A Lambrusco at Gioia Pizzeria in San Francisco

I used to live in the Russian Hill neighborhood of San Francisco. Whenever I am in that area of the city, I enjoy seeing that some of my favorite places are still there (Aux Delice and La Folie). But I am also thrilled for the neighborhood with the new additions such as Gioia Pizzeria. I rarely see Lambrusco on menus, so when I saw it on Gioia's, I knew it would be the perfect pairing for a warm sunny San Francisco day. I enjoyed it so much, that I headed to the local Italian specialty wine shop, Biondivino, for a bottle of Lambrusco to enjoy at home.

The Drink - Lambrusco 

The Place - Gioia Pizzeria
San Francisco, Russian Hill
Italian restaurant
Daily lunch and dinner, weekend brunch, wine and beer

http://www.gioiapizzeria.com/

Caesar Salad

NY Style Pizza, available by the slice before dinner service

Chicken Parmesan

Perhaps the thinnest fries I've been served...addicting

 

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Mey'er Salty, Dog at Prospect in San Francisco

Prospect is located in the South of Market (SOMA) neighborhood of San Francisco. I haven't been to Prospect since both chef extraordinaire Ravi Kapur and the talented mixologist Brooke Arthur left. I was in the neighborhood and decided to drop in. I'm glad I did. I love this refreshing twist on a classic Salty Dog cocktail (gin and grapefruit juice with a salted rim) with the coriander rim. It's the coriander that hooked me in to order this. If I didn't have to attend another event, I would have ordered another one of these. But I thought it wise to save the other guests from my pirate imitation.

The Drink - Mey'er Salty, Dog, $12 
El Jimador Blanco Tequila, meyer lemon, coriander, white pepper, salt

The Place - Prospect
San Francisco, South of Market (SOMA)
Restaurant, full bar, happy hour
Dinner daily, weekday happy hour, Sunday brunch
http://www.prospectsf.com/

Other Prospect drinks
Coconaut

Other Pictures from the visit

Meatballs Al Forno

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Nuestra Paloma, Beretta

Beretta is an Italian restaurant located in the Mission District of San Francisco. It's been a while since I've enjoyed a drink and meal at Beretta. I'm so glad that I recently had time to stop by. For the last few weeks, I've been addicted to grapefruit cocktails. So when I saw a Paloma on the menu, I knew that's what I was going to order. I love Beretta's version of the classic Paloma with the elderflower twist. The Nuestra Paloma was fragrant, floral, citrusy, well in one word amazing. The drink was finished way to fast.

How are you going to enjoy Cinco de Mayo this weekend? With a Margarita, Paloma, Tequila, Mezcal, Tecate or a Modelo? Whatever way, share it with us.

The Drink - Nuestra Paloma, $11

Tequila, elderflower, cointreau, grapefruit, bitters

The Place - Bertta
San Francisco, Mission
Italian
Dinner daily, weekend brunch and lunch, full bar
http://berettasf.com

Other Beretta Drinks
Single Village Fix

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TBD, Mission Bowling Club

Mission Bowling Club is located in the Mission District of San Francisco. There are 6 bowling lanes at their facility and they house a restaurant in the front of the establishment. I've been anxiously waiting for an opening in my schedule to check them out since they opened. I'm so glad that I had an opening this weekend. When I was searching for fried chicken places in San Francisco, I saw that MBC had fried chicken. So besides checking out their cocktails, I was excited about trying their fried chicken and waffles. I didn't have to read any further than the 1st cocktail listed on the menu. From the House Cocktails section, number one of the menu is TBD. With mezcal and a jalapeno jam, how could I not try this cocktail first? My lips were hopping. But not so much that I was downing water between each sip. It gets better, spicier and smokier as you drink. Its the perfect drink to spice up the day. Also, it's a perfect pairing with the fried chicken and waffles (that sit atop a sriracha sauce).

*Note, this is our first picture using my new HTC One. 

