Alcademics

Category: San Francisco

  • Store and Pour

    In the December issue of San Francisco Magazine, I have a story on venues like Taverna Aventine, Nihon, the San Francisco Wine Center, and the Occidental Cigar Club where you can store your poison of choice on-site. Read it online here.

    Tavernaaventine

  • A Bar Contest You Don’t Want to Win

    Eater SF hosted a "Douchiest Bar in San Francisco" contest. The winner, unfortunately for them, was Medjool, the rooftop bar in the Mission. Filling out the Top 5 were Matrix Fillmore, Bar None, Americano, and Zeitgeist.

    The comments on the original post are priceless.

    "It's as if the marina suddenly puked up it's best and brightest in the
    fields of self-absorption, douchbaggery and cougardom into one
    consolidated spot… and then poured 1,000 cosmos into the mix."

    Oof.

  • The Craziest New Cocktail Menu in San Francisco

    DOSA Fillmore opens on Friday, but the drink menu for the restaurant has been released. The cocktails were created by Jonny Raglin of Absinthe, and they look insane. I can't wait to try them.

    Batsman
    Martin Miller’s Gin, Darjeeling tea cordial, lemon juice & ginger beer, served over ice with a mint sprig 9

    Bowler
    Marian Farms bio-dynamic Pisco, mango gastrique, “hell flower” tincture, served up with a lime twist 9

    Juhu
    Palm DH Krahn Gin, coconut milk, lime juice, Kaffir lime leaf, bird’s eye chili served up with a spanked curry leaf 10

    Bollywood Hills
    Sub Rosa Saffron Vodka, orgeat syrup, lime juice, allspice dram, served up with pickled mango 10

    Elephant Parade
    No. 209 Gin, pineapple gomme, ginger, cilantro, seltzer water, served long over ice with a pineapple flag 11

    Bengali Gimlet
    Tanqueray Rangpur Gin, ‘curried’ nectar, Kaffir lime leaf and lime juice, served up with a wedge of lime 10

    Laughing Lassi
    Bols Genever, Strauss yogurt, cucumber, grains of paradise, agave nectar, Angostura, served chilled with mint 12

    Faux Swizzle
    El Dorado Rum, St. Germain Elderflower, chicory bitters, served over crushed ice with a sugar-dusted mint sprig 9

    Mood Indigo
    Buffalo Trace Bourbon, jackfruit marmalade, Angostura bitters, chilled, topped with Champagne 10

    Smoked Cup
    Benesin Organic Mezcal, Pimm’s, black cardamon tincture, ginger beer, cucumber & smoked sea salt, over ice 11

  • Here’s that story I wrote about bartenders

    Bay Area's best mixologists leaving bars for brandsSanter

    Camper English, Special to The Chronicle

    Friday, September 19, 2008

    While you're still likely to run into many of San Francisco's best
    mixologists in the usual cocktail hot spots, increasingly they'll be
    standing on the other side of the bar.

    That's because many local bartenders have accepted full- or part-time
    positions as spirits brand ambassadors, bar consultants and sales
    representatives. David Nepove, Jon Santer, Jacques Bezuidenhout and
    Todd Smith are some of the top talent who are working behind the stick
    one night per week, if that. Even more are bartending three nights or
    fewer.  Smith

    Venegas

    (read the rest of the story here)

  • Who’s rocking at the clock?

    Not only is Bacar’s Joe Parrilli now working at the Clock Bar (note: hat-less!), Bourbon & Branch’s Kevin Diedrich will be pulling shifts there too starting today. He told me he’ll still be spending some time at Bourbon & Branch- after all, he’s the one creating a lot of the homemade syrups, tonic water, and other items on the list.

    With three good guys behind the bar, Clock Bar should make a swell addition to the downtown cocktail circuit- as if I needed another just-stop-in-for-a-drink place in the neighborhood. (I would like to ride the BART train home without a buzz on occasion.) I was in the place this past Friday night around 10PM and it was full but not packed- just the way  I like it. Actually, I like bars mostly empty, but there’s little chance of that happening there.