Inside Petaluma’s new cocktail lounge, Whisper Sisters

These creative cocktails will draw a crowd|

Whisper Sisters Cocktails and Provisions opened in mid-February in the space formerly occupied by The Drawing Board, kitty corner from the Hotel Petaluma. But this was more of a rebirth than a wholly new creation, which helps explain the smooth transition from former restaurant and bar to cocktail lounge.

The brainchild of sister-and-brother duo Danielle and Wendell Peters, Erin Clossey also joined the management team as Danielle’s partner in both business and life. The Peters grew up in Auburn with their two other sisters and are of Korean-American heritage.

Wendell moved to the East Coast to study art therapy and worked throughout the New York City restaurant scene. He moved back to the Bay Area roughly a decade ago, working mostly at Outerlands, a farm-to-table restaurant in San Francisco’s Sunset District.

Danielle moved to the Bay Area to work as a bartender at Trader Vic’s in both San Francisco and Emeryville, where she once served Hillary Clinton. When she started dating someone in Sonoma County, Danielle made the move north, initially helping to open HopMonk in Sebastopol. She later interviewed at both Brewsters Beer Garden and The Drawing Board, was hired at both on the same day, and worked for both for roughly a year until she took over as the bar manager at The Drawing Board.

“I saw the cocktail menu at The Drawing Board prior to their opening and wanted to be part of that project,” she said.

When The Drawing Board went up for sale, Danielle jumped at the opportunity to honor its values while also creating her own concept. This is when Clossey came into the business.

She hails from just south of Indianapolis, but moved to the Bay Area in 2008 in search of a city adventure. She landed an entry-level office job, working her way up in business management. Clossey knew the Peters family for quite a long time, and always had a crush on Danielle. Over time, they fell in love, and are currently engaged.

Having just started a craft cocktail catering business, Wild Craft, the couple was surprised when Rosie Wiggins decided to shutter The Drawing Board. They quickly ran the numbers and, the very next day, ambushed Wendell at a family event with a proposition.

“I first assumed this was a long-term plan, but they said they’d let me sleep on it and would call the next day,” he said. “But how could I say ‘no’ to these two? Of course I was in.”

The Drawing Board was created as a space where the community could gather and enjoy the bounty of our region. The trio behind Whisper Sisters is dedicated to that initial concept, but have transitioned it from restaurant to cocktail lounge.

The name Whisper Sisters harkens back to Prohibition as a term for women who ran speakeasies. “Because this space started with Rosie and her great female bar staff, we wanted to keep the idea of a primarily women-ran business intact,” said Wendell.

The food offers a new twist on The Drawing Board’s original concept.

“We will be more of a small plates, shared items and an extended lounge kind of place,” said Danielle.

Clossey added, “That’s what Petaluma was asking us for.” For the food, Chef Gill Bundy “finds a way to elevate every idea we come up with.”

On two subsequent visits within a week of each other, we sampled a good portion of the food menu, enjoying everything we had, from deviled eggs to Korean-braised beef tacos to the meat-and-cheese platters. A special standout was the sweet potato tacos, made from chickpea-almond-sweet potato fritters, topped with tomatillo salsa, pickled jalapeno, scallion and cotija cheese. Another standout was the pickle plate, which we ordered alongside the chicory and asparagus salad and chilled farro bowl. Plates range from $7 to $18.

Our new go-to dish is the mozzarella, served with Revolution Bread. “Why mess with perfection when it comes to bread?” asked Clossey, playfully.

The mozzarella itself is excellent, but it is the fried herbs, garlic, crushed pistachios and lemon zest drizzled generously over the mozzarella that sets this one apart from any other dish of this kind. When asked how they came up with the recipe, Danielle credits Wendell’s late-night whims, after raiding their fridge one night.

Although food always tops my list of desires, the drinks are the stars at Whisper Sisters. They are clean, inventive and extremely well executed. They range from the classics to brand new creations, many of which feature unusual liquors from far off places. The classics are always available when ordered, however, I suggest sticking to the house cocktail menu ($13 each), which will be regularly updated with new and vibrant options.

