Alembic

Had dinner Wednesday night at Alembic, the semi-new cocktail and small plates spot on Haight street. Its right near our place, and we've been wanting to go for awhile, but it wasn't until we found ourselves hungry on Haight on a random Wednesday that we made it.

The place is famous for their cocktails. Their bartenders - err mixologists - are touted as some of the best in the city. Their cocktail menu is impressive, with a number of new twists on old drinks and a number of original creations. They also have the "Take Your Chances" option where you specify a type of alcohol and the bartender does the rest. Intriguing.

I started with a Southern Exposure (a spin on the Southside). Gin based, which I'm usually not a fan of, but I ordered mainly because it had a shot of celery juice in it. I really enjoyed the savory twist that the celery added to the sweetness of the gin, sugar, and mint. Yum. Julia ordered a "Still Life With Apples After Cezanne" and a "Vice Grip" (separately). The Apple drink had a distinctly smoky flavor due to the bourbon, maple syrup, and and smoked apple foam. Ok, but I wouldn't order it again. The Vice Grip was interesting in that it combined beer (porter), wine, and coffee liquer. Flavors worked surprisingly well together for a satisfying sweet drink. For my second drink, I decided to throw caution to the wind and Took My Chances. The bartender provided me with a gin based drink, combined with some vermouth, orange bitters, and an orange rind. Very nice, easy to drink, with just enough citrus flavor shining through over the gin.

Alembic also offers small plates and bar bites, but they seem to revel in using off-the-beaten-path ingredients. I was a bit skeptical looking at the menu, but we decided to go all in and try some of the "weird" stuff. We orderd four plates to share:
1) Kobe Beef Tongue Sliders
Delicious, not overly chewy as I feared. Perfect size sliders, well seasoned, served with delicious homemade potato chips.

2) Dungeness Crab Salad
Probably the tamest of the dishes we tried, both in concept and flavor. That said, the flavors came out best when you got a mouthful of the crab, some fennel, and a piece of the citrus that was included on the plate. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough citrus to have some with every bite.

3) Sweetbreads
Both Julia and I felt that this was the best dish of the night. Its only the second time I'd ever had sweetbreads (Thymus gland or Pancreas), but I've actually enjoyed them both times. These were large and VERY flavorful- they had an apple glaze and were served with tiny onions. Delicious.

4) One of the specials of the evening: Jerk Spiced Duck Hearts
They came on a skewer. About six of them. Definitely had a bit of organ texture, but the spice combination was quite nice and the overall flavor was good.

Definitely would like to go back to try some of the other cocktail options as well as the Pork Belly, although probably not for a while as its not super cheap. Surprised myself with how much I liked some of the strange meats we ate. Turns out if you prepare something correctly and season it well, it can taste good no matter what part of the body its from.