Rummy roots: The Green Apple Core (the blog of Green Apple Books) cracks some hoary cocktail manuals. Well, faux-hoary, anyway. The inner Richmond bookshop recently uncrated reprints of vintage cocktail books ― a dozen of 'em ― including The Modern Bartenders' Guide from 1884, which ceased being modern ― oh ― right about the time William Howard Taft placed his hand on the bible.
The Core's fave might be a local specimen from 1908, The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them by one Hon. Wm. (Cocktail) Boothby. Here's the formula for Cocktail's Quencher:
Take a mixing-glass, half filled with fine ice, throw in four spoonfuls of sour, two spoonfuls of bar sugar and one jigger of fine cognac. Break an egg into a separate glass, and if pleasant, throw into your mixer; shake well, strain into a large pint glass and fill up with a cool bottle of imported ginger ale. This makes one of the finest drinks known.Sounds like the perfect hangover relief. And it suggests that San Franciscans of 90 years ago had a lot in common with San Franciscans of today. Namely, a serious need for hair-of-the-dog remedies.
Check out Green Apple's other reprints here.
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That stop in Justin Herman Plaza will mark Round Two of Sprinkles getting all up in the face of Kara's Cupcakes' Karavan, which shows up three to four days a week at the Embarcadero ice rink. And though SFoodie contributor Carolyn Alburger named Kara's the hands-down winner Monday in a taste-off with Sprinkles, turns out the Sprinklesmobile will own the field tomorrow. A Kara's spokeswoman told SFoodie the Karavan will be in the shop for a few repairs, but should be back at the ice rink Friday.
Score one for the visiting team. Well played, Sprinklesmobile, well played.
When: Fri., Dec. 25
Time: 11:30 a.m.-8 p.m.
The Deal: Urban Tavern's regular á la carte menu will be on offer, in addition to a three-course holiday prix fixe: prime rib with roasted potatoes and popovers, or honey-glazed ham with potato gratin and roasted Brussels sprouts; for dessert, chestnut yule log with spiced eggnog brandy sauce
Cost: $34.95 (for the prix fixe), half price for kids 5-12
We're thinking that farmers with a sufficiently robust vocabulary of suitable bovine monikers probably have smaller herds ― and probably treat them better ― than the majority of massive milking operations with their mooing, ear-tagged masses. The actual naming surely can't hurt, but we're not sure it helps. We're also wondering if this idea is any better than some we've had quite casually over the past 300-something days. For example, one morning in June, we woke up with a horrible cough and decided to stay home and sip tom yum instead of go to work. That was a good idea. Back in March, we decided to order the fregula with fresh ricotta and cured tuna heart at La Ciccia. Another winner.
All the same, regardless of naming's effect on the productivity of cow herds, we'd still rather drink milk that dripped from a Tulip, Peppermint, or Buttercup than #1605043. Or #1605044. Or #1605045.
When: Thurs., Dec. 24
Time: 5:30-9 p.m.
The Deal: Chef Chris Cosentino won't know exactly what's on his three-course Feast of the Seven Fishes menu till he can assess what's available, but here's a preliminary version: mixed seafood salad; then spaghettini with sardines, capers, raisins, pine nuts, and fennel, or skate with broccoli rabe, lemon, and garlic; followed by chocolate panforte cake with spiced cream or winter citrus salad and zabaglione (note: the regular á la carte menu will not be available)
Cost: $45
Add-ons: Optional wine pairings by the glass or flight, for an extra charge
There's no better method for escaping the mishegoss of holiday shopping than by ducking into the warm, restful oasis of a festively bedecked hotel lobby that happens to have a saloon on the premises. Set down your packages, pick your potion (it's Manhattan season!), recline amongst the carols and evergreen, and imbibe. Several establishments are shaking up holiday favorites like eggnog and hot buttered rum right about now, and although they may not do as a regular diet, they're undeniably sweet and warming during these darkling December days and nights. Down a couple and before long you'll be ready to brave the storm, refreshed and renewed.
When: Thurs., Dec. 24
Time: 5:30-10:30 p.m.
The Deal: Chef-owner Roland Passot's four-course prix fixe includes amuse bouche and petits fours; entrée choices include slow-baked sturgeon with duck confit, oxtail and potato terrine and lobster Bordelaise, or roasted wild Scottish pheasant with sweetbreads and apple cannelloni
Cost: $115
Add-ons: Special for SFoodie readers ― add Henriot Souverain Brut Champagne and blinis with salmon and all the accoutrements, along with Tsar Nicoulai caviar, for $70 the half ounce and $135 the full ounce
just eat raw, coconut sugar is a low glycemic alternative to the
refined white stuff that doesn't feel like deprivation. Coracao states that it's even lower than agave. Find the sugar on Coracao's Web site as well as at the Stonestown farmer' market on Sunday mornings.
What's a meatatarian's holiday buffet table without a glazed ham? Sad, that's what. Only, instead of one of those flabby, saccharine, spiral-cut factory monsters, you can show off a real-live artisanal specimen ― like the Prosciutto Cotto (i.e., "cooked ham") from chef Chris Cosentino's Boccalone Salumeria in the Ferry Building. It's brine-cured with sugar and spices. Likewise the Red Bull Simply Cola in Cosentino's glaze is flavored with a mashup of spices, kola nut, and ― for those of you who love a party ― actual coca leaf. By the way, you can preorder a Prosciutto Cotto from Boccalone up until this Sunday, Dec. 20, for pickup Dec. 23 or 24. Call 433-6500.
Chris Cosentino's Red Bull Cola and Old Potrero Rye-Glazed Ham
Makes 6-8 servings
2 whole cloves
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup Old Potrero rye whiskey
6 cups Red Bull Simply Cola
1 boneless cooked ham, approximately 3 ½ pounds ― preferably Prosciutto Cotto from Boccalone
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Make the glaze: Combine the cloves, brown sugar, whiskey, and four cups of cola in a medium saucepan. Heat over a low to medium flame, stirring, to reduce by three-quarters.
Place the ham in a large roasting pan and brush with the cola-whiskey glaze. Pour the remaining two cups of cola into the bottom of the roasting pan around the ham. Baste the meat with the cola and bake, basting every 15 minutes with pan juices, until it is warmed through, and a meat thermometer registers 165°F.
Remove from the oven and let rest at least five minutes before carving. To serve, slice the meat thinly across the grain and arrange on a platter.
"San Francisco had every manner of great ethnic cuisine, but there wasn't a world-class bagel here. When we opened it was like we were an oasis in the desert, with people coming from all over the whole Bay Area .... It seems ridiculous now, but carbo loading was a big deal in those days. It took people 6 1/2 years to realize if you carbo load and you're not running marathons, you get fat."
Now, we can't attest to the quality of the chain's bagels prior to Alper's deal with Einstein Bros., but we have had a few in airports fairly recently and they're not worth the schmear spread across their bready surfaces. Question: Why have we had a few and not just one? Answer: Because empty carbs hit the spot after some stupidly expensive cocktails and a sleepless red-eye to Cincinnati.
