CheNiPenso

My picks, and by no means a comprehensive nor authoritative list: Bourbon: Maker's Mark or, if available, Woodford's Reserve Vodka: Ketel One Gin: Tanqueray or, if you can swing it, Tanqueray TEN. I also love Junipero, but unless you happen to live in the SF Bay Area, skip it. Rum: Mount Gay, but you'll also need some Bacardi for cocktails that call for white rum Tequila: Gotta admit, I don't go there. But my tequila friends stick to El Tesoro, which might be out of range for you. Vermouth: Martini & Rossi or, if available, Vya. Or both, if you can manage it -- they all come in handy. Sweet and dry, natch! Campari. Period. But I'm partial to negronis and Campari & sodas. Scotch is too hard to call -- to beans' point, it has everything to do with your tastes. I stock both a $30/bottle variety and one considerably more upmarket. I recommend perusing the recent Q&A with Gary & Mardee Regan, especially this thread to help dig deeper into this issue. * Edited to fix pesky link code

Better hurry if you want to go to Powell's -- they will serve their last crispy wing on Easter Sunday!

I've recently returned from the UK. While in Newcastle, I met with one of the editors of The Crack, the unfortunately named arts and culture magazine for the north. (It comes from their expression, "What's the crack?" for "What's going on?" or "What's happening?") Her drink of choice (and she did choose often) was Tia Maria and a float of lemonade. It was both overpoweringly sweet and flat out bizarre, what with the lemon-coffee juztaposition. I decided the drink should also be called The Crack.

Ah, the Orbit Room. Tangential side note -- I despise bloody marys, but if I were forced to have one, it would be theirs, a brilliantly vertiginous concoction of celery, olives, carrots, beans and god knows what all else erupting from the glass. Truly more of a salad than a beverage. I guess it appeals to me because there's no room left for tomato juice. I myself did try apple and pear each, with less than stellar results. The apple browned while steeping, and disintegrated a bit, making for a cloudy brew that didn't strain well and tasted a bit off. The pear tasted like nothing at all. I don't recall what type of apple I used; certainly I'll try it again with granny smith or something equally firm and potent, hopefully to better effect.

I've had a great deal of luck (and fun!) infusing vodkas, and had any number of surprising successes. Perhaps the most outstanding success -- and the most surprising to boot -- was cucumber. Peeled, seeded, coarsely chopped and steeped in decent-quality vodka (no need for the Grey Goose here) for about 5 days, it took on all the discrete notes of the cuke -- floral, crisp, clean and almost minty. Plus, it imparted just enough water so that, when taken straight from the freezer and poured in a handy shot glass, fine sheets of ice crystals formed that crashed lightly on the tongue. A pity only that we don't have enough screaming hot summer days in San Francisco to get the maximum impact. Other successes have been vanilla (natch), cinnamon, tarragon, black pepper and mint. Star anise created a Sambuca-like brew that was clear and golden, but turned opaque white with the introduction of ice -- very dramatic. Fruits are surprisingly fickle: Every type of melon ends up tasting like canteloupe; berries usually give up all their tartness and little sweetness; never, ever put the pith of citrus fruit in lest you spend hours unpuckering -- zest only, please! Fresh ingredients should steep less time than dry, and all should be consumed relatively quickly, as the richness of flavor does fade with time. Freezing helps. (Couldn't hurt!)

I'm quite intrigued by the use of chipotle or jalapeño syrups -- a very creative way to imply the burn of alcohol. Sanbitter, Aranciata and ginger beer are also great suggestions as more sophisticated elements. It gives me much to chew on, so to speak. Thanks!

I know you've shut down for the day, but while it's top of mind... Several of my friends are recovering, and so when party time comes, I like to provide them something more creative than the pedestrian soft drinks. Some cocktails lend themselves well to virgin varieties, like the Bloody Mary (which, like you, I despise), and frozen, fruity drinks. Obviously some cocktails, like martinis and Manhattans, consisting as they do entirely of alcoholic ingredients, cannot be duplicated without booze. But, for cocktails where a single liquor is but one element in a more complex equation, like mojitos, juleps or mai tais, are there non-alcoholic substitutes that can imply or infuse the flavor and complexity of liquors like bourbon or rum?

Different direction and a heck of a lot pricier, but Ron Siegel at Masa's launched a kaiseki menu this past January, and by all accounts it's excellent indeed. I haven't gone, as I don't have a home to mortgage for the bill.

