Robert & Mark Kate - First, I am so very honored to be among that incredible list of names; thank you both for having me. I am sorry I did not see this post two weeks ago. On the subject of "having it your way," I have long given up on the notion that even particularly good restaurant bars (where we find ourselves more often than fine craft cocktail bars despite living downtown) will make my very specific 3 to 1 martini the way I make it at home, which is Beefeater (I know you are not a fan of post-covid Beefeater, but I still like its flavor profile more than its other London Dry contemporaries), Dolin or Noilly Prat, and Regan's or Fees. For years I tried to request ratios to no avail, but what I have found is that in better restaurant bars the standard martini is essentially 3-3.5 ounces of gin and .25 to .50 ounces dry vermouth; few servers or bartenders know what "wet" means, but if I really want my home martini in a place like this I'll have to request "wet" and see what happens, which will usually mean 1 ounce of vermouth, but no more, like at the bar at Nick and Toni's when we're out east (that is, by the way, despite the scene and obscene price point, one of the best restaurant bars in the Hamptons). In steakhouses or older school restaurants, 6 ounces of gin, period. In all scenarios, sans bitters. Oddly enough, not getting it the way I want for so many years has caused me to more and more enjoy the latter - all gin - and to just order my gin martini (as long as it's Beefeater, Tangueray, or Bombay - I'll even do "Bombay Blue" as my wife calls it) and see what happens. My favorite place in New York for 5-6 ounces of ice-cold gin is Wollensky Grill (more for the atmosphere, limit to 1 or at most 2 of these monsters). When at real cocktail bars, I tend to go for things I don't normally drink, which means whiskey-based cocktails. That said, I basically love stirred, strong, rich things, and have a very narrow palette. So, at Overstory earlier in the week, I had a few surprisingly very good takes on the De La Louisiane and even an interesting Creole Cocktail with Amaro Meletti to sub the Picon. Anyway, too much - sorry!
Now you have to take me to both those places! Sorry Simonson! 🍸🍸👻
Robert & Mark Kate - First, I am so very honored to be among that incredible list of names; thank you both for having me. I am sorry I did not see this post two weeks ago. On the subject of "having it your way," I have long given up on the notion that even particularly good restaurant bars (where we find ourselves more often than fine craft cocktail bars despite living downtown) will make my very specific 3 to 1 martini the way I make it at home, which is Beefeater (I know you are not a fan of post-covid Beefeater, but I still like its flavor profile more than its other London Dry contemporaries), Dolin or Noilly Prat, and Regan's or Fees. For years I tried to request ratios to no avail, but what I have found is that in better restaurant bars the standard martini is essentially 3-3.5 ounces of gin and .25 to .50 ounces dry vermouth; few servers or bartenders know what "wet" means, but if I really want my home martini in a place like this I'll have to request "wet" and see what happens, which will usually mean 1 ounce of vermouth, but no more, like at the bar at Nick and Toni's when we're out east (that is, by the way, despite the scene and obscene price point, one of the best restaurant bars in the Hamptons). In steakhouses or older school restaurants, 6 ounces of gin, period. In all scenarios, sans bitters. Oddly enough, not getting it the way I want for so many years has caused me to more and more enjoy the latter - all gin - and to just order my gin martini (as long as it's Beefeater, Tangueray, or Bombay - I'll even do "Bombay Blue" as my wife calls it) and see what happens. My favorite place in New York for 5-6 ounces of ice-cold gin is Wollensky Grill (more for the atmosphere, limit to 1 or at most 2 of these monsters). When at real cocktail bars, I tend to go for things I don't normally drink, which means whiskey-based cocktails. That said, I basically love stirred, strong, rich things, and have a very narrow palette. So, at Overstory earlier in the week, I had a few surprisingly very good takes on the De La Louisiane and even an interesting Creole Cocktail with Amaro Meletti to sub the Picon. Anyway, too much - sorry!
I get that a bar has to fit the ratio into the amount they're willing to give you, but I like the 6:1 Martinis I make at home.
I want to know the joints that couldn’t handle a 3:1 Martini, because I want to mock them.
A single serving 15:1 Martini is 2.5 oz dry gin and 1 tsp of dry vermouth. (Not that I particularly recommend it.)
How does one become a Bar Regular? I have a subscription, but maybe I missed something. Thanks.