There are martinis, and then there are cold glasses of compromise. Let us dispense with the latter.
A proper martini is made with gin. It is dry. It is bracing enough to make one sit up straight before eventually slouching into a louche lean of sophisticated bliss.
As for vermouth, restraint is the better part of valor. Noël Coward is credited with the definitive recipe: “A perfect Martini should be made by filling a glass with gin, then waving it in the general direction of Italy.” Winston Churchill allegedly preferred an even chillier diplomatic gesture—gin from the freezer accompanied by a mere glance at the vermouth.
Now that the proportions have been settled, what remains is a matter of presentation. The drink should not simply arrive, it should make an entrance. To aid in this endeavor, Healdsburg’s two-Michelin-Key hotel and restaurant, The Madrona, offers its Friday Lunch Martini Cart.
During lunch service each Friday, the roaming bar pulls up table-side and invites diners to design their own cocktail from premium Northern California spirits, and estate-inspired tinctures and garnishes . There are blue cheese-stuffed olives, Madrona-branded citrus twists, and cocktail onions for a Gibson (a sibling of the Martini that swaps the olive for the aforementioned pickled onion) .
Area makers represented on the cart include Humboldt Distillery, Sipsong Spirits, St. George Spirits and Rockwell Vermouth. The result is a neat bit of Wine Country counter-programming: an experience rooted in regional producers that does not require swirling or pretense.
The cart also suits The Madrona’s 19th centurary glamour. Cocktail trolleys first circulated through urban America in the late 1800s, then returned after Prohibition as bartenders started performing a little table-side theatrics to gin up the biz. This latest iteration neatly navigates tables laid with farm-to-table offerings sourced, in part, from the property’s regenerative gardens. All the more reason to settle in for an old school three martini drunch.
The Madrona’s Friday Lunch Martini Cart is offered during Friday lunch service at 1001 Westside Road, Healdsburg. Reservations and details are available at themadronahotel.com.