Right on time

Last night was the pre-opening event for Clock Bar in San Francisco's Union Square. As if to prove they can do the impossible on opening night, they served all 32 drinks from the menu to anyone who asked. So that statement about them not being ready for a month- consider it rescinded. In other exciting news, the bar opens at 4PM according to the website, so you can skip out of work early and beat the happy hour crowds.

Turning back time

It's important to have a cheesy clock-related title for all writing about the Clock Bar. DailyCandy chose "Ticking Clock" and Thrillist used "Clocked and Loaded." I fully support this movement. Anyway, good news on the Clock Bar front. Marcovaldo Dionysis has been named Head Bartender, and they put his name right there front-and-center on the drink menu. Excellent recovery from the earlier snafus. The menu has two of Marco's famous creations, the Ginger Rogers and the Chartreuse Swizzle, along with some great-sounding new drinks and many classics including the Bramble, Dark n Stormy, Hemingway Daiquiri, Last Word, Mary Pickford, and Pegu. The menu is viewable on the website. The signature cocktail is now the St. Francis Cocktail- a gin martini made with Junipero. There's a theory that the St. Francis was the first place to use the olive as garnish in a martini, so they did a good job on the historic tie-in. The drink menu has 32 drinks on it, which is hugely ambitious given the turn-around time since Marco took over. I'm going to a press preview of the spot tonight (it officially opens Tuesday), but I'd recommend waiting a month or so for consumers- with a menu that big, there are bound to be some consistency issues. Still, now there is a reason to be excited about the Clock Bar opening. I hope it turns out great, but I guess only time will tell. (How's THAT for cheesy sign-off?)

The curious case of the Clock Bar

Clock Bar, the hyped Michael Mina cocktail lounge opening July 15 in San Francisco, is becoming a lesson in OOPS I FORGOT ABOUT THE COCKTAILS. Early on the project was announced- historic space, famous chef, tasty bar snacks, high-end drinks, yadda, yadda, yadda- and nobody listed as being in charge of the cocktail program. Curious. The restaurant Gitane won't be open for another two months and they've had a beverage manager and a cocktail consultant on retainer since the beginning of the year. But things were happening on the back end. Several people involved with the project were interviewed for a story in 944 magazine that just came out. The story is marvelous.

In order to create the drink menu, Mina brought in legendary Las Vegas cocktail specialist Noah Ellis to help with the launch.... As the group's beverage director, Ellis promises to ensure quality by creating a menu that features fresh-squeezed juices, house-made tonic and seltzer bottled sodas to complement the high-end alcohol. Additionally each drink will contain jagged wedges of ice, hand-cut from frozen blocks of mineral water...

It sounds okay so far, right? Good, even. And then (cue sound of bomb dropping):

"The lounge's signature drink, the Clock Martini, will include frozen Ketel One Vodka shaken tableside and served with traditional garnishes."

Oooh, Ketel One! Don't hurt your arm reaching so high up on the shelf! And traditional garnishes? Stop spoiling us! It seems they hired a guy to do their cocktail menu and he came up with a signature drink of a standard vodka martini. Refund! Now, before I read this I'd heard that Marco Dionysos got a job working there. Marco works at Tres Agaves, used to work at Absinthe, and is a huge cocktail nerd who often corrects brand representatives on factual errors about their own products. He's invented at least one cocktail so good it's on drink menus in New York. Oddly enough, Marco told me a while back that he wasn't hired to be in charge but just on staff. That's curious. Don't they know who they've got? Of course they must- the article points out that they did their research. Just listen to Patric Yumul, VP of Operations for the Mina Group in the 944 Magazine story:

"It's about hitting on all cylinders," he says. "None of the bars I saw were doing it though. Even in ones with great drinks, I didn't want to actually sit down because I was afraid of getting hepatitis."

Curiouser. I wouldn't think that suggesting your competitors' venues teem with disease often spread by fecal-oral contact would be a good way to ingratiate yourself within the local cocktail community. But then again, the hepatitis prevents me from thinking clearly. Today I received the updated press release for the venue. There's no mention of hand-cut ice or house-made tonic- or Noah Ellis and the signature vodka martini for that matter. And how's this for not-a-raise:

Lead by a veteran hospitality team of GM Matthew Meidinger, reputable San Francisco bartender Marco Dionysos (formerly of Tres Agaves) and seasoned bar team Ray Cortez Brown, Estanislado Orona and Maren West, the opening of CLOCK BAR marks the return of San Francisco tradition to the heart of Union Square.

