{"id":196540,"date":"2026-02-27T14:45:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/196540\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T14:45:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:45:10","slug":"a-bartender-and-a-hidden-cocktail-bar-remaking-the-classics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/196540\/","title":{"rendered":"A bartender \u2014 and a hidden cocktail bar \u2014 remaking the classics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to Swig City<\/a>, where we point you toward don\u2019t-miss cocktails at some of the best bars, restaurants, and clubs in the city. Cheers!<\/p>\n

The outspoken bar director Tabatha Mohn believes modern cocktail culture has lost its way. Technique and hospitality have been sacrificed on the altar of Instagram. Her recipes, in contrast, aren\u2019t meant to intimidate, nor were they constructed with social media in mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Take the amaretto sour \u2014 that sickly sweet, low-octane, and typically eggy hallmark of 1980s tackiness that is about as unfashionable as a cocktail can be. Mohn\u2019s version, available at the stylish, semi-secret lounge Left Door (opens in new tab)<\/a>, located one floor above Union Street\u2019s Bus Stop Saloon (opens in new tab)<\/a>, is anchored by the standard Italian almond liqueur. But the egg white, simple syrup, and lemon juice \u2014 or worse, premade sour mix \u2014 have been thrown out. In their place are decidedly contemporary ingredients: overproof rye, Campari, winter citrus, and VersaWhip, a soy-based protein powder that lends a foamy texture.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want the proteins to hang onto each other, like otters holding hands,\u201d says Mohn, who holds a degree in chemistry from the University of Oklahoma and whose r\u00e9sum\u00e9 includes stints at True Laurel and Lazy Bear. By shaking things up with an egg-white alternative, she doesn\u2019t have to worry about offending vegans or the egg-averse. \u201cEgg white is a little stinky, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AThe Red Hook combines coconut-oil-washed bourbon, apple, maraschino, cacao nibs, and punta e mes. | Source: Jason Henry for The Standard\"AA spirit-free drink with mulberry, rooibos, and ginger. | Source: Jason Henry for The Standard<\/p>\n

Shredding the classic amaretto sour recipe is done only in the service of creating a better one. \u201cWe want to make cocktails that everyone\u2019s grandma knows,\u201d she says, adding that by summer, the bar will be serving \u201cthe greatest Midori sour on the face of the Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Left Door, newly under Mohr\u2019s direction after a monthlong renovation, has a list of cocktails, all $20, that are notably approachable, with zhuzhed-up classics that include a daiquiri with salted honey, a sidecar with fermented guava, and a margarita with citrus sherbet. Martini lovers take note: Garnish options include an Original Joe\u2019s-style<\/a> blue-cheese-stuffed olive and a wonderfully weird, absinthe-soaked pickled onion \u2014 more grandpa than grandma, maybe, but well worth trying. A dozen wines by the glass are available, as is an upscale food menu ranging from truffle fries and crudit\u00e9s to prime-rib sliders and caviar service.<\/p>\n

Above all, nothing is sacred. Take the ever-popular Negroni, which she describes as both the \u201ceasiest drink to make\u201d and the one that\u2019s \u201cfucked up\u201d the most. \u201cPeople don\u2019t make it right,\u201d Mohn says. \u201cThey\u2019re not diluted. They\u2019re not at the proper temperature. All you taste is the bitterness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her version contains the requisite gin and sweet vermouth, but also charred citrus and Arbequina olive oil, a nutty Catalonian variety usually used as a finishing oil. And that amaretto sour doesn\u2019t even contain much amaretto. \u201cWith just a whisper, you know it\u2019s in there,\u201d Mohn says.<\/p>\n

\"ALeft Door opened in 2023 but closed on New Year\u2019s Day for a brief refresh. | Source: Jason Henry for The Standard<\/p>\n

Detecting the amaretto is one thing. Locating the bar itself is another matter. In contrast to the raucous Bus Stop, Left Door is essentially unmarked. But for the discreet doorperson stationed on the stoop on weekends, it could pass for a residential unit. Discretion aside, it is not a speakeasy, says Joe Wallace, who owns both establishments. Left Door has windows, and no one clears their throat if you text a friend (as occasionally tech-averse speakeasy staff are known to do).<\/p>\n

Despite opening in late 2023, Left Door was ready for a renovation, Wallace says. So it closed on New Year\u2019s and reopened Feb. 5 with an enlarged back room and more seating, plus Mohr\u2019s refreshed cocktail program. The 125-year-old Bus Stop has gotten a glow-up, too, with a full kitchen and new restrooms. \u201cWe\u2019ve made all the changes we\u2019re going to make for a long time,\u201d Wallace says. Unlike a classic cocktail recipe, \u201cyou don\u2019t want to mess with Bus Stop.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to Swig City, where we point you toward don\u2019t-miss cocktails at some of the best bars, restaurants,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196541,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[8697,15231,101,103,102,104,106,105,8696],"class_list":{"0":"post-196540","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-bars","9":"tag-cow-hollow","10":"tag-san-francisco","11":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","12":"tag-san-francisco-news","13":"tag-sf","14":"tag-sf-headlines","15":"tag-sf-news","16":"tag-swig-city"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}