The Drink - TBD, $10
Mezcal, dry vermouth, jalapeno jam, lime

The Place - Mission Bowling Club
San Francisco, Mission District
21+ weekdays and after 7pm weekends
Family friendly 11AM to 7PM weekends

Daily dinner and bar bites, weekend brunch, full bar

http://missionbowlingclub.com/

Other pictures from the visit

Fried Chicken and Waffles, $10 (the sriracha is below the waffles)

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Meyer Lemon Crusta. Zero Zero

Zero Zero is located in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco. I've seen the Meyer Lemon Crusta cocktail pop up on our Facebook feed for Zero Zero. I'm so glad I finally made it in to try this delicious aromatic cocktail. I don't know what I was expecting, but this drink experience exceeded it. A perfectly balanced smooth drink to welcome the day.

So what's a Crusta? It's a style of cocktail that was invented in New Orleans in the 19th century. It's been credited to be the father of the margarita, sidecar and I've read in other sites, that a Crusta cocktail can also be presented with sugared rim and the addition of a lemon peel lining the lip of the glass (usually served in a glass with a smaller opening). Here's a link to an entertaining writeup of the cocktail evolution found in Esquire Magazine.

The Drink, $11
Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Meyer Limoncello, Pierre Fernand Dry Curaçao

The Place - Zero Zero
South of Market, San Francisco
Lunch and dinner 7 days a week, brunch
http://www.zerozerosf.com/

Other Zero Zero cocktails
Diablito
Torosian Heat
Peach Pimm's

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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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Single Village Fix, Beretta

Beretta is a contemporary Italian restaurant located in the Mission District of San Francisco. It's one of my favorites places in San Francisco for a cocktail. I'm sure you've heard the phrase before "It takes a village". Well, in this case, it's The Single Village Fix. This simple cocktail made with smokey mezcal, tart lime and pineapple gomme syrup gets better with each sip. Now that I found the recipe (see below), I will for sure be making this at home.

I will be back! Thank you Beretta for serving some of the best cocktails in San Francisco!

The Cocktail - Single Village Fix, $11
Del Maguey Mezcal, lime, pineapple gomme
Here's a link to a recipe adapted from Beretta.

The Place - Beretta
San Francisco, Mission District
http://berettasf.com/
Dinner nightly, weekend lunch, weekend brunch, full bar

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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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Imperial Caipirinha, Skool

Skool is located in the Design District of San Francisco. It's one of my favorite places to go for happy hour (otherwise known as Detention Hall) and when warm enough for outdoor dining. With menu cocktail menus changing seasonally at many places, I'm glad to see that at Skool, they not only bring new fresh cocktails to their menu, but they also rotate some of my favorites. The Imperial Caipirinha is a majestic twist on a typical Caipirinha with chunks of lychee to enjoy at the end of the cocktail.

The Imperial Caipirinha is now served tall. When I had this drink last summer as pictured above it was served short and I believe without the Pur Pear and ginger beer. The new version smoother than the original edgy version. Both are amazing, but I prefer edgy! You can ask for the short edgy version and hopefully the bartender will know how to make it.

It's hard to believe, but the Imperial Caipirinha is our 150th drink. It seems like only yesterday that we celebrated our 100th drink!

The Cocktail - Imperial Caipirinha, $10
Novo Fogo Organic Cachaca, Pur Pear, lime, lychee and fresh ginger beer

The Place - Skool
Weekday lunch, dinner 7 nights a week, weekend brunch, happy hour, full bar
www.skoolsf.com

Other Skool drinks

The International
Haole's Downfall
Empress Elizabeth
Sansho Stiles
Summer Mary
Noche Martini 
La Fresa

G Rated (non-alcoholic)

Birds of a Feather
Smokey and the Bandito

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Peach Pimm's, Zero Zero

Zero Zero is an Italian restaurant located in the South of Market (SOMA) neighborhood of San Francisco. They make some of my favorite tequila cocktails in San Francisco. When I saw the Torosian Heat back on the menu I really wanted to order it. But when my research companion ordered the Bundaberg Peach Soda, my eyes were drawn to the Peach Pimm's Cup. I loved this variation of a Pimm's Cup with the underlying peach soda base with the Pimm's, cucumber, lemon and mint. It's a refreshing summer cocktail.

I must make another research adventure there soon to try the other new seasonal cocktails on the menu. A plus, there's a tv at the bar. So when I went for lunch last week, I was able to catch the Eurocup semi-finals.