Well at least Marco is reputable now and singled out- though it doesn't appear he's been given a title/position such as Bar Manager or Head Bartender. Make that happen, Michael Mina people, and we'll have our first clue that you might know what the heck you're doing bragging about your super awesome new cocktail bar. Anyway, mistakes have been made, but they're fixable. I hope everything turns out delicious and that they bring success and additional great cocktails to San Francisco- they're just going to have to work a bit harder at it. [10:18 update: spelling of Ketel One corrected.]

London and Plymouth pics

Are now online. Get 'em all here.

Note for the next heat wave

Cantina has air conditioning. Unfortunately that was only the first stop on a bar crawl to show my pal Ana from New York around to the new cocktail bars that have opened since she was last here. After a quick refresher at Cantina we hit Rye, where we sat in the outdoorish smoking patio hoping for a stray breeze, but no such luck was had. A drink was had instead. Then off we went to Bourbon & Branch where it wasn't as stifling as it can be in there, so I felt lucky. Joel Baker made me a repeat of his Chatreuse/peach/basil/sherry drink from the competition a few days earlier, so I felt luckier- and he even sent someone out to pick up a peach to make the drink. Now that's what I call service! By this time Ana was tipsy and hungry, so headed to NOPA where she could satisfy her urge to eat and I could satisfy mine to stay tipsy. It was hot, but not insufferably hot in there. Ana had one of their famous pork chops and pronounced it the best she's ever had (yeah for her, too bad for the pig), and I had some vegetable goop. Soon poor Ana, unable to contain her carnivorous voraciousness, had consumed the entire gigantic pork chop and grew uncomfortably full. Time for an uphill walk in the not-cool night air! Up Divisadero and further up Haight Street we traveled to reach The Alembic. No heat relief was to be found there- it had to be over 90 degrees inside. Luckily, relief came in the forms of the Pisco Sour and new-to-the-menu Gilded Lily with Plymouth gin, Yellow Chartreuse, orange flower water, and sparkling demi-sec. At this point Ana, who lives in New York and should really be better at this, pooped out. I think she was sufficiently impressed with the cocktails in SF and I was sufficiently impressed with myself for out-partying a New Yorker. Not a bad way to beat the heat.

One more stop on the downtown cocktail circuit

The JW Marriott on Post Street relaunched their restaurant/lounge, now called Level III, with cocktails created by H. Ehrmann of Elixir. The drinks, which I've posted below (as the website has it as a PDF), look really light, floral, and likely to go down easy. Also, importantly, this is a new bar on the downtown drinking circuit. You can hit Level III on your way to Bourbon & Branch, Cantina, Rye, and other spots off Union Square. For someone who doesn't work or shop downtown, I sure spend a lot of time there. emperor norton’s mistress (seasonal – summer) we’re sure this seasonal fruit refreshment would have been one of the emperor’s “decrees.” knob creek bourbon, muddled strawberries, navan, and cointreau are combined and served tall, over ice with a luscious strawberry. harvey milk punch (3 levels) san francisco’s version of the big easy classic. select your grand marnier • level 1 – cordon rouge • level 2 – cuvee de centenaire • level 3- cuvee du cent-cinquantenaire navan, organic milk; rolled and served over ice with a dusting of fresh nutmeg and fresh cinnamon. the bank exchange punch duncan nicol, an early san francisco mixologist, only allowed patrons two of his famous cocktail… and for good reason. barsol pisco quebranta, st. elizabeth allspice dram, pineapple gomme, distilled water, and fresh lemon juice are shaken and served up with a pineapple chunk. shanghaied we bet you’ll go willingly on this chinese journey. square one cucumber, canton ginger, and organic lemongrass syrup, shaken and served up with an english cucumber slice on the rim. the portman cosmafornian leave it to san francisco to re-imagine and elevate the traditional berry flavor found in the wildly popular cocktail. level vodka, plymouth sloe gin, lime foam. sunset on dunnigan citrus and floral notes characterize this nod to the wine country. damrak gin, sauvignon blanc, and st. germain are combined, shaken and served up with a grapefruit twist. the summer of love wait for the memories of 1967 to come rushing back with just one sip. hangar one mandarin blossom vodka, rose water syrup, lillet blanc and chambord are combined and served up with a lemon zest rose. golden gate fog get lost in the flavors, not the “fog” that envelops this drink. white peach puree, muddled mint, rhum clement creole schrubb, and lime juice are stirred, poured over ice, and topped with “fog” - a louche of kubler absinthe - and a mint sprig. dirty harry luck’s got nothing to do with this cherry-flavored concoction. rittenhouse 100 rye, carpano antica, luxardo maraschino and a la fee absinthe rinse is stirred and served up with a house-made maraschino cherry. cable car no.2 unique, latin flavor pairings differentiate this version from the classic. 4 copas organic añejo tequila, rhum clement creole schrubb, and lemon juice are shaken and served up with a ghirardelli cocoa and ancho chili powder rim.

