Ring In The New: Four New Cocktails at Tony’s Pizza Napoletana
by Joe Bonadio
It’s hardly a secret that San Franciscans love their cocktails. With the exception of New Orleans, we’ve probably got more cocktail shakers per capita than just about any city in America, and North Beach is anything but an exception. As any local will tell you, our winding streets boast some of the most well-known and historic watering holes in America.
So when Tony Gemignani decided to snap up one of our neighborhood’s most scenic corners for his flagship restaurant way back in 2009, he knew one thing from the get-go: the bar had to be up to snuff for the locals. And over the intervening 15 years, the Tony’s bar has more than met that challenge.
From the beginning, Tony has sought out top-tier talent, both for his cocktail program and his wine list. From Robvell Smith to Stephanie Danese and JP Jacques, the list of Tony’s bartenders is long and legendary. Not to mention that longtime Wine Director Jules Gregg has been honored repeatedly by Wine Spectator for her California- and Italian-inflected selection.
Last Spring, Nick Lawlor took over as Bar Manager at Tony’s, and suffice to say he hit the ground running. The young gun has brought some seriously memorable cocktails on board since then, and he has become a fixture behind the Tony’s bar. Nick recently introduced his new line of concoctions, and in what’s starting to become a tradition, we met at Tony’s to taste our way through the new list—and lightly edited, our conversation is below.
Joe Bonadio (JB): Hey Nick. Thanks again for taking the time. Shall we have some cocktails?
Nick Lawlor (NL): Hey Joe. Absolutely, let’s do that. We’re going to start with the Butter Me Up: this one is brown butter-infused Woodford Reserve Whiskey with black walnut bitters and maple syrup. It’s a lateral from an Old Fashioned, and a little more spirit-forward. I imagine the flavors as kind of like a pie, with the brown butter-infused whiskey and walnut bitters giving it sort of a baked, warming feeling.
To make the infused whiskey, I take a stick of butter and just cook it down until it starts to caramelize. I put the melted butter in a bottle of Woodford Reserve, and let it sit overnight. All the fats coagulate at the top, and then I strain it out.
JB: That’s delicious. Spirit forward for sure, and the walnut bitters really sets it off. I approve.
NL: Well, you’re going to love this one. It’s called the Little Lady, and it’s like a Negroni Sour.
JB: Mmm, right up my alley.
NL: Yup yup. This starts with gin from a great local producer, Junipero. So it’s Junipero smoked rosemary gin, grapefruit juice, lime juice, vanilla liqueur, Campari and egg white.
JB: That’s a complicated little cocktail.
NL: Yeah, and the color is just fantastic. It’s supposed to hit those sweet and bitter notes, kind of like a Garibaldi or something like that. It just has way more going on. The vanilla carries a lot of the cocktail, and along with the rosemary helps to keep it in the language of fall flavors, as opposed to something more summery.
JB: Very nice, Nick.
NL: Thank you. You know, for summer cocktails, you’ve got mango, watermelon and all the tropical flavors, and you can kind of get away with anything. But for fall and winter, there’s a much clearer flavor aesthetic.
Right along that line, this next one is called the Sweater Weather. It’s a rum sour with hazelnut whipped cream, which we make by mixing Frangelico into our fresh whipped cream.
A super crushable cocktail, and the color is nice and orange so when it hits the table it definitely raises eyebrows. It’s made with Diplomatico Rum, a Venezuelan rum, really tasty. A little more on the dessert-y side, and we’ve gotten a really good reaction so far–the ladies love it.
JB: (Laughter)
NL: This next one is called the Foggy Days. It’s kind of our take on an espresso martini, and we do it with Ketel One Vodka, cold brew concentrate, coconut and a little splash of agave. The most exciting thing about this cocktail is the cold brew concentrate, which we get from Mr. Nick Floulis at Hole In The Wall Coffee. It’s of incredibly high quality, and just great in cocktails. It stands up to just about everything, which is really nice.
I like serving it in a snifter, because then you can actually see the foam that forms on top, and the gradient with all the different colors. As you can see, it’s garnished with an edible paper maple leaf, and the white and dark amber colors provide a nice contrast. It’s a beautiful cocktail, and the cold brew actually adds a good amount of caffeine to it.
JB: I’m not an espresso martini guy, but I have to say that’s delicious.
NL: Thank you.
JB: Once again, I appreciate you talking with me.
