Best Martini
Bud’s
La Playa Hotel, 827 Camino Real, Carmel
(831) 293-6100, budscarmel.com
How can the best martini not be a martini, except that it is one – kind of? The illusionists behind the bar at Bud’s have pulled off this crowd-pleasing act with a classic prepared from gin, vodka and Lillet. Yes, this favorite of James Bond in Casino Real is known as a Vesper, or alternatively, a Vesper Martini. It’s a stark, clean cocktail suitable for French cuffs and starched collars (although not a barker’s top hat). But even for those more casually dressed, the Vesper Martini at Bud’s elevates an evening.