Martini cocktails, martini bars and martini culture
Third and last stop of my NYC bartour was the Bar Snack, in the East Village. The bar attracted my attention since on their website they are described as "a new iteration of the classic neighborhood bar, offering dressed-up classics for dressed-down people". An easy-going bar with top quality cocktails? For me, irresistible. Indeed, this …
The second stop of my recent NYC bar tours was the Katana Kitten, an award winning bar created by famous Japanese bartender Masahiro Urushido, author of The Japanese Art of the Cocktail, a book that I used a lot for my own book (if you read Italian you find my book here). Upon entering the …
The Sip & Guzzle, in bar-paradise West Village, was elected the best North American cocktail bar in 2026, just after two years of life, so it had to be my first stop in a recent NY bars mini-marathon. The bar is the result of a collaboration between NY barstar Steve Schneider (former Employees Only, another …
As expected, 50 different ways and many questions: funny video! https://dai.ly/x6z5s71
Even if it is one of the most known bars in town, both because of its connection with the historic Michelin-starred restaurant Il Cambio and of the quality of its drinks (we'll get there), the Bar Cavour is a miracle of Torinese understatement. No sign on the street, just an ancient door in one of …
Throughout my long and joyful barfly career, when I am in a new city for two nights I try to visit at least two bars, to get an understanding of the local "bar scene". Well, not in Bangalore: the SOKA bar was so good that I just went there two evenings in a row. The …
Big news: my book on the Martini is out! After more than 20 years of Martini blogging, drinking, reading and talking, I have tried to condense all my Martini knowledge in a book, in Italian for now. I did that not in a traditional way by writing a book with Martini recipes, history, legends and …
Continue reading "My book: Lo Zen e l’arte del Cocktail Martini"
Great video that gives an idea of how many different Martinis can be prepared, playing with ingredients, doses and techniques. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIVGM79KvDQ
Let's start from this: the Sips bar was elected best bar of the world in 2023, and scored third both in 2022 and 2024. So, even if rankings such as the World 50 best bars are sometimes disappointing, my expectations were rather high. Now, the Sips is a fantastic bar, both for the concept - …
Barflies will agree that the more a town is filled with self-defined cocktail bars, the more it is difficult to get a proper drink. Following this universal law, getting a good Martini in Malta is nothing but hard. Still, after a few failed attempts on which I will not report, I found THE place in …
The Martini Hour 