Glossy Booze: Mostly June edition

Everywhere Magazine (Issue 3) has a story about the The Hedgehog Distillery located in Auvergne, France. San Francisco Magazine has a story on the death of happy hour discounts in the city, written by the one and only Camper English. Elite Traveler magazine (March/April) has a story by Nick Passmore on getting the most out of wine auctions. Playboy lists some vodka picks for brands to drink on the rocks, in mixed drinks, in martinis, and a new product, with a few recipes. Lawrence Osbourne has a story in Men's Vogue about the return of Riunite. Gourmet has a short piece on a Berlin beer brand Berliner Weisse bottling 1809. 7X7 Magazine (May) has a story on sipping blanco tequilas. Another original topic by Jordan Mackay. In the June issue, he talks about ice and the infamous Kold-Draft machine. Delta's Sky Magazine (May) lists a signature cocktail called Le Starcky from Le Meurice in Paris, some wine pics from Paul Pacult, and an interview with a beer sommelier in Santa Monica. It's Esquire's annual Best Bars in America round-up, though I think this year it may have jumped the shark. New York Magazine agrees. Some of the choices seem more like writers' personal favorites more than David Wondrich's curated selection. Oh well, at least San Francisco's Cantina, Elixir, Rye, Toronado, and Tosca got mentions. There are also a few good sidebars on drinking alone, having a "safety drink," and bad hotel bar names.

Going off-menu

It's over two weeks since I've been to Beretta, and I'm getting the shakes. I meet there last night for drinks and I find the menu lacking the cocktail I most want: the Rangoon Gin Cobbler. What to do, I ask Eric Johnson, my man behind the stick. Relax, says he, mixing me one, we change the menu all the time depending on the ingredients in stock. Fine, I go, and what else don't I see here? He says we were recently between piscos, so the menu isn't packing Punch, but I'd whip one out for you if you wanted. I say no thanks, buddy, but you've inspired me to keep this train off the tracks. I ask him for a Ti Punch since they've got rhum agricole laying around like bums in the park, and he makes me one like it's nothing. Thanks for keeping me steady, I say, and blow out of there until tomorrow.

The Bar Coat Hook Hall of Shame

5/1/08 update: Fish and Farm has a great homemade cocktail ingredient program, but alas, nowhere to hang your jacket at the bar. They've been added to the Hall of Shame. -- Every bar top should have coat hooks beneath it. That way you don't have to try to hang your jacket off your bar stool under your butt, having it slip off half the time and getting dirty when you put your feet up. Bar hooks seem like such a simple and necessary bar element, like toilet paper in the bathrooms or lemons in the garnish tray, yet there are many places that have not installed them. I'm constantly running my hands along the underside of bars feeling for the hooks and getting nothing but gum and boogers. This has to end! It is up to us to shame these establishments into installing coat hooks. Together we can make a difference! Thus I present to you:

The Bar Hook Hall of Shame (add your nominees in the comments and I'll expand the list here)

• Fish and Farm (added 4/18/08)
• The Transfer
• The Pilsner Inn
• Colibri Mexican Bistro

9/25/06 Congratulations to Bourbon & Branch, the first bar to be removed from the Bar Coat Hook Hall of Shame by finally installing their hooks. 5/1/07 I went to check out Etiquette Lounge where they had no coat hooks, and they admitted to not having them at their other venue Element Lounge either. 5/15/07 Congratulations to Rye, where they finally installed coat hooks and made the bar a more comfortable experience for us all. 5/1/07 I have decided to drop Etiquette and Element Lounge from the Hall of Shame, as they're not really venues where you sit at the bar. Nightclubs do not need coat hooks.