The Cocktail - Peach Pimm's Cup, $10
Pimm’s No. 1, Cucumber, Lemon, Mint, Peach Soda

The Place - Zero Zero
South of Market, San Francisco
Lunch and dinner 7 days a week, brunch
http://www.zerozerosf.com/

Other Zero Zero cocktails
Diablito
Torosian Heat

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High Line Fling, Standard Grill

The Standard Grill is located in the Meatpacking District in New York City. The cocktail menu is categorized by East Side and West Side cocktails. We ordered their house-spiked punch from the West Side Menu called the High Line Fling. With 4 other friends, the 5 of us easily got about three glasses each (with ice) so I think this is for 8-10 people. It arrived to our table with 5 long straws as well as glasses. This punch is mild, sweet and deceptively potent. It tasted like a sweet sparkling grapefruit juice but we definitely felt the effects as we drank more... ;-)!

I can't wait to return to try more West Side cocktails like the Penny Drop, The Vixen and Shiso Fine. I just love those names. If you twist my arm I may try some of the East Side cocktails like The Lift Ticket, The Matador and H.M.S. Pimm's too.

Written in collaboration with Drinks in the City contributor, Elaine Chin.

The Cocktail - High Line Fling, $55
champagne, orange liqueur, grapefruit, lavender

The Place - The Standard Grill
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, weekend brunch, late night
http://thestandardgrill.com/

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Blackberry Caiprinha, Il Fornaio

 

My lunch companions and I were at a loss for what to do for a quick brunch on a drive from San Francisco to the South Bay. We took a quick stop at an Il Fornaio in Burlingame. I was in the mood for either a brunch mimosa or bloody Mary, but when I saw the Blackberry Caiprinha on the menu, I knew I had to give it a try. It's a colorful and refreshing tart cocktail with freshly muddled blackberries, cachaca, lime juice and sugar.

The Skinny

brunch, lunch, dinner, full bar

http://www.ilfornaio.com/

Other pics from the visit

 Smoked Salmon Omelette, $11.59

 Capellini al Pomodoro (half portion), $8.99

Crab cake Benedict, $13.99

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Moscow Mule, Cafe des Amis

 

Cafe des Amis is located in the Cow Hollow Neighborhood of San Francisco. On a beautiful sunny afternoon, I was lucky to grab a seat outside along the sidewalk. The refreshing Moscow Mule is a  simple cocktail of Russian Standard vodka, Fever Tree Ginger Beer and lime. I loved the copper mug that the Moscow Mule was served in!

I like when you learn something new from a cocktail menu, here's the description from the menu: "This is one of four promotional cocktails (the others were the Screwdriver, the Bloody Mary, and the Vodkatini—a name that never stuck) that were popularized by John Martin and Rudolf Kunett of Smirnoff when they were introducing vodka to the post World War II United States. As part of the promotion the pub style Cock and Bull on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, which was a huge movie-star hangout at the time, offered a customized mug to every Hollywood star who ordered the Moscow Mule. All of the copper mugs were kept on a shelf, and left waiting for the stars next visit."

The Skinny

Lunch, Dinner, weekend brunch, full bar

http://www.cafedesamissf.com/

Moscow Mule, $11

Other Cafe des Amis cocktails

Zombie


Other pics from the visit

 French Onion Soup, $9

Spring Carrot Soup with medjool dates and toasted almonds, $8

 Croque Monsieur, $13.50

Open Faced Chicken Salad Sandwich, $10.50

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Place taker, Oola

Oola is located in the South Of Market neighborhood of San Francisco just by Yerba Buena Gardens. It was tough to choose which cocktail or even shot to try. I choose the Place Taker with mezcal, dash of Chartreuse, fresh lime and pineapple gum syrup. The cocktail was smoky with a hint of sweet.

The last time I went to Oola was for the Dine About Town last year. Dine About Town ends June 15th, make your reservations now! I should go to Oola more often just for the cocktails! The shots (Mission Standoff, the Flatliner) and the Oola classics like the Blood Orange Margarita and the Manuel look so good.

