Bar Brucato brings amaro and upscale dining to Van Ness
The distillery's tasting room and restaurant opened near the I-80 entrance, serving California-made amaro alongside dishes that incorporate the bitter liqueur.
Bar Brucato opened less than a year ago, bringing an unlikely combination of craft amaro distillery and upscale dining to a stretch of the city better known for car dealers and tire shops.
The space sits across from the I-80 entrance, but inside feels more like a plant-filled cafe than an industrial neighborhood hangout. The split-level design separates the tasting room downstairs from the bar and restaurant upstairs, with bottles of the distillery’s award-winning amari on display for purchase.
Amaro, an aged liqueur made with herbs, botanicals, citrus or roots, creates a bittersweet flavor that ranges from mellow to intensely bitter. Brucato uses California ingredients like manzanita and Central Valley apricots to create regional taste profiles. The amari have found their way into bars across San Francisco.
Several dishes incorporate amaro into their preparation. The bitter greens salad arrives as a mix of colors and textures, dressed with zataar and Caesar flavors and topped with buttery toasted breadcrumbs.
The chicken gribenes stand out as baked, not fried, chicken skins that come perfectly seasoned with caraway and crispy fried onion strings, served alongside hot sauce. The octopus confit skewer features tender pieces glazed with Chaparral amaro tomato sauce over butter beans in garlic confit with chermoula.
For the scallop crudo, the kitchen uses Brucato’s Oro y Fierro amaro, infused with kumquat and chilies, to create a gastrique that balances the dish’s avocado slices and strawberry coulis. Serrano chilies add heat to the preparation.
Meat options include lamb meatballs with almond anchovy sauce and grilled harissa-spiced hanger steak served with spring allium salsa verde, peppers and nasturtium petals.
Cocktails showcase the distillery’s products, including a Brucato Mission gin spring almond martini with laurel leaf and orange bitters. Tastings of new releases and standard amari representing California orchards, fields, woodlands and chaparral are available.