Last week, I swung by a sneak peek of the pop-up holiday bar, DECK THE HALLS, located in the former The Square (and more famously, the Washington Square Bar & Grill) in North Beach. Nick Floulis of Opavino (previously Chubby Noodle) and Shaher Misif (previously Cantina) and Ken Luciano of Guerrilla Vision (previously Forgery and Wildhawk) have put together a playful holiday cocktail menu, with a Cranberry Negroni served in an ornament, a Pecan Flip that comes with its own sparky sideshow, and The Traveling Duckie Does Deck the Halls, which comes in a snow globe…plus other surprises I don’t want to give away. There will also be a menu of small bites to keep keep your peppermint consumption in check due to the naughty elves behind the bar.
To match the holiday menu, there’s plenty of red and green and wrapping paper and a penguin village and a rooftop scene with some wasted-looking reindeer courtesy of Nick Roberto of Auspice Design. The pop-up will run until the New Year. They will be donating a portion of Deck the Hall’s proceeds to benefit North Bay wildfire relief. After the pop-up, Floulis will be opening a new restaurant in the space, Lillie Coit’s, with partners Elmer Mejicanos and John Paul Jacques later in 2018. Open Mon-Wed 3pm-12am, Thu-Fri 3pm-2am, Sat 12pm-2am, Sun 12pm-12am. 1707 Powell St. at Union.
Another holiday pop-up is happening at PACIFIC COCKTAIL HAVEN called Miracle. It’s a Christmas pop-up bar with over 50 locations around the world (from Greece to Hong Kong!), with cocktail recipes created by Nico De Soto from Mace in New York. There’s a Snowball Old Fashioned (gingerbread bourbon, wormwood bitters, lemon zest), How The Gimlet Stole Christmas (gin, sage, pine and caraway cordial), and the Run Run Rudolph (blanco tequila, coffee liqueur, iced hot chocolate, Mexican spices), among others. All cocktails are $14. Come by for over ten seasonally themed cocktails in a festive setting (and I mean festive—check this out!) through Christmas Eve (Sunday December 24th). 580 Sutter St. at Mason, 415-398-0195.
It’s also the time of year when 15 ROMOLO rolls out their annual Sherry Christmas menu, with new cocktails, shareable tapas, and sherry pairings. Here’s one to look forward to: the Broken Arrow cocktail (10 yr. single malt whisky, amontillado sherry, toasted cinnamon, honey vinegar, candy cap aromatics).
Coming up on Tuesday December 5th is an Agave Girls special holiday event and tequila tasting at COPITA TEQUILERIA Y COMIDA, hosted by Joanne Weir, with a menu created by Copita’s consulting executive chef Daniel Tellez alongside DOBEL tequila tastings and tequila cocktails. Plus, there’s an ugly poncho theme and the ugliest wins a bottle of tequila and a copy of Joanne’s latest cookbook. 6:30pm. Tickets are $75 per person, including food, tequila pairings, and cocktails (excluding gratuity). A percentage of proceeds from the event will go towards supporting the Redwood Credit Union North Bay Fire Relief. 739 Bridgeway, Sausalito.
And one last thing to note: if you need to stock up your home liquor cabinet (or holiday party!), owner Rami Barqawi let us know he just opened a new location of HEALTHY SPIRITS on Valencia. Look for an extensive mezcal selection at this location (their fourth!), plus their usual deep stock of whiskey, craft beers, and more. 300 Valencia St. at 14th St.
