Feh. Couldn't sleep last night and I can already hear the birds chirping.
Yesterday I went to the Orbit Room, which is a cafe/bar on Upper Market (which is the area on Market between the Castro and downtown). The bartender there, Alberta, is fairly famous in the city (Best of the Bay 2004), and makes cocktails to order based on what you tell her. That is, you can say, "I want to feel like I'm a mod in London in 1966 and we just had a scooter rally and we're about to go see Georgie Fame play tonight" and she'll make something with gin and Campari and some cucumber concotion of her own.
She makes her own sugars and salts and infusions and purees so all the mixers are fresh and intensely flavored. And she knows her booze history and mixology down completely, including why the original Mai Tai recipe is so different from what is currently called a Mai Tai, and what's wrong with Bombay Sapphire and what's right with Plymouth and Boodles and the importance of Marschino Liqueur and how hard it is to find and why people shouldn't be afraid of Vermouth.
She's big on botanicals and will crush and scumble fresh pear right into your drink. Though she's got strong opinions, she's really focused on making her customers happy so she doesn't lecture. But she will educate if asked.
I think I need to bring a picture of Jilli in for her and have her concoct something special. "So think: Edwardian, goth, perky, blithe, witty, stylish and chocolate."
Though first I'll probably say, "Okay I want to be on a beach in Rio in 1962 listening to Joao Gilberto play acoustic bossa nova on a hot, breezy night. Make a drink like that."