As of last night, The Third Rail (628 20th Street near 3rd) is open in Dogpatch. The long awaited bar spinoff from the Range team of bar manager Jeff Lyon and chef Phil West (who are partners in the new venture) features the same seasonally driven cocktails as the restaurant, but here paired only with a simple food menu consisting only of jerky by the ounce.
Lyon's cocktails have always been some of the best in town, and here he had free reign to create a menu that will stay the same, for the most part, for several months at a time. It's divided into four sections: Aperitif, Citrus, Seasonal, and Spiritous. In the first category, you'll find some lower alcohol options, like the 601 (Sutton Cellars vermouth, prosecco, ginger, honey, and lemon); and in the Seasonal category right now you'll find things like the refreshing Harvest Moon (Siete Leguas blanco tequila, asian pear, lime, absinthe). Expect hand-carved ice, housemade tinctures, and all the works, without a lot of pretension.
The bar takes its name from one of the drinks Lyon created as a Drink of the Day several years ago at Range, and which subsequently has been a semi-regular favorite on the menu. "I was trying to think of a name that conveyed danger, kind of like the classic Corpse Reviver," he says. "And then when we found this place, near Third Street, right near the T-line, it all clicked." The drink is a sophisticated spin on a whiskey sour, with bourbon, Lillet blanc, lemon, honey, and orange bitters.
See the full drink menu here, which will be supplemented with weekly specials.
West has been crafting some well spiced and flavorful jerkies, in beef, pork, and vegetarian (mushroom) varieties, and our favorite is probably the Scotch bonnet pepper-spiced Jerk jerky. It's all going to be sold for the very reasonable $2.50/oz.
The design, which is relatively spare but with some mid-century touches, comes via Paxton Gate's Sean Quigley and Todd McCrea, who also designed Central Kitchen and Flour + Water. They took some cues for the bar itself from the Deco embellishments of the Golden Gate Bridge (see below), and they went with a lot of warm grey tones and green, avoiding too much bare wood. See some more photos via Eater.