New word needed

As may be apparent from the name of this website, I love making up new words. But I'm stumped. Last night a group of friends and I hit Beretta (making this my sixth visit in three weeks, I have a problem) and sampled 13 of the drinks over two rounds. What made it fun is that nobody owned any one drink- we all shared everything, except for Jamie who hogged the Rangoon Gin Cobbler and Marshall of Tailor in NYC, who was the bottleneck in our cocktail-passing circle. Then we realized we only had four drinks to go to try all 17 cocktails on the menu, so we ordered more. Project! So now I need a word or phrase that describes having every drink on the menu in one night- the cocktail menu equivalent of a triple crown or marathon or Iron Man. Suggestions?

Drinks at Fish and Farm

There's another organic cocktail program in town at Fish and Farm. Mixologist Brian Livesay uses spirits like Square One vodka and 4 Copas tequila in his drinks, along with some brands not certified organic but that use organic ingredients. Some of the fresh herbs in the drinks are grown on the chef's rooftop garden. The drink list includes some interesting elements like rosemary and citrus-infused gin, but seems largely dependent on fresh juices and mint. The real creativity, however, comes from the modifying ingredients. Since there are no commercial organic vermouths or triple secs, Livesay makes his own using an organic neutral base spirit and organic ingredients. He makes sweet and dry vermouths, triple sec, a delicious apple liquor, cherry-vanilla and orange bitters, and is working on a few more cordials like cocoa-blueberry. Hand-labeled bottles sit atop the back bar and line some of the shelves, so you know he's got a bunch of other experiments in the works as well. All in all, a very cool project.

Dry Drunk: The Cocktails of Thad Vogler at Beretta

What's up with my iPhone-tography skills? Do I have to be good at everything? Anyway, Beretta. I was only thinking about the cocktails when I went there, but it turns out that with inexpensive food and lots of communal seating, this may be the one cocktail restaurant in which I can actually afford to eat. (Small plates priced as small plates- what a concept!) But back to the important stuff: the drinks. Thad Vogler's drinks, unlike many in San Francisco, eschew the farmer's market fruit, flowers, and herbs in favor of the basics- lime, lemon, grapefruit, and pineapple. The flavor profile of most could be considered classic for that reason, but as opposed to classic derivative drinks that go wild with brown spirits and amaros or other unusual modifiers, these cocktails are more like simple drinks reconsidered. What sticks out is the types of sweetening agents used in each drink- honey, gomme syrup (made by Slanted Door's Jennifer Colliau), sugar cane syrup, agave syrup, etc. I don't know if they use plain old simple syrup at all. But when you drink them, "sweet" isn't a word that comes to mind. Vogler makes the driest drinks in town. He uses a lot of gin, rhum agricole, and maraschino liqueur, and even the Pisco Sour isn't sweet (or all that sour- it's almost earthy). Of the drinks I tried, the Nuestra Paloma is the most pleasing and probably the safest bet for the less adventurous drinker (It's delicious- don't get me wrong). The Dolores Park Swizzle looks great with a few drops of bitters atop the crushed ice of the drink like a happy red treat, but packs a wallop of flavor. I like it more as the ice melts starts and dilutes it. The same is true of the Rangoon Gin Cobbler, my favorite drink on the menu so far that has a nice orange aspect to it from the Cointreau. I also liked the Single Village Fix, making this the second time I've ever enjoyed a drink with mescal in it. Is anyone else bored of my typing? I am. Long story short: tasty dry drinks, go good with food, it's in my neighborhood, I'll be back lots.

On the organic happy hour circuit

Kuleto's, which has the first and only all-organic cocktail menu in San Francisco, has expanded their program. Now from 3-5 PM on weekdays they offer an Organic Happy Hour with reduced prices on orgo cocktails, wine, and beer. They also deny you plastic straws and paper napkins to rub it in, err... set the mood. And as an after-party for that, the W Bar at the W Hotel is starting an "ecolicious" happy hour in April. The party goes from 5:30 to 7:30 (so walk slowly from Kuleto's) on weekdays, serving two each of organic wines, beer, and cocktails. The $10 cocktails are a vodka-elderflower drink with a prosecco float, and a tequila-watermelon-chili drink. A portion of the proceeds goes to Save the Bay.

