Quick service tip before the story: the full ingredient list is right here, ready to order. Here's how this cocktail came to be.
The French Martini was created in 1985 at Keith McNally's Pravda in New York, at the height of the new glamorous wave of Manhattan. The name is one of the most classic cases of "martini in name only": although it has nothing to do with a traditional Martini (no gin, no vermouth), the trend of the 1980s and 1990s was to call any cocktail served in a Martini glass a "martini."
The "French" comes from the use of Chambord, the French black raspberry liqueur created in 1985, the same year as the cocktail. The French Martini was the house drink of McNally's Balthazar and became an icon of late-1990s Sex and the City glamour, loved for its pink color and its velvety foam. A small perfect product of postmodern American bartending.
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