Martini cocktails, bars and culture
The "gin wave" that has submerged Spain is difficult to explain (we might devote an article to this soon...), but it has its own benefits. For example, in Barcelona you can find a few bars which are devoted - I mean religiously devoted - to the spirit of our heart. Of all these, the Bobby …
The Pegu Club, named after a British colonial club in Rangoon where a gin-based cocktail called Pegu was invented for the thirsty Brits living there, is rightly considered one of the best cocktail spots in New York. The place is sort of Asian style but not too much, very classy and comfortable, quite at the aperitif …
The Circa Tabac is a resistance spot in NYC. Forget that guilt feeling that you prove every time you light a sigarette in the streets of the big apple, and also the uncomfortable feeling to have to go outside a bar ("Outside a bar? Never!" said someone once) to smoke a sigarette. In this place you-can-smoke. And, there …
Do you feel lost in Budapest, like Chico Burque in his book, and only a martini can save your life? If so, the Boutiq'Bar is the place you are looking for. The bar is intimate but full of life and laughs, classy but modern, local but international, and most of is the place where …
Gubbio is a wonderful small medieval city in the hearth of Italy, full of traditions and strongly linked to its past. It is one of those places where even the most serious Martini traveller would not look for a Martini bar, accepting to go for some other options (the wine in the region is very …
The Seven Jokers is a small bar in the centre of Athens, that seems to come from Alice in Wonderland: old wooden furnitures, colored lights everywhere, and a tree in the very middle of the scene. Go there at seven for an aperitivo, stay longer for more drinks, and if you wish accompany the crew …
The bar scene in Athens is simply amazing, with plenty - I mean plenty - of bars of any kind, from the classic taverna-style to the most modern environments, all crowded with young and less-young happy crowds you can imagine. Among these many options, the Belafonte is one of the best. Located a bit outside the …
If you were the major of Lima, what would you do if you would find, in the middle of the city, a pyramid dated around the 5th Century, from the pre-Inca era? Of course, restore it and open it for tourists. And then? Open a top-class restaurant, with a nice bar aside, so that Martini …
Known as the best gin&tonic cocktail bar in Barcelona, the XIX Bar (also known as the Diecinueve Bar, as the name spells in Latin numbers) is an unmissable spot in the city. The choice of Gins is extraordinary (I counted more than 40!), that can be combined with four different tonics, to be served in …
Finding a good bar and - even more - a good Martini in Manila is a hard job, but somebody has to do it. After a number of attempts, including a bar run only by dwarf (if you do not believe me check this out), I got to the White Moon Bar, placed in the Ocean …
The Martini Hour 