Martini cocktails, martini bars and martini culture
After having become one the food capitals of the world (believe me, Peruvian food is worth the travel), Lima is also turning into one of the cocktail spots of Latin America, with several bars in the well-known charts and a growing cocktail movement attentive to local approaches and products. Still, even if top-level cocktail bars …
Cuzco, the former capital of the Inka empire and one of the food capitals of Peru, it is not the best Martini spot of the country, meaning that it took me a few attempts to identify a proper Martini bar (I will not mention the deceiving cocktail bars I visited but the very good restaurant …
Tom Waits loves beautiful melodies telling terrible things… and bars full of stories. Raymond Chandler considered bars as places dark enough to feel safe, bright enough to see trouble coming. For Anthony Bourdain, a good bar is a living room for the city. And we could go on... Even if you do not believe (as …
Dorothy Parker, poet, writer, satirist, and undisputed queen of the Algonquin Round Table was as famous for her razor-sharp tongue as she was for her love of good drinks. So much that a full book has been dedicated to her love for cocktails, called Under the table: a Doroty Parker cocktail guide. In the 1920s, …
Truman Capote, the author of Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood, was a man of exquisite, sometimes exaggerated tastes, and when it came to his drink of choice, nothing could beat a a perfectly chilled Martini. For Capote, the Martini wasn't just a drink for times of relax, but also a companion during long …
Liz Taylor is not typically appearing among the "famous Martini drinkers" (a crew dominated by men I have to say), but some research shows that she used to order a Martini as soon as she arrived on set. What Martini would that be, for a lady who was synonymous with glamour, elegance and romance? It …
Apart from having been a majestic writer capable of creating history-based incredible worlds and unforgettable characters (if you have not ready his books do that and you will agree with me), Umberto Eco was admittedly a Martini lover. As one can expect from the character, he did not just drink Martinis: he analyzed them and …
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 …
The Martini Hour 