Thoroughly Modern Martinis
The Cocktail Caution and Cash Cow of Legend is Reinventing Again in the Big Apple

There is a little bit of cocktail wisdom to go by in almost any venue or place that takes its Martinis seriously. In New York City, the Martini is not just a drink –– it’s a business and a passion that plays out daily in bars and lounges such as Stir, the Orchid Lounge, Pravda and perhaps hundreds of others that make the city a virtual oracle of wisdom on this spirited subject.
    Manhattan, remember, is where the Martini may have been invented in the first place by a bartender at the Knickerbocker Club back in the late 19th century. Later on, in the last decade of the 20th century, New York bars and personalities all figured prominently in the morphing of its base spirit from gin to vodka, with the Cosmo craze.
    And New York City bars, lounges, clubs and restaurants still show their special affinity for and understanding of this poetic and classic drink in ways both subtle and sublime. 

Places to Be
    At Dylan Prime, a chic Manhattan steakhouse and lounge, staying on top of the bustling Martini trade is all about the professionalism of a bar staff with more bar chefs than bartenders. The same can be said of Verlaine, where Gary Weingarten — one of three owners of the trendy lower Eastside lounge named in honor of the late French philosopher Paul Verlaine –– says the slightest flavor distinction can determine whether a Martini goes over with the cities’ pampered and highly sophisticated patrons or not.
    Meanwhile, at Absolutely 4th in Greenwich Village, the bar staff is sworn to secrecy regarding the recipes and ingredients that go into the 15 or so house signatures that make the updated beverage menu each September, accounting for warp sales measured in the 150-200 gallons of house-prepared pre-mix that the popular Westside venue goes through each week.
    As partner in charge of the bar and cocktails at Verlaine, Weingarten sums up the market for Martinis, saying, “In New York, it is very competitive. To try and say you have the best Martini –– you better be able to back that up.”

A Rabbit from the Hat
    A thirsty patron still can get a grand original Martini at Flatiron Lounge, a popular watering hole located in the Flatiron District that attracts some of the city’s most sophisticated drinkers with its creative use of super-premium gins such as Plymouth and unusual flavor profiles, from cucumber to lemongrass to elderflower.
    And while the Cosmo is somewhat out of favor at the moment in the metropolis where it originated, New York barkeeps have not forgotten how to mix this Vulcan vodka incantation of the drink either. The house signature vodka Martini at Flatiron combines Stoli Oranj and Littet served in a Cointreau-rinsed glass.
    Yet, Eastside, Westside and virtually all over Manhattan, what is most novel about the Martini now is that by all appearances, it has been reinvented all over again.
    Now, not only might original gin Martini drinkers fail to recognize ‘their’ favorite libation, but neither might the next generation of vodka-fueled Martini lovers know it either. Through the joint collusion of both public and purveyor, the Martini has broadened its reach and scope considerably says Angelica Giovanni, general manager and mixologist at Absolutely 4th, located at 228 West Fourth Street.
    “It is ever changing,” she says. “Whatever you put in a Martini glass, (bartenders) like to call it a Martini,” Giovanni says. “It is very far removed from the original gin Martini.”
    This giant leap in Martini interpretation is corroborated by Weingarten’s own experience at Verlaine.
    “In New York, when people say, ‘I know a great Martini bar’ ... what they are really saying is, ‘I know a place that serves good cocktails.’”
    Not even the long-standing tradition of serving the cocktail in a Martini glass is necessary followed any longer, Weingarten says. “We have vodka, sake, whiskey and rum Martinis that are not served in Martini glasses –– they are served in rocks glasses or highball glasses.”
    Much of Verlaine’s happening reputation on the mighty New York bar and cocktail circuit is owed to the thoroughly modern and always evolving Martinis they create exclusively for their guests, who come out for the mix of music and food as well, served up by partners Michael Gatlin, the resident DJ, and Chef Cliff Williams.

Stellar Sales
    “Sales are good,” Weingarten says. “Most people come here for our Lychee Martinis ($8 and $4 for nightly Happy Hour). We sell hundreds and hundreds every night, and we have to premix them on the busier nights because it is just insane.”
    Never mind asking for the recipe; it’s a closely held secret at Verlaine.
    Other Martini specialties of the house include the Passion Tetla, made with coconut rum, fresh mango puree, fresh lime juice, and a splash of cranberry; the Fleurs de Mar, composed of infused hot-pepper vodka (Verlaine uses Skyy for its vodka infusions) and fresh cucumber; The Bamboo, made with fresh cucumber vodka, Hakusan sake, jasmine tea and a splash of pineapple –– “It smells really good, like birthday cake,” Weingarten says –– and The Verlaine, the house Martini that calls for Moonstone Asian Pear Sake, muddled fresh ginger and a splash of apple juice served in a real Martini glass.

Special Spirits
    In the 23 years she has been hard at it, Giovanni says she has come to swear by Absolut vodka. “They are a god. Their flavors are amazing –– Absolut APeach, Absolut Vanilia and Absolut Peppar –– I have tried many other pepper-flavored vodkas, and they (Absolut flavors) are the best.” This past September, she added Absolut Ruby Red Grapefruit to the list. “I always wanted to do grapefruit, but I could not get the flavor for it.”
    Yet the true secret to the success of her Martinis is a bit more involved. “The backbone of all my Martinis is my cordials. Knowing the cordials out there and finding new brands and companies is what it is all about.”            NCB