RESTAURANTS & BARS • First Word
The Skinny: Brucato Amaro founders James and Sierra Clark opened Bar Brucato earlier this month in the Mission, featuring their full line of liqueurs and a menu of California-Mediterranean cuisine.
The Vibe: The second-story bar and restaurant tops the brand’s street-facing tasting room. Even if you’re not dining, venture upstairs for a retail space stocked with Brucato bottles, other specialty items, and housewares.
The Food: Overseen by former Merchant Roots chef de cuisine Chip King, the menu is playful but refined, and includes some terrific bar snacks: like “cheese pennies,” nicely spiced crackers with paprika and cayenne; gribenes (fried chicken skins) with fried onions and a bright, tangy house-made habanero hot sauce; and made-to-order pita bread with cacio e pepe butter. On the list of rotating pastas, the current white wine gnocchetti with crispy morels, alliums, and asparagus is seasonally bright and satisfying. There’s also a tender, sliced, harissa-rubbed hanger steak with salsa verde, as well as a sunchoke toast with pecorino, pickled shallots, and sunflower seeds that could be a meal unto itself.
The Drink: The Brucato brand — which I’m told will soon expand with a few more products — currently consists of a trio of amari, dubbed Orchards, Woodlands, and Chaparral, and here, you can sample the full flight. In reductive shorthand, Orchards falls somewhere between an Aperol and a more dark-fruited Italian amaro; Woodlands edges into Fernet territory but with more chocolate than eucalyptus; and Chaparral is akin to a Chartreuse, using an array of local botanicals.
These liqueurs fittingly shine in house cocktails — like the Friend Place, with Chaparral, gin, orgeat, and lime — but work especially well in the bar’s spins on classics, like an Old Pal using Orchards in place of Campari.
The Verdict: A decade into the Aperol spritz craze and a century or so after Fernet Branca became a late-night San Francisco dive bar staple, it’s time that San Francisco had an amaro brand to call their own. Bar Bruncato provides an excellent showcase for the company, but also serves as a brand-agnostic spot for a happy hour cocktail, cozy dinner, or nightcap. –Jay Barmann
→ Bar Brucato (Mission) • 275 S Van Ness Ave • Wed-Sun 4-10p • Reserve.