Yokai is an ode to jazz with quality 1970s JBL Pro Series studio speakers and sound-proofing, making music the soul of the lofty space that was home to Salt House for years. The steel, brick and wood-lined bar and restaurant on Mission Street opened just last month, adding a feather in the caps of Marc Zimmerman, Ben Jorgensen and team behind Gozu, one of the great modern Japanese restaurants in the nation since 2019: Read more →
One of two of my city bar guides in Gin Magazine, Summer 2023 edition. My Bar Guide to 8 top bars in London now:
Bars featured: Soma Soho, Seed Library, Duke’s, The Mezcaleria at KOL, Rovi, Punch Room at the London Edition, 8 at the Londoner, Tayer + Elementary Read more →
These newcomers or new menus cover the gamut, from upscale Indian to casual Mexican food. Alongside this month’s full restaurant reviews, these seven are also worth visiting, with last month’s standouts here:
—Better-Than-Nola Muffalettas at Sandy’s, Haight-Ashbury
—Non-Alcoholic Pairing with Fine Dining Creativity: Sons & Daughters
—Fab Mexican Food & Cocktails with a View: Barrio
—1940’s Supperclub Live Jazz Dream: Dawn Club
—Unexpected Modern Indian Tasting Menu: Blue Mermaid Restaurant
—Low-Gluten Pizza Alternative from Rome: Pinsa Rossa
—Hearty Mexican Food 7 Days a Week: Tacos del Barrio Read more →
From one of the key cities that birthed cocktails to the world in the 1800s, San Francisco has no end of hundreds of stellar bars with stellar food. We welcome a new one from a beloved industry bartender and standout new menus at two bars we already love, all three with quality food, too. Read more →
From May 8–11, 2023, our own Kevin Diedrich, owner of PCH (Pacific Cocktail Haven) and Kona’s Street Market — named American Bartender of the Year and PCH the Best American Cocktail Bar at Tales of the Cocktail in 2020 — quietly and quickly launched the inaugural SF AAPI Cocktail Week, an event that will be bigger next year with more… Read more →
These new spots or new menus cover the gamut, from Filipino-Mexican to Peruvian. Alongside my full restaurant reviews this month, these eight (and a bonus 9th bar) are well worth visiting. Last month’s standouts are here (as always, I’ve personally vetted, visited or ordered from each place reviewed): Read more →
I won’t forget my first visit to Palette soon after opening in 2019 when chef Peter Hemsley grilled up rare, local coonstripe shrimp just caught that morning, buttery-fresh and revelatory; like eating our divine local spot prawns for the first time. Midwest-born Hemsley’s hand with seafood was evident from those early days. So maybe it’s little surprise that as Palette closed, Hemsley and team just opened Aphotic in the same space on March 21, 2023, as a sleek tribute to… you guessed it: seafood. Read more →
Alongside cocktails at new restaurants, these seven bars are worth visiting now and into the new year…and some currently offer special holiday decor & drinks: Read more →
Those of us who have been in dining, cocktails and spirits a long while know the importance of Bar Agricole since it opened in San Francisco’s SoMa district in 2011. Not only was it nominated every year since 2012 for James Beard Outstanding Bar Program in the nation — finally winning in 2019, but founder and bar vet Thad Vogler (who helped open pioneering bars like Bourbon and Branch) wrote an intriguing and definitive book on farmhouse-distilled and naturally sourced spirits, By the Smoke and the Smell: My Search for the Rare and Sublime on the Spirits Trail… Read more →
A few elements must align to come into one’s own voice and it’s never a one-time deal but an ongoing evolution. Maturity, experience and time are the oft-discounted but key factors to holistic integration for those pursuing it. However, other crucial pieces include timing and the right platform/s from which to express one’s voice…
Normally, this Friday review is devoted to restaurants: and both these new bars serve food, so we’ll get into that. But this week, it’s more about drink menus on par with great food and about two women coming into their voice on their current menus: Read more →