Get ready for a party that’s best appreciated while hung over, if not desperately so: the First Annual San Francisco Bloody Mary Festival is coming to Public Works on Sunday, Sept. 28, from 1-4 p.m.
Debates about who makes the best Bloody Mary can take on theological overtones, putting schisms into once-tight brunching circles by pitting the chipotle-salted rim partisans against the beef bouillon crowd. That’s why this festival is convening an expert panel, including Shelley Buchanan, author of The Drunken Tomato: The Definitive Guide to the Best Bloody Marys in Los Angeles; Marissa Stephens, winner of the Brooklyn Bloody Mary Festival; and Brian King, the founder of bloodyamerica.com.
If listening to so-called experts strikes you as unbearably elitist, there is also a People’s Choice category, which is where you, the avid Bloody Mary drinker, come in. Settle that argument once and for all as you sample unlimited tastes from Cliff House, Elixir, St. Mary’s Pub, Maven, Harvey’s, 25 Lusk, and other mixology masters for whom vodka with some V8 and a celery stalk would be like Michael Mina passing a tray of cheese cubes on toothpicks. Tickets are $40, $60 if you want the VIP treatment: the privilege of an early entrance and more schmoozing time with the bartenders.
And make sure to party really hard the night before!
Illustration by Ethan Davis for The Bold Italic