As partner/owner of two bars on different ends of town—The Treasury (200 Bush #101) in the Financial District and White Cap (3608 Taraval St.) in the Outer Sunset—and founder of Deep Water Ice, which supplies bars and restaurants with custom clear-cut ice, it’s fair to say Carlos Yturria has a grasp on a broad swath of the local scene.
Yturria is hands-on at all three of his enterprises. At Deep Water, he does everything from wielding the band saw to cut ice in their Dogpatch facility (“no robots,” he says) to making deliveries to customers including ABV and Pacific Cocktail Haven.
The drinks-and-ice man grew up on the Gulf Coast of Texas and moved to San Francisco on Valentine’s Day 1998 with nothing but $200 and a motorcycle. He lived in the Sunset for 17 years but now calls Daly City home with his wife, their two daughters, and Sally, a very intelligent mutt who’s “a big 80 pounds of love.”
We caught up with him at White Cap as he and his staff were finalizing their forthcoming seasonal cocktail menu, including some custom ingredients. “I’m all about in-house things,” he says. “I like making my flavors. I don’t like buying my flavors.” 
Yturria is looking forward to checking out Indigo in the Marina.(Courtesy of @indigoinsf)
What is your go-to neighborhood spot for food or drinks?
Original Joe’s Westlake (11 Glenwood Ave., Daly City). The energy is electric in there. It’s very consistent: you know what you’re going to get. The portions are great. They’re good at what they do—they don’t miss a beat
What restaurant or bar that you haven’t been to yet are you excited to check out?
Fifty Vara (1735 Noriega St.) here in the Sunset seems very NOPA-esque. They’ve got cocktails, it’s a big space, I feel like I can bring my family. Indigo (3321 Steiner St.) in the Marina—I haven’t been to either.
What’s your preferred place for brunch or coffee?
Absinthe (398 Hayes St., Hayes Valley). They’ve got a good thing going there. The burger’s unstoppable, the French onion soup’s amazing.
The Beacon Grand has "a very San Francisco vibe," says Yturria.(Courtesy of Beacon Grand)
What California hotel or resort have you visited more than once or would you love to go back to?
The Sir Francis Drake, which is now the Beacon Grand hotel (450 Powell St., Union Square). A very San Francisco vibe, and it has the Starlite Room. Starlite was also my first job in the city in 1999, with Harry Denton.
What’s your favorite Northern California day trip?
Fairfax. There are three lakes there: Bon Tempe, Alpine, and Lagunitas. There’s fishing, a lot of hiking, you can mountain bike there as well. There are mushrooms for foraging. It’s a good place to get away.
What Bay Area shop do you love to visit and why?
The boys at San Franpsycho (multiple locations, including 1256 9th Ave., Inner Sunset) make my shirts, they make my hats, they make kids clothing, they’ve got everyone covered.
The 'Lovely Martha' will " put you on a fish of a lifetime," says Yturria.(Courtesy of @lovelymarthasportfishing)
What’s your favorite Northern California winery, brewery or distillery and what do you recommend trying from there?
Brucato (275 S Van Ness Ave., Mission). They’ve got a young distiller and have a lot of energy, and I think they’re going to continue getting better and better. Brucato is an amaro, and they’re now starting to age a few things. They have a chartreuse on the way. And they have a restaurant there as well, so you can dine and take a tour. We’re going to add some Brucato to our new menu in a couple of weeks. One of my staff wants to make marshmallows with it.
Wild card! Tell us something you love about the Bay Area.
I hunt and fish, and there’s an abundance of fish and some hunting here in the Bay Area. I love the boat charters and access to that. You can get rockfish, you can get halibut. If you want to do some bonding with your child, get on a boat. There’s the Lovely Martha (272 Jefferson St., Fisherman’s Wharf), which is the one I like. They’ll put you on a fish of a lifetime.
// The Treasury is open Monday through Friday from 12pm to 10pm, 200 Bush St. #101 (FiDi), thetreasurysf.com; White Cap is open Tuesday through Thursday from 3pm to 11pm, Friday from 2:30pm to 12:30am, Saturday from 12:30pm to 12:30am, Sunday from 12:30pm to 11am, and Monday from 4pm to 11pm, 3608 Taraval St. (Outer Sunset), whitecapsf.com; deepwaterice.com
