The CUESA cocktail event last night at the Ferry Building was a really terrific time. The “farmer’s market inspired cocktails” were actually perfect given the very unusual warmth and pleasantness for a mid-May in San Francisco. In a way, the organizers of this event were a little crazy—it was far more likely to be overcast or raining or cloudy or, you know, San Franciscesque—to have this event planned for the outdoors in the evening time. But the sun was out and it was warm, and many of the drinks featured seasonal fruits (strawberries, blackberries, rhubarb) and herbs (thyme, tarragon, the first basil!), which all lent themselves nicely to light, refreshing, fruit-forward cocktails.

I thought all of the cocktails were pretty good, with only one notable, and not-to-be-named, stinker (think college, vodka stink). But if I just had to choose a favorite, I’ll choose two. Josey Packard’s (Alembic, mise en place pictured above) “Morangoes e Cata”, an amazing concoction of cachaca, lemon juice, simple syrup, and drops of absinthe topped with a buckwheat honey whipped cream. The surprise of the experience was that just a little buckwheat was really present in the finished product—marvelous. But it’s not really a surprise that the drink was great. I’ve raved about Alembic on these vaunted pages before, and I’m always happy when Josey makes our drinks.

My other favorite, though it was not, decidedly, Alli’s favorite, was “The Jubilee Train,” created by Steven Liles of Boulevard. Heck, great cocktails at Boulevard? I had no idea (but, then again, why would I have an idea? My bank has a sensor that delivers a small electric shock to the back of my neck every time I entertain the notion of going to Boulevard). The Train consisted of Barsol Pisco, Luxardo Maraschino, lemon juice, fresh pressed cherry juice, dashes of orange bitters, and allspice dram. Ooh, allspice dram. My new favorite thing. Christmas in a bottle. I’m definitely investing in a bottle of this before the holidays. With bourbon or brandy as a base, this is going to be like a fireplace in a glass (these similes are lame. I’m sorry). But it did work in a summer drink, with the sweetness of the cherry, the puckeriness of the lemons, and finally the back-of-the-throat spiciness of the dram. Wow. It was good.

The next best part of the whole event, besides the luscious cocktails and awesome cocktail snacks (fava bean bruschetta, truffle grilled cheese, chilled potato and green garlic soup), was that each station offered a copy of the recipe for the drink. Did I mention that the bank also buzzes me when I compile a list of all the fancy liqueurs I’m contemplating buying? ZZZZZZ. But I’ll include one here—they won’t mind, this one was in the SF Chronicle as well. This drink, the Soiree, was the official drink of SF Cocktail Week, and one of two that the $15 entry fee entitled you to a full glass of.

The Soiree

1 ½ ounce Partida Blanco

¾ ounce Green Chartreuse

½ ounce St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur

½ ounce lemon juice

2 dashes Cinnamon Chile Tincture

Mint Leaf, for garnish

Combine first 5 ingredients in an ice filled mixing glass, and shake for 10 to 15 seconds or until well chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, and garnish with the mint leaf.

The Scene At Boccalone

Even before eating at Incanto, I admired chef Chris Cosentino’s website and blog for his its demonstration of passion for meat, which includes the respectful raising, treatment, and slaughter of animals and using as much of them as possible. Eating there is really terrific. The menu, consisting of “rustic Italian cooking”, does highlight offal and “unusual” cuts of meat, but is truly diverse and can accommodate any diet. We’ve only been once, and we had a long and tremendous meal that included a flight of Toscana wines, stuffed peppers (it was late summer), a pig trotter cake, sublime chicken liver ravioli with aged balsamic, and a roasted goat leg with, if I remember, a sort of salsa verde, and finally a bay leaf panna cotta (which was also delicious, and testament to the range of Incanto’s staff).

So with this experience in mind, I’ve wanted to join the Salumi Society at Boccalone for months, the salumi company founded by Cosentino and Mark Pastore, the owners of Incanto. I mean, “tasty salted pig parts.” Uh huh. I don’t know what took me so long! But finally I signed up, and Saturday hopped the bus up to Noe Valley to pick up my first box.

While in the neighborhood, I visited the N.V. Farmer’s Market for some greens. The Market is kind of, what do you expect in Noe Valley?, cute, I guess. More strollers than vendors. I will confess that I was a little over-served of Franziskaner and bourbon the night before, and it was freaking hot on Saturday, and I was grouchy about the strollers and the dogs. I had to remind myself, though, that I was the visitor and should smile. So I smiled.

When I finally made it to Incanto, everything got better. First of all, as pictured below, the first thing you encounter is a table full of meat! That brightens anyone-not-vegetarian’s day. Three meats were out for sample, Ciccioli, or braised scraps of lean pork meat and skin, seasoned with garlic and rosemary; a delicious salami of “three peppers”, and prosciutto cotto, a treat I have a hard time passing up in any context. Terry, the staff on hand, gave me my box and went through it with me, describing all of the products and the best ways to use them. He was really affable, and maybe it was the weather but everybody seemed really happy to be in a room surrounded by tasty salted pig parts at 10:00 a.m. on a Saturday.

There weren’t a lot of people there so early, but I imagine it becomes a little bit of a scene on “salumi Saturdays”. I really recommend checking it out! The box, by the way, came with a fennel-brown sugar salami (amazing), coppa di testa (head cheese, my first ever, so still waiting for sandwich time), capocollo (cured meat from the pig’s neck), and Italian sausages, which I roasted last night and served with cassoulet-style cannellini beans and Happy Boy farms rainbow chard, purchased from the Noe Valley Farmer’s market while dodging three strollers and a pack of dogs.