Drinking for Two

(In Today's San Francisco Chronicle)

Love Potions For Two

Dipping straws into a shared cocktail isn't the most romantic way to celebrate Valentine's Day, especially given the kitschy reputation of extra-large drinks. Yet some bartenders are trying to show that extra-big doesn't have to mean extra-bad.

The best known cocktail for two or (for the polyamorous) more is the scorpion bowl. The tropical drink, simply a fruit and rum punch in an oversized bowl with straws, is a popular leftover from the tiki food and drink fad that first swept America beginning in the 1930s. It's sometimes presented in a ceramic scorpion bowl with a volcano in the middle that's filled with a high-proof spirit and ignited -- a volatile combination that no doubt contributes to its enduring appeal.

The story goes on to discuss to origin of the scorpion bowl (Trader Vic's), what different people do with it, and why Forbidden Island does them right. We include the recipe for the popular Fugu for Two, shown in the picture.

Read the rest of the story here.

I wrote the story with Valentines Day in mind, and we made sure to include where else you can get shared cocktails. That way, you can skip the whole dinner aspect of the holiday, get drunk on jumbo cocktails, and go screw.

Double the pleasure

A few bars offering drinks for two or more:

Betelnut. Scorpion bowl. 2030 Union St. (at Buchanan), S.F.; (415) 929-8855.

Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge. Multiple tropical drinks. 1304 Lincoln Ave. (at Sherman), Alameda; (510) 749-0332.

Lingba Lounge. Bowl of Monkeys. 1469 18th St. (at Connecticut), S.F.; (415) 355-0001.

Luna Park, Volcanic scorpion bowl, Make Your Own Passion (Valentine's Day only). 694 Valencia St. (near 18th Street), S.F; (415) 553-8584.

Poleng Lounge. Emperor's Cup. 751 Fulton St. (at Masonic), S.F.; (415) 441-1710.

Ponzu. Godzilla. 401 Taylor St. (at O'Farrell), S.F.; (415) 775-7979.

Tonga Room. Multiple tropical drinks. 950 Mason St. (inside the Fairmont Hotel), S.F. (415) 772-5278.

Trad'r Sam's. Multiple tropical drinks. 6150 Geary Blvd. (at 26th Avenue), S.F.; (415) 221-0773.

Trader Vic's. Multiple tropical drinks. 9 Anchor Drive (at Powell), Emeryville; (510) 653-3400. 555 Golden Gate Ave. (near Van Ness), S.F.; (415) 775- 6300. 4269 El Camino Real (at Dinah's Garden Court), Palo Alto; (650) 849-9800.

North Side Dining

Tonight I went out for drinks and dinner with a rep from the Hime restaurant in the Marina. Though they have an interesting cocktail menu (bigger than what's online), we stuck with sake. We started with a sampler of 3 nama (unpasteurized) sakes not normally on the menu. The first one, Harushika, was our favorite, being smooth, round, and only slightly fruity.

After that , we compared the ginjo and daiginjo versions of the same sake- Wakatake. Ginjo sake has its rice polished to a certain percent, and daiginjo is further polished. The ginjo had the rice (an almost gamy, slightly overripe flavor that's usually present in sake but not my favorite flavor in the world) ever present in the taste, whereas the daiginjo opened with a fruity floral taste then followed with the rice flavor.

After that, we tried two junmai sakes: the very dry Otokoyama which was only outstanding for its dryness, and the Akitabare which was bold but didn't make a strong impression. Our server recommended we move from Daiginjos down to junmais since the palate gets tired, but I found that's not really true for me. The junmais just seem so bold as to be boring.

Anyway, they offer over 30 sakes total, with several seasonal or rotating off the menu.

The food we had was creative and pretty darn tasty. They asked me a ton of questions about what I do and don't eat since I'm a vegetarian- is fish broth okay? how about eggs? and so on. I was worried that they really didn't have anything vegetarian on the menu and were desperate. However, they brought us so much food we couldn't eat it all, from a mushroom salad to asparagus wrapped in something fried that tasted like peas altogether, to fried tofu topped with yuzu sauce, to tempura served as vegetable popsicles on long wooden skewers, which was a great touch. With the effort and presentation on the veggie stuff, I'd bet the fish is good too if you're into that sort of thing.

Afterwards we went for a cocktail at Mercury Appetizer Bar a good walk up the street. We had a dessert there, which was a chocolate and butterscotch pudding combo where the butterscotch is made from real scotch.

WAIT A MINUTE, YOU CAN MAKE BUTTERSCOTCH FROM SCOTCH? How did I not know this?

Anyway, I had their Green-tea'ni that is only vodka mixed with Zen Green Tea liqueur. At first I hated the drink, then liked it by the end, but maybe my taste buds were tired like the waiter said they would be earlier in the night. We also tried the Chai Iced Tea that has Phillips Union Vanilla Vodka (yuck) with Voyant Chai Liqueur (yum!) and iced tea and cream. It was really a drink built around the flavors of the Voyant, but I really like those flavors so I was all for it. Worth checking out.

Then I stumbled to the bus stop and took the 49 all the way home. One hour later I'm still a little tipsy. Occupational hazard, I guess.