Martin Cate

Smuggler's Cove: Find Safe Harbor in a Rum Cocktail

Drink of the Week: The Port Au Prince at Smuggler's Cove

There I was, a full hour into my drive from the North-East Bay to San Francisco, and I wasn't even on the Bay Bridge yet. I was sitting in traffic purgatory for having forgotten that 49ers were playing at Candlestick for Monday Night Football, and for the serious miscalculation of the number of earl ... More >>

Cocktail Week Events and Beyond This Weekend, Sept. 21-23

If you thought that this past week was boozy, well, this weekend might take us back to Barbary Coast-era lows of sobriety. Cocktail Week wraps up this weekend with plenty of daytime drinking starting with a pub-crawl today and the grand finale at the St. George Spirits party that has been consistent ... More >>

Smuggler's Cove and Wo Hing Tiki Night

When Don the Beachcomber, credited for inventing standards like the Zombie and Navy Grog, opened his tiki bar in Hollywood in 1934, he unleashed a mania for Polynesian drinks, food, and culture. It didn't take long for other enterprising folks across the country to get in on the "exotic" drink actio ... More >>

San Francisco's Top Ten Cocktail Bars

Lou BustamanteBar Agricole's moonraker: Now that's a beaut.​In the last few years, finding a bad drink in San Francisco has become harder than finding a good one. In nearly every neighborhood you'll find a bar filled with fresh juices, high-quality spirits, and a talented bartender conducting ... More >>

Ministry of Rum Spreads its Cane Spirit Gospel

Ministry of RumWhere there's rum, there's Martin Cate of Smuggler's Cove​Where: Miss Pearl's Jam House, 1 Broadway (at Water) Oakland, 510-444-7171 When: Sunday, Sept. 18, 2:30-5:30 p.m. Cost: $50, tickets and complete rum listing online The rundown: The Ministry of Rum returns to the Oakl ... More >>

Farmers' Market Cocktail Night: Pacific Coast Produce Meets Pacific Rim

Steven LilesMartin Cate summons up the tiki gods with his volcano bowl.​Where: Ferry Building Marketplace, 1 Ferry Building (at Embarcadero) When: Weds., May 25, 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Cost: $40 online, tickets via Eventbrite; 21 and over The Rundown: Spring is in full bloom, and CUESA and th ... More >>

Triumvirate Rum: Rumbustion Society Class Project Goes on Sale at Cask

​When Martin Cate opened Smuggler's Cove in December 2009, he initiated the Rumbustion Society, a master class in rum. Rumbustion is to rum what Julio Bermejo's Blue Agave Club at Tommy's Mexican is to tequila. Finishing the third level (200 different rums, quite a feat!) brings not only glory, bu ... More >>

Triumvirate Rum: Customer Appreciation You Can Sip

Martin Cate(L to R) Smuggler's Cove owner Martin Cate and Masters John Boatwright, Mark Holt, and Ron Roumas​You don't typically expect drinking to offer more rewards than a good time or occasional claim of longevity, but Smuggler's Cove, the neo-tiki bar in Hayes Valley, offers graduates of Rumbu ... More >>

Truck Backlash, Buffet Busting, & Rum School: This Week in Food Bloggery

Lou BustamanteStudy hall at Smuggler's Cove. ​Highlights from the blog this week: 1. When Martin Cate first announced his 200-rum tasting program at Smugglers' Cove, it seemed almost inconceivable that three people would make it through the full list, let alone so quickly. Lou Bustamante intervie ... More >>

Forget Your Tax Blues at National Painkiller Day at Smuggler's Cove

Caroline on Crack/Flickr​National Painkiller Day Where: Smuggler's Cove, 650 Gough (at McAllister), 869-1900 When: Mon., Apr. 18, 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Cost: $9-$22 per Painkiller (2-8 oz. of rum) The rundown: Tax day can be painful -- at least for those with less inventive tax lawyers on the payroll ... More >>

Drink 2011: Cocktails, Let's Go Bowling

The Year in Food: Cocktails Get More Respect

Melissa Barnes/SF WeeklyBar Agricole was among a handful of ambitious bar/restaurants to open in 2010.​Twelve months, ten storylines: It's SFoodie's annual look back at the year in food. To call 2010 a revolutionary year in cocktails would be an overstatement. But it was certainly a year in which ... More >>

