The best days have rituals: the smell of the morning paper, the daily turkey sandwich, the afternoon coffee. Rituals keep us on track; they give us some small milestone to keep the day moving; and they let us know when we can shift our brains into the next gear.
The Martini Shot, in the Hollywood lexicon, is the last shot of the day. It’s the shot that gets you to that magic moment — when the frosty glass is beading with condensation, the twist is dropped into the clear, cold-steel of a perfect Martini.
It doesn’t have to be a martini, of course. It can be anything — most days, for me, it’s a Diet Coke — but the important thing is that it’s a drink that you put to your lips at the end of the day. It’s the ritual that tells you to shut off the phone, wipe the day’s stress and struggle off of your feet, take a seat at the bar, and sip.
Here are some great places for your martini shot:
1. Musso & Frank’s, of course – still on Hollywood Boulevard, still serving the same alarming huge menu, but also still serving a real martini. The kind that bites you back a bit at your first swallow.
2. The Harbor Room in Playa del Rey. Blazing sunshine outside, quiet and purposeful drinking nook indoors. Sort of a metaphor for Los Angeles.
3. The bar at the Beverly Wilshire. Yeah, it’s called the Regent or the Four Seasons or something. But to some of us, it will always be called the Beverly Wilshire. And whatever the bar is called in the front, take a seat, sip your way through the generous pour.
4. Upscale and swinging: BOA on Sunset. Or, for that matter, BLT Steak a bit further east. Good, sturdy See-Throughs. Nice looking crowd, too.
5. My local – and walkable from my house, which is crucial if you’re having more than one, or six – the Brig on Abbott Kinney in Venice. Go in the later afternoon/early evening, before it gets crowded and thumping. Sit by the open window and look mysterious. The passers-by will wonder what your story is.
Honorable, Late Great: Chasen’s. Best in town. Hands down. Now a Bristol Farms. Why did we let this happen?
*I mean real Martinis. Gin, a mist of vermouth, a chilly glass. That’s it. If you feel the need to express your personality, do so by selecting either an olive or a twist. That’s more than enough self-expression.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 at 4:10 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
