Smoke and Mirrors at Cotogna in San Francisco

It's been a while since I've been to Cotogna. I'm so glad there was a last minute opening for brunch a few weekends ago. I decided to indulge a little bit for brunch and ordered the fried chicken and biscuits for my meal. However for my brunch cocktail, I had a tough time deciding what to drink. Should I order the Blackberry Fix with my choice of vodka/gin/rye? Or should I just start the party early with the Smoke and Mirrors with mezcal, grapefruit and chili. It was probably the first time in a while that I had to ask the server to come back for my cocktail order. When he returned I still didn't know so I blurted out the Smoke and Mirrors. I'm so glad I did. The smoky and spicy bite woke up not only my taste buds but me too.

The Drink - Smoke and Mirrors, $12

Mezcal, Gran Classico, grapefruit, chili

The Place - Cotogna
San Francisco, Jackson Square
Italian
Weekday lunch, dinner nightly, weekend brunch, full bar
http://www.cotognasf.com/

Other Cotogna drinks
Strait Breeze
Vodoo Child
Viceroy
Valentino
All Summer Long
La Capilla
Crystal Beach
Spezzatura
Chattanoga Girl
Calypso

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Calypso, Cotogna

Cotogna is located in the Jackson Square neighborhood of San Francisco. It's one of my go to restaurant choices when friends want to meet for lunch. I hadn't been there in a while and my research partner for the day had never been. It's been so long, that I hadn't realized there was so much road construction in the area. So the place I normally don't have trouble finding street parking, it actually took me about 20 minutes to find it. Note to self, I should check the Department of Public Works website for construction. We were both anxious to have a drink after finding spots for our cars. But with many new interesting named drinks on the menu, we both had a tough time deciding. My research partner had the Calypso from the Apertivi section of the drink menu. Both of our initial reactions was the drink was refreshing. We both immediately thought of summer. This drink instantly had me dancing in my mind to a Calypso beat.

The Drink - Calypso, $11
Cocchi Americano, Prosecco, Sage

The Place - Cotogna
San Francisco, Jackson Square
Italian
Weekday lunch, dinner nightly, weekend brunch, full bar
http://www.cotognasf.com/

Other Cotogna drinks
Strait Breeze
Vodoo Child
Viceroy
Valentino
All Summer Long
La Capilla
Crystal Beach
Spezzatura
Chattanoga Girl

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A Toast to One Year for Drinks in the City

Today marks our first anniversary of sharing Drinks in the City where we live, work and play. We'd love to thank all of our contributors, fans and researchers for a fun year. Flip through our gallery(http://www.drinksinthecity.com/view/flipcard) of drinks in our first year and let us know what your favorite drink, picture and post is. 

We look forward to many more as we celebrate the deliciosity of the liquid experience!  Cheers!

Rosata Spumante "Santhomas" Pinot Nero, Cotogna, $10

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Chattanooga Girl,Cotogna

Cotogna is an Italian restaurant just off of Jackson Square in San Francisco. Their food, cocktails and service is always exceptional. The Chattanooga Girl cocktail continues this trend. I love the bold flavor and I adore the whiskey color which is enhanced by the red hues of the creole bitters. As many cocktail enthusiasts now, bitters were used "back in the day" in liquid tonics to cure what ails you by doctors and pharmacists. I could immediately feel the "medicinal benefits" of the creole bitters permeate through my body (even though it may have been in my head only). A few too many of these and I'll be practicing my Southern accent!

While I was researching what a Tennessee accent sounded like, I stumbled upon the concept of Southern American English and the different dialects within it. I really had never thought of the different regions as dialects, but more accents. Interesting! 

The Drink - Chattanooga Girl, $11
Tennessee Whiskey, Sweet Vermouth, Peach, Creole Bitters

The Place - Cotogna
San Francisco, Jackson Square
Italian
Weekday lunch, dinner nightly, weekend brunch, full bar
http://www.cotognasf.com/

Other Cotogna drinks
Strait Breeze
Vodoo Child
Viceroy
Valentino
All Summer Long
La Capilla
Crystal Beach
Spezzatura
Calypso

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Spezzatura, Cotogna

Cotogna is an Italian restaurant just off Jackson Square in San Francisco. Cotogna's bar program is stellar. I love how they keep some of my favorites on the menu (like the Vodoo Child and Viceroy) but how they are always adding new exciting cocktails too. The Spezzatura is a refreshing and light cocktail.

Per Google Translate, Spezzature means fractional. Whatever the inspiration, it's amazing. The pop of contrasting colors with the amaro/cognac hued cocktail with the mint garnish is eyecatching. I must say, I appreciate when the garnishes aren't bruised. It just makes for an outstanding experience.

The Drink - Spezzature, $11
Amaro, Cognac, lemon, pineapple

The Place - Cotogna
San Francisco, Jackson Square
Italian cuisine
Weekday lunch, dinner nightly, weekend brunch, full bar
http://www.cotognasf.com/


Other Cotogna drinks
Strait Breeze
Vodoo Child
Viceroy
Valentino
All Summer Long
La Capilla
Chattanoga Girl
Calypso

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Crystal Beach, Cotogna

Cotogna is an Italian restaurant located just off Jackson Square in San Francisco. It's one of my go to places for drinks and food. The food, the drinks, the service is always stellar. Since I hadn't been there in a while, I was excited to see some new cocktails on the menu. So I had to order the Crystal Beach. When it arrived, we were surprised that it was beautifully garnished with purple basil. I was expecting the normal green basil since the menu only specified basil. I just love being surprised with not only the presentation but with flavor. The Crystal Beach swept me away from the doldroms' of a foggy cold San Francisco summer with the pop of ginger, the flavorful rye and the contrasting colors of the cocktail with the purple basil. 

