Joy

The Joy of Sake event was pretty damn great. There were 15 restaurants serving food, which was very popular for those who eat. I avoid appetizers for vegetarian reasons (not only are they mostly meat, the people who serve them don't usually know what's in them) but Medicine was there representing with vegan sushi. I went back to that table twice.

The tasting was very well done. Instead of representatives pouring every drink, there were just hundreds of bottles with large eye droppers full of sake in front of them. That way, you could just walk up, squeeze out a taste of sake, and try it. You could work your way through a lot of bottles that way, never having so much booze that you felt that you'd just have to chug to get rid of what's in your glass. But if you really liked something, you could just refill your glass with more from the eye dropper. And it made for very little crowding.

There were 250 sakes represented, and I probably had 150 of them. Yes, that's a lot and I am wasted right now, but think of 150 sips of beer- the overall volume isn't all that much. The programs were labeled in order so you could indicate the ones you like and go buy them later. Hopefully I'll still be able to read mine in the morning.

I think that True Sake must benefit more from this program than anyplace else, as they sell most of the sakes available there. Why bother shopping all around when chances are if they carry it anywhere in SF, they carry it at True Sake? There was a whole section called "Sakes not available in the US" that I skipped because a) they're not available in the US, and b) I had had plenty by that point. Perhaps more than plenty.

I also ran into the sake master from Tsunami Sushi and Sake (note to Dajani group- you have possibly the least informative websites in San Francisco- what's up with that?). He was the one who pointed me in the direction of Medicine, but also remembered me from my visit to their restaurant (weird because I don't remember being very dramatic), and also invited me to come back soon. They're updating the menu with even more rare and interesting sakes and he was really excited about it.

Another odd thing about the event- there were a lot of lesbians there. Not an overwhelming number, and the average person probably wouldn't even have noticed. But as you know it's my power of observation (and stereotyping) that makes me a pro at what I do. So tell me, what is it with lesbians and sake? Anyone?

Great restaurant, but how are the drinks?

About five times in the past week, I've had the following conversation:

Them: Have you been to [name of restaurant]?

Me: Oh yes, quite a few times, actually.

Them: That's my favorite place for [type of food]. Don't you just love it?

Me: Oh, I've never eaten there.

Them: ???

As a vegetarian, there is no real way to be a food writer. Nobody cares how the pasta is at the hot new restaurant in town. At many high-end joints the vegetarian option on the menu, if there is one at all, is an afterthought, and is frequently a larger portion of a sidedish to a meat dish.

Yet usually it costs just as much as the meat option. That bugs me the most about fine dining- the stuff they feed the cows cost just as much as the cows- and is one reason I don't bother going past the bar. Also, you can't get out of a nice restaurant without dropping some serious cash. At the bar, you can spend $15 and also have a wonderful taste experience.

One time I was in Range and co-owner Cameron came over to say hello.
"Are you eating here tonight or just having drinks Camper?" she asked.
"Oh, I've never eaten here," I replied.
"???" (I've been there quite a few times.)
"Yep. I've only ever had the drinks. I'm not much of an eater."
"Um, you know the food here is really good, right?"
"So are the drinks!"

It happens all the time. The other reason I never make it past the bar in restaurants, besides the fact that I'm a giant lush, is that I could cook and dine all over and I'd still know basically nothing about food since I only partake in a tiny portion of what's out there. With spirits I can actually know a lot. I'm a very low-end, low-brow, low-maintenance kind of guy. The idea that I could become a connoisseur of anything is kind of absurd, but also very, very exciting.

Here's to good booze for bad people. Cheers!

Bourbon & Branch Bonanza

Last night was a Plymouth Gin rebranding party and opening party for Bourbon and Branch. I'm not sure if B&B will be open regular hours (whatever they are) after this or not. I can't wait! Actually, I don't even have the phone number yet to make reservations and I have to go there to write about the place...

