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 →
The brand Gin Mare and the Madrid bar Salmon Guru have collaborated on a project aging cocktails in amphorae under the Mediterranean Sea, and then recreating that in a tank. The rest of this post is pasted from the press release. The aim of this project, which is still in... Read more →
I just realized that this is my tenth year at making The Big Drink list for 7x7 Magazine. It's a list of iconic cocktails in San Francisco. Check out the 2012 version here. As usual it's a list of super classics like the Irish Coffee at The Buena Vista and... 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 →
For the past bunch of years, I've done a round-up of all the drink books (mostly cocktails and spirits) that have come out during the year, in consideration for gifting. I'm not doing that this year, as there are too many cocktail books, and if you want to see them... Read more →
Below is the last batch of drink books (mostly spirits/cocktails) coming out this year. As usual, I'll post a list of all the drink books that came out this year in a few weeks, but to give these their fair share of attention they are below. I usually put links... Read more →