Cocktails – Salt Kitchen & Tasting Bar

Bass Solo cocktail - Salt Kitchen & Tasting Bar
Bass Solo: rye whiskey, dry vermouth, trio of bitters. $9
Salt Kitchen and Tasting Bar, Honolulu HI

I really liked this restaurant in the Kaimuki neighborhood of Honolulu. I would have never found this place, but my friend who lives on the Island invited us out for dinner. I’m glad he did because this restaurant had a really cool vibe and kinda reminded me of a typical neighborhood SF restaurant. The food was delicous and these cocktails were tasty too!

Mexican martini - Salt Kitchen & Tasting Bar
Mexican Martini: tequila, elderflower, fresh lime, olive. $9

Sunset at Waikiki Beach
Sunset at Waikiki Beach. Ah, makes you want to move there!

Breakfast of champions – Red Carpet Club

Banana and coffee - Red Carpet Club
Banana and coffee. Complimentary
Red Carpet Club, San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

I hate morning flights, but I do love getting free snacks and drinks at the Red Carpet Club. And few cocktails are always a great idea before boarding a long flight, lol!

Bloody mary - Red Carpet Club

Bloody mary. Complimentary

Terminal 2 Air Train station

Terminal 2 Air Train station.

Pimm’s drink cocktail – Chambers Eat + Drink

Pimm's drink cocktail - Chambers Eat + Drink

Pimm’s, gin, lemon, mint, cucumber. $11
Chambers Eat and Drink, San Francisco CA

I was already buzzed when I took this pic so I can’t recall 100% how the cocktail was, lol! I think it was a little on the sour side though. 🙂

Classic red car
Classic red car, 24th Street. I don’t know my cars, but this one caught my eye. It also had SF 49ers flags attached to its windows. Cool!

Peach Blanket Barbecue cocktail – 15 Romolo

Peach Blanket Barbecue cocktail - 15 Romolo

“You can ants if you want to, you can leave your pants behind.” Laphroaig quarter cask, peach liqueur, lemon, amaro ciaciaro, maple, cayenne, pilsner. $10
15 Romolo, San Francisco CA

For those of you who aren’t familiar with San Francisco, the name of this cocktail is a play on a local variety stage show called Beach Blanket Babylon. All the ingredients sounded great, but I wasn’t too impressed. It tasted a bit bland to me. 😦

San Francisco Federal Building courtyard
San Francisco Federal Building courtyard before sunrise, 7th Street. I was waiting for a bus way too early in the morning, lol!

Cocktails – Staple & Fancy

Southern key cocktail - Staple and Fancy
Southern Key: bourbon, cointreau, bonal gentiane-quina. $9
Staple and Fancy, Seattle WA

Old pal cocktail - Staple and Fancy

Old Pal: Canadian whiskey, dry vermouth, campari. $9

Mmm, I’m really getting into different whiskey drinks. Another sign that I’m getting old, lol! These were delicious and reasonably priced.

Olympic Iliad sculpture, Alexander Liberman
Olympic Iliad sculpture, 1984, Alexander Liberman, Seattle Center. Steel cylinders painted an industrial red.

Cocktails – Hattie’s Hat

Rye Hook cocktail - Hattie's Hat

Rye Hook: Ballard street twist off the pretentious Manhattan made with Old Overholt sweet vermouth and bitter served up. $7
Hattie’s Hat, Seattle WA

We slipped into the bar area late one night and grabbed seats at the counter. They have an extensive cocktail menu – heck yeah! I tried a couple whiskey drinks and was happy. 🙂

One-Legged Duck cocktail - Hattie's Hat

One-Legged Duck: Bulleit bourbon, fernet, galliano, orange bitters. $8

Orange squid bike rack
Orange squid bike rack, Seattle waterfront.

Sundance Kid cocktail – Ballard Station Public House

Sundance Kid cocktail - Ballard Station Public House
Rye whiskey, lillet, cynar, orange zest. $8
Ballard Station Public House, Seattle WA

This bar didn’t exist the last time I was up in Seattle so we visited it this time around. It’s actually a smallish space, but very cute and warm with all the exposed brick. They have a decent specialty cocktail list too. They could use another bartender though because it was very slow going to get any drinks.

Railroad themed artwork
Railroad themed artwork at Ballard Station Public House.

Brunch cocktails – Twenty Five Lusk

S.F. Yacht Club cocktail - Twenty Five Lusk

S.F. Yacht Club: vodka, grapefruit, cucumber, lemon, lime, mint. Gilt City brunch menu
Twenty Five Lusk, San Francisco CA

I thought this cocktail would be more refreshing and would knock my socks off, but it didn’t. It was pretty to look at, but fell flat in the taste department which is surprising considering the great combination of ingredients.

Lusk Bloody Mary - Twenty Five Lusk

Lusk Bloody Mary: vodka, roasted tomatoes, lemon, roasted garlic, thai chili paste, aged balsamic vinegar.

Mmm, this bloddy mary delicious! I sometimes buy the daily deal certificates for restaurants I haven’t tried, and I have to say that I was really impressed with this Gilt buy for Twentry Five Lusk. We had a great time, the food was delicious (for the most part), and the service was friendly and professional. I’d definitely got back for more!

Construction stencil artwork
Construction stencil artwork, 16th Street.

Mimosa – Circa 59

Mimosa - Circa 59
Standard bloody mary. $7
Circa 59, Palm Springs CA

I’ve already expressed my extreme disappointment of this restaurant so I don’t have to say too much more. This restaurant sadly relies heavily on the posh hotel and hip clientele and has placed little to no importance on the actual food or service.

Circa 59 tables
Notice the empty water glasses at the table during this hot, sunny day. We were stranded at our table without a server in sight. After sweating for a while, we were finally able to flag down a manager to get us some water.

Sequin artwork, Riviera Resort
Sequin artwork, Riviera Resort.

Cheat sangria!

Sangria
Whenever we’re down at the PS house, I always make a large batch of sangria to keep in the refridgerator. I love the stuff because it’s so refreshing and nice to have around on a hot, sunny day!

Sangria fruit
At the nearby grocery store, I look for a variety of fruit that are on sale or look particularly good. I like to get a nice mixture for extra flavor. Here I have nectarines, pears, oranges, mangoes, and apples.

Sliced sangria fruit
Slice up the fruit and place in a bowl. I like to keep them in large chunks because eating the alcohol soaked fruit is the best part.

Sangria mix

Here’s where I cheat. I mix 1 part bottled sangria (I really like the Cruz Garcia Real Sangria brand) with 1 part red wine (I’ll just get anything on sale because I’m just mixing it with the sangriz mix anyway). I’ve experimented with the different sangria brands and have found that a higher quality brand really makes a difference on the end result. The bottled sangria tends to be too sugary for my taste so adding more wine helps to temper the sweetness.

Sangria glass

Pour some sangria into a decorative glass and enjoy poolside. Cheers!