Anyway, it's looking good and drinks just kept showing up at our table. I was sitting in a booth with Nish from Yelp.com (whom I also ran into at last week's Hip Tastes, and now that I think of it, I also ran into Courtney from Hip Tastes at B&B), Meredith from Chow.com, Andrea from DailyCandy.com, Greg and Jon from Rye, and B&B's Dahi. It seemed everyone else in the booth was slurring as bad as I was. What a hoot. Eventually, I had to slip out run home as I realized a blackout was fast approaching, and it wasn't even 10PM.

I didn't get to see the drink menu yet because they were only serving gin in various delicious forms. I had a martini with a splash of orange bitters, a drink called the "white lady," and a cucumber drink that was out of control good. (Psst- any chance you guys will share the cucumber recipe? e-me, kay?)

Anyway, I'm still riding the high. Who wants to go back with me?

Speaking of Sake

Here is the article I wrote a few months back for San Francisco Magazine about good places to try sake in SF. Can you spot the editor-introduced factual error?

Sake To Me

Hey, is anyone else going to the Joy of Sake event Thursday in San Francisco? I am going but unfortunately don't have a +1 to offer. It sounds like a pretty good deal though for 70 bucks: over 250 sakes to sample, plus appetizers. Let's try them all!!!

Dear Liquor Brands

Hey, your Flash websites are really pretty, but I don't have all damn day to wait for them to load. Let's say I just want a recipe to use with your fine product, or to know if you're the company that makes the orange flavor- why do I need to wait a minute for every stupid page to load and the background soundtrack to play before I can even click on the link? I don't need your interactive bartender or your floating mint leaf cursor. I have DSL, and all the crap you load the page with makes it as fast as a 26K dialup.

Some people may want to use your website to gain information, and don't need an "immersive lifestyle experience." At least give us a "slow connection" option.

And while I'm at it, if the age verification gateway has a "remember me" button, I expect it to remember me. Okay?

Thanks.
-Camper

Happy Hour

Here's an article I wrote on the Joy of Happy Hour for Frontiers Magazine.

Tastes Like Hipster- with a discount!

I'm finally going to a Hip Tastes event this Friday, August 25th in San Francisco- anyone want to join me?

Hip Tastes are wine tasting events held mostly in bars for young and beautiful people like you and I. They have different themed tastings for each event, such as South Asian food with Eastern European wines, new winemakers on the block, and organic wines.

This Friday's event is "High Rollers"- basically the good stuff: "Top shelf bubblies, Bordeaux and Brunello, assorted cheeses and charcuterie, fabulous dessert wines and truffles promise to whisk you far, far away from the mean streets of San Francisco to a wine & food hipster paradise worthy of your Friday night and a shamelessly small amount of dough." It's held at Lucid Gallery/bar, which has also been on my to-do list.

I mention all this detail because the Hip Tastes people will give ten bucks off the $60 admission (making it $50, pre-sale only) for readers of Cocktails with Camper. Ain't that nice? Just email info@hiptastes.com and tell Courtney that Camper sent you.

Let me know if you're coming and we'll air-kiss.

A Short Work Day

Last night I went out to sample some infusions at a few bars and restaurants around town for my upcoming story for the Bay Guardian. I began at Voda, the vodka lounge on Belden Lane that I once called in an article for San Francisco Magazine, "the Piet Mondrian to the rest of the street's Toulouse Lautrec." I felt very arty for that statement. Anyway, I had a quick drink there- bubblegum-infused vodka. For something that tasted like Bazooka, it was surprisingly okay.

I stopped into Colibri Mexican Bistro next to see if they had any infused tequilas, knowing they like to put out some fancy cocktails. They did. The guava-infused tequila was excellent. The others I didn't think were so great on their own, but probably worked well in their mixed drinks.

Then it was on to Millennium, the big surprise of my research. Not only do they do infusions at this mostly-vegan restaurant, they use organic ingredients to infuse in them, and they make really creative drinks that rotate regularly. (Mint and ginseng-infused Irish whiskey, anyone?) More in my article when it comes out, but do think about stopping in just for a drink when you're downtown. I've been a vegetarian for 16 years yet still haven't eaten at this restaurant. That just makes one more fine dining establishment that I've been served in, but not the food...

