A Peek at Dominic Alling's Secret Bird Menu at Beretta [photos]

I imagine that it is within every reasonable person's fantasy to sidle up to a long wooden bar, lean over to the bartender, and whisper hoarsely, "I'll have the secret bird menu." Because honestly: 1) Secrets! 2) Birds. 3) Cocktails. I don't see much not to love here.

Well, it's your lucky day because this can be you, too. Bar manager Dominic Alling offers this illustrated Field Guide to the Birds menu at the much-loved San Francisco restaurant and bar Beretta (which I wrote about a little while ago for Eater).  This selection of 11 drinks is not advertised, but if you ask for it in a low, sly voice (OK, maybe not that part), the bartenders are happy to share it with you.

Just what are you getting yourself into? We took a few pictures to tide you over until you can visit yourself:

[Spoiler alert: Dominic does in fact serve something called a Fernet Branca Jelly. You're welcome, San Francisco. See the last photo.]



Dominic's menu celebrates every detail including this leather-bound menu. Each drink features elegant, intricate bird drawings, illustrated by former Beretta host Melissa Getman.



Dominic (shown below) thought the additional menu was a nice way to introduce some new cocktails without removing some of the popular drinks already on the menu, which have over time become hallmarks for Beretta.



Sage Sparrow. Mint-flavored mezcal, lemon, creme de menthe, velvet falernum, egg white.



Kiskade. Tequilla, lemon, vanilla almond milk, cinnamon, and toasted fennel.

California Thrasher. Rum, bacanora, olorosso sherry, chocolate barley, bitters.







Strange Weaver. Gin, rum, lemon, Campari, Cocchi di Torino, orgeat foam.





Siamese Fireback. Rum, lime, ginger, banana, prosecco.



Bohemian Waxwing. Gin, lemon, Campari, aloe, egg white, rose.



Magnificent Hummingbird. Pisco, popcorn, lemon, candied sour apple syrup.



And, yes, the perfect SF menu item:

Fernet Branca Jelly. Made into a silky solid and served in ginger syrup with orange zest. SF, you are ready for this jelly. (Hashtag obligatory Beyonce reference.)




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Beretta
1199 Valencia St.

San Francisco, CA
(415) 695-1199
berettasf.com

A Much-Needed Rooftop Space Opens in San Francisco: El Techo de Lolinda

It used to be that if you wanted to enjoy cocktails on a roof in San Francisco you had to either:

1. Prepare yourself for the Tenderloin and cautiously make your way to 620 Jones, a trendy lounge.
2. Make friends with a fancy SoMa high-rise dweller and convince them to let you up onto their roof.
3. Scale the side of your own house and hope for the best. 

Good news for us all, though! A new rooftop bar and restaurant called El Techo de Lolinda is opening in mid-May, so when we don't feel like going to the TL on those rogue warm SF days, we have a new option (some might recognize it as the former restaurant Medjool). The spot adds a new, open-air dimension to the already bustling sister restaurant beneath it, Lolinda. Unlike Lolinda, which serves Argentine food, El Tech Lolinda promises Peruvian street food. Cocktails, meanwhile, will still be masterminded by bar manager extraordinaire Chris Lane. 

The rooftop will be opening sometime in mid-May, but to whet our appetites, here are some pictures from tonight's preview party:

The view from the bar is gorgeous, especially at sundown. You can see straight down Mission Street.

Tonight there were canopies to keep people dry and heat lamps to keep people warm.

Small tables line the glass-wall perimeter, making it a pleasant, scenic spot for a cocktail and some bites.

At night the view is equally stunning. Heat lamps glow red, keeping us warm.



The roof has its own bar.



Is there a more professional word than "bad ass"? Bar manager Chris Lane is steering the upstairs program, as he is the main bars below in Lolinda—and we are all better for it. He brings his trademark attention to detail, flawless execution, and characteristic rich, complex flavors to this menu, as he has in the past.



Three cocktails were on the docket tonight. We were lucky enough to try two.



The first: Pisco Apricot Tropical, made from pisco, fresh lime, apricot liqueur, pineapple, bitters. It's a light, refreshing cocktail, not too sweet and with some complex funk from the pisco and apricot. Delicious and easy to drink.



The second: the Mexican Firing Squad, made of calle 23 reposado, lime, grenadine, angostura. A classic Chris Lane drink—deep fruit flavors, but also rich,  smoky, and a little spicy. It may look pink and fun, but it's a pleasantly viscous, smooth sipper. We loved it.



We also got to try a few bites.

Here is Elote—corn on the cob, sour cream, chili, lime. Sweet, delicious, and a little acid. We could eat several cobs of this.



Ceviche de camaron - Shrimp, lime, tomato, red onion, cucumber, avocado, cilantro. Very fresh seafood paired with bright lime and a satisfyingly very salty finish.



