Get Your Drink On: Martin Cate's Hunk of Burning Love

C. Alburger

Smuggler's Cove's $32 Top Notch Volcano is on fi-yah.

​On a recent visit to Smuggler's Cove, Hayes Valley's temple of rum drinks, we caught the intoxicating aroma of burnt toast in the air. After a quick investigation, we traced the scent to the neighboring table: its occupants crouched over the remains of what looked like a typical Scorpion Bowl. We asked the bartender for one of whatever they had and were met five minutes later with the Top Notch Volcano, a blend of house-reserve and three-year Demerara rums, maraschino liqueur, passion fruit nectar, and fresh lime and pineapple juices, finished with freshly grated cinnamon and nutmeg.

What about the burnt toast smell? It comes from a house-made crouton soaked in 166-proof pure lemon extract, lit on fire, and placed in the center of the bowl to create a fiery display. Smuggler's Cove owner Martin Cate learned the trick at the Bahooka Family Restaurant in Rosemead, Calif., an establishment he describes as so crazy it had five minutes of fame as a location for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Unlike Bahooka's flaming bowls, Cate's $32 sharable concoctions (arak punch, a traditional Scorpion, and the Volcano we sampled) come in eerie skull bowls from tikifarm.com. But they're only temporary, as Cate waits for a ceramicist's custom vessels to arrive. Seems like a lot of work for a guy who had us at burnt toast.

Smuggler's Cove 650 Gough (at Ash), 869-1900