I was up there a couple weeks ago, and I support some of the recommendations here; St Helena is clearly where it's at as far as food goes. Market is a great spot: hearty American fare with a twist, cheerful service, upbeat environment and certainly the best value for the money around. They have a few real standout dishes, like a starter of Thai-marinated rock shrimp with avocado and papaya slices (would have been absolutely stellar on a hot summer day), and the fried chicken was quite good. The "Very Adult" mac and cheese tasted great, but was a tad looser than I like. Locals rave about this place. Martini House is also worthwhile, tho I didn't get to eat as much there as I would have liked. Still, the Kobe beef burger was to die for! The interior is magnificent though, as should be expected from a Pat Kuleto joint. We also ate at Tra Vigne, and I can't say enough good about it. It fell from favor for a number of years under the oppression of a bad chef (no, not Chiarello), but seems to be well and truly on track now. Fantastic, traditional Italian (mainly Tuscan) fare here: Pappardelle with rabbit ragu, braised pork shank, grilled duck with fennel ... and I'm still dreaming of the white pizza with prosciutto and truffle. Ufa! The service was stellar too -- very friendly and helpful but always attentive and professional. And of course you gotta stop at Taylor's Refresher for a burger and a shake. Try the white pistachio milkshake. Yum!

Whoa - I got here too late...everyone's already mentioned most of my fave spots, so I'll just chime in with support for them. Destino is quite good and a nice alternative to the tapas you get elsewhere. Picaro/Esperpento and Ramblas all serve reasonably good facsimiles of actual tapas; the latter offers quite authentic Catalan tapas. Thirsty Bear is great -- do check out B-44 on Belden Alley for even more pumped-up Andalucian tapas; the original chef from TB started that up, and it's probably my fave tapas place in town. Platanos is seriously good eats, but it's not really tapas at all. Lots of people seem to go gaga for Timo's, but frankly I cannot abide that place. Similarly, Alma gets good marks, but I was not blown away by the food there. I have yet to check out Limón, which has been on everyone's lips of late it seems. Also, there's a new place on Guerrero/21st called Little Spain (in the former Luisa's, which now occupies the former Mangiafuoco) that I've been itching to try out as well.

Our experience at French Laundry was a mixed bag. Four of us had a 9:30 seating on a Tuesday this past July; we arrived at 9:20 and checked in with the host, or so we thought. We were told to feel free to wait in the garden, and they would retrieve us when the table was ready. 20 minutes later, our friend checked in on the status of our seating. Whoever we checked in with evidently was not the host, and did not communicate that we had arrived. Our table was given away to someone else. The host came over and was extremely contrite, offering either to rebook us on another night (not an option as our friends were visiting from Seattle, and it was already an hour-plus drive on a school night for us), or they would gladly seat us as soon as possible. He offered to take a little extra care of us and asked if we liked rich food (duh!). They also comped the wine pairings for the evening. Already things were looking up. They began serving us champagne and amuse-bouches in the garden (which, I have to say, is a perfectly civilized way to start a meal!). A bottle and a few bites later, we were seated ... but at this time it was already nearly 10:30. Although some of the details were blurry by the next morning, we counted no fewer than 15 courses: Soups, salads, foie, fish, fowl, meat, dessert... it never seemed to end. We stumbled out of there at around 2 am, by far the last patrons and even outlasting the entire kitchen staff. But they certainly treated us like royalty. The finest service I had was a Aqua, a couple of years earlier. Our server was almost psychic in her knowledge of our needs, always at our table the second we needed her and never when we didn't. At one point, we were considering ordering more sparkling water or something. We saw her across the room, with her back to us, serving another table. The second we said, sotto voce, "Oh, there she is," we saw her straighten and turn as if our thoughts had been transmitted to her directly. She did well by us that night.