The Skinny
Lunch (Monday - Friday), Sunday Brunch and Dinner 7 nights a week, full bar
http://www.oola-sf.com/
The Place Taker, $11

Dine About Town 2 course lunch for $17.95

 

Carrot and Kombucha soup

 

 Salmon with ratatoulle and tapenade

 A tasting of bread pudding (Yummy and loved the texture)

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La Fresa, Skool

Skool is a fish focused restaurant located in the Design District of San Francisco. La Fresa is a new cocktail on the Skool menu. The fresh strawberry infused tequila, Pimms, lemon juice, sugar, habanero shrub and fresh basil combine to offer an invigorating elixir to refresh the soul. On this hot San Francisco day, the La Fresa is perfect. Skool's outside patio was packed on this sunny afternoon at 5:15 too. Arrive by 5pm on nice days to score a seat outside.

The Skinny
lunch and dinner 7 days a week, weekend brunch, full bar, happy hour
www.skoolsf.com
La Fresa, $10

Other Skool drinks

The International
Haole's Downfall
Empress Elizabeth
Sansho Stiles
Summer Mary
Noche Martini 
Imperial Caipirinha

G Rated (non-alcoholic)

Birds of a Feather
Smokey and the Bandito

Other pics from the visit

 Mushroom Burger (includes soup), $12

 Oyster Sandwich (includes soup), $13

 Table decorations

 Empress Elizabeth, $10

Empress Elizabeth, $10

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Golden Gate Cocktail, Presidio Social Club

The Presidio Social Club is located in the Presidio National Park in San Francisco. This classy restaurant was originally military barracks back when the Presidio was a military base. The Presidio's Libations menu is categorized by Barrel Aged and PSC classics. I actually chose a cocktail not on the Libations menu, but on the food menu. The Golden Gate Cocktail is a tribute to the Golden Gate Bridge which celebrates it's 75th anniversary today. It's a delicious concoction of white rum, gin, falernum, lemon, creme de cacao and topped with high proof rum.

Happy 75th Golden Gate Bridge!

The Skinny
Lunch, dinner, brunch, full bar

http://presidiosocialclub.com/

Golden Gate Cocktail, $7

Other PSC cocktails
Anejo Sour
Gunpowder

Other pictures from this visit

Bar Tools

 

The bar

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Farrah Faucet, Triptych

Triptych is located in the South of Market (SOMA) neighborhood of San Francisco. I went to brunch there this weekend. The Farrah Faucet caught my eye not only because of the spelling of her last name Fawcett but because of one ingredient. I loved the heavenly combination the champagne and peach simple syrup. The drink's name is definitely worthy of one of Charlie's Angels.

I absolutely loved the 70's memoribilia in the bathroom. If I hadn't gone to the bathroom, I would have forgotten that Kristy McNichol and her brother Jimmy came out with an record. Don't miss the bathroom photo's below.

This drink was originally slated for publication a few weeks from now. However with the news that Donna Summer passing away today, we moved it up. RIP Donna Summer.

The Skinny
Lunch, weekend brunch, dinner (7 nights a week), beer and wine
http://www.triptychsf.com/
Farrah Faucet, $7

Egg White Frittata

Chorizo Scramble

Kristy and Jimmy McNichol album cover

The Angels

Jill

Saturday Night Fever

Starsky and Hutch

Donna Summer's 45 for "Bad Girls" (I think I still have one)

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Dr. No, Bottle Cap

Bottle Cap is located in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco. When I saw the Dr. No cocktail on the drinks menu, I thought, that drink sounds dangerous. But it just sounded so good, that I had to try it. The Dr. No cocktail is a delicious tempting combination of Flor De Cańa Dark 7yr. Rum, Smith & Cross Jamaican Rum, Housemade Pineapple syrup, Falernum, Orgeat, Lime Juice, Ginger Beer, and bitters. With the first sip, I immediately was transported to some Caribbean island destination. Knowing the character from the James Bond movie, Dr. No, why would you ever order this drink? But with each sip, your brain says yes, yes, yes. Too many of these and you'll be needing a doctor the next morning and saying to yourself why didn't I say NO when asked for another.

The Skinny
Dinner Tuesday - Sunday, full bar, happy hour (Tues-Fri 3-7), weekend brunch
http://www.bottlecapsf.com/
Dr. No, $9

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