This is the classic martini made up on the spur of the moment by James Bond. This humorous little moment in Casino Royale shows what (or who) Mr. Bond was really thinking about. It has become a bit a cocktail lore.

This is the signature cocktail for the legendary Hollywood haunt, The Cocoanut Grove in the Ambassador Hotel. Take a sip down memory lane. Because the world famous Cocoanut Grove, flat out epitomized the symbiotic relationships that certain restaurants have with Hollywood elite. Never before and never again would style and substance meet so squarely with the fantasy elements that defined Hollywood’s Golden Age.

In its day the Cocoanut Grove was filled to the tippy-top of its palm frond filled rafters with the beautiful people decked out in their very finest. It opened in the early 1920s, at a time when the stars of Hollywood were beginning to permanently define glamor for all-the-world.

And speaking of glamor the room itself was as elaborate as any movie set. In fact the room’s most famous features– towering artificial palm trees with paper mache cocoanuts and stuffed monkeys actually came from the set of the Valentino movie The Sheik.

The party at The Grove lasted through the 1930 and 1940s. Live radio broadcasts from the era’s biggest Big Bands originated right on the dance floor of this night-club. The Academy awards took advantage of the grand staircase designed for the sole purpose of grand entrances and spent 6 years there as well from 1930 to 1936.

It was easily the most important meeting place in a town filling up with more and more hot spots. It become the place to be on Tuesday nights when stars like Charlie Chaplin, Carole Lombard, Claudette Colbert, James Cagny, Jack Benny and Dorothy Lamour hosted extravagant dinners for their friends.

The entertainment was always first rate with talent like Fanny Brice, WC Fields, Nat King Cole, and Judy Garland performing nightly. Who better to keep the elite entertained than well, the elite!

The room was modernized in the 1950s and never regained the allure of its early days. The mid-Wilshire neighborhood began to fall out of fashion and on June 5, 1968 a tragedy altered the history of America and sealed the fate of this historic night club.

The 1970s saw Sammy Davis Jr attempt to remake the place with top talent like Sonny and Cher and Diana Ross. But sometimes it’s impossible to recapture magic. The hotel limped along until 1989 when it closed for good. Donald Trump bought the building and the lands around it but has since sold it to the Los Angeles school board. Frankly I have been so de-moralized by the long slow demise of the place that I have not paid much attention to what’s going on now. Los Angeles can be cruel to its landmarks.

But I can imagine the day with the chicest of folks would meet at the bar under the palm trees and order the Cocoanut Grove Signature Cocktail of gin with lime, grenadine and maraschino liqueur completely oblivious of the hangover to come.

I like a nice cocktail. A perfectly prepared, impeccably presented, cocktail. I like the whole process of a cocktail. The amassing of the very best ingredients. The high-tech gleam of good stainless steel bar tools. The shimmering, sparkling crystal of very good bar ware. I like the entire ritual. This is of course epitomized in the scintillating viscosity a very good martini. Always gin, never vodka.

This is a classic cocktail. The Silver Fizz it's a frothier cousin to the well-known Gin Fizz.

This is the oldest version of the cocktail I could find (1916). It contains Crème de Violette. Later versions left have mistakenly left this ingredient out. Now it's practically unheard of to add Crème de Violette. The story goes that when the Savoy Cocktail Book came out an editorial blunder was to blame for the ommision. Which is too bad because the Crème de Violette is what gives this drink it's lovely sky blue hue, and that color is quite possibly the inspiration for the name. Aviation Cocktail.

This is a glamorous little tippler. It was very popular in the 1930s and is finally making a comeback. This is the version from The Savoy Hotel Book of Cocktails.

This gin based cocktail is a rather glamorous little tippler with a deservedly glamorous name: The Aviation Cocktail.

Lillet is aperitif made with wine and is the flavor foundation in this Kamikaze styled beverage shaken with basil, gin and orange juice.

The gimlet is a classic cocktail made with gin and lime juice.

A classic summertime cocktail.

A classic cocktail from the wide blue yonder. The aviation.