At Beretta, less is more

When Beretta opens (currently scheduled for April 1), cocktail fans will recognize many familiar faces behind the bar. Thad Vogler (Slanted Door, Jardiniere, Bourbon & Branch) is leading the bar program, and some of the people taking shifts there will be Jon Santer (Bruno's, Range, Tres Agaves, B&B), Todd Smith (Cortez, B&B), Ryan Fitzgerald (Tres Agaves, B&B, Brick), and Eric Johnson (Eastside West, B&B). Vogler says it's coincidence that they were all looking to pick up a shift or two, but I'm already nicknaming the venue the Valencia Street All-Star Bar. Though not finalized at this point, Vogler gave me the gist of his bar program: a paired-down spirits selection, quality valued more than quantity, and execution over innovation. They'll be carrying only two brands of vodka (one local, the other organic), but a good selection of gins, rums, aperitifs, and liqueurs. The cocktail list looks like it will include a lot of classic profile drinks emphasizing the American, Latin, and Caribbean base spirits. I think it's going to be an interesting place, especially because this bar program is running in a pizzeria restaurant.

Branch news

News from Bourbon & Branch:

• They've added classes on Cocktails 101, Rum, and Absinthe to the Beverage Academy
• Taking co-management positions after Todd Smith's departure are Joel Baker and Yanni Kehagiaras (pictured)
• Russell's Room, an additional private room built into the former barbershop next door, is scheduled to open in April.

Buy a newspaper, save a bar

MarketWatch has a video on bars that serve newspaper reporters hurting or closing as newspapers lay off reporters. This effects me in two ways, writing about bars for the newspapers. So get off the internet and go buy a paper! Here, SFist analyzes the health of newspaper bars of San Francisco.

Planet Boozywood

Bill Dowd reports that a New York bar is serving a "Spitzer Spritzer" and another drink in the wake of the Eliot Spitzer scandal. A while back I emailed Natalie suggesting that she should open a theme bar in Los Angeles where the daily drink menu would rotate depending on the Hollywood scandal of the previous evening. (Lindsay's drinks would go from alcoholic to non-alcoholic depending on the day of the week.) In Washington, there could be an outpost where all the drinks are based on political scandals and news items. Event-driven cocktail theme bars? Yes, I know I'm a genius. Now I just need an investor.

Beyond the Branch

Big news in SF barland: Todd Smith has turned in his resignation at Bourbon & Branch. He's been with them since long before they opened but said, "It's time for me to move on and do another project." He told me he plans to take some time off and work on some consulting gigs he's firming up now, as well as potentially opening his own space with some other bartenders down the road. And though the details are still being hammered out, he plans to remain with the Beverage Academy teaching classes there. Speaking of the Beverage Academy, they added their first scotch whisky class on March 25th with Dominic Venegas as the instructor. The rum class will likely start in April with Thad Vogler at the helm. Best of luck both the Bourbon & Branch and Todd Smith!

Cocktails at Epic

On Thursday I visited Epic Roasthouse, and not for the roast. I was there to try Camber Lay's cocktails. The menu is divided into classics and Epic Originals, but even the classics have been upgraded with touches like key lime sugar on the rim of the Sidecar and gigantic house pickled cippolini onions in the Gibson. In the original drinks section, my two favorites were the Copper Pot with Partida blanco, calvados, and apple juice, with a spiced pecan dust rim, and the surprisingly bright and aromatic Conversos, made with white pear tea-infused gin, Lillet, Chartreuse, and a lemon twist. The recipe was printed in the Chronicle a couple weeks ago. I also had the old-world-esque Prohibition and the Fennel Gimlet (with fennel and citrus infused vodka). And though I didn't try it, there is almost no way to go wrong with the Farewell to Arms, made with Oronoco rum, grapefruit, vanilla, and key lime. The drinks were delicious, but I caution people not to go between 6 and 10PM unless you're interested in big crowds and long waits behind people ordering "a dirty Grey Goose martini on the rocks." Ack. I got there at 4:30 and was the first person in the bar before happy hour rush. It was nice and breezy up until about 5:30. But then the crush came and it was difficult to squeeze through the room at all and the bartenders were so swamped it was painful to watch. So blow off work early or go for late night drinks because the comfy seats and beautiful views in the pictures are blocked by too many people during prime time.

