Parmesan Foam, Fried Olives and Lemon Oils — The Best New-Age Martinis in Houston Now

Parmesan Foam, Fried Olives and Lemon Oils — The Best New-Age Martinis in Houston Now

The Turner’s Martini is made with butter-washed vodka.

GIN, VERMOUTH AND an olive — you’ve got yourself a martini, right? That used to be the case, but as The New York Times recently chronicled in a piece called The Martini Has Lost Its Mind, all bets are off when it comes to what goes in the classic drink, whether shaken or stirred. Read on for the Houston hotspots who are adding more than just a twist to the classic martini.


Turner's

Turner's

Turner’s takes a three-martini lunch to a whole new level. The Turner’s Martini ($18) is made with butter-washed vodka. The washing process involves letting butter sit in vodka at room temperature before freezing it and skimming the butter off. It’s as rich as Turner’s environment, and topped with blue cheese olives stuffed in house.

March

March

The secret to the martini at Montrose’s March ($24) is the vermouth: It’s crafted seasonally by the talented mixologists that work in the lounge. Sometimes it’s infused with Texas melon, and sometimes it’s an herbal combination of thyme, mint and sage. It’s added to three different gins, plus black lemon bitters, and served with a side of a fried olive.

Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse

Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse (photo by Lindsey Cooper Trevino)

This Wash Ave cocktail bar and pizza joint — which is opening a second location on Montrose near Richmond this fall — doesn’t just serve cheese on its pizza. The Parmesan Espresso Martini ($11) is topped with parmesan foam for a creamy and decadent texture.

Little's Oyster Bar

Little's Oyster Bar

At this seafood-savvy Pappas family hotpsot on Shepherd, grapefruit bitters and chamomile licorice stock join Aviation gin and Dolin Blanc vermouth in the Golden Martini ($18). It’s served on a silver platter with a chilled second serving, because why not?

Julep

Julep (photo by Julie Soefer)

Alba Huerta adds a special wine to the Vesper Martini ($15) at Julep. Gin, vodka and lemon oil are shaken with Cocchi Americano — an aromatized wine created in 1891 and has been produced since according to the original recipe.

PS-21

PS-21 (photo by John D. on Yelp)

Can’t decide? Head over to still-new PS-21 on Richmond, which offers a martini flight for $30. The flight includes a Gibson Botanist martini topped with the traditional pickled onion, a Citadelle martini with a twist and a dirty Tanqueray martini. Cheers!

Food

Daisy Patton's 'Untitled (Five Color Fade Women with Bellflowers)' and Tomiwa Arobieke's 'Comforter III'

HAPPY FALL EQUINOX! It’s the start of a new season of art, music, theater, and plenty of other groovy happenings around the city — including superb new shows up at all six galleries at 4411 Montrose, the grey, brutalist-styled building you may have overlooked in between trips to the MFAH and the CVS on Alabama for your combo seasonal flu shot and new COVID vaccine. (Seriously, folks. Get your shots. You don’t want to miss all the cool stuff coming up this fall.) But as art-lovers will attest, and ART IS BOND gallery owner Janice Bond puts it, “the building has a history,” and history continues to be made this month.

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment

Nicky Sohn and the Isidore String Quartet perform at DACAMERA's opening night this Friday.

IT’S OPEN SEASON for Houston’s fine-arts community. Next up: On Friday, Sept. 29, at the Wortham Center, DACAMERA opens its 36th season with the Houston debut of Isidore String Quartet, one of the hottest young quartets performing and touring today.

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment