EGN NEWS DESK
On a cold December night time in Manhattan, I step inside a renovated carriage home within the fashionable however understated Gramercy Park neighborhood and discover myself on the primary ground of Martiny’s.
I’m among the many first wave of the night — all by reservation — to enter this handsomely appointed area of wooden and brick, opened just some years in the past in 2022 by Tokyo native Takuma Watanabe. A employees member ushers me to my seat on the counter, the place I’m supplied an o-shibori (sizzling towel) to heat my palms. The tinkling piano and mournful sax of Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood” together with the redolence of palo santo (Bursera graveolens) vegetation full the atmosphere: directly timeless, polished and relaxed.
For a gap foray into the substantial drink menu, the signature Grand Martiny’s makes for a pure entry level. It’s a concoction of Bombay Sapphire gin, La Cigarrera sherry, Churchill’s port, Hine cognac, St-Germain elderflower liqueur and complete grapes served in a basic martini glass. Cold, candy and clean, the cocktail strikes a superb steadiness with its array of elements and pays homage to the bar’s namesake — French American artist Philip Martiny, the previous proprietor of this carriage home — in addition to Watanabe’s mixology coaching.