Flora drinks

Michael Bauer, food critic for the SF Chronicle, gave Flora in Oakland three stars this week, and also made special mention of the cocktails. (This rarely happens.)

There's nothing wrong with the wine list at Flora. It's very good, with 82 diverse selections, but on my three visits, I couldn't pass up the cocktails, which made ordering a bottle of wine impossible if I wanted to keep my wits about me.

This restaurant is serious about its spirits, especially when you see the absinthe apparatus on the bar, which is lined with premium pours.

The cocktails are credited with their place of origin in small type below the description. The Corpse Reviver No. 2 made with Lillet Blanc, Cointreau, lemon and absinthe ($9), for example, is from the American Bar in London.

The drink program was developed by Erik Adkins from the Slanted Door, so that's why it's so tasty. When I was there (order the Carter Beats the Devil) Erik wasn't working but the execution was still terrific.

Boozeless Cocktails

By me, in today's SF Chronicle:

Drink Menus Explore Virgin Territory with Alcohol-Free Cocktails Camper English, Special to the Chronicle

Bay Area restaurants and bars are increasingly devoting space on their menus to alcohol-free drinks. These concoctions are more complicated than simple sodas and juices, involving the same glassware, seasonal ingredients and fresh garnishes as drinks with the hard stuff.

This trend of enticing consumers with nonalcoholic cocktails, rather than leaving it to them to request a virgin version of another drink, owes much to the current emphasis in better cocktail bars on creating drinks with seasonal ingredients. These fresh drinks can be translated fairly easily into alcohol-free versions, whereas in other bars, a nonalcoholic Jack and Coke is just a Coke.

Josh Harris, bar manager of Palmetto on Union Street in Cow Hollow, says that in the first month or so of being open, the menu listed only drinks with alcohol, but patrons would see the fresh cocktails being made and request alcohol-free versions.

"Some of them translated (to nonalcoholic drinks) very well, and some of them not well at all," he says.

Read the rest of the story here.

Free money

Here are two free ideas: 1. Some bar should start a low-calorie cocktail list. You could sell low-calorie rum and Cokes using Diet Coke and half the rum as usual. And you could charge twice as much for it. 2. Why hasn't anyone invented a chocolate chip cookie dough martini? Oops, too late, they have.

New bars in the Bay Guardian

I contributed this round-up of new drinking venues to the San Francisco Bay Guardian. As I was taking notes on the venues that opened in the past year, I realized that there are way to many of them to list. The final article has 32 new venues listed, and it doesn't include a third of the wine bars that opened, nor several of the venues that renovated their whole schtick, such as bacar and Jardinière, nor many of the new restaurants with good cocktail programs even though I included a bunch. No wonder I've been so busy.

Two big nights, two slow days

On Monday I hit up Absinthe to drink some absinthe. Lucid was having a launch party for the Bay Area. A couple of weeks ago there was a launch for Kubler at Bix that I attended, and last week we saw St. George Spirits absinthe get approved. (It's been a big month for faeries.) I can't wait to do a comparison tasting, but for now I'm just trying to get my bearings with the stuff. I tried drinking Lucid the standard way, with the louche, but I didn't put enough water in it. I had it in a cocktail or two as well. But my favorite way was the frappe they did at Absinthe. It seemed to be just absinthe over shaved ice with simple syrup and soda water, but it was really refreshing. Unfortunately the recipe for it isn't on the Lucid website (and unfortunately a recipe for absinthe and Red Bull is) so I'll have to hit up Absinthe for it. After that I hit the town with Eric Seed of Haus Alpenz and Erik Ellestad of the Savoy Project. We popped in to Jardiniere for a a drink, then checked out Marlena's for the annual Santa display. We then thought it would be a good idea to get some food, which lead to us walking all the way to Church and Market to Sparky's, where we had more beer. (My decisions may have been clouded like louched absinthe.) The next day passed very slowly and a bit painfully and I had some french fries then it was time to go out drinking. I met Eric Seed and friend Debbie at NOPA for some cocktails by Neya White. We also got snacks, and they do a mean plate of french fries so that made twice. Then, because I wanted to go home early, we went out drinking. We headed to the Alembic for drinks by Josie Packard. Hooray! They put a few new drinks on the menu there, including the Vieux Carre I was digging in New Orleans this summer. But I loved the Oh Sweet Nothing with rum, Chartreuse, and root beer bitters. And because I had to get home and not be out late, we stayed until closing. Smartly, Debbie ordered a plate of fries, which were the best ones of the day. And that made it a fry-fecta.

