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Now Try This: Negroni in the Rye from Social Experiment
Name and menu change for Blue Ribbon Rustic Kitchen, and a fine version of the Negroni to boot!
Pretty red Negroni
Everyone should try Social Experiment’s Negroni in the Rye ($10) at least once. Hints of spicy rye whiskey hang out behind a veil of bitter Campari and Nonino, served with a twist of lemon on the rocks. Fabulous drink; everything a cocktail should be. It even manages to taste like a Negroni, despite having a different base spirit.
It’s hard to say whether the rebranding of Blue Ribbon Rustic Kitchen as Social Experiment Bar and Kitchen has made a better restaurant out of the Hillcrest bistro, which must must have been struggling to find a stable foothold. The former business model hybridized Blue Ribbon Pizza with the Craftsman Tavern — Social Experiment’s successful North County sister restaurants — to favorable effect.
Apparently, the people weren’t having it. That just goes to show the differences between North County and Uptown SD proper, and also that Social Experiment’s location is perpetually overshadowed by neighboring eateries.
Either way, the restaurant’s new style is cheaper, and, true to form, more “social.” Every dish falls beneath the catch-all designation of “share,” and a quirky set of “house rules” encourages friendly drinking with ambulance shots (a trick that’s trickled up from seedy dive bars to more reputable establishments), and the cell phone game, whereby everyone at table puts his mobile in a pile, and the first fool to reach for a phone buys a round. Couple that with aggressive happy hour plans (Sunday-Friday 4:30-6:30, Wednesday-Saturday 9:30-Midnight, all day Monday-Tuesday), and it’s clear the place aims to casual itself right up, dispensing with the “spend $100 on dinner for two” model, and embracing something a bit more in line with Hillcrest's established, bar-hopping style. In the end, it takes away Social Experiment’s opportunity to be a destination restaurant, but perhaps that better fits the Blue Ribbon family’s plans.
And don't worry, the pudding is still on the menu.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Now Try This: Negroni in the Rye from Social Experiment
Name and menu change for Blue Ribbon Rustic Kitchen, and a fine version of the Negroni to boot!
Now Try This: Negroni in the Rye from Social Experiment
Name and menu change for Blue Ribbon Rustic Kitchen, and a fine version of the Negroni to boot!
Pretty red Negroni
Everyone should try Social Experiment’s Negroni in the Rye ($10) at least once. Hints of spicy rye whiskey hang out behind a veil of bitter Campari and Nonino, served with a twist of lemon on the rocks. Fabulous drink; everything a cocktail should be. It even manages to taste like a Negroni, despite having a different base spirit.
It’s hard to say whether the rebranding of Blue Ribbon Rustic Kitchen as Social Experiment Bar and Kitchen has made a better restaurant out of the Hillcrest bistro, which must must have been struggling to find a stable foothold. The former business model hybridized Blue Ribbon Pizza with the Craftsman Tavern — Social Experiment’s successful North County sister restaurants — to favorable effect.
Apparently, the people weren’t having it. That just goes to show the differences between North County and Uptown SD proper, and also that Social Experiment’s location is perpetually overshadowed by neighboring eateries.
Either way, the restaurant’s new style is cheaper, and, true to form, more “social.” Every dish falls beneath the catch-all designation of “share,” and a quirky set of “house rules” encourages friendly drinking with ambulance shots (a trick that’s trickled up from seedy dive bars to more reputable establishments), and the cell phone game, whereby everyone at table puts his mobile in a pile, and the first fool to reach for a phone buys a round. Couple that with aggressive happy hour plans (Sunday-Friday 4:30-6:30, Wednesday-Saturday 9:30-Midnight, all day Monday-Tuesday), and it’s clear the place aims to casual itself right up, dispensing with the “spend $100 on dinner for two” model, and embracing something a bit more in line with Hillcrest's established, bar-hopping style. In the end, it takes away Social Experiment’s opportunity to be a destination restaurant, but perhaps that better fits the Blue Ribbon family’s plans.
And don't worry, the pudding is still on the menu.
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