DRY Martini Madrid - THE BAR

After a period of thirteen years at the Hotel Fénix Gran Melia, the barman Javier de las Muelas is once again opening the Madrid branch of his famous Barcelona cocktail bar, a world reference in the art of cocktails, now in the Casa Gallardo building, in the Plaza de España, which also houses El Club Allard, whose cuisine is currently headed by Martín Berasategui.

The cocktail bar is located on the ground floor of the modernist building Casa Gallardo. It is an elegant and eye-catching establishment, with an avant-garde style, both in its decoration and in its new cocktails. It features a large ten-metre long bar lacquered in piano black, which contrasts with the burgundy-red colour of the walls and velvet curtains, its reserved Marie Brizard lounge and the still life painted by Madrid-born Jorge Diezma. Behind the bar is the famous Dry Martini counter, the illuminated scoreboard that keeps track of the number of martinis served.

The star, here as in Barcelona, is the Dry Martini: dry vermouth and gin, well shaken in a cocktail shaker with ice and served in a triangular glass (martini glass) with a citrus twist and an olive as a garnish.