Clossey and Wendell speak in awe of Danielle’s abilities behind the bar, and for good reason. Her skills with a shaker can covert non-cocktail fans into trading beer or wine for her well mixed drinks. She puts care into all of the ingredients, even growing some of the herbs and edible flowers herself.

“Her cocktails are so well balanced,” beamed Clossey.

Wendell adds, “She simply has an incredible taste for what works and what doesn’t. And her range is incredible. She can make the best classic Manhattan and the next minute take nearly those same ingredients and create your new favorite drink, right off the top of her head.”

For nearly three decades, I avoided cocktails because I had been overly exposed to bad ones in the past. However, Danielle’s finesse keeps the ones on her menu from tasting too sweet or too boozy.

“Quality ingredients sure do make a difference,” Danielle said.

To that end, Whisper Sisters’ cocktails will change at least quarterly. “If an ingredient is no longer in season, we pull it,” said Danielle.

We started with half a dozen interesting sounding choices, although it was the cocktails’ visual vibrancy that caught our attention as they were whisked from the bar to other patrons. The names were as varied as the ingredients - Winter Sweater, Patagonian Negroni, Dutch Trader, Frothy by Nature, Torch Singer and Texas Malone.

I cannot seem to get enough of the Rotating Clarified Milk Punch, which Whisper Sisters will regularly refresh with a new offering of seasonal ingredients. The first one we tried consisted of Batavia arrack, rum, cognac, citrus, spices and black tea. Magically, it was close to clear, even though I was told it started off nearly black, and was so smooth that I did not taste any alcohol.

Each drink seems to have a story behind it, as we found out with the Cleo and Bill. The drink consists of brandy, pineapple rum, aperol, byrrh, strawberry fennel shrub, lemon and bitters. It is named for a dynamic duo who used to run rum in the Gulf of Mexico. Not to be confused with Cleo Epps, Tulsa’s “Queen of the Bootleggers” who was murdered in 1970, Gertrude “Cleo” Lythgoe is consider the greatest female bootlegger of all times, in part because she was also a legitimate liquor wholesaler. Before buying and running her own boats, the “Real” Bill McCoy was her runner, which is where this drink draws its name.

Whisper Sisters also offers beers from breweries as close as HenHouse and Seismic to Nevada’s Revision Brewery. We tapped into HenHouse’s new black saison during our visit, which had just replaced the normally available Death and Taxes by Moonlight Brewing. We also got to try Sorry Brian, a special edition dry-hopped blond finished in gin barrels with orange peel, from Moonlight.

An interesting find on the wine menu is a rose txakolina straight from the Basque region of Spain. Txakolina is a young, tart wine that has just enough effervescence if poured from a tall height, while remaining still if poured at glass level. (A large part of the theatre in Basque pintxos bars is watching the bartenders attempt to pour txakolina from high above.)

When asked about her favorite liquor, Danielle had to stop and think. “To drink or to mix with?” she asked.

Danielle is a self-proclaimed whiskey girl. So when someone asks for a “girly drink” her response is generally, “Great, here is your glass of whiskey.”

When it comes to mixing, Danielle likes to work with rum. “It must be my tiki roots,” she said of her time at Trader Vic’s.

The clientele at Whisper Sisters defy categorization, we saw everyone from young hipsters to middle-aged business folk to retirees.

Whisper Sisters plans to reopen the Kentucky Street coffee window, in a collaboration with Equator Coffees. This should happen just in time for the Butter and Egg Days Parade. A female-founded company, Equator works to bring distance coffee beans to local outlets while always being mindful of ethical and environmental business practices.

Additionally, Whisper Sisters will offer more live music, special events and happy hour specials. Also expect cocktail classes offered in conjunction with local craft distillers and brewers, as well as giving back to the community through various “pints for a purpose” and “cocktails for a cause” fundraisers.

The special events will kick off with “Wet your Whistle with the Whisper Sisters,” the opening cocktail party of Petaluma Drinks, set for Friday, June 14. If tickets are still available, they can be purchased at petalumadrinks.com.

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