Lou Bustamante

The Bardot Cocktail

With bar superstar power in place at Jasper's, Startlight Room, and the Fifth Floor, Kimpton Hotel group seems to be determined to improve the quality of cocktails for visitors and locals alike. Now, Kristin Almy is at the Grand Café, where she's revamped the menu to serve what she describes as "contemporary takes on classic French and American cocktails."

She adds that, "I wanted the cocktails to taste like drinking with Picasso in Monteparnasse."

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Michael Harlan Turkell

The charismatic, culinary tornado and executive chef at Incanto with a James Beard Award nomination this year, Chris Cosentino has built his reputation as a loud, meat-fueled, barely unofficial offal spokesperson whose menus run rich with pork fat. His nose-to-tail crusade is showcased at his Boccalone salumi shop, the LA shop at the Umamicatessen called PIGG, and regular appearances on the Food Network. This will no doubt create some expectations of his first cookbook, Beginnings: My Way to Start a Meal ($25/hardcover, 192 pp., Olive Press), which just hit bookstores.

The book features over 60 recipes for Italian-style first courses, broken up by season and beautifully photographed by Michael Harlan Turkell. The recipes run from light starters like "Fava Beans, Strawberries & Pecorino" and a David Chang fig-on-a-plate-inspired "Figs, Marcona Almonds & Port Vinaigrette," to heartier fare like "Marinated Tripe, New Potatoes & Parsley" or "Porcini, Foie Gras & Douglas Fir." The recipes are approachable, with nothing overly complicated, and most preparations require little more than a good farmers market. Each recipe features a handwritten note from Cosentino, with serving suggestions or stories, like how the "Braised Dandelion Greens, Chile & Pecorino" in a rich broth with grilled bread was re-created for business partner Mark Pastore from a childhood memory.

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Lou Bustamante

Burritt Room bar manager Liam Gilmore

In just under two years, the Burritt Room has seen about as much drama as the alley it was named for did in the Maltese Falcon. With opening bartender Kevin Diedrich leaving at the one year mark, taking most of the staff with him to open Jasper's Corner Tap, and veteran bar star Joel Baker coming in over the summer only to leave in the fall with the transition to new hotel ownership-- the only thing missing is a falcon statuette.

The refreshed Burritt Room is set to open later this month, headed up by bar manager Liam Gilmore, who has been already running the show since late fall. Along with bartenders Josh Trabulsi and Seth Laufman, Gilmore is putting the finishing touches on a 20 drink list that includes a few punch bowl options, like the Fish House Punch.

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Lou Bustamante

​Sometimes, we all need an escape -- a quick moment in a comfortable space to rest our feet and gather our marbles. A good cocktail doesn't hurt, either.

The Seasons Bar inside the Four Seasons Hotel is my escape pod: a grown-up secret fort, five stories above the hustle of Market Street and Union Square, with the most comfortably plush seats you'll find in a bar. While you're discretely hidden away, order a Farmer's Market ($14, St. George Spirits Botanivore Gin, house-made carrot juice, lime, rosemary syrup) that blends the sweet earthiness of local carrots perfectly with the herbaceousness of the gin. The rosemary may seem unusual at first, but bartender Javier Ballesteros uses it to astutely complement the juniper flavors. It's bright, light, and just sweet enough, exactly like the comforting moments you'll spend in luxury.

Seasons Bar and Lounge, 757 Market (at Grant), 633-3000

Lou Bustamante

​Head bartender Brian Means' new cocktail menu at the Fifth Floor offers some interesting and elegant choices. The Commodore ($13, Clement Martinique Rhum, blackstrap gastrique, lime, ginger ale) comes with a separate spherized cocktail (saffron gin, Campari, lavender syrup, lemon) sprinkled with dehydrated Aperol crystals, while the Nail in the Coffin ($13, Yamazaki Whisky, dry Madeira, Liqor 43, Fernet) has luscious whisky and spice flavors.

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Lara Hata

Bouche's cured salmon with poached egg.

