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Bar Drake
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Bar Drake, the new lobby bar in the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, makes for two levels of drinking–one in the clubby Starlight Room on the 21st floor, and now another
in the mellower Bar Drake closer to the ground. The small back bar holds a fine selection of old-fashioned Scotch, but the drink menu, designed by Jacques Bezuidenhout,
focuses on updated classics like the house Manhattan with Port and maple syrup. Other drinks feature chamomile and chai tea, orange marmalade and apricot jam.
- Camper English
Bar Drake, Sir Francis Drake Hotel, 450 Powell St.; 415-392-7755 x226; bardrake.com (reviewed W&S 12/07)
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Beretta
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Beretta has been garnering rave reviews for its pizza and Italianate food, but most of the focus is on the cocktails. Thad Vogler, formerly of Jardini¸re and The Slanted Door, mixes serious drinks using lots of bitters and not much fruit, and sweetens them with gomme syrup and honey instead of simple syrup. Check out the Agricole Mule (rhum agricole, lime, ginger beer, mint) or the A–ejo Sour (Tequila, lemon, agave syrup, egg white) for an example of Vogler's talent at mixing classic style cocktails with New World spirits.
- Camper English
Beretta,1199 Valencia St., San Francisco, 415-695-1199; berettasf.com
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Globe & Zuppa
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One way to deal with San Francisco's cold monochrome weather is to cozy up to the bar at Globe, where bartender Shane McKnight serves up his signature Gentian, made like a traditional Negroni. McKnight uses the warmly exotic Barolo chinato in place of sweet vermouth (gentian is one of the botanicals used to make Barolo chinato). It's a textured, almost forceful drink, not for the faint of heart, says McKnight: "It looks like a cosmo, only the joke is that it's a cosbro." McKnight bounces between Globe and Zuppa, both owned by Mary Klingbeil and Joseph Manzare. Fortunately the Gentian follows him across town.
- Wolfgang M. Weber
Globe, 290 Pacific Ave., San Francisco, CA; 415-391-4132; globesf.com
Zuppa, 564 Fourth St, San Francisco, CA; 415-777-5900; zuppa-sf.com
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Orson
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Orson is the latest from Elizabeth Falkner of Citizen Cake: Here, she serves "edgy Californian cuisine" in a built-for-buzz two-level warehouse
space in SoMa. Cocktails, designed by Jacqueline Patterson, formerly of Le Colonial, are edgy in their own right. Served at the 30-seat bar-in-the-round,
they include innovative touches like osmanthus flower foam along with Bluecoat gin, passion fruit puree, and ruby red grapefruit juice (the "Lady From Shanghai")
and rhubarb syrup with Bulleit Bourbon, mint, lemon juice and absinthe ("Touch of Evil").
- Camper English
Orson, 508 4th St., San Francisco; 415-777-1508; orsonsf.com (reviewed W&S 6/08)
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The Ritz-Carlton
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At The Ritz-Carlton Bar in San Francisco, you won't be stumped for choice. The bar offers over 70 Scotches from more than 100 distilleries. Highlights include rarities such as Tobermory, the Murray McDavid Royal Brackla 26 Year Old and the Macallan 30 Year Old. Also check out the Scotch flights, like the Glenkinchie 19 Year Old Lowland, Cragganmore Speyside 12 Year Old and Lagavulin Islay 16 Year Old, for $39.
- Kristina Shevory
The Ritz-Carlton, 600 Stockholm St., San Francisco, CA; 415-296-7465
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The Tunnel Top
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Dives are a-dime-a-dozen in San Francisco's Tender-Nob, so what is it about The Tunnel Top? Is it the long bar, upstairs nooks and cozy couches, the customer-contributed artwork, or the riddling racks that now grab the necks of scotches and bourbons? Is it the balcony, with its table-high windows looking out onto the Stockton Tunnel, where Sam Spade once hoofed it after thugs and dames? The drinks? Now you're getting warm. Owners Harveen Khera and Ludovic Racinet have assembled some of the city's most gifted mixologists and concocted a neighborhood-inspired cocktail list. Update your Negroni with a Miles Archer. Sip on a Dashiell Hammett with Fernet, Campari and lime. Or clean out your sinuses with a Wasabi Mary, the latest in liquid sushi.
- Patrick Comiskey
The Tunnel Top, 601 Bush St., San Francisco, CA; 415-982-2307
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