This past weekend from May 5th to May 8th the team from Denver’s Speakeasy, Williams & Graham took their annual staff retreat and let award-winning San Francisco bar, Trick Dog takeover.
Our first thought was, “I wonder how long the wait will be?” We decided to give it a try anyway Friday evening and walked in ready to prove to the door staff we were a hip, sophisticated group. We began spouting how we knew about the takeover and were familiar with and excited about Trick Dog in hopes of upping our chances of getting past that revolving bookcase. Turns out, we didn’t need to prove our cool, the two ladies at the door explained they were letting everybody in, no wait list, no line, just first come, first served.
We eagerly made our way down the stairs to a dim room filled with others ‘in the know’ and even managed to score a booth! Their menus were large file folders labeled “Top Secret” with tabs along each side stating different conspiracy cases. Each page listed the case, the ingredients, and the “declassified” information about the case, which was mostly blacked out. All were interesting, hand crafted $13 cocktails along with a small menu of starters, entrees, and a few desserts.
We took turns reading the crazy ingredients and conspiracy theories aloud and decided to order the “Biggie and Tupac”, “Crop Circle” and “Grassy Knoll” along with some pretzel bites. We were pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of our waiter, who offered to answer questions, made suggestions, was adequately attentive, and even joked around with us! (Not sure about you, but this was quite a contrast to some of our previous interactions in this Speakeasy.)
The drinks were pleasant and surprising as well. For example, the Crop Circle was composed of Japanese whiskey, barley water, and reishi mushroom syrup. (We’re an experimental group). The Biggie and Tupac was a blend of Reposado tequila, Sherry, vermouth, two teas and honey with one of those fancy balls of ice. The Grassy Knoll was more like Bermuda grass with sticky thorns than a soft winter rye, mixing jerk spice and lime with rum and scotch. All three went down too easy and were not as large as you’d hope for $13, but we figured as much. Looking back, I wish we had tried more but we had enjoyed the hour we spent so much we were satisfied with calling it a night. I can’t remember what type of music they play normally, but Trick Dog was bumpin’ with Oldies, Motown and Disco. We were literally dancing in our seats. . . maybe the drinks were worth their weight after all.
Tiffany Candelaria