Martini Madness. Photo by Melania Mahoney
“Martini Madness,” one of the cornerstones of the three-month juggernaut known as the Olive Festival, was a comparatively staid event this year (meaning: leaner, meaner, tighter and, frankly, classier). On Friday evening, the event was hosted with aplomb by Saddles, the in-house restaurant at the MacArthur Place inn. Of the baker’s dozen of Sonoma’s finest joints pouring, those showing especially well included Saddles’ admixture of gin, vodka and Lillet, a light and sunny French aperitif, finished with a lanced kalamata-and-green olive combo. The big winner, though, was the girl & the fig’s fine martini redux with piquant notes of St. Germaine, the popular Elderflower liqueur, prominently featured. Other winners included Carneros Bistro (“Best use of olive”) and Murphy’s Irish Pub (“Most creative”).
