San Francisco

From car payments to his estranged child's next meal, there aren't many things you can count on a raging alcoholic to voluntarily pony up for. Betting he'll freely pay for his alcohol, Honor Bar.

Honor Bar's a total re-conception of Fifth's 44-seat lounge space: overstuffed club chairs, a long communal table, a chunky wood bar imported from a French chateau and, most audaciously, a billing system based on the honor code. That's right: while master Sommelier Emily Wines (seriously) will suggest a price for her hand-picked, daily-rotating selection of 6 vinos ($8-$15 per glass, $25 per flight), how much you actually drop in the provided lockbox is between you, your conscience, and Crossing Over's John Edward. Kicking off the reds are an '06 rich cherry/raspberry-ish Merry Edwards Pinot, a Vieux Lazaret Châteauneuf-du-Pape (from the Pope's former summer home), and a high-altitude Argentinian Don Miguel "Gascón" Malbec; representing the white team (and the "Anything but Chard" flight) are an '05 Rothschild Bordeaux Blanc, a faintly peppery Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner, and an "Eroica" Riesling from Chateau St. Michelle & Dr. Loosen (because who knows "eroic" like a guy named Dr. Loosen?).

Extending the trust even further, upon the bar'll sit ingredients and instructions for a mix-it-yourself daily champagne cocktail, first up being Sharffenberger brut/orange Armagnac. Come on, Honor Bar, how'm I going to drown out the cries of my neglected children/cars without taking that bottle of Armagnac to the dome?

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