Like doing good just as much as enjoying a good stiff drink in the neighborhood? This coming week is for you.
Negroni Week kicks off tomorrow, June 2, and lasts through June 8. It's designed both as a celebration of a favorite classic cocktail and an effort to raise money for charitable causes, and bars across the nation (and world!) will be participating.
If you want to stay in the neighborhood, we've got the intel on which bars in Hayes Valley, the Lower Haight and the Divisadero corridor will be participating and which charities they'll be supporting. (At least $1 from every drink on offer for Negroni Week will go to a bar's charity of choice.)
Without further ado, here's your local drinking itinerary:
Hayes Valley:
- Absinthe, benefitting the SF-Marin Food Bank (398 Hayes)
- Brass Tacks, benefitting the Humane Society (488A Hayes)
- Dobbs Ferry, benefitting Family House (409 Gough)
Divisadero/NoPa:
- La Urbana, benefitting La Cocina (661 Divisadero)
- Barrel Head Brewhouse, benefitting the SF Child Abuse Prevention Center (1785 Fulton)
- Madrone Art Bar, benefitting Root Division Art Space (500 Divisadero)
Lower Haight/Duboce Triangle:
- Blackbird, benefitting the American Diabetes Association (2124 Market)
- Churchill, benefitting Reallocate (198 Church)
- Maven, benefitting SF-Marin Food Bank (598 Haight)
We caught up with the staff at a few local bars to learn more about what they've got planned.
Maven bar manager Kate Bolton says she'll be featuring 3 different cocktails made especially for Negroni Week. Located on the back of the menu where the "B-Side" cocktails normally appear, these will be the "Don Quixote" (St. George Terroir gin, Aperol, Lillet Blanc, pink peppercorn), the "Don Juan" (Smith and Cross rum, Carpano Antica sweet vermouth, Gran Classico bitters, cacao, chipotle pepper) and the "Don Draper" (Four Roses bourbon, Cynar, Punt e Mes vermouth, Swedish Punsch). "We are super excited about the drinks and the week!" she told us.
Over at Blackbird, proprietor Shawn Vergara says he chose the bar's charity because his dad is a diabetic. "The ADA was an obvious choice for me to support," he told us. They'll be pouring a special Blackbird Negroni (209 Gin, Appertivo Cappelletti, Contratto Americano), which will have an unconventional twist:
"We have recently rolled out carbonated cocktails on draught program, and we've been having a lot of fun with our new system. The possibilities are endless. [GM Matt Grippo] decided to add the Blackbird Negroni to the carbonated program. The Negroni will have a nice effervescent twist to it. Some in the industry would say that this is blasphemy. We beg to differ. The bubbles really make the cocktail come to life!"
At Madrone, owner Michael Krouse says that they'll have a House Negroni (209 Gin, Campari, and Carpano Antica) as well as customized version that the customer can create with the help of the bartender. He's also going above and beyond in terms of fundraising, saying that in addition to the $1 donation to his chosen charity per drink sold, he plans to contribute a matching amount himself.
"I chose Root Division because its a local Arts Non -Profit that has been in the Mission for 12 years and now has to move because their lease is up and they can't afford the new rent. We need to do everything we can to keep the arts in San Francisco."
(Find the full list of participating San Francisco bars, go here.)
