Pisco

Cocktail Culture: Evolving Beyond Beards and Suspenders Into Something Weirder Still

Drink 2013: Cocktails Listings

Drink of the Week: The Viceroy at Cantina

Few spirits that have the potential to incite the kind of heated debate that pisco, the South American unaged grape based brandy, is capable of. Should you ever have the misfortune of asking a Chilean and a Peruvian about the origins of pisco, you would quickly find yourself with no answer and in th ... More >>

Drink of the Week: Sipping the Lands End at Rich Table

It wasn't until I sat at the bar at Rich Table that I realized a restaurant could have an old soul. At a mere four months old, the place hums with such effortless vigor, you'd be forgiven for thinking the place had been around for years. The service is key, with staff that sets everyone at ease, inn ... More >>

Fall Cocktails: Two Exceptional Drinks at Presidio Social Club

Drink of the Week: Apple Brandy Sour at Presidio Social Club

With apple season in full force, and the weather kicking its final throws of Indian Summer, the cold weather cocktail season officially begins. At Presidio Social Club, bar manager Tim Stookey is adding two new drinks to the line up designed to unfog our lenses for a bit. The fall leaf red Picante ... More >>

Learn to Be a Bartender at Beretta's New Cocktail Classes

Last night we got a chance to preview Beretta's new hands-on cocktail classes, which are led by the restaurant's own bartenders. Each class focuses around one spirit or type of liquor, and instead of being demo-based, every student gets his own cocktail station complete with all the tools of the tra ... More >>

Party in Our Past

Number 39: La Mar's Cebiche Mixto

SFoodie's countdown of our favorite 50 things to eat and drink, 2012 edition ​San Francisco's first known Peruvian restaurant, Fonda Peruana, opened at the beginning of the Gold Rush, and 19th-century shipping routes between South America and San Francisco brought Peruvian pisco to our saloons, w ... More >>

Drink of the Week: Sparrows in the City

​Head bartender Brian Means' new cocktail menu at the Fifth Floor offers some interesting and elegant choices. The Commodore ($13, Clement Martinique Rhum, blackstrap gastrique, lime, ginger ale) comes with a separate spherized cocktail (saffron gin, Campari, lavender syrup, lemon) sprinkled ... 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 >>

How to Get Your Drink On This Week

​The festivities of Thanksgiving may be over and December's insanity of Christmas-Chanukah-Kwanza-NYE not quite up to speed, making this weekend your last chance to sip a drink and catch your breath. Here's what's going on: Historic Libations Where: California Historical Society, 678 Mission (at ... More >>

Cocktail Week Events for Tuesday, Sept. 20

Lou BustamanteKicking off Cocktail Week inside Anchor Brewery and Distillery​After a kickoff night Monday with perfect weather, and more people wanting to attend than there were tickets to be had, San Francisco Cocktail Week continues today with a much broader schedule. Tonight's festivities ... More >>

Encanto Pisco Stars Tonight at Bar Adagio's Free Cocktail College

​Where: Bar Adagio, 550 Geary (at Taylor), 775-5000 When: Thurs., Sept. 8, 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Cost: Free! but you must RSVP: baradagio@jdvhospitality.com The rundown: Bar Adagio's Cocktail College, the popular series held on the second Thursday of each month, happens tonight spotlighting loca ... More >>

Starlight Room Cocktail Preview

Lou BustamanteJoel Teitelbaum serving up a couple of Pisco Crustas​Opening tonight at 6 p.m. (until midnight) is the revamped incarnation of Harry Denton's Starlight Room sporting a new dance floor, plush furniture, and an inventive cocktail menu. We caught up with bar manager Joel Teitelba ... More >>

Summer Guide: Sports Bars That Aren't Terrible

A Full List of the 92 Best Dishes in S.F. for Fresh Eats

No. 3: Sichuan Pickles at Mission Chinese Food

Albert Law/porkbellystudioMission Chinese Food's mixed pickles, $3.​SFoodie's countdown of our 92 favorite things to eat and drink in San Francisco, 2011 edition.The longer Danny Bowien and Anthony Myint's restaurant sticks around, the farther afield it spins, growing wilder and more elaborate wit ... More >>

No. 5: Mushroom Soufflé at Cafe Jacqueline

justafoodie/FoodspottingThe mushroom souffle at Cafe Jacqueline, $28.​SFoodie's countdown of our 92 favorite things to eat and drink in San Francisco, 2011 edition.The reason that Cafe Jacqueline still shows up in most-romantic-restaurant lists isn't the fact that Jacqueline Margulis makes each of ... More >>

No. 8: Pork Skewers at Halu

Albert Law/porkbellystudioHalu's tontoro (left) and bacon-wrapped mochi.​SFoodie's countdown of our 92 favorite things to eat and drink in San Francisco, 2011 edition.Most studio apartments are bigger than Shigemi and Mimi Komiyama's tiny, personal restaurant, and signs of Shigemi's adoration of t ... More >>