Patacones - Green plantain patties, black beans, salsa. A tasty vegetarian small plate. Beans a pleasantly sweet and the plantain is crunchy.



Empanada de Alambre - Braised beef and picked cabbage. Super tender meat and the pickled cabbage gave it just the right kick



Welcome to the city, El Techo!

To tide you over until the spot opens, here's a slideshow of more photos from the preview event:



El Techo de Lolinda - opening mid-May 2013
2518 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
415.550.6970

Hours:
Mon-Thurs 4pm-11pm
Fri 4pm-1am
Sat 11am-1am
Sun 11am-11pm

James Beard awards celebrates cocktails!

The list is finally out! Every year, the James Beard Foundation recognizes excellence in the food industry. But this year, this is an exiting new addition: This is the first year the James Beard Foundation is recognizing outstanding bar programs. Campari is sponsoring the new award category, which recognizes excellence in wine, spirits, and beer.

Hats off to them.

It's a welcome addition to the awards program, in my mind. The surge of interest in the so-called craft cocktails have brought an exciting new standard for the quality of drinks—and the places that have pushed this bar the most (so to speak, ha!) definitely deserve recognition.

Few of these semi-finalists deserve to call out here.

The Aviary

Though I have never been to the Aviary, they are making huge contributions to how people think about crafting cocktails. The question they ask is, would you let one chef make one dish all on his own? The answer would be no. And so they take a line kitchen approach to making drinks, with a whole slew of folks in back creating the drinks. (Now this is one occasion in which you really do question the use of the label "bartender." :-) Mixologists, it is?) It points the drink industry in a new direction, if the venture is successful—and judging by this nomination it has been successful. To my mind, I would miss sitting behind an old wood bar and actually talking to the person making my drink. It's an indulgence, perhaps, but one that admittedly makes my drink taste better.

Bar Agricole

This place is widely recognized across San Francisco as a true labor of love. The great pains that Thad Volger, the gentlemen who started it all, has seemed to reach mythological proportions. People were worried he would die starting the spot. But in the end, it seems his efforts paid off. Hats go off across this city for the incredibly high quality of ingredients at Bar Agricole. And Mr. Volger's co-founder, Eric Jackson, is an incredible bartender as well. We've had the pleasure of sitting at his bar at both Heaven's Dog and Bar Agricole, and the man can shake up some serious magic.

The Violet Hour

Josh and I have incredible reverence for The Violet Hour and for the integrity with which it makes its drinks. A New-York-style speakeasy in Chicago, the bar is commonly described as an "Alice in Wonderland"-like place. It takes you to another world. Tall, majestic curtains muffle loud, offending sounds, and the world becomes more intimate. You can talk easily without raising your voice. And the drinks—oh, the drinks!—are beautifully crafted. There are seven different types of very hard, very cold ice, and many of the drinks draw on house-made components—house bitters and house syrups make common appearances, making it difficult to recreate anything vaguely imitating what you experience at the Violet Hour. Josh and I will forever remember this place as one of the bars that first inspired us. It's also worthwhile mentioning that this is the Alchemy Consulting's second bar program on the James Beard Foundation's list. Toby Maloney, the New York mastermind behind the Violet Hour, later left to create Alchemy Consulting with Troy (one of the great bartenders from The Violet Hour) and others. James Beard semi-finalist The Catbird is one of those consulting projects.

Beretta

Beretta is one of the quintessential San Francisco spots—delicious Italian-American fare, a California-fancy-cantine atmosphere, and a restaurant-bar program with cocktails that feature bright citrus shaken drinks and deep, cherry stirred drinks. Bright, tasty, airy—everything you'd want out of a San Francisco bar. From what I understand, Beretta has made significant contributions to the SF bar scene, even apart from everything we enjoy about it today. Apparently, after a group of bartenders were inspired at the Tenderloin's Bourbon and Branch, some of them headed over and continued the magic at Beretta. It combines some of the fun aspects of drinking cocktails—the ability to enjoy the present and the present history.

PDT

PDT has been very meaningful for me personally on this cocktail journey—Don, one of the main guys behind PDT originally, was hugely instrumental in me learning about the world of cocktails. He blew my mind by first showing me all the classics. I was taken. Aside from that, PDT is one of these coolest spots I've ever been to. The New York speakeasy invites people into the bar by way of an old-fashioned phonebooth. Pick up the phone and press the button, and a voice will magically appear on the other end and usher you in for gorgeous cocktails of classic genealogy, including the super popular Benton's Old Fashioned (which is code for a bacon Bourbon cocktail!).

Again, I applaud the James Beard Foundation for this new category, and I hope that the future brings with it individual recognition for the many men and women who mix amazing things behind the bar.

Until then, we wait excitedly to see who will be recognized this year.