Category: San Francisco

  • Heaven’s Dog Preview

    On Monday I had the chance to check out Heaven's Dog, the new Charles Phan (Slanted Door) restaurant and bar opening on in San Francisco on Friday. On closer inspection, bar and restaurant would be a more adequate description of the place. There's a small noodle bar/kitchen on one side- almost an adjacent business connected…

  • New Bars and Old New Bars

    San Franciscans should immediately leave work and run screaming to their local newsbox to pick up this week's San Francisco Bay Guardian. Why? Because you'll find me waiting for you inside. In the Scene insert I have two stories. One of them is on some new recommended bottles of booze. The other is on new…

  • San Francisco’s Next All-Star Bar

    I recently spoke with Erik Adkins (Slanted Door, Flora) who is the bar manager of the soon-to-open Charles Phan (Slanted Door's chef/owner) restaurant next to the Soma Grand building on Mission Street. After much wavering on the name (the code name was "Phantom" at one point, get it), they seem to have settled on Heaven's…

  • 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.

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Here’s that story I wrote about bartenders

    Bay Area's best mixologists leaving bars for brands 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…

  • 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…