Date Night = BOOZE REVIEWS

To celebrate Labor Day weekend right, Mr. Lex and I had a date night.

It's been too long to even remember the last time we had a grown-up, get fancy, date night!

I even spent an extra 10-15 minutes on the trifecta of beautifying: highlighting, contouring and sculpting my face.

I apologize for crappy dusk lighting, I will say that my lip color is my latest lip obsession - UD Revolution lipstick, Jilted with 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil, Venom. Yes, review will be coming soon via Miss Omni Media.

We had a lovely meal at the Burritt Room + Tavern in Charlie Palmer's Mystic Hotel, Union Square, SF. It was a languid meal due to a slow kitchen. This wasn't necessarily a deal breaker since our server was delightful, attentive and treated us to a free dessert for waiting patiently.

But the real reason why we weren't too pissed and I wasn't giving the servers and bus boys the business (and the reason why you guys tune into these reviews) were our cocktails:

I had to choose my spirit wisely and I can never go wrong with whisky.

First drink:
Mark Twain

Ingredients:
scotch whisky, ginger honey, lemon and angostura bitters.

And a very proper, delightful and sunny gentleman he was.  According to the menu, this recipe was described by Mr. Twain in a letter to his wife, Olivia from London in January, 1874. If I were Olivia I would have been envious. Why are you telling me about this delicious beverage I cannot taste? Are you trying to piss me off?

This is a very refreshing drink that I could easily drink all day - sunny or on a foggy, cold typical SF evening. The ginger honey keeps the mood comfy and rounds out the citrus edges of this drink. A dash of the angostura bitters gives it a subtle herbaceous hint. This is a great drink for those that fear the word
WHISKY in a cocktail. This is the cocktail I'd easily return for.

Contestant #2
Berlinetta

Ingredients: Bourbon, Cynar, Carpano Antica, Price Blood Orange Bitters

Shit. This is the drink you turn to when you had a hard day or you want to look all classy while you are secretly getting faced.

This had a Negroni feel to due to the Cynar bitter used (an Italian liquer). It's composed of 13 plants and herbs, mainly artichoke and it's very bittersweet. Carpano Antica, which is sweet vermouth and the Blood Orange bitters give a very slight sweet component - again, very slight. The bourbon has nowhere to hide. It's full bodied and heavy but a pleasure to drink. This is a pretty advance drink for the bourbon fans. It leans on the herbal side versus sweet. I'd definitely come back for this bad boy. I'd even make sure I had a rough day so I could really, really appreciate this. I would also probably ask for seconds.

And finally:
Rhuby Red:

Ingredients: Bourbon, Burritt Strawberry cordial, lemon, rhubarb, peychaud foam

Okay one word: SWEET. This should have been the drink I started with not follow up a heavy hitter like the Berlinetta. The combination of lemon and rhubarb gives it a bit of a tart quality. This one is definitely for those that like to dip their toes gingerly in the bourbon cocktails. Peychaud foam is made with Peychaud bitters, a lighter, slightly sweeter version of Agostura. It gave a nice floral scent to this cocktail. If I'm in the mood for something fruity, sweet and safe - I'd order this.

Some other highlights:

CHEESE:

How can something so simple look so elegant and taste so wonderfully delicious? Every time I attempt to serve a cheese tray at a party it just ends up messy - half open cheese with the plastic wrapper halfway off. There's a pile of triscuits or water crackers I tried to arrange in a nonchalant way but it just looks like my daughter just poured a box of crackers right on to the cheese board.

And this butter lettuce salad with BACON:

As you can see the bacon phenomenon isn't ending any time soon and I'm thankful for that - well my jeans aren't. This would be the only way I could get my husband to eat a salad, if only he'd like that buttermilk dressing. Ugh, one step at a time.

The Mister and I both agree that we'd love to return to the Burritt Room + Tavern for drinks and maybe the cheese plate at the bar area. Our entrees were good but we weren't totally wowed. I'm willing to give the kitchen another shot, my husband, not so much.

That's okay it just means we get to discover another restaurant on our next date night and I get to spend an extra 15 minutes getting all dolled up again!

Booze Review - 2/16/2013

Yay, booze review! This is the one time my guy friends feel okay to openly make comments on my otherwise  pink, fluffy, girly blog. I know I don't do these very often but like some of my guy friends that like these posts, I have a family and I can't just make an appearance at a hip, newish bar on a Tuesday night.

Lucky for you, I had a belated Valentine's dinner back on Saturday, 2/16 which allowed me to try a few drinks. I had to twist Mr. Lex's arm to drive us back home - luckily, he didn't put up too much of a fight.

I give you the Old Bittered Monk, Prospect - SF:

Look at that light gorgeous amber color. I has just one generous ice cube to give it the right amount of chill and it didn't overly water down my rye cocktail. The thick generous orange peel gives it a concentrated orange flavor. This is delicious, I was sad when I was finished and I can't wait to go back for more.

