Martini History

Jimmy Carter. During the 1976 presidential election campaign he railed against the "$50 martini lunch", which he saw as a wasteful, tax-deductible vice that could only be enjoyed by rich businessmen. His opponent, Gerald Ford, displaying a wryness that would be unthinkable in a Republican presidential candidate today, replied that the three-martini lunch was, in fact, "the epitome of American efficiency. Where else can you get an earful, a bellyful and a snootful at the same time?"

Martini is making a comeback in Manhattan

Martinis don't come much more classic than Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle Hotel on the Upper East Side. One bartender, an Irishman by the name of Tommy Rowles, has been mixing drinks here for 51 years and once poured a bourbon on the rocks for President Truman. At $17 (£10), the Bemelmans martini isn't cheap, but it's still, unexpectedly, a bargain. After he mixes your cocktail, the bartender fills your glass and then pours the remainder of the drink into a small flask which is packed into a cup of ice to keep it frosty. It is, in effect, two drinks in one, and comes with big bowls of nuts, crisps and small goldfish-shaped biscuits to nibble on.

The King Cole Bar at the St Regis Hotel, located just off the smartest stretch of Fifth Avenue shopping, is another venerable cocktail venue. Famous for its huge oil painting by the American artist Maxfield Parrish, which shows the merry old soul enjoying a laugh, the bar is quite small and fills up quickly with well-heeled visitors and locals who appreciate a well-mixed drink.