Underhill-Lounge

It’s kind of bizarre when your opinions seem to cross over into the public sphere.
I’ve been privately airing my fears that San Francisco is turning into some sort of Theme Park for rich foodies and overseas investors for some time now.
Today the paper of record weighed in with similar concerns.
Exodus of S.F.’s middle class
“A kind [...]

“The three ingredient cocktail doesn’t lie.”
Audrey Saunders, Pegu Club, New York.

Dunno if you’re watching, but the cooperative blog for Tales of the Cocktail is puttering along with many excellent submissions from fellow drinky bloggers.
Blogging Tales of the Cocktail
I put up a post today about a panel dedicated to the “Life, Drinks, and Legacy of Professor Jerry Thomas”:
Jerry’s Kids
The members of the panel are Ted Haigh, [...]

I don’t normally put up links to articles, but there were a couple articles this week on local sources that you might not see if you aren’t in the Bay Area.
First off, over at line cook, Richie has an absolutely fantastic post called “A Day in the Life” documenting a typical shift at the restaurant [...]

The second annual San Francisco Cocktail Week is fast approaching. Held from May 13th to 19th, just about every bar and bartender in San Francisco seems to be planning something cool.
So far the things I am really excited about are this seminar at the Hotel Rex…
“Literature, Booze and History”
Time: 5:00pm-7:00pm
Location: The Salon at Hotel [...]

Stomping Through the Savoy, Eric Felten, Wall Street Journal, April 5, 2008
Book-bloggers have taken up everything from sole to the soul. A couple of years ago, blogress Julie Powell famously cooked her way through the book that made Julia Child a star, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” Last year, Slate deputy editor David Plotz [...]

Making drinks in a bar is like, “doing it,” with a beautiful woman?
Making drinks at home is “onanism”?
Have I gone crazy? Is this my mid-life crisis? Could I use a bigger cliché?
After reading that last post certain persons in the house were about ready to call the exorcist, fearing I had been possessed [...]

I had a good time with the guys at Flower on Friday, but I went into the weekend with a bit of a heavy feeling in my heart.
Two more times and that’s it.
All of E.’s arguments against me working at Flower made sense. Plus, it’s in Oakland, making the late night commute back to [...]

After Enrique the barback spontaneously hit me with the kudos, we had to explain the whole situation.
Tell him I actually have a job and a wife that probably wouldn’t be thrilled if I worked more than a couple nights at a bar. I was just checking it out. I think he thought I [...]

The big difference between the first Friday and the second Friday at Flower was that Mrs. Underhill had been out of town the first week. The second week I was giving up a night at home with my wife.
When we sat down, E. asked, “So what’s next?” I’ll paraphrase E.: I’ve been [...]