Ingredients:
Old Overholt Rye, Amaro Nonino, Yellow Chartreuse, Orange Bitters

This is the first time I heard of Old Overholt Rye and with some research, I need to go out and buy a bottle, not just because it's cheap (can go for $14) but it's a bit on the fruity side and nobody will give you a dirty look if you add some ginger-ale to it as opposed to a Rittenhouse Rye or something fancy like that.



Next up - Eve's Abandon, RN74

Ingredients: Applejack, Rye, Lemon, Mulling Spice and Egg white

It's frothy and almost like a pisco sour but with rye and is not as sour. I like the fragrance of this cocktail. Applejack, I believe is an apple liquor, along with the mulling spice it is reminiscent of a fall dessert. I would drink this one again.


And last but not least, Death in France, RN74

Ingredients: Yellow Chartreuse, Sparkling Wine, Yuzu, Orange

At first sniff, it is fruity, bright and citrusy. This is what you drink at brunch, not end the night that involved pork, bacon marmalade and rye. I don't know what I was thinking when I ordered this drink. I think I just wanted to mix it up but after drinking two full flavored drinks, this was just not logical. It is sweet from the Yellow Chartreuse liquer but it also has a bit of a herbaceous bite. The yuzu gives some tart flavor and the orange keeps you from making a pucker face while sipping.

Would I drink this one again? Only if I return to RN74 during lunch hour and if my meal involves an egg scramble with bacon, naturally.

Rye, Steak, Bacon, Donuts and Bruce...

Last Friday night, I went out with my sister and a friend of ours to take part of the 11th Annual SF Sketchfest. It's a festival featuring some of your favorite comedy stars - sad that I missed Law & Order's (and Oz) Chris Meloni on Saturday. I didn't realize he was a theater geek that loved performing sketch pieces! So before that here's some cocktail porn:

Restaurant - 5A5 Steak Lounge, a steak restaurant that seems to have an Asian fusion type of theme.

L to R:
My sister's Punkin Pie - all I can remember is that it had Grey Goose Vodka and it tasted like it had pumkin puree and pie spices...it was truly delicious.
My Bulleit and Bacon - Bulleit Rye whiskey, antica formula and maple syrup
served straight up with a salted rim and candied bacon garnish

As you know, I love whiskey, rye and scotch. I love bacon so this is a winning combination in my eyes. This also seemed to be the steakhouse's answer to the Manhattan cocktail (one of my classic bar treats). However, I was disappointed. This cocktail was very one note - all I tasted was the rye. No, not a deal breaker in my book - if I was ordering a SHOT! This is supposed to be a cocktail - I should taste a combination of all the ingredients. And what is Antica Formula, you ask?

Antica Formula is an Italian sweet vermouth with notes of vanilla, orange peel and dried fruits. This sounds lovely but I didn't taste any of these notes either. I did enjoy the candied bacon garnish - slight maple flavor. The salt was also unnecessary. The high price tag - $14 doesn't make it any better.

So to make myself feel better I will share pictures of my delicious dinner that made up for my disappointing drink:

Hamachi Shooters (yellow tail fish, avocado, ginger, yuzu tobiko, ponzu)

Boneless Rib eye with shiitake mushrooms

marble potatoes - fingerling and purple potatoes, cheddar, sour cream, bacon bits

Pistachio cake (really tasted like marizpan)

And as the title implies - donut and beer at the Eureka Theater, SF:

My sister, Tatiana holds up the donut I made her share with me - cake donut with fluff (marshmallow spread), crushed graham crackers and caramel drizzle on top. It tasted almost like a S'more and no my pale ale beer did not go well with it. But I am not a rude girl, I finished my beer. Also, I'm not about to waste a $5 bottle of beer! Donuts at the theater provided by Psycho Donuts, San Jose.

And of course:
Bruce McCullough

(from spikednation.com)

If you are into super obscure sketch comedy from Canada - then you know Bruce from the show The Kids in the Hall. In the picture, Bruce is playing one of my favorite characters, Gavin. Bruce read from a work in progress, Pink Dot Stories. Part essay, part poetry, party musical but 100% obscure - you really have to be a Kids fan to get this kind of humor. I was able to keep up but even some of his material went over my head and I was really paying attention, too! I forgot to mention the opening sketch act for Bruce was a duo appropriately named, "Knuckles and Tits" - no I am not making that up. They were funny but I just wished that most of their skits were not dating themed. 


Despite the rain storm that plowed through the Bay Area last weekend, I managed to enjoy good eats and have lots of laughs! If I do see a cocktail that features whiskey and bacon, I should probably walk away from it. I'll keep reminding myself that bacon is for eating and not drinking.


I just wished the people that created bacon lube would share that thought as well.


Again, I am not making that up!