The Valley Club Is San Francisco’s Retro-Futuristic Destination for Serious Cocktail Lovers | Eater SF

"Playful retro‑futurism sets the tone here, where the two rules are simple—“Be cool” and “Dress how you want to be remembered”—an invitation, as owner Mitchell Lagneaux puts it, to get a little wild with your outfit and have fun. Walk up the stairs into an all‑encompassing, 1970s‑esque, post‑modern room that riffs on “What would Stanley Kubrick in 1975 envision 2025 looking like?”: deep reds and browns, mirrors, and halo lights that read as an ultra‑sexy, high‑glamour lounge vibe—liminal, perched between nostalgia and a spaceship at night. The menu feels like a catalog from that alternate universe, using bold imagery to convey drink vibes more than words. Signature cocktails showcase Lagneaux’s playful precision: The Lovemaker reframes a Negroni with white‑chocolate‑raspberry allure—gin fat‑washed with raw cocoa butter, infused with raspberries, then matched with Campari and Cocchi Vermouth di Torino for orange notes—aimed as a “Negroni with training wheels” for those new to bitter. Jalisco Hotline channels a spicy‑cucumber Margarita without making the drink itself hot—cucumber‑infused tequila and mezcal meet St. George Green Chile Vodka for a salsa‑verde profile, brightened with yuzu kosho, house yuzu cordial, and lime; a togarashi‑salt rim lets you dial the heat, with an in‑house green pepper tincture on hand if you want to go hard. Crushed Velvet is a painstakingly reimagined vodka soda: vodka infused overnight with frozen strawberries and fine‑filtered, then force‑carbonated as a complete cocktail; acidity is built with Manzanilla sherry and the natural malic acid in Lillet Rosé, plus a kiss of Aqua Perfecta Basil Eau de Vie, sugar, and citric acid for balance—yielding fine, soft bubbles and a “velvet” fizz that begs a second round before the first is gone. Open 5 p.m. to midnight Monday–Thursday, and 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday." - Dianne de Guzman