June’s Where to Drink Now

June 04, 2012

Photo: Courtesy Judson Copeland

Mobile coffee cart caterers Jenni and Jason Duncan recently sprouted some more permanent roots with the opening of their bricks and mortar café located in the heart of historic downtown Edmond. Aside from offering a rotating assortment of coffees from top roasters coast to coast (brewed on their custom La Marzocco Linea espresso machine) Café Evoke offers a great menu of wine and craft brews and a simple assortment of small eats. 103 S. Broadway Ave., Edmond, Oklahoma; cafeevoke.com

Clover

Cocktail kingpin turned architect Paul Harrington combined his two passions as a partner in Spokane’s newly opened Clover restaurant. Located in a renovated house near Gonzaga University, dining options range from brioche French toast for brunch to dry-aged steaks for dinner, while the cocktail menu highlights Harrington’s (who co-authored the James Beard award-nominated Cocktail: The Drinks Bible for the 21st Century) passion for cocktails with a mix of 30+ drinks that range from classics to contemporary creations from a handful of bartenders around the globe. 913 E. Sharp Ave., Spokane, Washington; 509-487-2937; cloverspokane.com

Photo: Sergio Mottola

Riffle

Ice plays a starring role at Portland, Oregon’s Riffle NW, the newly opened seafood spot that employs a Clinebell ice machine, which freezes crystal-clear 300-pound blocks of ice. This means that bar manager David Shenaut’s prep work involves carving fresh cubes and spears for original cocktails like the Souracher (click here for the recipe), Mayor Rock with mezcal, applejack and bitters, and the gin-, celery- and absinthe-spiked Riffle Collins. 333 NW 13^th Ave., Portland, Oregon; 503-894-8978; rifflenw.com

Photo: Courtesy Region

Region

San Francisco’s cocktail scene just got even better thanks to Region, a Pan/Asian restaurant with a bar helmed by longtime Bay Area bartender Victoria Damato-Moran. Damato Moran designed Region’s cocktail menu to complement the restaurant’s food, a challenge she says she relishes having been raised in San Francisco’s Chinatown. The opening menu features 11 original cocktails, including a Birch Tree Manhattan with rye, sweet vermouth and birch tree syrup as well as a Saigon Sour with gin, ginger liqueur and lemongrass syrup. There are also be four Belgian beers on tap, along with two wines on tap towers with four red wines and four white wines. 139 Steuart St., San Francisco; 415-896-1398; regionsf.com

St. Charles Exchange

From the crew behind Philly’s ever-popular Franklin Mortgage Investment Co. comes this spacious Louisville lounge and restaurant that bolsters the local drinks scene with its selection of domestic wines, American craft beers and cocktails like the Golden Stag with a mix of rums, lime juice and sugar, and its namesake punch with bourbon, rum and bitters. 113 S. 7^th St., Louisville, Kentucky; 502-618-1917; stcharlesexchange.com