No. 17: Wayfare Tavern's Steak Tartare

Gil Riego, Jr.Wayfare Tavern's steak tartare, $16.​SFoodie's countdown of our 92 favorite things to eat and drink in San Francisco, 2011 edition.Cooking beef causes all sorts of delicious chemical reactions: Amino acids and sugars on the surface of the meat combine, the beef browns, and dozens of ... More >>

No. 20: Sardine and Avocado Toasts from Contigo

Christian HaasContigo's sardine and avocado toasts, $2.50 a piece.​SFoodie's countdown of our 92 favorite things to eat and drink in San Francisco, 2011 edition. Here in California, ingredients rule the table. Excellent, impeccable produce and proteins, minimally manipulated, almost always resul ... More >>

No. 21: Blacksmith Cellars' Chenin Blanc

Lou BustamanteBlacksmith Cellars' chenin blanc: Drink local.​SFoodie's countdown of our 92 favorite things to eat and drink in San Francisco, 2011 edition.Even with the success of Dashe Cellars in industrial Oakland and Sutton Cellars in Dogpatch, it's challenging to hear the words "urban winery" ... More >>

We've Mapped Even More of Our Favorite Local Dishes

View SFoodie's 92 in a larger map ​We've been busier than ever working on the second annual countdown of favorite dishes, SFoodie's 92: The 92 dishes and drinks we've loved most in 2011. We've since made it all the way up to No. 21 -- Blacksmith Cellars' Chenin Blanc -- and we thought it wou ... More >>

No. 22: Tataki's Faux-Nagi

Photo courtesy of Bart Nagel​SFoodie's countdown of our 92 favorite things to eat and drink in San Francisco, 2011 edition. There are people out there -- we've met them, we know -- who can't think of a sushi meal without a couple of orders of unagi. With its broiler-blistered skin and sweet, thi ... More >>

No. 23: Mandarin Lamb at Old Mandarin Islamic Restaurant

Anthony Bak/www.pragmaticepicurean.comOld Mandarin's Mandarin lamb, $9.95​ SFoodie's countdown of our 92 favorite things to eat and drink in San Francisco, 2011 edition. Old Mandarin's namesake lamb dish is the exception to SFoodie's rule of avoiding any dish with the word "Mandarin" in its name ... More >>

No. 27: Fava Greens from Tairwa'-Knoll Farms

CUESAFava greens at the Saturday Ferry Plaza market, $6 per pound.​SFoodie's countdown of our 92 favorite things to eat and drink in San Francisco, 2011 edition. ​As the winter rains fade and the sun finally shines on the city's farmers' markets, perhaps the last thing you want to fill your sac ... More >>

Tomorrow: Woozy Wednesday on the Embarcadero

The Pisco Book​The middle of the week isn't usually a celebration day ― it's the conservative, dowdy child of the seven, complete with headgear and prescription shoes. Well, Wednesday just got a makeover (at least this week), thanks to two events that should put the ump back in hump day. Pi ... More >>

No. 36: Seven Hills' Raviolo Uovo

Kimberly SandieSeven Hills' raviolo uovo, $8.50.​SFoodie's countdown of our 92 favorite things to eat and drink in San Francisco, 2011 edition. During his internship at San Domenico restaurant in Northern Italy, Alexander Alioto fell in love with a raviolo dish he learned to make. so he put the d ... More >>

No. 53: Vegan Flan at Gracias Madre

Gil Riego Jr.Gracias Madre's almond-and-cashew-milk flan, $8: No ersatz custard this.​SFoodie's countdown of our 92 favorite things to eat and drink in San Francisco, 2011 edition.In general, SFoodie prefers not to bestow praise on vegan copies of meat- and dairy-based foods. There are so many ele ... More >>

Drank, Drunk: Drink

​DRINK: SF Weekly's Beer, Wine, and Cocktail Tasting Where: Fairmont Hotel, 950 Mason (at California), 772-5000 When: Sat., Mar. 12, 7-9 p.m. Cost: $50 general admission, $75 VIP early admission; see below for a $20 SFoodie discount The rundown: We're not saying that SF Weekly's first-eve ... More >>

No. 61: Hard Knox Cafe's Chicken and Waffles

John BirdsallHard Knox Cafe's chicken and waffle, $10.​SFoodie's countdown of our 92 favorite things to eat and drink in San Francisco, 2011 edition. ​What does soul food look like in San Francisco? Show up at Hard Knox in Dogpatch some afternoon, vying for counter space with the bro wi ... More >>

One Month In, San Francisco's Best Things to Eat and Drink

Jonathan KauffmanGoat taco (foreground) from the El Norteño truck.​ It's been a month since we began our daily countdown of our 92 favorite things to eat and drink in San Francisco, 2011 edition. Along the way, we'll pause to catch our breath, rounding up the favorites on our list so far, an ... More >>

