During times of celebration like the holidays, there are many places to go to sip cocktails that are the equivalent of the food coming out of our region’s high-end restaurants— complex, unique, carefully made and utterly delicious. Taking a page from today’s innovative chefs, mixologists are inventing all manner of saywhat? drinks. Like the Smoking Gun served at Fahrenheit Lounge in San Jose, in which fancy gin and vermouth are stirred with a touch of exotic scotch and garnished with blue cheese-stuffed olives. A mezcal-based cocktail called the Slow Burn Sour offered at Lexington House in Los Gatos is frothy with egg whites, tart from grapefruit and hot from small-batch chile liqueur. Kentucky bourbon goes Asian at the new Mortar & Pestle bar in San Mateo, as seen in whiskey mixed with demerara sugar, lemongrass, mint, rose syrup and fragrant kaffir lime leaves. 54 South Bay Accent MORTAR & PESTLE SAN MATEO “Pure genius” is what the youngish patrons are saying about this new fusion of spiced-up, faintly Indian snacks and complementary cocktails to enhance or soothe the burn. Curry Up Now started as a food truck until instant popularity moved it to brick-and-mortar locations; the latest addition is Mortar & Pestle bars behind the restaurants. The San Mateo bar kicked things off, but more Mortar & Pestle bars are planned for the San Jose and Palo Alto locations. The vibe in the industrial-chic, well-lighted, smallish space in San Mateo might be laid back, but the drinks are serious, developed by superstar Bittercube, a Midwest artisan bitters maker and cocktail consulting firm. Much-loved examples include the Junkyard Heart, a Moscow Mule/Mojito fusion blending vodka, ginger beer, bitters, lime and mint. Then there’s the creamy Land of Milk & Honey, made from vodka, lemon, honey syrup, Greek yogurt, Mandarin Napolean and bitters. This drink will cool off the tongues of patrons powering down addictive treats such as tikka masala burritos and deconstructed samosas, which come from the restaurant in the front. Tonics are made in house, new punches come out weekly and entertainment is provided by large-screen TVs playing sports and a multilingual karaoke bar. The beer list and wine selection are as carefully curated as the cocktail menu. 130 MAIN ST., SAN MATEO; 650/830-5310; MORTARANDPESTLEBAR.COM TAKING A PAGE FROM TODAY’S INNOVATIVE CHEFS, MIXOLOGISTS ARE INVENTING ALL MANNER OF SAY-WHAT? DRINKS. No self-respecting South Bay mixologist keeps his or her bar stocked with yesterday’s drink ingredients like bottled juices or other mass-produced items. Juices today are fresh squeezed, tinctures (single infusions of herbs, barks and the like) are house-made, as are bitters (blends of infused ingredients), while syrups are whipped up by hand and feature a wide range of flavorings. You can bet that any produce included in these drinks is fresh and local. Highballs made from low-end “well” booze and mixers from a bar gun? Fuhgeddaboudit. About the only thing old school in the South Bay’s top craft cocktail spots today is that patrons can still get drinks like an Old Fashioned, Grasshopper or Harvey Wallbanger, but they’re made with superlative ingredients— the glamorous distant cousin of yesterday’s much-ordered cocktails. Meanwhile, our top cocktail establishments would rather leave town than serve the common bar snacks of the past—stale peanuts and those bowls of “mix” from the big-box stores. Instead, the edibles today are usually as interesting and delicious as the craft cocktails offered. So to prepare you for proper holiday imbibing, we’ve assembled our list of the 10 top craft cocktail establishments in our region where the tipples are something special. MORTAR & PESTLE
South Bay Accent - Dec 2014/Jan 2015
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