Indeed, while we missed a couple months, Savoy Cocktail Book Night will be returning to Alembic Bar this Sunday, March 24.
We’ve got a few new tricks up our collective sleeves, and some new faces behind the bar.
Stop by after 6 PM and check us out.
Tag Archives: bars
A Little Hanky Panky
Well, clearly the first order of business on this trip should be to hie myself to the Savoy Hotel and enjoy a Hanky Panky!
Nice chat with personable Savoy Barman, Christian, originally from Northern Italy.
He garnishes the Hanky Panky with a wide swath of Orange!
Wonderful, to experience and dedication he takes to the craft, a wonderful Japanese style shake, hand cracked perfectly clear ice for stirred cocktails.
For the second drink, he chose to make us a drink he had made for an event matching Tequila with Japanese Food. Beautifully refreshing and light, it contained Matcha Green Tea, Citrus, and Tequila.
Of course, the second priority must be pints of Real Ale! The Harp has a great selection of well kept cask ale, recommended if you are in the neighborhood.
Dukes Martin[i,ez]
“You gotta have the Dukes Martini! It’s a thing. They have a cart.”
When famed journalist and international traveler Camper English tells you, you have to try a thing, you probably should, at least once!
Well, if it is drink related, anyway.
So, yes, the Dukes Hotel Bar has a Martini Cart. This system, I believe originated when Salvatore Calabrese was the head barman at the Dukes Bar.
When you order a Martini, (or Martinez,) the bartender, in this case the wonderful Alessandro Palazzi, rolls the cart out to your table with what he will need to make your cocktail, including frozen glassware, Vermouth, and very, very chilled Gin.
His first step is to dash into your glass a little custom vermouth, “made with English wine”. If you desire your Martini or Martinez “Wet” he will leave the dashes of vermouth in the glass. Otherwise, it is just a rinse. Next he raises a frosted bottle of Gin and pours a health measure into the glass. Finally, he finishes the Martini by cutting a wide swath of peel from a lemon and squeezing it over the glass.
Just don’t have more than one, if you have plans for the rest of your evening!
Dull Needles
Bartender, “Can I get you anything? Beer? Cocktail?”
Me, “Nah, I’m good. Experimenting with sobriety this month.”
Fellow Barfly, “Experimenting with sobriety!? Why on earth would you want to do that? Isn’t that like experimenting with dull needles? Just painful!”
New Tricks
Trick Dog, San Francisco, CA, US.
Neighborhood Geology
Ridiculously expensive drinks, barrel aged cocktails, cocktail tasting menus, and ‘molecular mixology’ are all well and good, but to me the most exciting recent development in American cocktail culture is the neighborhood bar with decent, and usually relatively reasonably priced, cocktails.
We are lucky to have at least two such establishments within slightly aerobic, (our neighborhood is called Bernal HEIGHTS,) walking distance of our house. The first to open was Royal Cuckoo near Mission and Valencia. A fun establishment, they have many of the trendy accoutrements of craft cocktail bars: Curated LP selection, taxidermy, and an organ built into the bar.
The second to open in our neighborhood opened a little less than a year ago across the street from the established Southern American Comfort Food restaurant, Front Porch at 29th Street & Tiffany. Opened by the same partners that opened Front Porch, Rock Bar moved into the space that housed the dubious International Club and is rather interestingly Geologically, Minerally, and Mining themed.
They also have a jukebox curated by the nearby Aquarius Records staff, a pool table, and several exciting theme nights including Football on Sunday, Ping Pong on Monday, Teacher Tuesday, and Films Played Silently on Wednesday. The night I stopped by they were playing Buster Keaton shorts.
I did mention it was Minerally themed?
Anyway, two of the best things about Rock Bar, are first, that you can put your name in at Front Porch, and then retire to Rock Bar, while you wait for your table. Front Porch, being a small and rather popular restaurant, is often busy, so a place to retire and chat is always nice. However, secondly, waiting an extended period with only drinks and no nutrients can be dangerous, so you are allowed to call over to Front Porch for take out, and they will deliver it to Rock Bar, such as this Big Bucket of Mixed Fry Up, including Chicken Wings, Okra, Pickles, and Potatoes.
I recently stopped in to try some of their new fall cocktails and chat with the staff. Bar manager Brion Rosch started me off with a story.
“When I opened the bar, I told our co-owner Kevin Cline that I wanted to have Cocchi Americano. He kind of freaked out. He had previously worked at Bix, where someone had briefly had an infatuation with Cocchi Americano. Every month Kevin had to do an inventory and count the many bottles of Cocchi Americano, some still old enough to have tax stamps, and could never figure out a way to sell it. So I’m going to start you out with a drink a created as a tribute to Kevin and his time at Bix, on Gold Street, in San Francisco. It’s called the Gold Street Cocktail and is Plymouth Gin, Cocchi Americano, and Angostura Bitters.”
Dry and delicious, this is a Martini on steroids.