The Drink - Crystal Beach, $11
Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey, lemon juice, Fair Goji liqueur, ginger beer and purple basil

The Place - Cotogna
San Francisco, Jackson Square
Italian
Weekday lunch, dinner nightly, weekend brunch, full bar
http://www.cotognasf.com/

Other Cotogna Drinks
Strait Breeze
Vodoo Child
Viceroy
Valentino
All Summer Long
La Capilla
Spezzatura
Chattanoga Girl
Calypso

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La Capilla, Cotogna

Cotogna is a casual Italian restaurant in the Jackson Square neighborhood of San Francisco. I recently went to lunch with one of my mocktail researchers. They had no idea that there was a difference between Coke made stateside (with high fructose corn syrup) and Coke made in Mexico (with refined cane sugar). It's funny given their ties to the Mexican community. I just loved how the presentation for this drink from the salted rim to the thick slice of lime tightly wedged at the bottom. Absolutely refreshing!

La Capilla from Spanish translates to The Chapel in English. Google translate gave me the Italian to English translation as La Capilla. So much for technology. Does anyone know the Italian meaning of capilla?

The Drink - La Capilla, $4
Mexican coke, lime and salt rim

The Place - Cotogna
Weekday lunch, dinner nightly, weekend brunch, full bar
http://www.cotognasf.com/

Other Cotogna Drinks
Strait Breeze
Vodoo Child
Viceroy
Valentino
All Summer Long
Crystal Beach

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All Summer Long, Cotogna

Cotogna is an Italian restaurant located in the Jackson Square neighborhood of San Francisco. It's the casual sister restaurant of the upscale Quince just next door. I have enjoyed every single cocktail that I've ordered at Cotogna. While the rest of the US has had record heat this summer, the weather in San Francisco has been the typical summer weather, with fog, mist, and cold. Just the other day one of my neighbors was using their fireplace. So when I saw the list of cocktails, the new All Summer Long drink popped out. This petite drink packs a mighty punch with it's fragrant aroma and it's bold flavor. It's not the cherry on top that's the treat for this cocktail, it's the amaro cherry at the bottom. Yum!

The Drink - All Summer Long, $11
V/X Rum, Coca-Cola tincture, Antica Formula (a red Italian sweet vermouth), and a cherry

The Place - Cotogna
San Francisco, Jackson Square
http://www.cotognasf.com/

Other Cotogna Drinks
Strait BreezeVodoo Child
Viceroy
Valentino
La Capilla
Crystal Beach

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Valentino, Cotogna

Cotogna is an Italian restaurant located in the Jackson Square neighborhood of San Francisco. I have not had a cocktail at Cotogna that I have not loved. The Valentino apertivo continues the affair. The Valentino first teases you with the color. The seduction is complete with the smoky and sexy combination of mezcal, blackberry and blood orange. I told my research companion that they should taste the drink. When they tried it, they said, "Wow, that's strong." Within seconds, they then said "Wow, that's really good." From the first glance on the menu, to the first look, to the aroma and to the final sip, the Valentino takes your breath away.

On a sunny day, if you are fortunate enough, you can get an outdoor seat along the sunny side of Pacific Ave.

The Skinny
Lunch, Dinner, full bar
http://www.cotognasf.com/
Valentino, $10

Other Cotogna drinks
Strait Breeze
Vodoo Child
Viceroy
All Summer Long
La Capilla
Crystal Beach

Other pictures from the visit

 Raviol topped with an egg

Burrata with Ramps and Mushrooms

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Strait Breeze at Cotogna

The Strait Breeze at Cotogna is from the Analcolico section of their drink menu.  Analcolico is Italian for non-alcoholic.  This refreshing mocktail with Aranciata, grapefruit juice and cranberry juice is a fizzy rainbow of colors and flavors.  I can imagine being in the Amalfi Coast sipping this drink hoping for a nice ocean breeze to cool me down. I am definitely going to make this at home. Perhaps I'll float some vodka or prosecco to make this an adult drink.

The Skinny
Full Bar
Lunch 7 days a week, Dinner 7 days a week
http://www.cotognasf.com/
Strait Breeze $7

Other Cotogna drinks
Vodoo Child
Viceroy
Valentino
All Summer Long
La Capilla
Crystal Beach

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Viceroy, Cotogna

Cotogna in the Jackson Square area of San Francisco serves one of my favorite tequila cocktails, the Viceroy.  You slowly sip the Viceroy to enjoy every single drop of the reposada tequila, hint of sweet from pineapple and hint of heat from chili. Cotogna's Viceroy rules!

The Skinny
Lunch Monday-Saturday, Dinner Monday - Sunday
http://www.cotognasf.com/
Viceroy, $9

Other Cotogna drinks
Strait Breeze
Vodoo Child
Valentino
All Summer Long
La Capilla
Crystal Beach

Some pics of other dishes from this visit:

 Focaccia

Gnocchi

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Voodoo Child

I am still under the spell of the Voodoo Child at Cotogna in San Francisco.  The Jamaican and Haitain Rums, Elderflower, Grapefruit and Chili Potion mesmerize you with sweet melodies and tempt you with the potent heat of the chili potion.  The slow heat first starts in your mouth and slowly over the course of drinking your lips start to tingle from the potion working it's magic.  You can't stop, you want more.  The voodoo magic has cast it's spell on me and I will undoubtedly return for more.  Do I workship this drink?  Perhaps.  But I definitely worship the cocktail.

Restaurant Specifics
Full Bar
Weekday lunch, Saturday brunch, dinner 7 days a week
http://www.cotognasf.com/

Other Cotogna drinks
Strait Breeze
Vodoo Child
Viceroy
Valentino
All Summer Long
La Capilla
Crystal Beach

Read More