The level of the drinks along with the fact that Run for the Roses is open Thursday through Sunday nights underscores a larger point here: This is not a place you just casually drop by.Fall is here, the leaves are putting on a show, and autumn-themed drinks are finally back on the menu! Gone are the light, ice cold bevvys of summer. Or you might switch to a bottle of wine-the selection here is no afterthought. Once you’re confident of their abilities, you might take a deep breath and blow anywhere from $50 to nearly $100 on a single trophy cocktail, such as a Zombie featuring rums from the 1960s and 1970s. (Whew.) That said, the simple answer is to start with one of the seasonal offerings: Maybe you’ll go for a sweet-and-sour sensation like the Good Magic starring vodka, vermouth, and sage-infused melon liqueur, maybe a punch-packer like the Atswhatimtalkingabout, combining two types of Scotch, artichoke amaro, and peppered pineapple puree. They’re also pouring cool ciders and wines and the beer selection is good enough that it's become an unofficial hub for the Great American Beer Festival.Īt Run for the Roses, you’ll be presented with a list of seasonal and large-format cocktails a reserve list of about 12 drinks showcasing rare and vintage spirits a several-page wine list and a deck of cards, each of which is printed with a classic cocktail-52 in all, of course. Try the Piracy on the Platte with rum, Madeira, guava, ginger, and smoked tea syrup or a new-fangled Old Fashioned with French single malt and Creole bitters. In addition to elaborate punches, the bartenders here make nearly 20 specialty cocktails to showcase the bar's inventory of hundreds of different spirits. The aromas of varied cooking mingle with the sounds of live musicians or DJs. The bar itself occupies a tiny old brick-walled house, filled to the rafters with folk art and bric-a-brac-old lanterns, Mardi Gras beads, inexplicable tufts of dried moss. Mathematically, it doesn’t add up, but in RiNo, Finn’s Manor amounts to much more than the sum of its disparate parts. Now also think of it one-third beer bar, one-third cocktail lounge, and one-third food-truck pod. Think of this nonstop party as one-quarter quaint, cozy cantina, three-quarters raucous Caribbean beach shack. Combinations like shiitake-infused gin, rye, rum, coconut, ginger, and curry tincture. About a dozen in all, and keeping with the space motif, they're a bit out there. But seasonal cocktails command the spotlight. Seven or eight craft beers are listed by style rather than brand or region, ensuring that you’re getting what you want, whether or not you know exactly what it is-a pilsner or a lager, a sour or a gose-and there are a few house wines for the spirits-averse too. Retrograde’s intimate size and scope keep the hell-raising hordes at bay. The concept itself precludes session drinking nobody’s here to nurse a lawnmower beer. With room for a few-dozen people, tops, it’s designed to ensure you have a highly personalized experience. The second thing you need to know about Retrograde is that it’s positively kooky, with major outer-spacey vibes. The first thing you need to know about Retrograde is, well, that you need to know about it: Located without signage behind the freezer door of an ice-cream parlor, with a light switch you have to flip to gain entrance, it’s not a place you simply stumble upon. Sunday Vinyl surpasses expectations with a gorgeous assortment of bottles and an equally fabulous, not to mention eclectic, collection of records. Laurent from Carneros with your name on it. In the $50 range, you can discover a Moroccan Syrah for less than $100, there might be a pét-nat of St. Can you break the bank with a four-figure bottle of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti? Sure. Encased in an album sleeve, the wine list is grouped by styles (like “brisk and edgy” whites and “ripe and gushy” reds) and represents just about everywhere but Italy, at prices that run the gamut. It’s unlikely that even a star like Bobby Stuckey of Frasca Food and Wine could have drawn such a varied crowd to an upscale wine bar five years ago, but today it's a different story: Not only the connoisseurs you’d expect but enophiles on a budget music lovers entranced by the playlist of Art Tatum, Fela Kuti, and The Clash playing on the three turntable system and even the occasional pack of bros.
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