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There are few things in life more satisfying than a dirty gin martini, shaken with a lot of ice and poured into a chilled glass. I mixed up a couple of libations Sunday night in a moment of nostalgia for nights spent people-watching at the King Cole Bar, Grand Central Oyster Bar or the Algonquin Hotel.
There are a few factors that are key in creating a great martini. Gin is a requirement—I like Beefeater, Nolet’s, Dorothy Parker or a good small batch—and there really should be a ton of ice in the shaker. The proper proportions for a dirty martini, according to The Martini Book by Sally Ann Berk, are six parts gin to two parts dry vermouth to one part olive brine. I find you can go a bit heavier on the brine in the shaker if you like. Speaking of the shaker, use it vigorously to really create a lot of ice crystals in the drink. This is what gives a good martini its almost effervescent quality. Garnish with two or three Spanish cocktail olives. And a final trick, which I learned from reader Dennis Sullivan, is to have a glass of ice on hand. A martini can be a lot to get through before it starts to warm up, and there’s no shame in just slipping another ice cube in to keep in cool.
The drinks proved to be only a prelude for a Sunday dinner to remember: Old Blue Eyes on the stereo, a grilled Porterhouse steak, creamed spinach (a dash of nutmeg makes this sing), homemade dinner rolls, a baked potato, and a bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir to wash it all down.
I’ve found myself in recent days using the phrase “after all, we’re not animals,” to justify everything from buying brie to continuing to iron my shirt. It’s both true and not true. My dog enjoyed the Porterhouse as much as I did last night, so we’re not all that different in many ways. What I mean is more that even during trying times we have the ability to shape our surroundings and our time. Just because you’re at home doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a martini and a steak dinner to die for, although it does mean you’ll have to work a little harder to have it.
Unfortunately, the best meals are those that we share with others. Eating alone is no substitute. I thankfully was able to enjoy my Sunday dinner with someone special, but it got me thinking about those people in the world who are currently in quarantine alone. My suggestion is to seek them out. Maybe share a recipe—you can both cook it and enjoy it together. Make it a date with Zoom. Light a candle. Put on some jazz. Maybe you’ll even find a little romance while you’re at it.
How about letting Benny Benack III put a little swing in your step tonight?
A huge shoutout to Amy Petriello, who designed Highly Transmissible’s new logo and banner!
Amy is an art director, designer and PEZ collector living in Northern New Jersey. She has over 15 years of experience designing content and marketing materials for print and digital. Her website is www.akpetriello.com. You should definitely look her up for any projects you’re working on. She’s a former colleague from my Worth magazine days and is both a creative genius and a consummate professional.
TODAY’S RECOMMENDATION: Moonstruck (1987)
Part of the inspiration for the martinis and steak dinner came from Moonstruck, which has Italian cooking as one of its central themes. Written by John Patrick Shanley and directed by Norman Jewison, Moonstruck follows Loretta Castorini—an Italian-American woman from Brooklyn played with wit and verve by Cher—as she falls in love with a flower shop owner, then falls in love with his one-handed brother, played by Nicholas Cage. The story is melodramatic, operatic, and chock-full of emotion and human foibles.
Indeed, Moonstruck is a true masterpiece. Cher and Olympia Dukakis, who plays Loretta’s mother, both deliver Oscar-winning performances. They both so seamlessly and soulfully inhabit their characters that it’s hard to remember they’re acting at all. And a deep supporting bench truly helps them shine. Likewise, the film’s dialogue is and story are electric, and Shanley won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Moonstruck.
Yet what makes Moonstruck stand out in my mind is the way it captures the feeling of living in New York, a city inhabited by strange people with stranger stories, luxury and sleaze, opera and pigeons. So completely does the film capture the city that you can practically smell it. There is a peculiar and beguiling rhythm in the way Moonstruck shifts its action from the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn to the interiors of apartments, restaurants and the Metropolitan Opera, and it is wonderful to see how each character adjusts his or her behavior to the surroundings in which they find themselves, on display one moment or turning inward and personal in the next.
The moments of peak drama in the film all take place around a table. Two key scenes in a restaurant with white table clothes and cocktails illustrate the precariousness of love. A chance meeting in a hellacious basement bakery shows us the danger of romance. The characters cheat and woo and hold each other accountable over glasses of wine and plates of bolognese. And the final denouement takes place with oatmeal—yes that lowliest of breakfast foods—at the center. I contend it takes true genius to make oatmeal part of a dramatic love story.
Moonstruck is available on-demand via TCM and the TCM App or Amazon Prime Video.
How about dinner and a movie?
Restaurants may be closed, but it doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy a good meal. Starting this Friday, the Weekend Edition of Highly Transmissible will include a film recommendation with a menu pairing from a chef. Know a restauranteur and love their food? Tell me about them! breeves.writer@gmail.com.
Reading List:
In honor of Brooklyn, check-out Jay-Z—Made in America, an intriguing book of commentary by Michael Eric Dyson about one of the borough’s great native sons. Dyson treats Jay’s lyrics like poetry and teases apart his master works to under their place in rap and American history. You can order this anywhere, but I’ve linked to the listing for the Greenlight Bookstore, a wonderful indie outfit in Brooklyn that’s still doing mail order.
The Martini by Barnaby Conrad III is both a history and an ode to the best cocktail the world’s ever known. It’s worth it for the pictures alone.