On the importance of drink menus

This study of beverage trends from the On the House blog of people who consume alcohol at chain restaurants states loudly and clearly what I try to tell owners of new restaurants. Drink menus are essential, influential, and should not be ignored.

The large majority of consumers (75%) said that they take the time to read drink menus and 25% of people identified drink menus as what most influences their purchasing decisions. Over 70% of consumers said that the drink descriptions are most influential, 47% were swayed by pictures of the drinks, while 41% were influenced by drinks listing brand names. These findings suggest that bar menus are a must, and that spirit branding, colorful pictures and well-written drink descriptions positive sales drivers.

I often call up new restaurants to ask them who did their drink menu (as I'm not really interested in food). Too often they say, "Oh, it was a collaboration." Right- between you and Mr. Boston.

Industry wide beverage sales average around 25% of revenue, while at the same time account for over 50% of average gross profits.

Luckily, many people do understand this (at least in San Francisco), which is why bartenders from Range and Bourbon & Branch are launching the cocktail programs all over the city. I am always happy to hear a name I recognize from another bar as the person who developed the cocktail menu for a new one. Right now one of the biggest trends in all of bars, clubs, restaurants, and even retail space is to make use of their down-time. The club Temple serves dinner on the dancefloor before the club opens at night. Roe has launched and aggressive dinner programs. Art galleries like 111 Minna serve beer and wine and host club nights. Bars like Harlot are serving food or giving out free snacks to keep people from leaving to go to dinner. Restaurants are hiring DJs and staying open later to catch more customers. And a sure fire way to get them in before dinner time and after meal time is to create a kick-ass cocktail menu served at happy hour. Anyway, I just want every food and booze venue to have a great cocktail menu. It's better for everybody.

Hidden bars in Time

Hey look, I wrote a little thing in Time magazine's Style and Design issue on hidden cocktail bars as a national trend. Here it is online, and here is the scan.

Smells like 'tini syrup

By me, in Friday's SF Chronicle:

For the past few years, cocktail consultant Jacques Bezuidenhout has been sneaking maple syrup into the drinks he invents for the Starlight Room and special events, and perhaps it's finally caught on, because now we see it on several menus about town.

At Bar Drake, downstairs from the Starlight Room, Bezuidenhout put maple syrup in the lobby bar's signature cocktail: the Bar Drake Manhattan. It contains Woodford Reserve bourbon, Port, Angostura bitters and maple syrup. 450 Powell St. (at Sutter), San Francisco; (415) 392-7755, Ext. 226, bardrake.com.

Across town at the Presidio Social Club, you'll find the breakfast ingredient in the Pays d'Auge Cocktail, along with Calvados and citrus. 563 Ruger St.(near the Presidio's Lombard Gate), San Francisco; (415) 885-1888, presidiosocialclub.com.

Maple syrup is an unexpected ingredient in any drink, let alone drinks at a tiki bar, but Forbidden Island in Alameda has added it to the fall drink menu. The Dead Reckoning also pairs maple syrup with Port, along with 12-year-old Cockspur rum, Navan vanilla liqueur and fresh citrus. 1304 Lincoln Ave. (at Sherman), Alameda; (510) 749-0332, forbiddenislandalameda.com.

And at the new Bar Johnny in Russian Hill, they make no secret of the syrup in the Bourbon and Maple. It includes those two ingredients, along with the nutty liqueur Nocino Della Cristina and Angostura bitters. Does anyone else want pie? 2209 Polk St. (at Vallejo), San Francisco; (415) 268-0140.

Wait, Kuleto's?

In a very surprising move, classic Italian restaurant Kuleto's in SF's Union Square launched the city's first all-organic cocktail menu. By me, in today's SF Chronicle:

What is likely San Francisco's first all-organic cocktail menu popped up in a very unlikely place - Kuleto's, the Italian restaurant in Union Square. The seven drinks on the menu are made with organic vodka, rum, gin, Tequila and Scotch, mixers, fruits, juices, syrups and even garnishes. Most are familiar drinks - cosmos, mojitos, lemon drops and margaritas - but you won't find a martini or Manhattan because nobody seems to make an organic vermouth. The bar does serve non-organic drinks aplenty, but you'll have to order off the menu for those.

