Tradition This is a candlelit spot where brunette bartenders in denim collars and suspenders mix cocktails for experienced drinkers. The walls are adorned with vintage posters of Seagram’s 7, Four Roses bourbon and Cutty Sark. Brought to you by the owners of Bourbon and Branch, Rickhouse and Local Edition, Tradition looks back on American bar archetypes — the Irish, the speakeasy, the dive and the tiki. It also spent a spell as Mr. Lew’s before its current iteration. Read More

Staff members at Locanda, part of Valencia Street’s flourishing restaurant corridor since it opened 19 months ago, have just sat down at the bar for their preshift meeting. Managers review different aspects of the site’s interior design since it’s a common source of questions from customers (for example, the cubic-looking tiles are from Heath Ceramics, and you’ve probably eaten off of their plates if you dine in San Francisco regularly; the artist behind the wolf pictures, Meagan Donegan, has a twin, so there is typically a mirror image of the subjects appearing in her work). Read More

Long a favored aperitif in Italy, prosecco has caught on in the U.S. in a pretty big way. This is mostly good, as it gives consumers an inexpensive sparkling wine option. It also has helped to pry more people’s minds and mouths open when it comes to Italian wines in general. Read More

Ever since the convenience store near my house shuttered, I’ve been playing a game with my ladyfriend, Sarah. The rules are simple: Pick a new business venture, and talk about how we’d make it work in the empty storefront. I’m gunning for a whiskey bar, or maybe something with puppies, but Sarah is adamant about her idea: a late-night dessert bar in the style of New York’s ChikaLicious, or Pix in Portland, Ore. She imagined she’d be the first in The City. Read More