San Francisco

Pampas

Pour all your energy into one thing, and other areas'll suffer, a la Golden State's shoddy defense, and the weirdly buff Carrot Top's shoddy comedy. For a Brazilian steakhouse that excels in more than meat, hit Pampas, open tomorrow.

Classed up with a porcelain- tiled zinc bar, metal beehive chandeliers, and patent- mohair couches, this 3-tiered resto delivers the expected awesomeness (all-you-can- eat sword-skewered sirloin/Brazilian sausage/ drumstick/pork butt/etc), but surpasses typically limited churrascaria booze thanks to its secret weapon: Bourbon & Branch's Dominic Vinegas. The goodness starts with cocktails made from the West Coast's fattest stockpile of cachaças (Brazil's national swizzle), e.g.: the Rochina Sazerac (5-yr-aged 'ças w/ absinthe, orange, and bitters), and the pepper-infused, Ypioca Cachaça-powered "Sgt. Pepper's Strawberry Fields", garnished with hearts that are lonely, forever. Dom's also pouring tweaked classics like the BulleitBourbon/TiaMaria/ bitters "Revolver," or the "Ross d'Ecosse" (12yr Dalmore/cava/Mandarine Napolean), the French cousin of Dwayne Wayne.

If wine's your thing, select from a list from Napa, Patagonia, Argentina, Morocco, Bordeaux and, surprisingly, India -- a country that's neglected pretty much everything to concentrate all its efforts on nukes and tech support.

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