221 Powell St. (at O'Farrell), San Francisco; (415) 397-7720.

Caliente Cocktails

Here's a recent story I wrote for San Francisco Magazine about Latin cocktail bars, and in particular Cantina. I am known to spend some time drinking there on occasion.

Caliente Cocktails

In September's San Francisco Magazine I have a story on Cantina, a bar I may have mentioned here once or two hundred times already, as part of the Latin cocktail trend. The story isn't online, so run screaming to your local newsstand to pick up the new issue.

The Cuke is Loose

Todd Smith published the recipe for Bourbon and Branch's famous Cucumber Gimlet (!!!), among other recipes. Read them here.

Homework

Friday afternoon I stopped into the Alembic at the hour when the shift was changing between Josie and Daniel. This is a terrific time to be there. I had the Mellow Yellow, which is made with bourbon, limoncello, and black pepper- one of my favorite cocktail ingredients. Then Josie and I and some hangers-on headed to the Toronado for beers. It seems the Alembic expanded their boutique beer selection by a huge amount and Josie wanted to familiarize herself with the menu. I was only too glad to help her drink what she was drinking and give my valuable tasting notes such as, "It's like a wet lawn where there are elm tree leaves in a pile," and "you set a basket of under-ripe blueberries on stones to keep them off the dirt." Beer tasting is fun, especially with the strange pricey Belgian varieties we were drinking, but I don't enjoy the beer buzz as much as the "normal" liquor inebriation. So after we left Toronado, I drank a couple shots of whisky just to put myself right.

New drinks in the city

Thursday and Friday of this week I did some (PR-sponsored) investigative drinking at these spots. Sudachi, the new sushi bar on the Polk Street (near the Hemlock, R Bar, Vertigo, Lush Lounge barhopping district) recently opened with a sushi bar room and a front restaurant/entertainment room. They have DJs and live jazz playing a few nights of the week in the front room, with additional programming to come. They have only a beer and wine license now but have made soju cocktails to compensate. The Blueberry Aloe Mojito was fairly tasty, but not as impressive once we asked to see the aloe juice and found it's some strange grape flavored product rather than a natural product like agave nectar. The Plum Ginger Mojito I liked best of the drinks we tried, with the Watermelon3 (that should be "watermelon cubed") tasting like watermelon juice and the Nigori Sunrise needing something else to bring it together (orange bitters, perhaps?). Anyway, the food I tried there was delicious- I had the mushroom salad. But oh, the tofu fries! They made me a very happy vegetarian in a sushi restaurant. Sudachi should be a good spot to stop off and refuel on your next Polk pub crawl. The next day I met for happy hour at Bacar, the wine-centric restaurant revamping with some management, space, and menu changes if I understand correctly. I saw Zack from Frisson and Jason from Mecca working the bars, so that was a good sign. They're changing the cocktail menu too, and I got a sneak peak at the new drinks. (They said the names may change so the drinks may be called something else when you visit. ) They shook up about seven of them all at the same time and left us to sample. Hey, this is work! Three of them really stood out as terrific: the sweet Basil & Buca (vodka, sambuca, basil, and lime, served up), the solid Herradura Nectar (nectarine and lemon verbena-infused anejo tequila with lime and a ginger sugar rim, on the rocks) , and the ultimate combination of trendy ingredients Monk's Flower (Chartreuse, St. Germain Elderflower, and rose champagne, on the rocks). Bacar is quite a long walk from Market Street, but it is close to Tres Agaves and Coco500. And if you hit all three you're surely need to sobering walk back to the BART station.

The New Clubs (Are Actually Bars)

I received the latest copy of San Francisco Magazine in the mail today, in which I have a story on the latest trend in nightlife- retro-opulent design bars with demoted dancefloors. In San Francisco, some of the hot new spots opened recently are:

• Harlot (Bordello theme)
• Slide (Speakeasy theme)
• Etiquette (Victorian-bondage theme)
• Ambassador (Rat Pack theme)

Another interesting note is venues that are more crowded and clubby, such as Harlot and Etiquette, have a specialty cocktail menu at happy hour that they then hide at night when there isn't time for muddling and squeezing fresh juice.