Martini cocktails, martini bars and martini culture
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 …
Nice 2008 interview to Barnaby Conrad III, author of the first large glossy book on the Martini (1995). Quietly disclosing some Martini wisdom... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olz7xamAmNs
Sometimes, when I am in a cocktail-friendly city like Madrid, I like to choose my bar not by looking at rankings and reviews, nor by asking friends and fellow barflies. I just open a (google) map, pick a bar that inspires me, and just try it. I did that with the Harvey's cocktail bar, in …
The Raffles Hotel opened in 1887, named after Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore. Since then, it has been the place for politicians, movie stars and other interesting characters from around the world. In 1915, The Long Bar was established as the "american bar" of the hotel, and came to fame because here the …
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Musso & Frank is the oldest restaurant in Hollywood and is famous, among other things, for having been the first US restaurant to serve the mighty fettuccine Alfredo (a dish with an Italian name totally absent from Italian cuisine) in 1927. Also, the place is famous for its Martinis: in 2008 GQ magazin elected it as the …
One of the best feelings of being a serial barcrawler is when you enter into a bar without any particular expectation and you slowly realise that that bar is a gem. The welcome you get from the bartender, the lights, the music, the athmosphere, the accpmpanying food, and of course the drinks. Even better, when …
This is the first of a series of posts dedicated to the most legendary martini bars on the planet. No surprise I'll start with what is now called "The Hemingway Bar" at the Ritz Hotel in Place Vendome in Paris. Bar Hemingway Photos At The Ritz Hotel To understand why this bar is a legend, …
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Chueca, the hip barrio in Madrid, is full of bars, still it is not that easy to get a really good cocktail or two (we leave to others the debate on how the recent cocktail hype in Spain has not really raised the average quality of drinks in the country). But, some really good bars …
Sometimes bars are in your destiny, as proven from the fact that the Mad Dog opened its doors on the very same day I moved to Torino, on first of November 2014. You might think: with so many bars opening in town lately, where is the big news? Well, the fact is that, in my humble …
If you look for serious cocktails in Amsterdam, Hiding in Plain Sight is where you want to be. Not too far but far enough from the noisy touristic part of the city, this bar is an hidden gem in the city who gave birth to Genever, the ancestor of gin (well gin was not really created …
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The Martini Hour 