The second drink we tried was his Fall Pisco Punch. The traditional Pisco Punch’s most basic elements are Pisco, Citrus, and Pineapple. He’s keeping the Pisco and Lime, but has made a sort of custom sweetener by combining Small Hand Foods Pineapple Gum, Allspice Dram, and other secret ingredients. Definitely has that fall, Christmas spice feel.
“Kevin was giving me a hard time about how many fall drinks we’re using Allspice Dram in.”
I told Brion, I actually think it is a requirement for all fall drinks.
Lastly, we tried Brion’s most recent concoction, The Old Sage. This drink started as a variation on an Old Fashioned, using St George Spirits Dry Rye Gin as a base. A couple iterations later, and somehow egg white ended up in the drink. That day, they had gotten in some awesome new organic Sage over at Front Porch. When co-owner Josey White tried the drink, she suggested Brion include some sage with the Dry Rye in the drink. I was pretty impressed by how well the flavor of pungent sage combined with the St George Dry Rye. Sweet and savory at the same time, this would be a fun after dinner drink.
If you find yourself in the outer Mission/Bernal Heights area, do stop by Rock Bar. Good drinks, good beer, friendly folks, and more Minerals & Crystals than you are likely to find in any other bar in the world.
Omakase
From the wikipedia entry about “Omakase“:
“Omakase is a Japanese phrase that means “I’ll leave it to you” and it comes from the word for “entrust”.
“The expression is used at sushi restaurants to leave the selection to the chef. It differs from ordering à la carte. The chef will generally present a series of plates, beginning with the lightest fare and proceeding to heaviest, richest dishes. The phrase is not exclusive to service of raw fish with rice, and can incorporate grilling and simmering as well. Customers ordering omakase style expect the chef to be innovative and surprising in the selection of dishes, and the meal can be likened to an artistic performance by the chef. Ordering omakase can be a gamble; however, the customer typically receives the highest quality fish the restaurant currently has in stock at a price cheaper than if it was ordered à la carte. From the restaurant’s perspective, a large number of customers ordering omakase can help in planning for food costs.”
The other day, while I was working with him at Alembic, Danny Louie asked me what bartenders I admired in San Francisco.
I went through the litany of respected bartenders I admire in San Francisco and why.
But later, I was thinking about it, and another candidate for my favorite tender of a bar doesn’t make drinks at all.
Tim Archuleta and his wife run Ichi Sushi in my San Francisco neighborhood.
Tim runs his Sushi Bar more like a neighborhood Sushi Tavern, greeting guests as the come in. Asking them about their families or dogs. Keeping track of the progress of the various diners’ meals at his sushi bar. Pacing people’s meals so they don’t get too full or wait too long. All the while, cutting and serving some of the freshest sushi I’ve ever tasted.
I really admire the spirit he brings to the restaurant and to his guests.
Every time we go in, I usually just say chef’s choice and tell him how much we’d like to eat and what we are in the mood for.
It’s really fun, the way he paces the meal, starting with lighter fare, throwing in a few cooked dishes, and finishing again with lighter, almost dessert sushi.
Watching him work has made me think about how to properly pace and what order to serve people drinks. What drink is best first, what to follow with, what to finish with. If a guest asks you what to pair a dish with, what do you tell them?
Some of the best experiences I’ve had being served by a bartender have been at the Slanted Door, when my wife and I are lucky enough to be served by Mr. Erik Adkins*.
Like Omakase, we give him a framework of what we are interested in, how hungry, do we have food allergies, do we like oysters, etc, and he fills it out with what food is currently best at the restaurant and pairs it with wine, beer and spirits. His knowledge of both the food and drink is amazing but it is his apparent joy at serving us, as guests, with the best he has to offer, which is truly inspirational.
I don’t really have a moral to this story, other than to to point out the self evident: As bartenders, it is important to be aware of the larger context of the guests’ experiences.
I REALLY enjoy making great cocktails and impressing guests with them, but sometimes you have to put away the desire to impress a guest with your cocktail making skill and respect the trust they have put in you, whatever that means, on that on that night, for that particular guest, at that exact moment.
*I will note that I do work for Mr. Adkins at Heaven’s Dog. This is in no way meant to suck up to him, he already gave me a job afterall, just an honest expression of my admiration for his talents as a host and bartender.
Ambivalence
After a dry Mekons concert at the Swedish American Hall, could have used a drink.
Close to Churchill, maybe I can stop in and say “Hi” to Karly or Trevor.
The long line of young people waiting to get in, nixed that idea.
Wait, what the!? What is that the young people are wearing on their heads?
What I can only describe as “Balloon Animal Crowns”!
It doesn’t even look like a Hen Party. I guess I need to get out a little more at night…
Is it normal to be relieved I don’t have to deal with these sort of people where I work and at the same time, a little jealous?
Tipping Hints
“A bartender gave me some free stuff. Was I a douche for not tipping?”
