Hedonia

Bicicletta

Hey, we only get so many hot days a year here in San Francisco, so when the season approaches, I like to be prepared and have a cooling cocktail at the ready. Last year, it was all about the michelada. But as the summer came to a close, and we journeyed to perhaps the hottest place of all, Palm Springs, I enjoyed a spectacularly refreshing drink at Spencer's, called the Bicicletta.

The drink is simplicity itself, just Campari, white wine and a spritz of club soda, but the whole is more than the sum of its parts. I am fond of Campari in general, but especially on hot days. Aside from memories of sweltering days on the Amalfi Coast, I find that Campari actually has a cooling effect. The white wine rounds out the cocktail, mellowing the intense bittersweet of the amaro, and of course the club gives it a fizzy kick. They are surprisingly easy to sip on during the dog day afternoons when nothing else is feasible. Luckily, the club soda and ice ensure that you can do so without getting completely fuore come un balcone.

Levriero

For my third guest-blog post in Married ...with Dinner's illustrious Drink of the Week feature, I unveil a new cocktail concocted for Reese's birthday party, the Levriero. After all, I simply had to do something with all that pompelmocello. Read on!

Tasting 2007

The end of the year is a natural point of reflection. Lately I've been thinking back on some of the more delicious memories of 2007, new and interesting experiences all. I'll present them here, in no particular order:

• Grilled squid at Pescheria: Served in a charming little enamelized crock, these tender, smoky squid rocked my world.
• Shaved raw artichoke salad at Incanto: I would never have thought to use raw artichoke, but tender baby chokes shaved to almost paper thinness added a pleasantly grassy note and crunch to a spring salad.
• Cherimoya: Creamy, sweet and exotic, these became my new favorite fruit. 
• Jane's (sorta) homemade pickles: By starting with store-bought dills, these quick-pickled sweets retain their crispiness.
• Michelada: The lime makes humdrum beer extra refreshing, and a dash of Tabasco and Worcestershire gives it a grown-up edge. The perfect summer quaff.
• Mutton barbecue from Moonlite: No more ho-hum pulled pork; gamey mutton gave barbecue a unique twist this year.
• Hangar One chipotle vodka: The second in Hangar One's artisan series gave "firewater" new meaning. Perfect for Bloody Marys, but we concocted a few custom cocktails of our own. *
  
• Sai oa: Spicy and super flavorful, this Thai sausage was simply scrumptious, barely edging out three other delectable handmade sausages during a day-long grind-and-stuff session chez Married ... with Dinner. *
• Alinea: 'Nuff said.
• Proper mint julep at Alembic: Cool, refreshing mint and condensation sweating down the sides of a pewter cup were pure tonic on a sweltering summer's day. *
  
• McQuade's Celtic Chutneys: Bright, tart, sweet and complex chutneys that make an excellent complement to meats and cheeses. *
• Grit cake with wild mushrooms at Cafe Majestic: It's not every day that a vegetarian entree catches my eye anymore, but this dish was a hands-down winner at our table. *
  
• Fregula, butternut squash, kale and pomegranate seeds at Olea: It's even rarer that I eye a vegan entree, but this dish was at once playful, textural, flavorful and just flat-out fun. *
• Concord grape sorbet with warm ginger tapioca at Firefly: Perhaps it's cliche to refer to something as a study in contrasts, but this dessert was an elegant dance of counterpoints: Cold and warm, sweet and tart, rich and sharp, crystalline and puddingy.
• Oh, Henry!: My new favorite cocktail, made specially by my own personal bartender at my birthday party. I particularly prefer the spicy kick of Blenheim ginger ale for this application. *
  
• Hoshigake from We Love Jam: The Kobe beef of persimmons! Hachiya persimmons are massaged while drying, coaxing a fine, sugary coating to the surface. The resulting dried fruit is subtly sweet, with a date-like texture.

* Indicates items that I experienced while in the company of other Bay Area food bloggers.

I have good friends

Last weekend, my darling husband hosted a cocktail party in my honor of my thirty-somethingth birthday. I had a lovely time, mingling with my bestest friends and nibbling on nummy noshes courtesy of DPaul. I received several lovely gifts, but chief among them was Anita stepping in to act as mixologist extraordinaire. She had two signature house cocktails at the ready, carefully sidestepping my patent dislike for both gin and orange. One, the refreshing and complex Rosemary Five, immediately became my new favorite cocktail. That is, until I tasted the second: The Oh, Henry, which she has now posted as the most recent Drink of the Week. Now, we love us some bourbon, and the combination with Benedictine and a good, strong ginger ale elevates it to new heights; the star anise garnish does so much more than merely decorate as well. Do go check it out, and enjoy one as much as I did, and still do. Anita gave me the gift not only of a housefull of well-watered friends, but of two newfound favorite tipples as well. Who could ask for more?

Mi/chelada

Seems the drink du jour in the media these days is the michelada. Aside from the beauty shot in this month's GQ, there's equally mouthwatering references on pretty much all my favorite boozy blogs:

• MattBites finds it the only way to enjoy his cerveza;
• Sloshed! sampled three different beers just to be thorough;
• The Spirit World eyes a couple alternative preparations;
• Anita at Married ...with Dinner delved into its history last Turkey Day; and
• Camper was way ahead of the curve, calling this drink's rising star fully two years ago, and is now on a campaign to bring it back as a brunch favorite.

The timing was good. With an upcoming visit to the in-laws in Kentucky (where we are now) this struck me as the perfect beverage to ply on less-than-experimental palates. With an ingredient list of un-scary and familiar ingredients -- Mexican beer, lime, Worcestershire and Tabasco, basically -- it promised nothing less than refreshing goodness for the inevitable hot, muggy days.

Alas, my cool micheladas were met with a tepid response. No one -- including DPaul -- liked the flavor the Worcestershire sauce imparted. To which I say, ¡más micheladas para mí! Personally, I thought the balance of sour-salty-hot was perfectly delicious, and certainly slapped a hearty coat of red lipstick on the Corona pig. It's a quaffable, refreshing brew that I could happily kick back more than a couple of on a sultry afternoon. Still, I will admit it pays to have a light hand with the Worcestershire.

I look forward to trying this again with Negro Modelo, my preferred Mexican beer. I would have used it this time, but our options out here in the wilds of Kentucky are ... limited. And for DPaul, I'll just pull back on the Worcestershire and Tabasco for the classic chelada. (Actually, he rather liked the Tabasco. So does that make it a semichelada?)