tincture. 

Then I had a chocolate phosphate, which tastes like carbonated chocolate milk. 

 

 Then I had the best Root Beer Float evarrr.

 

Other diners had the Pistachio Milkshake. Milkshakes and Malts here are hand-shaken in a cocktail shaker with milk, eggs, and hand-carved ice.

 

Fun Fact: Maria Hunt's mother used to work at a soda fountain.

 And they'll be serving ice cream, and hot dogs and such from another counter. 

There are plans in the future (if/when they get their beer/wine licensce) to serve Angostura Phosphates, plus custom mineral waters. 

This place is awesome. Join their Facebook group here.

 

New Cocktail Program at Sherry-Centric Gitane in SF

Gitane restaurant has a lovely bar with a sherry-centric cocktail program. It was originally designed by Dominic Venegas and later handled by Alex Smith, who recently left to open Honor Bar in Emeryville. 

The new and slightly simplified menu is the work of lead barman Ramon Garcia, with some aid from Neyah White (formerly of NOPA).

Vinegar lovers should be thrilled to see the Sherry Shrub back on a menu. 

SHERRY SHRUB
barbadillo manzanilla sherry,seasonal house shrub, lemon peel 

BOOTHBY
cava, bourbon, sweet vermouth,angostura bitters 

LA PERLA
reposado tequila, manzanilla sherry,pear liqueur 

SMOKED PALOMINO
crema de mezcal,amontillado sherry, grapefruit & lime, soda water

DOBLÓN
yamazaki 12 yr, fino sherry, fresh lemon,honey syrup

JENIBRE SMASH
dry sack sherry, canton liqueur,lemon juice, mint 

MARTINEZ gin, sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur, orange bitters 

CAIPIRINHA CON MORAS
cachaca, dash px sherry, berries, fresh lime, sugar, nutmeg 

BAMBOO COCKTAIL
amontilladio sherry, dry vermouth, angostura bitters

SEASONAL SANGRIA
red wine, assorted fruits,orange liqueur, apple juice, cinnamon

SAFFRA
gin, saffron, honey syrup, lemon, thyme,orange blossom water

LA RENZA
vodka, elderflower & pear liqueur,maraschino, lemon, peychauds bitters

 

Bar Visit: The Hotsy Totsy Club in Albany, California

Last week I finally made it to the Hotsy Totsy Club in the East Bay. I've been hearing a lot about this bar mostly from its (mostly female) bartenders who've been kicking butt in cocktail competitions in San Francisco. 

The bar has been around since 1939 but looks shiny and new with a pressed tin ceiling and great colored lighting. It's just one small room with a bar on one side and tall communal tables in front of it. There's a tabletop shuffleboard game and a jukebox that plays 45s. The selection was pretty random, playing punk rock and disco. 

Of the four bars I visited on a Wednesday after New Years the Hotsy Totsy was by far the busiest. The crowd was young and casual-hip (Fernet hoodies) and I'm glad there are smoking laws as you get the impression that it would be an impenetrable cloud in there. 

The drink program is progressive- they have Kold Draft ice, a bottled cocktail, cinnamon-infused vermouth, and a secret eggnog recipe. 

I'm not sure how it all came together out in the East Bay, but Hotsy Totsy is a special place to make stubborn urbanites like me a *little* bit jealous that we don't live nearby. 

Bar Visit: Prizefighter in Emeryville

East Bay bar week continues! Last week I visited Prizefighter in Emeryville. 

Prizefighter is a clean and casual new bar in Everyville unfortunately not very accessible via public transportation. The space is split into three open areas.

There is the bar area with stools in front (and outlets beneath the bar for you to charge your phone while drinking!):

A middle lounge-type room with some softer seating:

And a larger room that holds a communal table and the tabletop shuffleboard game. 

There's also a small outdoor patio with heat lamps. 

As I wrote before, the main focus of this bar is on "Sessionability: The ability of a beverage to be both delicious and highly drinkable in great quantities while leaving the imbiber lifted but not legless." Thus, many of the drinks are lower in alcohol than at urban speakeasy-type bars. 

There is a section of the menu for "patio drinks" available by the pitcher or as singles, as well as "soda fountain" drinks and a couple of non-alcoholic shrubs, plus punchbowls.

There is also a large selection of mezcal - 16 bottles by my count - and in general the spirits selection is excellent. 

Casual but not dumpy, great drinks whether you want just a Tecate or a fancy cocktail, and it's suitable for groups. Nice. 

A Visit to Honor Bar in Emeryville

Honor Bar opened recently in Emeryville, California, and I stopped in for a visit. 

The space is a square room with an oval bar against the back side, a window into the kitchen on the far left, and seating at both communal and smaller tables. The bar top is high with a deep red surface, the color of red tabletop candles. 

In the room there is a pinball machine and an old Joust arcade game. The small entry room (where you'd expect to find a hostess stand if this was still a restaurant) is also filled with nicknacks.

Not far from the entrace is a large washbucket of beer on ice- this is part of the "honor bar" of the name. You're free to grab a beer and drink it while you wait at the bar to get a cocktail, and pay for it then.  I like this policy. 

