A martini is a martini, and a martini is more than a martini.
No cocktail commands greater cultural status. Blinking on neon signs outside corner bars and perching in the hands of a century’s worth of Hollywood characters, its image lives in our heads. The martini is a badge of power and world-weariness, in real life and fiction, the stuff of American life. In the new millennium’s drinking renaissance, the name and stemware have been co-opted as conduits for restless, relentless reinvention. Who among us guzzles espresso Manhattans with the same fervor?
I’m a martini purist (London dry gin and vermouth, stirred, twist or olives depending on the day’s disposition) but not an ideologue. I’m more interested in a conversation about details — I also favor two dashes of orange bitters, an addition with historical precedent — than I am in an argument about absolutes.
When the thirst for a proper martini arises, the setting matters. Cities like New York and London nurture establishments that emphasize the ritual: carts, tableside stagecraft, solemnity and wit in equal servings. In Los Angeles, though, the finest places for martini drinking tend to center vibes, the seats of glamour that come in many guises: old, new, shiny, noir.
Plenty of my favorite restaurants serve wonderful martinis — Camélia, Greekman’s, Camphor and Si! Mon are four that come to mind — and the pros at serious bars like Thunderbolt and Death & Co. understand that a great martini usually begins with a conversation between customer and bartender. The following 13 places, though, exude martini-ness. The moods they conjure, as much or more than the menus or hospitality, make sipping the clear, searing elixir from a frosty glass feel somehow predetermined.