Category: bartenders
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Good on Toast, Great in Drinks
(Photo courtesy of That's My Jamm) David Ruiz of Mr. Smith's makes jams and preserves just for cocktails. I wrote about it with a quick note about jam in cocktails historically, and in which bar you can find a mezcal drink with strawberry-raspberry-jabanero jam. Yumz. Read about That's My Jamm on Tasting Table. The story…
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Slow Bars Getting Faster, Fast Bars Getting Better
In my story in this Sunday's SF Chronicle, I discuss some ways that cocktail bars are trying to build drinks faster, and how nightclub-type spaces are trying to make better quality cocktails without slowing down. In theory, we appreciate the extra time and effort bartenders spend on their cocktails – using exact measures of ingredients,…
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Cocktail Snobs
In the March issue of 7×7 Magazine, I have a story about Cocktail Snobs. Now that customers know so much more about cocktails some us are becoming fussy about them, never ordering from the menu but insisting on on-the-spot creations, trying to stump or school the bartender with obscure drink requests, and trainspotting mixology by…
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The Bar Agricole Bar Staff
This coming week is the pre-opening of Bar Agricole, the big big big restaurant/bar project from Thad Vogler about which I am very excited. Bar Agricole opens on August 16th (15th according to the SF Chronicle). I asked Vogler about his bar staff- and got a surprise. All the bartenders will work full-time at Bar…
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Bar Agricole Cocktail List Revealed
The SF Chronicle's Jon Bonne gets the scoop on Bar Agricole's forthcoming cocktail list. The story has lots of information about the bar/restaurant (one we've been awaiting for about 2 years). The bar is set to open August 15 or 16. So go read it. For those of you not lucky enough to have sampled…
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Erick Castro to Leave Rickhouse at End of Month; Take Brand Ambassador Job
Erick Castro, bartender and general manager of Rickhouse in San Francisco (up for three awards at Tales of the Cocktail this year) has revealed that he'll be leaving the bar at the end of July. He'll now be the West Coast Brand Ambassador for Plymouth and Beefeater gins. This is another bittersweet announcement in the…
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Coffee liqueurs make a splash in cocktails
Here's my new story in the San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday, June 30. Coffee liqueurs make a splash in cocktails by Camper English The craze for organic, shade-grown, micro-roasted slow-drip coffee has percolated into the cocktail world. Bartenders are improving classic coffee drinks, finding ways to harness the beans' bitter, aromatic qualities rather than just…
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Japanese Bartending Technique
(Photo taken at Orgo in 2009) Last summer when I was in Singapore I had the chance to experience Japanese bartending for the first time. I went to Koffe Bar K, a chain with I think just one outpost in Sinagpore. They do ice ball carving there, though I didn't think to ask to…
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The Great Debate Continues
You may recall a few weeks ago I wrote a piece for the San Francisco Chronicle about bartenders being less snobby that proved a bit controversial. Now a few others have taken up the conversation. My initial story had the following quote from Erick Castro of Rickhouse that touched a few nerves: "Three years ago…
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Why Can’t I Get a McDonald’s Hamburger at Chez Panisse?
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People complain that you can’t get a Budweiser at Rickhouse. But do they think they should be able to get a McDonald’s hamburger at Chez Panisse?