June 15, 2018

“This world would be a better place if we all tried to be more respectful of each other, and we may as well start when we’re drinking. Because the act of having a drink is one of the oldest and most human rituals on the planet, and doing it well, and with respect to everyone around you, is the sign of a truly civilized individual.” — Drinking Distilled by Jeffrey Morgenthaler

Birdsong’s halibut pomme souffle puffs

As you get this, I’ve just arrived in Scandinavia for a couple weeks of food and drink research — and four days off in the remote Faroe Islands — then on to London and spirits judging in England in July.

In the meantime, I’ve got lots of recommends and newcomers for you back home in the Bay Area, across the US and in Berlin.

A call out to bartenders nationwide: I am a judge for BevCon’s official cocktail competition presented by The Perfect Puree of Napa Valley, leading up to their drink industry conference in LA’s Koreatown this August. Winning bartender recipe gets an all-access pass to the three-day event, including three nights at the very cool The LINE Hotel where BevCon is held and drink presented at the closing party? National bartenders can enter their own cocktail until June 30th here.

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High Rau Ram at 721Lounge at Le Colonial

This issue:
The Latest — Top New Openings of the Month: My top 5 new restaurants include Palestinian-Syrian comfort, creative American-Italian pastas, Pacific Northwest fine dining and Neapolitan pizzas along the Bay.
Top Tastes — 9 Top Tasting Menus Under $100: Many of fine dining quality.
Imbiber — 11 Top National Vodka Cocktails On Menus Now: Miami to Nashville, SF to Santa Barbara, Vancouver to LA, bars/restaurants doing cool things with vodka.
Wandering Traveler — Top 10 Berlin Bars
Imbiber — 10 Iconic San Francisco Bars: From beer to cocktail bars, 10 truly essential SF bars.

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Come join me in Peru! The deadline is mid-March to sign up for a culinary adventure in the Andes mountains’ town of Cusco (gateway to Machu Picchu), savoring the unique Asia-meets-South-America cuisine that is Peruvian food. I will be the host of a “dig deep” food tour this May, open to anyone, so please join us for what will be an unforgettable week. Details here at Adios Adventure Travel (more on my past food and pisco-making adventures in Peru here).