Well, first off, you’re not a douche. Being a “Douche” is a binary thing, you either are, or you aren’t. The fact that you are feeling guilty and even wondering about not tipping, indicates to me that you are probably not a douche. If you were a douche, you would feel perfectly comfortable and deserving of every free thing that came your way.
However, you should have tipped. One thing someone said to me once, which has always stuck in my mind, “If you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to drink.” I know you had some excuse about only having a credit card and not getting a bill. The thing to do, in that case, is to ask the bartender, “Could you charge me for something, so I can leave a tip?” Most likely the person will waive you away and tell you to, “get me next time,” but at least they know you weren’t stiffing them. In any case, even if you did forget, you’re not a douche, and there was drinking involved, so likely they’ll figure it will all come out in the wash eventually.
Some handy reading…
10 Rules of Drinking Like a Man #6 Use Cash, the Etiquette of Dollars
At all the places I’ve worked, a certain amount of free drinks or discounts are allowed (and accounted for) per shift, at the bartender’s, or manager’s, discretion. Further confounding the individual joys and benefits of “buybacks”, everywhere I’ve worked is a pooled house. That is, everyone working receives a certain amount of shares of the night’s tips, including waiters, bus boys, and naturally, bar backs.
As a customer, the rule you should go by, is: You must tip on the full value of services or products received, end of story.
How much?
The phenomenon of celebrity and star bartenders aside, in California, bartending is a minimum wage service job, Period. Very few benefits, no paid vacation days, and no sick days. You were wondering why so many of your favorite bartenders quit the job for “Brand Rep”, management, or consulting gigs as soon as they accumulated enough credibility? The only way for bartenders (and waiters) to make any sort of decent money is through tips.
In my opinion, you should apply the exact same criteria to tipping bartenders, as you do towards waiters. 15-30% of the total goods and services received, based on your feeling about the quality of service and the drinks received. Anything less, unless you are really trying to make a statement, is kind of cheap. Anything more, and we kind of feel like you’re trying to buy our attentions. Though, sometimes, when a huge credit card bill is looming, I don’t mind feeling bought…
And as regards credit or debit cards, yes, small businesses pay fairly hefty fees on each credit or debit transaction, so if you truly want to support the bar or small business, and give them 100% of the dollars you spend, pay in cash. Do you really want to give Wells Fargo, Bank of America, or Chase any more of your money than you already are? Are you concerned about your favorite bar going out of business or your favorite bank? I think the Fed has your bank’s back, it’s up to you to support the restaurant or bar. However, if the only way you’re going to go out, is if you use a card, then, please, by all means, pay and tip with the card.
I hope this helps!
Parson’s Special Cocktail
One thing that I’m hoping to do this year is to get out a bit more to bars around town. While I’m at it, I plan to, ahem, challenge the talent a bit more than I have, by requesting that they make Savoy Cocktails.
For this outing, we met some friends in North Beach where we decided to have dinner at the new-ish Comstock Saloon. Well, it’s really only “new-ish” if you get out to North Beach as infrequently as Mrs. Flannestad and I do. Ahem, I think they’ve been open for at least 8 months.
Among the bars and restaurants that opened last year, a new trend was bars that take themselves seriously as cocktail destinations, yet have really very decent food. Both Bar Agricole and Comstock Saloon fall into this category. Where previously it had almost seemed that it was the restaurants which were leading the charge as destinations for amazing cocktails, now we are seeing places that are first and foremost cocktail destinations, yet are being written up also as food destinations.
That it incorporates “Saloon” in its name and is located in North Beach, gives you a good idea what to expect. Located in the space which was most recently the San Francisco Brewing Company, Comstock is a rowdy, fun bar with live music and weekend crowds. That you can also get “Beef Shank and Bone Marrow Pot Pie” or “Chicken Fried Rabbit” is an indication of where “Bar Food” is at these days in San Francisco. I’m all for it, especially when the food is priced as well as it is at Comstock.
Parson’s Special Cocktail
4 Dashes Grenadine.
1 Glass Orange Juice.
The Yolk of 1 Egg.
Shake well and strain into medium size glass.
For my first drink, to be a pain in the ass. I asked for “Barkeep’s Whismy” and specified “something brown”. I got back a very well made Brooklyn, one of my all time favorite drinks, and quite enjoyed it. As far as “Whimsy” goes, maybe a bit on the “safe” side, but hard to complain.
As I was perusing the menu, I noticed they had the new beer from Anchor Brewing, Brekel’s Brown. It proved to be a great companion to my Beef Shank and Bone Marrow Pot Pie.
After we finished dinner, the server asked us if there was anything else she could bring. I wrote down the recipe for the Parson’s Special and told her it was for a blog project I was working on.
A well executed drink came back, with the spice from their house Grenadine giving this rather plain recipe a well needed lift. Quite similar to what I remember an Orange Julius tasting like, I’m not sure I would order the Parson’s Special again, but I know I will return to Comstock Saloon to sample more of their food and drink menu.
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the drinks in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, the, uh, Sauterne Cup.