We arrived at the bar early in the evening so we didn't have to wait for a seat nor for a drink. At least at that capacity, Honor Bar feels to me more like a tavern than a bar. Food is an important part of the program while the bar dominates the space. It's a chipper venue, and the crowd was post-work people in nice clothes rather than the t-shirt and jeans slacker found in a lot of East Bay bars. 

But onto the drinks: Alex Smith has created a wonderful menu (Honor Bar cocktail menu here) and the execution was perfect in nearly all the drinks we tried. They were all coming out awesome, so we had seven of them. 

The Black Sabbath (laphroaig, averna, absinthe, orange bitters) was a clever mix of flavors I wouldn't have guessed would work together, the Bleeding Monarch (bourbon, passion fruit, orgeat, campari, balsamico amaro) was surprisingly tiki-esque, the Porfiriato (reposado tequila, guajillo-infused mezcal, cocchi di torino, licor 43, cinnamon bitters) had just a subtle heat that came in on the drink's finish, and the Jenkin's Ear (aged rum, oloroso sherry, hum botanical, angostura bitters) had a bright beautiful entry and dark nutty sherry finish. 

The drinks were really great, the space was comfortable, and everyone was nice. If Honor Bar were near my house I'd be there all the time. 

A First Look at The New Easy Bar in Oakland

Last week, together with Lou Bustamonte of the SF Weekly and Virginia Mill of the SF Bay Guardian, I took a tour of four bars in the East Bay. One of those stops was to The New Easy. 

The bar was formerly known as The Easy Lounge and was recently renovated and just opened after the new year. 

The space is one long room with very high ceilings. Along one side is the copper top bar then an open kitchen space further down.

Along the other side is some seating and a set of picnic-like tables and chairs. There is also a small outdoor patio in the way back. 

The ceilings have skylights and they're having chandeliers built to hang beneath them that will hold herbs growing on the top. They'll be able to lower the chandeliers down to snip off some produce each day. Very cool idea.

The bar will open at 2PM on Saturdays as that's the local farmer's market, the Grand Lake Farmer's Market. They'll try to lure in the post-market crowds and also use market ingredients in their cocktails. 

Speaking of cocktails, we tried a bunch. The menu is split into three sections: Stirred & Spirituous, Winter Farmers Market, and Adult Soda Fountain. 

My favorite cocktails included the Mad Hatter, made with Sailor Jerry Rum, golden raisin puree, carrot juice, and ginger soda. It was garnished with rabbit ear carrots. 

I also liked the Gift horse (old Tom gin, Dolin blanc vermouth, and house made "winter bitters") and the Love Spell (bourbon, apricot liqueur, house "fruitcake bitters"). 

The kitchen was still under construction on my visit, but as of now they are also serving food. 

The Big Easy facebook page is here. 

Cocktail Menu: Honor Bar in Emeryville, California

Opening January 3, 2012 in Emeryville near San Francisco is Honor Bar.

At the helm of the operation is Alex Smith, formerly of Gitane, Smuggler's Cove, and Gather. Also joining the crew are Reza Esmaili (Smuggler's Cove, Conduit, Long Bar), Peter Vestinos (former Chicagoan, Long Bar), and Jason Hubert (Adesso, Plum Bar).

Along with Prizefighter, this makes two brand new cocktail bars in Emeryville and yet another in the East Bay area. I'll be checking out the bar next week and will report back. 

I see: balsamico amaro, acid phosphate, tons of sherry, and interesting liqueurs. 

Honor Bar Menu

winter, 2011

STIRRED

Saturnalia :: rye, cranberry liqueur, allspice dram, maple, sage

Guy Fawkes :: gin, px sherry, montenegro amaro, maraschino, acid phosphate, absinthe

The Corsican :: bourbon, aged rum, falernum, sweet vermouth, orange bitters

Porfiriato :: reposado tequila, guajillo-infused mezcal, cocchi di torino, licor 43, cinnamon bitters

Jenkins' Ear :: aged rum, oloroso sherry, hum botanical, angostura bitters

Black Sabbath :: laphroaig, averna, absinthe, orange bitters

Dar' Panch :: panchpuran-infused vodka, east india sherry, sugar, lime

 

SHAKEN 

White Noise :: white rum, gin, maraschino, anisette, coconut cream, pineapple, lemon

Hollenbeck Cooler :: blanco tequila, blood orange liqueur,  honey-rosemary shrub, sparkling apple cider, pomegranate, lime

Winter Flip :: brandy, tawny port, indian pudding, whole egg

Bleeding Monarch :: bourbon, passion fruit, orgeat, campari, balsamico amaro

Queen Anne's Revenge :: hibiscus-infused gin, grapefruit marmalade, egg white, ginger beer, lemon

Slice of Life :: smith & cross rum, pineapple syrup, maraschino, angostura bitters, lime

The Von Teese :: vodka, st. germain, mathilde poire, absinthe, peychaud's, lemon

 

NOTES:

honey-rosemary shrub = honey & apple cider vinegar infused w/ rosemary

indian pudding = corn flour, milk, sugar, molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, salt

balsamico amaro = combination of ⅓ balsamic vinegar, ⅓ averna amaro, ⅓ angostura bitters sprayed on top

Honor Bar is located at 1411 Powell St. at Hollis, Emeryville, CA.