Welcome to Appetite, a new column on food and drink. A long-time San Francisco resident and writer, I'm passionate about this incomparable city, obsessed with finding and exploring its best spots, deals, events and news. I started with my own service and monthly food/drink/travel newsletter, The Perfect Spot , and will pass along up-to-the minute news.

Openings:

Sumi Sushi reinvents a Castro classic

Sumi Hirose's restaurant, Sumi, was a Castro stalwart for over 20 years, only recently shuttered. But Sumi is back in the same cozy space, reincarnated as Sumi Sushi, a 20-seat sushi joint with a gold and black color scheme. The menu offers playful rolls like "The Spicy Girl," plus sashimi or savory cooked plates like bacon-wrapped scallops, and 20 sakes show up on the drink list to pair with sushi. It feels right that the space should stay with the same person - we all need a little reinvention from time to time.
4243 18th Street
415-626-7864

Cocktail events:

Feb. 18 - Winter Farmers' Market Cocktail Night at the Ferry Plaza

The Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture is hosting an event this Wednesday that gets cocktail fiends like myself all worked up. The all-star bartender line-up: Elixir's H. Joseph Ehrman, Sierra Zimmei of Seasons Bar at the Four Seasons, Jardiniere's Brian MacGregor, Greg Lindgren and Jon Gasparini of Rye and Rosewood, 15 Romolo's Scott Baird, Eric Castro of Bourbon & Branch, Thirsty Bear Brewing Company's Alex Smith, and more. ...

For a $25 admission price (buy tix online), the bartenders will prepare and serve you two full-sized cocktails (a John Collins and an Old Sydneytown Winter Punch) plus 12 samples of seasonally-inspired cocktails while you nosh on bites from restaurant greats like Beretta, Michael Mina, Conduit, Globe and Zuppa. You'll even be eligible to win bartending and farmers' market prizes by casting a vote for your fave drink.

Ferry Plaza Building
San Francisco
415-693-0996
Or contact Christine Farren, 415-291-3276 x 103

Feb. 21 - Hands-on artisanal cocktail class with Scott Beattie at the Ferry Plaza

As if Wednesday night's Ferry Plaza cocktail event wasn't cool enough, Saturday brings author Scott Beattie and distiller Marko Karakasevic for a $25 interactive class on creating three citrus-based drinks (Meyer Beautiful, "Pelo del Perro or "Hair of the Dog" and Bleeding Orange) while learning about small-batch distilling. Beattie, the man behind the masterpiece cocktails at Healdsburg's best restaurant (and, I think, one of the country's best), Cyrus , has also written what has quickly become the industry standard on artisanal cocktails: "Artisanal Cocktails: Drinks Inspired by the Seasons from the Bar at Cyrus" (signed copies if you want 'em at the event). Scott doesn't just throw together a drink, he creates beauty, perfecting the art of the cocktail with cutting edge garnishes, foams and sugar/salt rims (using seasonal fruit and ingredients from the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, of course). Karakasevic brings decades of experience as master distiller (and founder) of Domaine Charbay in Napa, well known for their flavored vodkas but also for whiskey, rum, grappa, ruby port, etc. ... Sounds like an ideal Saturday afternoon to me.
2-4 pm Ferry Plaza Building
(in CUESA's Dacor Teaching Kitchen in the North Arcade)
415-693-0996

Deals:

Feb. 19: Learn about tequila for free: Cortez starts its first Coctail College

Cortez's chic restaurant and bar is the location for a special kind of cocktail class: the free kind!