Talkin' Shop

Last month, I had the pleasure of attending the newly opened Beehive on 19th and Valencia. It was a Thursday night, which I expected to be packed. To my surprise, there were quite a few empty spaces at the bar – perfect for me and my group. I had eaten at Farmhouse Thai for dinner prior, so did not try any of the food dishes at The Beehive – for this write up I’ll focus strictly on the beverages.  Throughout the evening, I sipped on three (very different) cocktails, outlined below.

• Thunderbird | Avion Reposado Tequila, Campari, Passionfruit, Bergamot Thyme Jelly, Lime, Tonic ($14) – served on the rocks in a tall glass
• Nightingale | Mezcal, Kumquat, Cinnamon, Cointreau, Lemon, Ale ($14) – served on one ice large ice cube in a tall glass
• Bikini Drifter | Havana Club Blanco, Mount Gay Black Barrel, Coconut Pineapple, Anchan Chamomile Falernum ($14) – served in an extra tall glass with crushed ice throughout

The first one, the Thunderbird, was the cocktail that each person in my group initially opted for. To our dismay, it was not any of our favorites. I love passionfruit, but felt that something tasted a bit too harsh in the mix of it all. Next, the Nightingale was lovely with a very strong smoky mezcal taste. While I love mezcal, I would not suggest the cocktail to anyone who isn’t a fan of mezcal. My favorite of all three was the Bikini Drifter. It is a beautiful purple drink, which tastes delicious too – just like the bartender’s spin on a piña colada, but at the same time, much more unique and classy. I’ll also add that all of the straws used in their drinks are compostable. A very nice touch but also gets soggy throughout!

I do recommend The Beehive for anyone looking for creative cocktails and wants to spend some time in the Mission. I plan to head back to taste the dishes at a later date. Next time, I’ll sit in a totally different area as there are three different sections of the room – bar seating, high top seating in the middle and darker/lounge seating in the back. Enjoy!

Why 3rd party companies dominate hotel bookings and restaurant reservations.

By: Michael Gorecki

How often do you go to page two of Google when looking something up? Probably, not a lot. Instead you type a new question in the search bar and keep rephrasing that question until what you are looking for pops up in the top three or four results. Who has the time or patience to scroll through page after page? That is why, in today’s economy, it’s not gold or oil that is the most sought after resource, it’s our attention.
 
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My best friend lives up in Sonoma County so sometimes we try to meet in the middle for a weekend brunch or dinner. A few Sundays ago her husband, an avid home-brewer, suggested a brewery in downtown San Rafael called State Room – Brewery. Bar. Kitchen.  With San Francisco Brewing Co. getting ready to open at the time, I happily obliged – always interested in checking out similar concepts in different geographic locations. Speaking of locations, who knew San Rafael had a cute little downtown? I definitely did not until this trip.

We looked at the menu and ordered individual entrees and then decided that we needed to try one of their wood-fired pizzas. Everything was cooked well and tasty! For beverages, I started with a bloody mary and then tried one of their flights (four, five-ounce pours) with Tropicali Guava Pale, Altered State, Barnstormer Farmhouse Ale, and my favorite the Liquid Sunshine Deluxe (or “LSD” as the servers corrected me) – “a  medium bodied New England style IPA with big citrus hop flavor and aroma. Hazy, like a glass of orange juice, and good “til the last drop.”

Overall, I’d go again and recommend it for those who find themselves in the area. It’s not huge, but there’s outdoor seating on a covered patio and the inside has a beautiful industrial looking bar, lots of live plants everywhere including a living wall, visible beer tanks, and  a small game room in the back.

As we were leaving, we noticed another brewery (Tamalpais Brewery & Taproom) getting ready to open just up the street. Maybe San Rafael is going to be the next great craft beer destination…