Originally Posted By RoadTrip After out trip to the movies this evening we went over to a favorite Italian restaurant that is about 1/2 mile from our home. We've always enjoyed the food there... light-years beyond Olive Garden and many other red-sauce places and even considerably better than Buca. I also really like the atmosphere of the place. It reminds you of a vintage supper club. There is a combination of linen covered tables and leather surfaced booths. The service is very professional... the wait staff is always there when you want them and never there when you don't. The music played is classic supper club. Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, etc. Of course in an atmosphere like that you have to order a vintage drink. No wussy Apple-tini's this time... I ordered a "Classic Martini". Bombay Sapphire Gin, a whisper of Vermouth and a couple of olives. Let me tell you ladies and gentlemen... this is booze at its finest. If you don't want to drink it you can always bring it home and use it to strip paint. This is high test stuff... the stuff Dean Martin drank. We had a great meal... and then followed it up with an after dinner drink. My wife had ordered a second Riesling and I ordered a second Martini. I had just started sipping the second Martini when they brought the check. I stuck my American Express in the leatherette folder and went to set it at the edge of the table. Sadly, on the way it caught the edge of my martini glass and dumped it over. OK. I'm embarrassed. It really was kind of clumsy, but I had only consumed ONE drink... even if it was a rather high test one. Well, when the waitress came to pick up the check I told her my tale of woe and asked if I could have another Martini. I then went to the bathroom and when I came back another Classic Martini was sitting there waiting for me. The waitress told my wife that it was no charge – the bar picked it up for me. So we sat and talked and imagined what it was like back in the fifties. Back when Supper Clubs were everywhere, everyone played Sinatra and everyone drank Martinis. As I said... back in the day, they really DRANK!! P.S. Don’t get all preachy… my wife drove us home.
Originally Posted By smedley Sounds like an awesome place trippy, glad you had a fun night, and that your second martini got replaced gratis! Also pleased to hear your wife drove homne
Originally Posted By Labuda "P.S. Don’t get all preachy… my wife drove us home." Thanks for the P.S. there, Trippy. That said, wow - sounds like a lovely place to dine!
Originally Posted By Pongo_Paterfamilias Yep Trippy, you have something there...I have too have wondered what life was like back in those days, especially in Vegas. I would love to have frequented some posh Victorian Venetian Supper Club with my date, perhaps Sophie Sandolo, eating fantastic and authentic food, drinking great Italian Wine , and listening to Deano and friends. Somebody pinch me!!!
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb Do you think alchohol and cigarettes are why my Grandma looked so much older at 62 than her daughters look at almost 64 and 67?
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<What's the name of the restaurant? Steve and I will have to try it!> Chianti Grill: <a href="http://www.chiantigrill.com/" target="_blank">http://www.chiantigrill.com/</a> <<Do you think alchohol and cigarettes are why my Grandma looked so much older at 62 than her daughters look at almost 64 and 67?>> It was probably more the exposure to sun that people got back then. I had several great uncles that were farmers. Neither they nor their wives smoked or drank. Their skin pretty much resembled shoe leather by the time they were in their mid-sixties. As for the implied disapproval... If having two martinis makes me a bad person I'll have three next time so you can REALLY disapprove.
Originally Posted By DAR Any of your "tini" drinks really pack a punch. Now this is not something to brag about or be proud of. If you put a six pack of Miller in front of me, I'll get a slight buzz going and I wouldn't drive either. I have a real low tolerance for that. But two Martini's and I'm done for the night. And show how much fun the Martini can be: <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/story/?id=404718" target="_blank">http://www.jsonline.com/story/ ?id=404718</a>
Originally Posted By Ursula The perfect martini for me is a classic Bombay Sapphire, shaken with crushed ice, strained into a v with three olives. It's best if the bottle of Vermouth is sitting just next to the Sapphire. Sometimes I even let them say hello to each other by waiving the Vermouth over the shaker.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb >>>As for the implied disapproval... If having two martinis makes me a bad person I'll have three next time so you can REALLY disapprove.<<< No disaproval implied, so long as you're not getting behind the wheel after, you can get as blotto as you like, I don't care one little bit. I was only making an observation. And FWIW my librarian grandma got a lot less sun than either of her daughters.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip << If you put a six pack of Miller in front of me, I'll get a slight buzz going and I wouldn't drive either. I have a real low tolerance for that. But two Martini's and I'm done for the night. And show how much fun the Martini can be:>> You must be drinking your martinis really fast or your beers really slow. A classic martini contains 3.5 oz of gin. The amount of vermouth is so negligible that it is not worth counting. Gin is 40% alcohol (80 proof) which makes it about 8 times as potent as beer which is usually around 5% alcohol. That means 3.5 oz of gin is equivalent to 28 ounces of beer, or 2-1/3 12 ounce cans. So my two martinis would be equal to 4-2/3 beers... less than the six-pack that gives you a "slight buzz". There is no opinion involved here -- just straight mathematical calculations. If you are done for the night from two martinis you are making them WAY too large or drinking them WAY too fast. (Criminently... you make what is supposed to be a fun tongue in cheek post and all of a sudden you have Carrie Nation after you...)
Originally Posted By wonderingalice Piero's my friends... Old Vegas at it's best! (Just a little tip for those seeking a Dino experience... Jerry still dines there regularly! RT, Mr. Alice and I didn't get out for dinner this weekend, so I'm pushing for tonight. Haven't had a good dirty martini in awhile, so I will... And will toast you when I do! Ursula... I'm with ya on the Vermouth. Wave it over the top, but don't ya dare tip that drop in! Musty, nasty stuff! *LOL* And for the Elliott Ness fans... Mr. Alice is always the DD unless we're walking 'home' from Downtown Disney! ;-)
Originally Posted By wonderingalice Hey, AutopiaDeb... I'll go even further with the age thing... Men and women at 55 today often look MUCH better than their predecessors did at 40. (My grandparents at 40 looked ANCIENT! *L*) Thank goodness for better-looking makeup, hairstyles and clothing to go with all those great moisturizers!
Originally Posted By wonderingalice Hey now! Is LP set up to read 'keywords??' This just came up on THIS page! *LOL* <a href="http://www.laughingplacestore.com/Product-4782.asp?R=LP" target="_blank">http://www.laughingplacestore. com/Product-4782.asp?R=LP</a>
