Spruce the long-awaited bar and restaurant on Sacramento Street in Laurel Village opened a couple of months ago. I finally had time to stop by and check out the cocktails and wine list at its exceedingly lovely bar.
I wish I could have had more, but seeing as it was lunch time, I confined my sampling to the honey elderflower daiquiri, a really graceful combination of Mount Gay Rum, St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur, lime and honey water. The cocktail list at Spruce is comfortable, though not innovative or exotic. But I know that the team there spent a long time honing their recipes of the classics and perfecting the technique, so I suspect that all the drinks, mostly classics, are pristine. Also of interest to me were the Bee’s Knees (gin, lemon, honey water), the Honeymoon (apple brandy, benedictine, curacao and lemon) and the Harrington (Belvedere vodka, Cointreau and Yellow Chartreuse).
The heavyweight wine list is an exceptional addition to the SF elites. It’s deep in all the categories that matter—Champagne, Burgundy…the Riesling section is amazing. It has some exquisite trophies (1945 Steinberger Riesling, $680). But what I loved most was the half-bottle list—which is long—and the two pages entitled “Wines $50 and under” with about 30 selections for both red and white.
Can’t wait to eat there, and to do some more investigative drinking.
I wish I could have had more, but seeing as it was lunch time, I confined my sampling to the honey elderflower daiquiri, a really graceful combination of Mount Gay Rum, St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur, lime and honey water. The cocktail list at Spruce is comfortable, though not innovative or exotic. But I know that the team there spent a long time honing their recipes of the classics and perfecting the technique, so I suspect that all the drinks, mostly classics, are pristine. Also of interest to me were the Bee’s Knees (gin, lemon, honey water), the Honeymoon (apple brandy, benedictine, curacao and lemon) and the Harrington (Belvedere vodka, Cointreau and Yellow Chartreuse).
The heavyweight wine list is an exceptional addition to the SF elites. It’s deep in all the categories that matter—Champagne, Burgundy…the Riesling section is amazing. It has some exquisite trophies (1945 Steinberger Riesling, $680). But what I loved most was the half-bottle list—which is long—and the two pages entitled “Wines $50 and under” with about 30 selections for both red and white.
Can’t wait to eat there, and to do some more investigative drinking.