Joubert's is quite good, but a tad pricey and really out of the way. I'm not sure how authentic it is as goes S. African food, as I have never had it before. Still, as I say, it's an enjoyable experience. Belden Alley is definitely a great spot, with Plouf, B44 and Cafe Bastille all worthwhile stops. The Mission district is chockablock with great mid-range restos. My faves: Il Cantuccio (16th btwn Dolores/Guerrero) -- great Italian food, friendly service. Always go with the wine special! Charanga (Mission btwn 19th/20th) -- Cuban food, served tapas-style. Been eating here for years, and have yet to be disappointed or even less than thrilled with anything here. Salmon chalupas, champignones al jerez and patatas bravas are highlights. Great sangria. Get the berry crumble for dessert. Platanos (18th at Guerrero) -- Salvadorean/Nicaraguan food, slightly upscale but not over priced. Again, I've yet to be anything less than thrilled with the food here. The chile relleno is remarkable -- an unusual preparation, to be sure, but truly delicious. Chicken mole is also delish. Osha (Valencia btwn 19th/20th) -- new place, Thai noodle joint. Really adorable, chic interior, good food and incredibly cheap. Think noodle soups, plus the usual Thai standbys. Hard to spend more than $15/person here. Ti Couz (16th near Valencia) -- Breton crepes, as close to the real deal as you'll get around here (none of those horsey crepes they peddle around town). Delicious salads too.

The biggest revelation that I had when I began appreciating wine (as opposed to just consuming wine) was that there are no right or wrong answers. Two people can smell and taste the same wine and come up with very different impressions, based on personal experience, likes and dislikes, cultural influences or just plain because. Some big overarching aromas, like cherry/berry, tropical fruits and floral notes may be easier to detect, but when you get into the nitty gritty, it's all about you. I enjoyed a nice little sangiovese last night, and the forward notes struck me as odd at first; I couldn't quite identify the combination of aromas banging around my nose. Finally, I settled on paperwhites and dark chocolate. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. :-)

Is fresh healthier than frozen? Sure, if you pick it yourself and cook it immediately. But the second many vegetables (especially corn and peas) go off their vine/stalk, they begin to degrade. Flash freezing preserves the vegetables within minutes of harvest. This is not to be confused with canning, wherein the cooking process can damage the nutritional content of the food. I definitely think that, in some cases, frozen outperforms fresh even in season. For those of us in cities, where the produce has to travel hefty distances and often through significant climatic changes to get to market, corn and peas are pretty much always best from the freezer section. (Frankly, I have yet to have an ear of corn since I've lived in San Francisco that does not taste like cardboard, it degrades in flavor so quickly.)

Jane Peal (www.pealciusine.com) delivers gourmet vegetarian meals; check the web site for menus and dates. I have not yet tried her stuff personally, but have heard good things, and she's been in business for quite some time. We used to have a great service called CookExpress, where they'd deliver full meals in their component pieces, to be finished (using idiot-proof instructions) at home. They went under back in '99 or '00. I've heard rumors that there's a new one called Home Express or some such, but I can't seem to find it. Anyone else?

Ah yes, all excellent suggestions ... I guess the problem is that I live in the Mission instead of North Beach. I used to work up near Pier 39 (*shudder*), and would frequently (read: 4+ times/week) trundle down to NB for lunch. I do miss Mario's, definitely, likewise L'Osteria del Forno. Steps of Rome, tho not the greatest restaurant in the area, does produce a nice shot. I agree that Trieste makes a fine product as well. And I do frequent Torrefazione, as there's one catercorner from my office. All are good, even very good, but somehow... I suppose the perfect espresso sits in that ethereal realm with mozzarella di bufala, san marzano tomatoes and even basil -- all just better over there, due to the combination of sun, soil and who knows what other factors that we can't quite approximate.

Despite a perceived obsession with all things foodie in SF, I find some glaring exceptions. Cafe culture stormed the streets in the '90s, and by the turn of the millennium scarcely a street corner was left unadorned with a new coffeehouse (especially in the Mission, where I live). So why is it so damned hard to find a decent espresso? To disclose my predilections: I'm benchmarking against the real deal in Italy (or possibly Spain; I am partial to the coffee there). I expect a modest amount of hair-raisingly strong, rich and complex brew, with a head of crema that can support a packet's-worth of sugar for a full count of 3 to 6 seconds. I'm more fond of Illy than Lavazza, but heck, any of it beats 99% of American roasts. By contrast to the above points of coffee perfection, what one normally gets is a dilute, flat liquid in quantities sufficient to half-fill a diner coffee cup, bitter and utterly de-crema-fied. Even some of my coffee haunts (like Cafe deStijl) have lost the barista's touch. For daily dosage, my handy stovetop pot fits the bill -- in fact, my cousin from Rome, during an extended visit to the States, declared that I make the best espresso in America. But it doesn't create crema, and therefore just misses the Nirvana-like state of bliss that true espresso delivers. So where do YOU get your short shot? -Sean