SF Represent!

I picked up a copy of Food & Wine Cocktails 2008 to see what the representation of bars and cocktails around the country was. West Coast drinks have been getting more attention in the past year and it's great to see this reflected in the book. The cocktails from the Bay Area are: Grapefruit Flamingo from Kieran Walsh at Solstice Green with Envy from the Poleng Lounge Amberjack from Le Colonial Bergamont Shandy from NOPA Zydeco Cocktail from Tres Agaves Vanilla-Cucumber Limey from Jay Crabb at Martini Monkey in San Jose Fog Cutter from Forbidden Island Puerto de Cuba from Dominic Venegas (formerly of) Bourbon & Branch Alsatian Daiquiri from Duggan McDonnell at Cantina Thai Boxer from Scott Beattie at Cyrus in Healdsburg Green Lantern from Range Mi-So-Pretty from Elizabeth Falkner and Angie Heeney-Tunstall of Orson Tommy Gun from Jacques Bezuidenhout of Bar Drake Filibuster Cockatail from Erik Adkins of Flora in Oakland Jose McGregor from Jimmy Patrick at Lion & Compass in Sunnyvale Northern Spy from Josey Packard The Alembic Off Kilter from Elixir Babylon Sister from Jonny Raglin of Absinthe Blackberry and Cabernet Caipirinha from Cantina Strawberry and Ginger Cooler from Jeff Hollinger Absinthe plus Dark and Stormy Ribs from Presidio Social Club That makes 17 SF and San Jose venues represented compared to 24 New York. Not bad for a city 5-10 times as small. Other cities represented and their number of venues were: Atlanta 4 Boston 7 Boulder 3 Chicago 8 Dallas 5 Houston 5 Las Vegas 5 Los Angeles 9 Louisville, KY 3 Madison, WI 4 Miami/ Ft. Lauderdale 5 New Jersey 4 New Orleans 5 Philadelphia 5 Phoenix/Tuscon 4 Portland, ME 3 Portland, OR 8 Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, NC 5 San Diego 4 Seattle 4 St. Louis 3 Washington, DC area 4 Note: Go Portland, Oregon! That place has had a great selection of local beer, wine, sake, and micro-distillers for a while now. The new cocktail bars like Beaker and Flask and TearDrop Lounge are taking it to the next level. And with Imbibe Magazine based out of Portland, it may soon be the most important drinking city in the nation. Props.