March 1, 2015

This issue:

My Top 7 February Dishes + 3 New Restaurants.
4 New Spirits: Talking Irish whiskey experiments, rare scotch & green chile vodka.
Beer: Top 5 beers from SF Beer Week Opening Gala + tasting through The Bruery Rarities.
Top 5 February Wines: From Lambrusco to Galician red wine.

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4 New Spirits: Talking Irish Whiskey, Rare Scotch & Green Chile Vodka

Almost daily, I’m tasting a wide range of spirits, wines and beers, whether at restaurants and bars, distilleries, wineries or breweries or as samples crossing my desk. For February, here are just-released spirits standouts — February beer highlights are here and wine here. St. George’s New Vodkas ($24.99) Yes, St. George Spirits sold the Hangar One brand a couple years… Read more →

Top 5 February Wines

Almost daily, I’m tasting a wide range of spirits, wines and beers, whether at restaurants and bars, distilleries, wineries or breweries or as samples crossing my desk. In the month of February, here are my top 5 wines tasted — February beer highlights are here and spirits here. 1. 2010 Vigneto Saetti Rosato dell’Emilia The hands-on, family production of 2010 Vigneto… Read more →

February 15, 2015

This issue:
Imbiber – My Top 10 Cocktails of the Year Thus Far.
Wandering Traveler – Oklahoma City: Back in my birth city of OKC, checking out new eats & drink, from steak & po boys to Hot Browns & German delis.
Imbiber – Coffee Newcomer: A new downtown cafe for coffee geeks — with good food.

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My Top 10 Cocktails of Early 2015

Of the wide number of cocktails I taste in a month, here are 10 January-early February standouts from restaurants, bars and events around the Bay Area. 1. Hawker Fare’s Witch Doctor Chef James Syhabout (of Michelin-starred Commis in Oakland) just opened Hawker Fare SF a couple weeks ago. Though I was disappointed in the food at Oakland’s Hawker Fare since… Read more →

Coffee & Cafe Newcomer: Mazarine

My new coffee destination/cafe of the month is on Market Street near the Montgomery BART station, easily accessible to Union Square and Financial District/SoMa crowds alike. Mazarine serves coffee from a couple purveyors to please the coffee geek and quality bites for lunch and breakfast. Here is an article I wrote about the cafe at Zagat on January 21, 2015:… Read more →