The martini is experiencing something of a renaissance. This old standard is appearing front and centre on menus across London, reworked to showcase new flavours and techniques. Within the simple framework of clear spirit, vermouth, an optional dash of bitters and an olive or twist, bartenders are finding infinite room for creativity.
Not only is this a refreshing antidote to the tiresome orthodoxy that has historically dogged the martini – ‘Just wave the gin in the direction of France!’ – it’s further proof that London is the global capital of the cocktail. The martini may not have been invented here, but our bartenders are certainly showing the world what this old classic can do. It’s not for nothing that New Yorkers are falling over themselves to get a taste of the capital’s strongest martini.
There are plenty of places in town where you can sink a perfectly executed version. But the quality of those stirred up at the American Bar or Artesian is well documented and doesn’t need repeating. Instead, the venues featured here are those serving excellent martinis – but not as we know them.
Kissy Suzuki – Dukes, St James’s
Ask ten serious martini-ists where they go to celebrate and at least nine will say Dukes. The bar was a favourite of Ian Fleming, who acquired a passion for the drink there that he would pass on to James Bond. Alessandro Palazzi – the main man at Dukes for more than 15 years – is famed for his house serve which is neither shaken nor stirred, but assembled tableside using bottles straight from the freezer.
This enormous, glacial glass of gin with a dash of vermouth and a spritz of Amalfi lemon is a must order. But it would be a shame to overlook the rest of the menu, which is packed with twists on the classic formula wrapped in clever allusions to the Bond mythos. One of the real standouts is the Kissy Suzuki, made with Japanese Ki No Bi dry gin, rye vodka and a little Clementi China Antico Elixir. The bittersweet cocktail comes garnished with a cherry marinated in kirsch and a mist of yuzu distillate.
The green tea character of the gin, the yuzu, the cherry and the intense botanical bitter reads like a difficult balancing act, but it’s carried out here perfectly. An absolutely unmissable drink.
Meadtini – Funkidory, Peckham
South-East London’s favourite cocktail spot serves a martini remixed with mead in place of the traditional dry vermouth. This collaboration with local meadery Gosnells of London is brewed with Ethiopian koserat leaf – a novel botanical that’s herbal and aromatic with black tea-like tannins. Combined with vodka and a dash of orange bitters, it’s a little softer and more approachable than the bone-dry austerity insisted on by martini fundamentalists, but it’s still packed with character.
The mead itself is dry but floral, with a creamy texture that’s let down nicely by the freezing-cold vodka. This is seriously clever work from founders Sergio Leanza and Anna Fairhead, made all the easier to drink by the charming surroundings and the funk and disco soundtrack. It’s also one of the many new-wave martinis that makes good use of vodka for its textural qualities and ability to carry other flavours.
One Sip Martini – Tayēr + Elementary, Old Street
This fun-sized serving is an ingenious way of giving you something classic to sip on (or shoot) while you give Monica Berg and Alex Kratena’s smartly composed menu a proper read. What you’re dealing with here is a gluggable composition of house vodka, Martini Ambrato and fino sherry, with a blue cheese-stuffed olive to top the whole thing off.
The cheesy olive might sound a bit rogue, but it’s a common sight in cocktail lounges and steakhouses in the US. If improperly handled, this little umami bomb can leave your drink murky and slicked with oil – but this bar didn’t earn its reputation as one of the best in town by handling things improperly. Instead, what you get here is the perfect chaser for a cold shot of martini goodness. Inspired.
Mooli – Soma, Soho
You’d easily walk past this underground cocktail bar on Soho’s southern edge. There’s no sign and no branding, just a doorman whose job it is to see you looking lost and ask if you’re looking for the secret speakeasy. The moodily dressed basement features a long bar with wraparound seating that puts you right in the action with the bartenders. You’ll have a perfect view as they turn out elegant drinks infused with flavours magpied from across South Asia.