The Creepiest of Drunks: Top Five Halloween Cocktails

Halloween is almost upon us. What better way to kick off the most spooktacular time of year than with a top-five list of classic cocktails with evil monikors?intrepidation/FlickrCorpse Reviver #2.​Corpse Reviver #2: Because version 1.0 wasn't potent enough. Our top pick has both a great name and ... More >>

SF Cocktail Week Wraps Up Tonight with Chartreuse-Fueled Karaoke

Lou BustamanteFriday's Happy Hour at Epic Roasthouse featured Camber Lay mixing it up.​Cocktail Week festivities continued full force over the weekend, made better only by the perfect weather. Friday night's Epic Happy Hour provided an ideal venue for enjoying the sun, bay view, bite-sized bur ... More >>

Go Share a Bowl ― It's National Punch Day

LA & OC Foodventures/FlickrPimm's Berry Punch at Rickhouse.​For many the idea of punch is that unnaturally red "Hawaiian" liquid from a plastic gallon jug. Even the spiked variety that occasionally shows up at adult gatherings is usually nothing more than the kid stuff fortified with cheap liq ... More >>

'Where Can I Meet the Ladies?'

​Last week, I received this question from T. S.:Hey, know of any restaurants where I can meet a lot of women?Well, T.S., I don't do a lot of hunting for female company of the kind you're looking for, but I do have a few suggestions for lady-lovers of all stripes: 1. Pickling, jamming, and cheese-m ... More >>

Get Your Drink On: Martin Cate's Hunk of Burning Love

C. AlburgerSmuggler's Cove's $32 Top Notch Volcano is on fi-yah.​On a recent visit to Smuggler's Cove, Hayes Valley's temple of rum drinks, we caught the intoxicating aroma of burnt toast in the air. After a quick investigation, we traced the scent to the neighboring table: its occupants crouc ... More >>

Yo-Ho-Ho and a $13 Cocktail: Opening Night at Smuggler's Cove a Rum-Soaked Taste of Excess

C. AlburgerDownstairs at Hayes Valley's brand-new tiki bar: A blur of insiders and rum geeks.​All three floors of Smuggler's Cove -- Hayes Valley's new ode to tiki libations without high-fructose corn syrup -- were packed to the gills at last night's opening. Owner Martin Cate said an eager th ... More >>

Jardinière's Monday Night Prix Fixe Bows to the Tiki Gods

Tiki Oasis/FlickrRum meister Martin Cate​Think tropical for Monday night at Jardinière (300 Grove at Franklin), where rum god Martin Cate will be unpacking his tiki bar theme. Think of it as something of a dress rehearsal for Cate, former mixologist at Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge in Alameda ... More >>

Ambition Goes All Wilt-y: S.F. Restaurant Closures in August

ipodgirl/FlickrEighty-sixed.​There were some major folderoos in the dog days. Pres a Vi, the ambitious small-plates-and-wine-bar spot that occupied major footage in George Lucas' big, bland Letterman Digital Arts Center in the Presidio, closed, leaving its much smaller progenitor, Va de Vi, th ... More >>

Glitz, Glamour, and the Girl Fight That Almost Was: Who We Saw at SF Chefs.Food.Wine

M. Ladd Circa's Erik Hopfinger, bearing tasty lamb chops. At the opening reception for SF Chefs.Food.Wine in Union Square last night, several attendees were giggling over reports that horns had trumpeted the appearance of Mayor Gavin Newsom minutes earlier. SFoodie spotted Michael Bauer and ... More >>

Our Picks for the Four Hottest Tickets at This Weekend's SF Chefs.Food.Wine. Fest

​This weekend's first-ever SF Chefs.Food.Wine culinary festival is a chance to get up close and personal with local food and wine talent through tastings, classes, and even a cocktail contest. The cost might make you balk (ticketed events are $40 and up, day passes $150), but keep in mind that ... More >>

Bar None: Or, This'll Make You Thirsty

By Meredith Brody Olivier Schwaner-Albright's funny and useful article about the many new philosophies that have sprung up around the new cocktail revival, titled Let 100 (OK, 8) Bartending Philosophies Bloom would be a fun read even if it didn't highlight several San Francisco and Bay Area drinker ... More >>

Bamboo Nation

Hawaiian-print shirts, flaming cocktails -- who can resist the Tiki Bar Crawl?