Gin + Dinner = Ginner

Orson in San Francisco is hosting a Gin and Stone pairing dinner on June 11 to celebrate fresh stone fruit. (Gin you can celebrate all year round.) I've seen dinner pairings with bourbon, rum, absinthe, and even vodka, but this is the first gin and food pairing I've noticed. Check out the menu here.

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.

Give thanks for beer and turkey

By me, in Friday's SF Chronicle: A new Web site by the Brewers Association wants you to pass on the wine this Turkey Day and pop open a craft beer instead. BeerAndTurkey.org offers suggestions for beer pairings with a range of holiday meals, including roasted, smoked and Cajun-style turkey, ham, goose, salmon and lamb. They also pair beer with side dishes and seasonings, like amber ale with sage dishes and all-malt pilsner, dark lager or red ale to go with buttery mashed potatoes and creamed corn. The site also lists a few serving suggestions (large bottles for easy sharing, multiple glasses for multiple beers), but not all segments of the population will be served by the Web site: There are no pairing notes for Tofurky.

Show us the love

Right now all the food bloggers are doing this exhibitionist meme where they display the unedited contents of their refrigerators. I thought it would be fun to join in to show how the other half lives. Anyone viewing this could tell that I'm a) single b) male since my refrigerator contains almost nothing but condiments and mixers. Then you look in the door and it appears I'm a drag queen. Here's the breakdown: Main Door:

• Two jars of raspberry preserves
• soda water
• soy milk
• iced tea (behind)
• homemade lemonade in pitcher
• pasta sauce
• sparkling apple cider
• (next level) Parmesan cheese
• gourmet mustard (one of 9 kinds currently in fridge)
• relish
• tofu dogs
• eggs
• (bottom level) homemade tonic water syrup
• chocolate sauce (nearly 10 years old)
• orange flower water
• Xuxu vodka/strawberry (behind)
• apple sauce
• more homemade tonic in jar
• salsa (behind)
• more iced tea
• salad dressing
• simple syrup

Door of refrigerator:

• nail polish (from dot-com era when it was hip for about 3 weeks for dudes match their shiny shirts with nail polish. I guess I should throw this out since it's all 9 years old and I can't envision an occasion calling for nail polish in the near future)
• condiments
• grenadine, red vermouth, dry vermouth

So basically, your tofu dog omelet can come with anything you want on it, but instead how about a drink?