I hesitated writing this post because Adesso is one of those places you don't necessarily want everyone to know about. I like it so much just the way it is: you can generally still find a seat, the bartenders still have a little time to chat, and the service is fantastic. But it's so good, in fact, that I can't help sharing, writing, raving.

Although the design and approach are quite different, Adesso is owned by the same folks who own adjacent beloved Italian restaurant, Dopo. Here, however, you'll find a more casual atmosphere with a real focus on salumi, pates, antipasti, piadinis, and expertly-crafted cocktails with housemade bitters and infused liquors. It's is a place to come mid-day for one of their few sandwiches--to sit and wile away an afternoon. A place where regulars are greeted and the pace slows, even on busy Piedmont Avenue in Oakland.

Adesso is also a place to come between the hours of 5 p.m.-6 p.m. or 11:00 p.m to 12:00 a.m. for their "Apertivo Hour." I've fallen in love with these times of the day. Truly. Reason #1: strong, smart, thoughtful cocktails. This goes a long way with me. My friend Danielle and I sat at the bar and had a chance to talk at great length with bartender Hanjiro Ambrose about the cocktail menu and the drinks he's created. I learned all about amaro and potato-based gins.

Drinks at Adesso

Danielle ordered the Provencale with lavender-infused gin, vermouth and cointreau. It was light and floral but not at all too syrupy or sweet. After telling Hanjiro I was into Bourbon and had lately really fallen for Aperol, he made me a cocktail with bourbon, Aperol, apricot liquor and bitters. It was incredible. He loves chatting with customers about what they like to drink or what they're curious about, and he'll custom-tailor cocktails just for you. For my second drink of the evening, I tried the Amari Cola on the regular menu which Hanjiro had concocted after hearing the story of the Coca Cola recipe on This American Life. He was inspired to put together a cocktail with a similar flavor profile and he's succeeded wildly with this blend of rye, cynar and ramazzotti amaro, grenadine, lemon, soda and a little mint. It's refreshing as a summer morning; go there. Try it.

Unlike most bars and restaurants, the cocktails and drinks aren't discounted during Apertivo Hour. However, the staff brings you small plates of foccaccia, salumi, salads, and pate to try. And this, my friends, is Reason #2 to fall hard for Adesso: free, incredible food. Danielle and I had the chance to sample the olive focaccia and the Ciccici pate which, as one of the bartenders said, is good they've all coined it "meat butter." It's made of pork shoulder which is reduced way down until it really is the consistency of butter. I actually don't generally love pates, but this was an exception.

Ciccioli at Adesso

Next our waiter brought out the squid and fennel salad: a fresh, summery dish-- the perfect balance to some of the saltier salumi. And of course, the piadina. This might have been my favorite, actually. The piadina is essentially a grilled flatbread and is quite popular as a casual on-the-go snack in Italy. The folks at Adesso roll the flatbread into more of a sandwich: ours had sausage and chiles and was just what we needed after a few strong cocktails.

Squid and Fennel Salad and Piadina during Apertivo Hour at Adesso

After having my half of the piadina, I realized the genius in bringing you out bites to try: you're going to want to order more. Sure, if you weren't starving, you could absolutely make a small meal of the spread, but we ended up ordering a Salumi Plate with our second cocktail that consisted of a billowy burrata, pate, and three different kinds of salumi with sliced bread.

By the time we looked up from our lovely plates and empty cocktail glasses, Adesso had filled up with just a few open seats remaining. The place was filled with a great, vibrant, laid-back energy with couples and friends meeting to catch up and to revel in the playful air of early-summer possibility. For me, much of that possibility lies in many more Apertivo Hours at Adesso. I'll see you there.

Adesso
4395 Piedmont Ave
(at the corner of Pleasant Valley Road)
Oakland, CA 94611
(510) 601-0305
Dining Hours: Mon-Wed. 5:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.; Thu-Sat. 5:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m.
Happy Hour: Mon-Wed. 5-6pm and 10:30-11:30pm; Thur-Sat. 5-6pm and 11-12pm

I went, I drank, I conquered.

Although the reservation and password hoop-jumping smacks of exclusivity and a certain snobbishness, when you see the neighborhood you see why it might be practical. Right on the corner of O'Farrell and Jones, Bourbon & Branch is firmly in the Tenderloin. I haven't exactly been taking advantage of restaurants, bars, shops, and cafes that are apparently turning this neighborhood into the Trendyloin, and now I know why. Maybe it's my Twin Cities upbringing, but I don't exactly relish walking down blocks that smell of urine and having local denizens spit at me and growl crazily as I try to look like I know where I'm going. Given that sort of thing, I understand why Bourbon & Branch might not want to have their unmarked door thrown wide to the general public.

Davina and I stood under the Anti-Saloon League sign while I grappled for the buzzer and croaked my password. The door swung open to reveal a smiling face and we were welcomed and ushered to our table. Inside, Bourbon & Branch is dark and darling. Spiky frosted glass chandeliers swing and toss their gentle cotton balls of light against mottled mirrors and the hammered copper ceiling. The cute little wooden booths have cute little wooden tables that are just wide enough to hold your drinks and just narrow enough remind you that this is not a restaurant.

After many trips to Absinthe, I have finally drunk myself to a point where I had effectively sampled all the cocktails that interested me and could leave the rest. Faced with Bourbon & Branch's massive cocktail menu, I was back at square one. I'd light on a cocktail that I was definitely going to order and I'd be all, "Check it out, this one has THYME in it!" and then a few pages and a dozen cocktail descriptions later and I'd totally forget what that original cocktail was because, "Ooh, hang on -- THIS one has pimento dram in it. Wait, what's pimento dram? I'm getting that one. No, but hang on..." and so on and so forth. I'll tell you what, I really could have used those shameless shopping stickies Lucky Magazine is so proud of.

For some reason I was expecting all the cocktails to be upwards of fifteen dollars, but there were far more ten-dollar cocktails than anything else, and since that shruggingly seems to be the average price of cocktails in the Bay Area, I wasn't bothered. The drinks are pure and clean and inventive. After the delightful Prosecco-based amuse bouche cocktail they offered us -- a cocktail amuse bouche? I'm loving this idea! -- I started out with a delicious and refreshing Cracked Thumb (gin, lemon oil, elderflower syrup, mint). Given that I'm a gin girl and elderflower really crushes my ice, it was sort of a safe bet for me. What wasn't a safe bet was my order of an Aperol Spritz. Davina, who likes Campari, encouraged me, who does not like Campari, to give it a whirl. I did and I liked. Maybe it's the gentian and rhubarb, but I found the Aperol to be a kinder, gentler version of its bitter, angry spinster aunt.

My one complaint is that when Davina asked our server if the bartender could concoct something using gin and falernum, the server was clearly rattled. Bartenders do this all the time -- hello? It's pretty much their job description -- so this shouldn't have been a big deal. It's not like Davina asked for something bizarre like hot chocolate, benedictine, and Cynar. I don't blame the bartender, who did pour out something delicious, I just don't think the server should have acted as though it was a weird or inconvenient request.

Some out there are already sneering that B&B "ripped off" Milk and Honey's concept. Well, but see, Milk and Honey is in New York, and I'm in San Francisco and B&B is in San Francisco, so I say rip away! I mean really, isn't the country large enough for several of these speakeasies? I would certainly hope so.