Martini Redux

Forget the Chablis, the spritzers, the Perrier with lime. In many chic U.S. watering holes, the era of the grape and designer water seems to have gone out with the bull market. Instead, aging baby boomers are rediscovering the sharp, cold sting of an icy, dry martini. "A whole generation has become bored reciting 'I'll have a glass of white wine,' and then having something set in front of them that tastes foul and has no kick," explains Ed Moose, proprietor of the Washington Square Bar & Grill in San Francisco. "Young people are switching," concurs Bruno Mooshei, owner of Persian Aub Zam Zam across town. "I hear them say, 'Now I know why my parents drank martinis.' "

Statistics on the trend are hard to come by, but the evidence is widespread. "We're selling at least 50% more martinis than we were two years ago," reports Kevin O'Mara, bartender at the Pump Room in Chicago's Ambassador East Hotel. According to the Distilled Spirits Council, the vodka martini, though spurned by purists, is now the most popular drink in the nation's capital. Its appeal has helped boost vodka imports from 51,000 gal. in 1976 to 5 million gal. today. At Bloomingdale's in Manhattan, Buyer Susan Davis cannot keep martini sets in stock. "I'm telling all manufacturers to get busy," she says. "We can move as many as they can make."

Barroom philosophers offer all kinds of reasons for the return of the old classic. Martin Hehman of the Drake Hotel in Chicago cites maturity: "As you get older you don't drink all night, so you want a drink that lets you know you had a drink." Then there is the aesthetic appeal of cold, clear liquid in a crystal cone. At Nell's, a New York club, Aspiring Actress Sally Carruthers wears a flared crinoline mini to match her martini glass. "Tip me upside down and . . . well, the same silhouette," she giggles.

Connoisseurs take their martinis more seriously, and many are aghast at the corruptions being introduced to the time-honored formula: good gin, a whisper of dry vermouth and an olive. Not only is there the unspeakable vodka martini, but also a Cajun version, made with peppered vodka over crushed jalapenos; a red martini, colored with Campari; and a Japanese variation combining vodka and sake. Even the sacred, salty olive has been replaced by bacon bits and midget corncobs. Can martini bars on Rodeo Drive be far behind?