​This week's full-length restaurant review of Bouche, just north of Union Square, presented me with a bit of a quandry. Its chef, Nicolas Borzée, has worked for some of the greats, including Joel Robuchon and Michel Troisgros, and he's cooking a complex menu of small plates out of the tiniest kitchen imaginable. 

Aubrie Pick

The Doblon Cocktail

​With Alex Smith's departure to Honor Bar, Gitane has found a new bar manager, and one who is no stranger to the restaurant: Ramon Garcia, who worked behind the bar during both Carlo Splendorini and Alex Smith's tenures, has taken the position and already implemented a new simplified sherry-based menu.

Included are classics like the Boothby ($10, cava, bourbon, sweet vermouth, angostura bitters) and the Martinez ($13, gin, sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur, orange bitters), both surprisingly food friendly renditions. Working with the kitchen to develop better integration of the food and bar menus, Garcia is topping out the featured cocktails at no higher than 20% alcohol by volume (abv).

The rest of the menu is like a sherry cocktail mix-tape, with the greatest hits from sherry cocktail competitions. Featured are locals like Jacques Bezuidenhout's La Pearla ($12, reposado tequila, manzanilla sherry, pear liqueur) and Neyah White's Sherry Shrub ($9, barbadillo manzanilla sherry, seasonal house shrub, lemon peel), but also the deliciously drinkable Doblón ($14, Yamazaki 12 year, fino sherry, fresh lemon, honey syrup) from Anthony Schmidt of San Diego's Noble Experiment. Although they won't hand you this unless you ask for it, they've created an encyclopedia of each cocktail, describing the ingredients, origins, and story behind the drinks.

Everything Ramon Garcia is serving is perfectly balanced and well-made, and we're really curious to see his own cocktail creations show up on the menu.

Gitane, 6 Claude (at Sutter), 788-6620

Lou Bustamante

​Chasing down the new bar openings around the Bay Area is easier than remembering to revisit those places that have been around for a while. Bar Adagio is one we returned to, in particular because of their talented bar manager, Kristin Almy, who quickly made a name for herself with creative original drinks and her popular free Cocktail College classes at the hotel bar after moving here from Las Vegas a few years back.

With citrus season in full swing, the 100 Year's War ($10, No. 209 Gin, vanilla bean infused dry French vermouth, Combier Orange Liqueur, grapefruit juice) is a perfect mid-January aperitif cocktail: lightly sweet with a pleasant grapefruit bitterness, held together by the woodsy, herbal, and floral vanilla vermouth. Named after the countless battles fought over control for the French throne in the 14th century, the cocktail peacefully unites those old rivals the English and French liquors in a tall tasty glass.

Just be aware that you should grab this drink while you can: Bar Adagio will be closing down at the end of the month (January 31st), for a full remodel and transfer of management from the Joie de Vivre Hotels to another group. Kristin is heading to a new project in Oakland.

Bar Adagio, 550 Geary (at Taylor), 775-5000

For years the cognoscenti's choice for Union Square happy hour snacking has been Morton's, the swellegant Chicago-borne steakhouse at Post and Powell, where the hungry imbiber can enjoy a complimentary and absolutely tender and smoky filet mignon finger sandwich (or two or six or seven) with her $15 martini.

Those freeloading days will draw to a close at the end of the month when the restaurant expands upstairs into the old Disney Store location, taking the bar and dining room with it. (The downstairs will host enhanced banquet facilities.) The good news is that the free sandwiches are being replaced with a brand-new happy hour menu of top-shelf burgers and such, each costing a mere $5. If those enormous 5-7 p.m. cocktails take a cut in salary as well, we guzzlers just might break even.

Celebrate mailing in your tax forms on Wednesday, April 15th by moseying over to Williams-Sonoma on Union Square (340 Post, 362-9450) at 5 p.m., where Top Chef's head judge, hunky-while-bald Tom Colicchio, owner of the many Craft restaurants and catnip to women and men alike, will be signing his new book 'wichcraft: Craft a Sandwich into a Meal -- And A Meal into a Sandwich. (Aka 'wichcraft for short.)