Grub StreetSan Francisco

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Martin Cate's tiki temple Smuggler's Cove opens in the former Jade Bar space tonight, complete with a waterfall and giant anchor looming over the front staircase. Cate recruited some of the Bay Area's best bartending talent, including Reza Esmaili (formerly of Conduit) who happens to be President of the U.S. Bartending Guild. With only seven seats at the upstairs bar and a couple of dozen scattered in the downstairs lounge, it's bound to be crowded for the next month or so, but there's no better time to say "Mele Kalikimaka" than while sipping a Three Dots and a Dash and listening to a little Martin Denny.

Cate jokingly referred to the place as "the most complex and dorky bar you could ever drink at." For true cocktail dorks -- of which SF has many -- Cate has devised a Rumbustion Society, not unlike the Tequila Academy at Tommy's Mexican Restaurant. Initiates are given a punch card, and an assignment to sample an ounce each of ten different rums. Upon completing this initiation, one becomes a Disciple of the Cove, then a Guardian of the Cove, at each level gaining access to rarer and more aged rums kept safe in a vault from civilian drinkers. Check out the cocktail list here and the rum list here, and swing by after 5 p.m. for a tumbler or a Scropion Bowl.

Smuggler's Cove, 650 Gough St., nr. McAllister, San Francisco 415-869-1900

Earlier: First Look at Smuggler's Cove: Tiki Bonanza! [Grub Street SF]