Seems we all had the same idea: arrive at Martiny’s before our 6 pm reservation to chat with some of the others. The door on this freezing night was locked and remained so until exactly 6 pm. We had read—and wanted to try—this place as Martiny’s is currently ranked the 15th Best Bar in North America & 24th Best Bar in the World.

Most of us ended up at Pete’s Tavern around the corner for a drink before our reservation at Martiny’s, which we headed back to at 6. Last time I had been at the three-story 1800 carriage house on 17, it was The House restaurant.

Today, Martiny’s is a high-end three-level, highly awarded Japanese-style cocktail lounge with renowned mixologist Takuma Watanabe serving craft cocktails in custom-made Kimura glassware, the prized Japanese glass company, and amazingly tasty and attractive small plates dreamt up by Wayne Cheng, an Eleven Madison Park and Masa veteran. The trendy bar is named after sculptor Philip Martiny, who once had his artist studio here. Martiny crafted the Beaux-Arts style, marble eagles that adorn the Washington Square arch.

When we were finally seated at 6 pm, our waitress brought us upstairs to a cozy spot with a couch and comfy chairs and proclaimed, “You have the space for 90 minutes, and you each must spend $50.”

AJ, our attentive and informative waiter, was much warmer and more personable. He guided us through our drink and food orders, explaining each drink and helping us choose.

For one, he mentioned their Caprese, the much-written-about clarified cocktail, combining Starward Two-Fold whiskey, tomato water, grapefruit juice, and milk and their Grand Martiny, a ruby-red one with Bombay Sapphire gin, La Cigarrera Manzanilla sherry, Churchill’s port 2016, St-Germain, Hine Rare and grapes. We tried many and shared sips of each fabulously blended cocktail.

We also tried much of the menu, including the silky scallop custard with bonito cream grapes ($24/4); their oyster & caviar ($24/3) with Kaluga–fresh water sturgeon—caviar, lemon oil, chives; Japanese Scotch eggs made with Tsukune chicken sausage ($19), sweet corn fritters ($12/3) with miso egg yolk and the amazing Wagyu Sando on milk toast with black garlic ($58).

We thought it a good excuse to meet to discuss our upcoming Les Dames d’Escoffier (LDEI) conference, where I co-chair the career accelerator Legacy Awards, and Sam Bonfiglio, in our small group, is one of our current 2025 winners, who received her Culinary Hospitality Award in Michigan at Zingerman’s.

And then another Dame—member of LDEI—reminded me that two other Dames at our table had also been recipients of this life-changing award: Tanya Shevloff-Roth and Jennifer Bradley-Harroun, who were previous LegacyAwardees!

What a perfect moment to announce that the 2026 Legacy Awards, which I am again co-chairing, are now open, offering six career-changing experiences to applicants with at least four years of industry experience. Application deadline is March 31, 2026.

I recommend Martiny’s for cocktails and scrumptious nibbles, and LDEI’s Legacy Awards to aspiring women.

Martiny’s
Gramercy
121 E 17th St
New York, NY, 10003
martinys.com/