Well, it's begun...

The first successful attempt at home

The search for the perfect Negroni. Although, it hasn't just begun...it's basically been going on since we moved. The Bay Area has a love affair with classic cocktails. Now, while this isn't exclusive to the Bay Area (as we Minneapolites well know), the love affair with the Negroni definitely is. Sazeracs, Manhattans, Side cars, any good bartender knows how to make one. But I cannot tell you how many times I asked a bartender in MPLS for a Negroni and was met with a blank stare (or a scowl, thinking I had just asked for something TOTALLY offensive).

In SF/O-town? Errybody knows how to make a Negroni. Feels like home. And ERRYBODY claims that theirs is THE BEST. It should be simple, right? Equal parts dry gin, campari, and vermouth with a lovely twist of orange. But ladies and gentleman, I am here to tell you that it is NOT simple. And the ingredients make all the difference. Gin varies from bartender to bartender...some preferring the floral, herbaceous gins, some preferring the hot, steely gins. But the deciding factor? The vermouth. And I am also here to tell you that you should never, ever, ever make a Negroni again without using Carpano Antico vermouth. It is divine. By itself, with a splash of soda, or in a cocktail it puts all other vermouths to shame.

While I've found several bartenders who know how to tailor a lovely drink, perhaps none did it better than our friend, Michael, of Tony's Pizza Napoletana, who carved a lovely twist of orange to adorn my Negroni (on the rocks, which is a rare choice in SF), lit it on fire, and tenderly placed it on the edge of the cocktail. When we asked him why he lit it on fire, expecting some sort of poetic answer about the perfume of the orange delicately adorning the liquor, he laughed and explained that he did it "because it's sexy"...Perfect. This town.

Anyway, enough about Negronis. The point of this post was to tell you about an event we attended a week or so ago. But before we attended the event, we ventured uphill from the Fidi into North Beach to have a Pimm's Cup (BFS, we tip our hats to you!) and a vegan burger (one of the best we've had in town) at 15 Romolo. Aaron knew about this place from his biking buddy at work and it was fantastic. You would NEVER know it was there unless someone told you, and you had to walk off Columbus Avenue, down a side street, and up an alley with a 30% grade to the front door. It is dark, hip, with an old fashioned photo booth in the corner, and plenty of crazies to entertain you in the alley below the open windows. This was our view...

After happy hour, we wandered past all of the North Beach shady ladies (while traipsing down the street to find Coi, which I STILL can't believe is in this neighborhood), and made our way to the main event. Along the way, we couldn't help but admire the city...So pretty, right?

The Transamerica building (aka, Atlantis, aka the Triangle building) is right across the street from Aaron's office.

One of our favorite North Beach restaurants, Comstock Saloon, was hosting a "Whisky Waxing Competition." We went here on Valentine's Day and have a little soft spot for this joint. It was recently named one of Esquire magazine's best bars in America. Can we pick them or can we pick them? The food is good, the cocktails are excellent, and the old-timey character of the place is perfect. That night, they were holding a competition for the best beard or mustache waxing. (WHAT?) The beards and mustaches were accompanied by a barbershop quartet, special cocktails compliments of St. George Spirits in Alameda, and a whole lot of people. Including this guy, who happily posed for our picture while waiting for his moment in the competition spotlight.

I don't think he won, as his offering was fairly meager compared to the other participants, but he was very gentile and happy to let us snap a few shots. Unfortunately, it was a school night and we didn't stay until the end of the competition but we did enjoy the whiskey, tunes, and ridiculous facial hair.

Time to wrap it up with one more little tidbit. In case you were wondering, the weather in the East Bay is WAAAAAAAAAAY better than SF. While it is 70 and sunny over here, the Fidi is cloaked in fog and wind for most of the morning. After a few hours of sun and humanity, the fog rolls in around 5 and the down jackets come out for protection. Most evenings in O-town are sunny until at least 7 and the fog rolls away long before people in SF can come out from under the covers. Thank god we moved over here.

Oh, and Simon is a pretty, pretty princess. Seriously. Our house is his house. His life is hard. His new favorite spot...our pillows.