As ever, San Francisco remains a cocktail paradise, the pioneering city that has reached excellence across the board: at restaurants, hole-in-the-walls and cocktail dens, there are too many great drinks to count. But I am counting and here are 12 cocktails, in bars/restaurants from SF to Oakland, worth drinking now. 1. A Boozy, Citrus-Free Mai Tai at P.C.H. Wherever Kevin… Read more →
I’m transported straight back to Italy. But it’s not the housemade pasta, classic Negronis or the hanging prosciutto. This is all transporting, certainly, but I can find this in numerous Italian havens in San Francisco. With Japan a close second, Italy is my favorite country, a place I’ve traveled to multiple times in numerous regions. I crave and long for… Read more →
San Francisco was a pioneering city on the current sherry scene. Though sherry is still a spirits’ geek and bartender favorite more than it is a mainstream imbibement, there are now SherryFests and sherry-centric cocktail menus around the US, in keeping with the growth in popularity of spirits and fortified wines everywhere. A decade ago as I dug deeper into… Read more →
After my recent travels in Cognac, France, my longheld love for brandy deepened even further. I am crazy about all manner of brandy (grape-based spirits), from Armagnac to pisco. I am passionate about Calvados (French apple brandy) and other apple brandies — note here my most unforgettable Calvados experience and tasting in the world, in Kyoto, Japan, of all places.… Read more →
Here are the 10 standout cocktails and new bars of the month I’ve been tasting around the Bay Area. 1. Saison’s Strawberry & Arms Dinner at 3 Michelin-starred Saison is always memorable — so is an hour spent at the bar with Anthony Keels’ exquisite cocktails, up there with the most inventive drinks I’ve had in London, Berlin or Tokyo.… Read more →
With a stellar judging team, I am a judge for awards in double gold, gold, silver and bronze medals for craft (small batch) spirits from around the world for ADI’s annual Craft Spirits Awards. During an intensive few days of blind judging with some of the best in the industry, we all anticipate the final day when post-judging, we can enter… Read more →
Besides the dreamy lawn setting with Bay views in the ever-stunning Presidio, Cider Summit SF (held April 23) was exciting for its international mix of ciders, most on draft, from small producers. The event is small enough to be approachable but digging there was plenty to taste and some new and interesting discoveries for me, even as much as I… Read more →
Here are the 7 standout cocktails and new bars of the month I’ve been tasting around the Bay Area. 1. Pagan Idol‘s Bird of Paradise or Witch Doctor The most fun new bar of the month (and year so far?) is easily Pagan Idol from the prolific Future Bars team (Bourbon & Branch, Rickhouse, Local Edition, Tradition and so on),… Read more →
Winter in California is a gorgeous affair, much like the rest of the year, with sunny, crisp days and nights interspersed with warm, summery waves. There are always nearby mountains when one craves snow for the weekend but winter leads into spring seamlessly and we drink refreshing cocktails as easily as spirituous drinks, thus all spirits flow year-round, from whiskey… Read more →
We just had another Whiskies of the World (WoW) on the San Francisco Belle, docked in the Bay and held on March 26 (last year and years prior here). Although it is one of the big whisk(e)y events in the country (also held in San Jose, Atlanta, Houston, Austin), it remains more approachable than larger whisk(e)y events, more like a… Read more →