No. 72: Sauerbraten at Walzwerk

Earl G./FlickrWalzwerk's sauerbraten, $18.​SFoodie's countdown of the 92 best things to eat and drink in San Francisco, 2011 edition. SFoodie has eaten sauerbratens so vinegary we worried that the meat had spoiled. But Walzwerk's sauerbraten, one of the Mission restaurant's best dishes, hits just ... More >>

No. 74: Comstock Saloon's Pisco Punch

Lou BustamantePisco Punch at Comstock Saloon, a cocktail with a lineage.​SFoodie's countdown of the 92 best things to eat and drink in San Francisco, 2011 edition. ​The one issue all cocktail historians can agree on is this: Determining the origin of a drink is imprecise work. Like most ... More >>

Pisco Sour, a Peruvian Celebration at La Mar

​La Mar Cebicheria Peruana's Pisco Sour (Pisco Quebranta, lime juice, simple syrup, egg white, and regional bitters) has felled us on more than one occasion. Though Pisco is a brandy (i.e., distilled from grapes), the foamy egg white fills us with nostalgia for (don't judge) the Orange Julius. ... More >>

The Top Five San Francisco Dishes of 2010

Local Pisco Expert Signs Books, Gets Wonky at Pisco Latin Lounge

Guillermo Toro-Lira has penned a history of Peruvian brandy in California.​Every movement needs a historian, someone who can frame events with the trajectory of inevitability. For Barbary Coast cocktail cultists, that historian is Lima-born Guillermo Toro-Lira. Like some early Christian saint, ... More >>

Comstock Saloon: The Savory Coast

Thankfully, Tuesday's Classes on Pisco and Tequila Come with Samples

​Next Tuesday, apparently, is booze-school day in San Francisco:That night, the San Francisco History Association is hosting a lecture by Guillermo Toro-Lira, author of Wings of Cherubs: The Saga of the Rediscovery of Pisco Punch, who will talk about the city's centuries-old affection for pisco, ... More >>

For Cinco de Mayo, Mildly Stylish Scene and $5 Specials at Pisco Latin Lounge

Kenn Wilson/Flickr​For that immediate post-work Cinco de Mayo crush, hit up Pisco Latin Lounge, which is within stalking distance of both Hayes Valley and the Castro. It's gay-friendly, and tends to attract stylish, non-age-specific types of all genders. There's generally a welcoming vibe for ... More >>

Another Round

Mission Eateries (and You) Can Help Support Local Kids at Next Week's Food for Thought Fundraiser

​Dine out at one of the participating spots in the Mission next Wednesday, Nov. 11, and the restaurant will donate between 25 and 100 percent of the proceeds to Mission Graduates, a nonprofit focused on fostering college preparedness in K-12 students in the Mission District. It's all in honor of M ... More >>

Pisco Punch, a Butt-Kicking Sip of S.F. History

Kenn Wilson/FlickrThe version at Pisco Latin Lounge: From the Monkey Block to your lips.​The mind can touch on all sorts of topics when allowed to wander unimpeded. So it was that as we reflected on Chinatown's annual Double 10 celebration commemorating the overthrow of the Xing Dynasty on Oct ... More >>

Drink Therapy: Lush Latin Beats and a Facelift You Can Sip

Kenn Wilson​It's La Escuelita night at Pisco Latin Lounge, a kind of aural bouquet of lush paper roses with a heady whiff of retro Latino, pop sintetico, and old school dance stuff (DJ Juan Data starts up about 8 p.m.). Meantime, you can suck down drink specials spiked with Lotus vodka: a cucu ... More >>

Pisco Latin Lounge's Self-Styled 'Cocktail Historian' Curates an Indigenous Guzzler

Jason via FlickrThe Pisco Punch at Pisco Latin Lounge: The real deal, for better or worseGuillermo Toro-Lira is pretty much obsessed. It's no coincidence that the Peruvian-born, self-styled "cocktail historian" once wrote a novel about a couple who were (surprise) obsessed with sussing out the origi ... More >>

Fancy a Rhubarbella? Tonight's Jardiniere Gala Marks the End of Cocktail Week

Kenn Wilson via FlickrSan Francisco's third annual mixology fest wraps up tonightStarting last Monday, the third annual SF Cocktail Week stirred, shook, and muddled its way through the city. It closes tonight with a gala at Jardiniere, 6-9 p.m. Forty-five bucks gets you all-you-can-eat Traci Des Jar ... More >>

Pork Belly and Cocktails

At Heaven's Dog, mixing contemporary Chinese and fancy drinks in a modern setting does not a great restaurant make.

Road Trip Pit Stop: Beltramo's

... has one of the broadest selections of liqueurs anywhere.

Drink of The Week: La Mar Cebicheria Peruana's Santa Maria

The Santa Maria cocktail at La Mar Cebicheria Peruana (Pier 1 1/2) is a welcome reminder of sunnier climes during this present chill. Comprised of Pisco, pomegranate-infused tequila, lemon juice and ginger syrup, there's a solid balance of tart, spice and a delicious burn that seems to intensify wit ... More >>