Then I ended up at Rye, as I often do. There I was just drinking for pleasure. I finally tried something new. I forget the name, naturally, as I'd had three cocktails and six other samples previously. The drink had muddled...guava I think, or mango, or one of those tropical fruits, and it was rimmed with a spicy pepper sugar. Very good. Beyond that I can tell you nothing.

It was only 8:30PM when I left this bar, but I was a wee bit intoxicated. I grabbed pizza at Katz Bagels (they now serve pizza, obviously, and it's very good), ate it, and passed out by 9:30PM. Eleven hours of sleep later, I woke up fresh and fruity and ready to continue my research.

Holy Negroni

A lot of bars are putting Campari into cocktails these days, so I figured I should get better acquainted with the stuff. Campari is a liqueur that tastes like like Robitussin mixed with Jaggermeister, but in a good way. It's starts out sticky sweet on the lips and finishes intensely herbal. So, as with some other strong liqueurs and most bitters, it can act as a bridge between sweet and dry parts of a cocktail, or add some depth to a drink.

Case in point: The Negroni. The traditional Negroni recipe is
1 part Gin
1 part Campari
3/4 part Sweet Vermouth
Garnish with burnt orange/orange wedge

You've got dry gin and sweet vermouth, which sound pretty gross alone. (I found two differently-named recipes that call for 1 1/2 ounce gin to 3/4 ounce sweet vermouth on DrinksMixer.com, so I decided to give it a try. It wasn't what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't good. To me, it tastes like gin and grease.)

Anyway, the Campari is the dominant flavor in the Negroni, so it's a lot more present than would be a few splashes of bitters. The other ingredients smooth out Campari's rough edges, while the Campari helps the gin and vermouth work together. It's kind of like a flashy hostage negotiator between the gin and sweet vermouth.

It may be clear at this point that I've had a few already tonight. But here's the lesson: I still need to try other Campari drinks, but I now know that the Negroni is a damn fine cocktail, and that I should have six more of them. See you in rehab.

Unhappy Hours

I'm writing an article for the Bay Guardian that involves calling a lot of bars and asking specific questions about their menus. It's making me So. Damn. Thirsty.

Experimental Drinking with Lance Winters

Oh, this sounds delightful. Wish I could go.

(From St. George Spirits, parent company of Hangar One vodka)

Just want to let you know of a special event happening this Saturday
August
19th (from 9pm-??) at Downtown Restaurant in Berkeley with St. George
Spirits. Our own in-house evil genius distiller Lance Winters will be
serving up exotic and surprising spirits never before seen or tasted.

This is a rare opportunity to taste experimental spirits not yet on the
shelves and the one-of-a-kind cocktails made from them.

There is a $25 cover charge that includes the spirits, cocktail tastes,
funky blues music, and food from the new bar menu.

Downtown Restaurant, 2102 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley (at Addison St).
(510)649-3810

B&B

Have I mentioned Bourbon & Branch? I don't think so. It's a bar opening at the end of this month by the owners of Anu and Swig. And I'm giddy as a schoolgirl about it. The bar manager is Todd Smith (formerly of Cortez). He's been playing with all the current experimental drink world tricks lately- both hand-crafted elements like bitters and tinctures, and also "molecular mixology" techniques like vermouth "caviar" and fizzy fruit. I'm looking forward to working my way through every drink on the menu of more than 50 cocktails.

The other aspect of the bar that's equally exciting is that there is no standing allowed. They'll take reservations but once all the seats are full, no walk-ins will be admitted. As my whole schedule revolves around avoiding crowds of people (especially on weekends) I look forward to lounging with friends, top-shelf cocktails in hand, and feeling very VIP even when I'm not.

I originally talked with one of the owners who told me about the idea about six months ago, and I've been perpetually thirsty ever since.