Best Place to Sip Kuo Kung Chiew

If you ever have a hankering to nurse a glass of this repellent Chinese liqueur -- a dark, viscous amalgam of Fernet-Branca, linseed oil, and Vicks VapoRub -- the Rosewood, the sleekest watering hole in San Francisco, is the place to try it. Kuo Kung Chiew is only one of the many aperitifs, cordials, and digestifs from around the world served on the premises (Cynar artichoke liqueur, anyone?). Of course, you can also order your standard martini or Manhattan or single malt while you sit upon your Thonet barstool taking in the hanging-globe stereo speakers, the backlit wine racks, the oblique canvases, and the whole rosewood-limestone-stainless steel aesthetic. (Even the gleaming, silvery deco beer taps are utilitarian works of art.) Out back there's an alfresco lounge complete with bamboo garden, in which independent films are screened on a regular basis. All in all, hanging out at the Rosewood is like finding yourself in some sort of postmodern hipster speak-easy, even if you're sipping nothing more exotic than a beaker of suds.