Shaken, stirred, dirty…extra dirty…better yet, filthyyy, regardless of how you like it–even if you don’t like it at all–you can’t deny the classic elegance of a martini. But where did this drink come from, and who was the first person to decide to mix together gin, vermouth, and a lemon peel? To get to the bottom of it you’ll have to travel underground to NYC’s subway system.
If you ever found yourself wandering through the Times Sq–42 St subway station, you may have passed a discreet grey door with the word “Knickerbocker” above it at the S Shuttle Track 1. Today the door remains locked, though some 125ish years ago it led to a bar at the Knickerbocker Hotel.
The Knickerbocker Hotel bar was one of the city’s most glamorous spots in the early 1900s, and it’s here that some cocktail historians believe the martini was first invented. Legend has it that bartender Martini de Arrma di Taggia served the drink of equal parts gin and dry vermouth to John D. Rockefeller back in the early 1900s. Of course, other wealthy and famous patrons sipped the cocktail as well, including opera singer Enrico Caruso and F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of the famous 1925 novel The Great Gatsby (which is currently on Broadway).
This isn’t the only theory though, and the exact origin of the martini is unclear. Some say it was invented in the 1860s by bartender Jerry Thomas at the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco, while others say it was invented by a bartender at Richelieu’s Saloon in Martinez, California to compensate a miner who stopped in and complained about the price of a bottle of whisky.
As for us, we’ll choose to believe its origins lie within the Knickerbocker Hotel. And though the Gilded Age and the bar itself are both long gone, the Knickerbocker Hotel still stands in Times Square–with martinis, of course! Visitors that head to the fourth floor will find the Martini Lounge at Charlie Palmer Steak IV, where they can sip on all the martinis they’d like.
Other iconic creations originating in NYC include Eggs Benedict, Cosmopolitans, the Ice Cream Sandwich, the Moscow Mule, Garlic Knots, and the Manhattan, of course! There’s a reason why NYC was named one of the best foodie cities in the world!