Empress By Boon is the fine dining restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown at the site of the former Empress of China. I stopped by for happy hour the other day and was treated to these sixth-floor views: Bar Manager Emily Parian says that it's not very busy at happy hour... Read more →
I had the opportunity to check out Bottle Club Pub, the latest venue from Future Bars (Bourbon & Branch, Rickhouse, Zombie Village, etc) located adjacent to Swig off Union Square. One of the weird strong points for this bar group is excavation: They turned Bourbon & Branch into a 3-room... Read more →
Pabu in San Francisco recently updated the cocktail menu with several new drinks. I met Mike Lay, Mina Group Director of Bars, who filled me in on what was new. I asked the bartender working that shift what he thought the most popular ones were so far, and in his... Read more →
Bar Iris, the Japanese-influenced cocktail bar in Russian Hill, currently lists 7 cocktails on the menu. The drinks, including Okinawa (rum, okinawa yam, calamansi, oat milk, plum) that I wrote about for Eater, are the result of tons of prep work for the ingredients before service. A lot of the... Read more →
I was reading a book for one of my book clubs and accidentally learned something about bar history. The Barbizon is ostensibly about a hotel for women in New York, but really it's about the changing role of women from the 1920s through the 1970s through the lens of the... Read more →
I had the opportunity to check out the new bar-focussed restaurant The Madrigal last week. The cocktails come from Mike McCardle, formerly of Shakewell in Oakland. The bar is located on Van Ness right near the opera/symphony to take advantage of pre-show crowds. It's a nice space and you can... Read more →
I checked out Bluestem Brasserie, now slightly rebranded as Bluestem Restaurant & Market with grab and go items as well as dine-in. The new cocktail program is a tribute to California flavors with things like bay leaf and rosemary atop figs, clementines, and even avocado in one. There’s a Cioppino... Read more →
I went to Hawaii for the first time in about 7 years last week. Here are some bars you can visit. Hau Tree - Beachside restaurant, both food and drinks great. Make a reservation though, it's not a beach bar. The beach outside is perfect so pack your swim stuff... Read more →