Gins from Japan are all the rage at the moment, within the country and abroad. We've lined up a stellar collection of some special gins and are so excited to announce our second Zoom cocktail event, Summer of Japanese Gin, with our great friend Chris Lane,...
In celebration of Yoko's most recent honey harvest, I've come up with a simple recipe for the iconic cocktail, Bee's Knees, but with a Japanese twist of course. So we'll call it Hachee's Knees! In Japanese, hachi means bee – I can't take credit for the clever...
Recently, Japanese gin distillery Ki No Bi released Ki No Tou Old Tom Gin, and Ki No Bi Sei Navy Strength Gin, here in California. This is a momentous occasion not just for Japanese spirits, but for the gin world as well. Ki No Bi is...
Ramen Shop in Rockridge, Oakland is our go-to for cocktails, noodles, and an overall good time. We first met J.J. and Sam, two of the owners, on a trip to Japan in 2011, where J.J. lived for many years apprenticing under a ramen chef. Back in Oakland, J.J.,...
Don't Call This a Saketini is a take on the traditional Martini, using a dry sake instead of vermouth.
Fact: A gin and tonic is the quintessential summer cocktail. My grandmother Margaret knew this and would serve the iconic drink from a gallon handle of Gordon’s gin topping it off with a lime and Schweppes tonic water. She made the switch...
Welcome to a special edition of Kayo's Kitchen: Live from Hopkins Buffet! For those who follow our Instagram, you may have asked yourselves, "Where is the Hopkins Buffet?" Well, it's Yoko's house of course! God forbid she should name her place...
“Champagne for our real friends and real pains for our sham friends.” - A toast from Harry’s Bar in Paris circa 1920 This Valentine’s Day, make sure your pre or post-romantic dinner drink is the classic champagne cocktail. The French 75...
The Blackbeard debuted on the PDT cocktail menu in the Summer of 2008. It's another creation by former PDT bartender Daniel Eun, who now attends law school full time but occasionally manages to squeeze a few shifts every now...
There was a bit of bad weather last week that stole my focus away from the PDT Project, but now that Sandy's been replaced by something more manageable for New Yorkers (a blizzard), I can refocus my attention and...
When creating cocktails, bartenders draw inspiration from a wide array of sources. The most common of those sources are other bartenders and other classic cocktails of the past. Today's cocktail, the Berlioni, draws inspiration from both another bartender and a...
About a century ago, to call something "the bee's knees" meant you considered it to be of top notch quality. It's an apt name for this week's cocktail, a simple combination of gin, honey, and lemon juice that proves sophistication...
The Aviation is one of the last great cocktails created before Prohibition, having been invented just a few years before the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment. It made its first appearance in print in 1916 in Recipes for Mixed Drinks by...
Before Jim Meehan opened PDT, he honed his craft behind the bar at a few different bars and restaurants in New York City. One of those places was Gramercy Tavern, and the Astoria Bianco was among the notable cocktails...
The Archangel cocktail was created in 2006, and is the collaborative effort of bartenders Michael McIlroy and Richard Boccato of Milk & Honey fame. After an enthusiastic discussion about soccer legend Gabriel Batistuta, the two bartenders came up with the...
Albert Mathieu was a French mining engineer, who in 1802 proposed a plan to build a tunnel beneath the English Channel connecting France and England. Since the two countries were not the greatest of pals at the time,...
The 20th Century is a cocktail created in the 20th Century (1937 to be exact) by C.A. Tuck (I don't know what C.A. stands for--Cocktail Aficionado perhaps?). It first appeared in the Cafe Royal Cocktail Book written by William J. Tarling, and is named...
Here is Part Deux in our Tokyo-SF Bartender Salon Series. Meet Monsieur Tomokazu Kai, bartender at Heuga Bar in Gifu, Japan. Mr. Kai won the 2011...
PREFACE Vermouth 101: The Old Hickory +++ Well now that you have an appetite inducing “qualifying round” under the belt, time to move to the first course. When it comes to vermouth cocktails, the next logical step in expanding ones...
Being out of the country for nearly a month has a tendency to adjust a person's perspective of "home." Home has had various meanings and geographical locations in various moments in my life. Conceptually, it means numerous--and sometimes conflicting--things at...
