Inside Edition
Drinking in the Old Examiner Printing Room

Newspapers like to hide things.

Sources.

Poorly disguised superhero reporters.

Cocktail consumption lairs housed in old printing rooms...

Presenting Local Edition, the former printing room of The Examiner turned subterranean, 1950s-era cocktail lounge from the Bourbon & Branch and Rickhouse folks, opening Thursday in the Hearst Building.

This is not the kind of bar you walk into randomly on a Wednesday night after work. It takes a little effort. A little elbow grease. A little “I want that perfect sidecar.” It also takes a date who’s into high-end American whiskeys.

First off, there’s the matter of a reservation that you’ll need to clear the doorman and be escorted to the basement. From here, you’ll be greeted with champagne cocktails in a gallery-like shrine to bygone newspaper days. Printing artifacts and century-old papers are everywhere. Soak it all in.

Once seated at your table (topped using leftover marble from Hearst Castle), you can order cocktails like the Remember the Maine, or opt for bottled cocktails like a green tea/rye Artillery Punch for the table. But for cart-driven service, rare selections like George T. Stagg whiskey will come decanted tableside on a silver tray with all the proper accoutrements.

And at some point, you’ll probably want to secure an audience with the city’s only in-house historian who works in a bar.

Tweeting from here somehow feels wrong...