This Food stalker went to Naples, Florida for a long overdue family reunion. Dinners, laughing, reconnecting, felt like old times. Sure I promised my Mother I wouldn’t pull that video camera out at every meal, but old habits are hard to break so this huntress swapped out her flip-flops for Brian Atwood snake-skin heels and hightailed it to The Ritz Carlton. Not known for it’s exotic night life, the Ritz patron’s were re-invigorated once gal pal Joy and I saddled up to the bar and ordered Joy’s famous Martini. The classic martini was an icon in the 50’s, a man’s club drink built on vermouth, rocket fuel and skinny ties. Then came the late-century girls with their own ideas about martini-art: starting with good vodka, adding anything daring and packaging it with a garnish as bold as a Georgia O’Keefe flower. Vodka, or, good grief, flavored vodka is tantamount to dragging your man shopping for three hours or serving petit fours at his BBQ.
Making a good drink requires a bit of care and the bartender got ours just right with the perfect amount of olive and lemon. Oh, and enough booze so that you could taste it. Bartenders who use more alcohol than the average “jigger” are always rock stars in my book. Haven’t you ever wondered how drinks are created? Customers become crabby and bartenders become innovative!
With charming wit and passion, Joy, a very talented singer songwriter, shared details of her trysts with famous Jazz Musicians from back in the day. The jazz Quartet was as smooth as Count Basie Orchestra and were happy to join us for a cocktail at closing time. Look, sometimes you can’t always be the perfect woman, surviving on power bars and working on that blog until 10 P.M. every night. The locals weren’t quite sure what to make of this fierce twosome but one thing is for sure. We turned a snoozy little stand-around into a soiree of unforgettable decibels. Don’t worry, Husband has set aside plenty of bail if I run into trouble and enough wine to sedate the entire Internet. At least he said it was wine…..
