thrillist

Because a restaurant all about pearing would really only have fresh food in the Fall, check out one all about pairing instead: The Maven, opening Wednesday from a couple of dudes with two sommelier-ships and two seriously stacked resumes (Beretta, Bacar, Saison, Coi, Michael Mina, Gary Danko) between them.

The two-story Lower Haight space is FernGully'd out with 700sqft of living wall, bar-height redwood communals, and sculptural light fixtures made from shaved wood, which'll artfully illuminate a menu formatted to pair every single dish with a cocktail and beer/wine option, so you'll know what to drink with any of 10 mains including Thai tempura-fried calamari and bacon 'n duck sliders, also the name of the unreleased eighth season in which Kevin and Darkwing replaced Jerry O'Connell and that Fat Dude with the Beard.

Enjoy paired booze (or just drink it solo at a redwood bar or fireplace-lit mezzanine lounge) like a Japanese espresso stout, a Pedro Ximenez dessert sherry from Chile, or the Global Warming (a gin/sake/lemon cocktail topped with a floating absinthe sorbet), with all the 'tail ice being chipped off a giant block with a mallet upon your order (like, "drink order"...you can't just order them to start malleting the ice block).

In case you want to go off script, they've got a small, non-paired bites menu too, with tummy-ticklers like fries w/ olive aioli, the Maven Burger (with bitters, caramelized onions, and Muenster), and olives that've been brined in gin making them exceedingly stiff, though not exceedingly crisp, as Fall's basically over.

Add this to My Thrillist

Pair your mouse with this link for even more on Maven