Located at 6667 Hollywood Blvd. Musso & Frank is a classic spot you should at least order a drink at if you’re in town. The Italian Steakhouse was established in 1919 and is probably the oldest establishment in Hollywood. Since then it’s seen it’s share of Hollywood clientele.
The back room of Musso & Frank was created just for the writers. People like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nathanael West, Charles Bukowski, Dorothy Parker, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Jim Thompson, and Dashiell Hammett knocked ’em back here. I’m sure Bugsy Siegel and his compatriots had a steak there as well.
As Charles Bukowski said:
“I never actually ate. I just looked at the menu and told them, ‘Not yet,’ and kept ordering drinks.”
Sadly the back room is now closed, but the bar where literary giants bent an elbow or two is still there in the New Room.
It wasn’t just writers who liked Musso’s Charlie Chaplin had his own special booth, Orson Welles got fat there, Johnny Depp, Keith Richards, John Barrymore, and The Rat Pack hung there (it certainly has a Rat Pack vibe even today).
Here’s the recipe to their award winning dry martini. Stirred not shaken, like a true martini should be (that makes it stronger, shaking dilutes it).
Dry Martini
Ingredients
- 3 oz Gin
- 6 dashes of Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth
- 2 Olives or a Lemon Twist
Instructions:
- Pour gin and vermouth in a mixing glass filled with ice cubes.
- Stir well (until the mixing glass is cold to touch)
- Strain into a chilled Martini glass
- Garnish with olives or lemon twist
We used Martini & Rossi extra dry vermouth because that what we had. Sure Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth sounds great but since it’s “dashes” of it I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it’s not totally effecting the overall taste of this thing. What are we sommeliers?
Anyway here’s a little drinking music. Cheers