The off-menu reworking of the Gibson – one of the great canonical martini variants – is well worth ordering. While this lesser-spotted martini usually comprises gin, dry vermouth and a pickled onion, here we see it made with Haku vodka, curry leaf infused vermouth and a disc of pickled mooli. The acetic twang from the pickled radish makes this a great aperitif but the real star here is the vermouth, which carries the complex, citrussy character of fresh curry leaves perfectly. Very clever stuff from the people behind Kricket.
Olsen Dry Martini – Roof Garden at Pantechnicon, Belgravia
Another Gibson-y number, this one comes from London’s gleaming temple to Nordic/Japanese dining, Pantechnicon. Head mixologist Gento Torigata infuses akvavit – a caraway scented spirit traditional to the Nordics – with kombu seaweed and stirs it down with dry gin from Kyrö Distillery in Finland. The whole thing is garnished with a small slice of fermented rhubarb, supplying complex acidity that makes the marine umami of the kombu really pop.
This is a superb example of how creative thinking can breathe new life into tried-and-true ingredients. Torgiata-san litters his menu with house-made cordials, ferments and infusions, all carefully made and thoughtfully deployed. A couple of the house martinis and a dozen or so oysters on the roof of Pantechnicon might just be one of the best food and drink pairings in London at the moment. Not to be missed.
(Im)perfect Martini – Lyaness, South Bank
The textbook Perfect Martini is made with gin and equal parts sweet and dry vermouth, producing a drink that’s richer and softer around the edges. With the (Im)perfect Martini, Mr Lyan and co. have done what they do best and taken that simple idea in a previously unimaginable direction. The aromatic hit you’d expect to come from the gin and vermouth is supplied here by Fierfield Birch – a botanically enhanced Irish whiskey from boutique bonder J.J. Corry – and a dose of proprietary malt and grass amazake. These exotic ingredients combine with slightly fruity Discarded Grape Skin Vodka to make a hazy martini that vibrates with flavour.
Amazake, as you’ll encounter it in its native Japan, is a wholesome low-alcohol ferment made from rice. The version cooked up at Lyaness brings a slightly sweet, peanutty profile to the drinks in which it features, as well as a lactic tang. We’re a long way from freezing gin and a shake of the dry vermouth bottle at this point, and yet all the elements are still there: cold, clear spirit pepped up by some tasty botanicals and scaffolded with a little acidity and a slightly savoury note. Typically brilliant stuff from the team that just took home the World’s Best Bar trophy from the Spirited Awards at Tales of the Cocktail Foundation in New Orleans.
Tomato Martini – The Aubrey, Knightsbridge
One of the tastiest martinis in the city right now isn’t something you can just drop by and pick up. To bag one, you’ll have to book one of six seats at London’s first cocktail omakase bar and hope for the best. Omakase translates as ‘I’ll leave it up to you’ – meaning the customer lets the chef select and serve whatever they wish. At mercilessly lux West London restaurant The Aubrey, bar director Pietro Rizzo serves a boozy tasting menu that varies based on his creative whims, the available ingredients and the inclinations of his guests. If you’re lucky on the evening you visit, you’ll get to try the Tomato Martini.
It’s a smart mix of sweet potato shochu, sake and a bizarre-sounding but delicious tomato liqueur. While we may once again sound pretty far off-piste for a martini, the whole thing makes sense when you start to break it down. The shochu – a traditional Japanese spirit – has a creaminess and cleanness that is a solid stand-in for good Polish vodka. The sake, with its fruitiness and delicate florals, approximates the botanical freshness of dry vermouth. And the liqueur – which tastes like falling in love with a beautiful tomato farmer – adds fruitiness and umami that will be familiar to anyone who likes an olive in their ’tini.
A truly great riff on a classic cocktail makes all of the constituent parts seem at once new and familiar, encouraging you to discover the drink you love all over again. This is one of those. Cheers.
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