Ready, Set, Toast:
Ann Arbor restaurants prepare for the Artini Martini Crawl
Staff Writer
You might compare some downtown Ann Arbor businesses to Tibetan monks hunched over a Sand Mandala. They’ve spent hours, maybe even months creating a delicate piece of art. Once it’s finished, they plan to get rid of it.
Yet, most unlike the Sand Mandala, this alluring Ann Arbor art is in liquid form, and appreciative patrons hope to drink it down.
On Feb. 19, six establishments will participate in the second annual Artini Martini Crawl: The Black Pearl, Goodnight Gracie, Mélange, Rush Street, Vinology and Café Felix will compete for the title of Most Artistic Martini. This is definitely not a religious ceremony, but how “religious” the event becomes is completely up to the event-goers.
“Essentially, you can get up to three full martinis. Of course, you don’t have to use all of them and you don’t have to finish them, but that’s over a period of five hours,” said Kelsey Johnson, Development Associate and Special Events Coordinator of the Ann Arbor Arts Center.
The event begins at 6 p.m. Maps will be distributed in the group to encourage voters to start at different locations. This splits up traffic.
“We also have volunteers stationed at each of the bars so that they can communicate with volunteers at each of the other bars. If one bar is getting too full or one bar is empty, we can sort of usher people around,” Johnson said.
Tickets for the event are between $35 and $45. Each ticket gets a patron one half pour of a martini and acts as a tally for voting.
There are seven tickets total, one for each bar and an additional one for the “after party.” Voters will also receive a wristband to distinguish them from other restaurant-goers.
The Artini Martini Crawl works as a fundraiser for the Ann Arbor Art Center. While Johnson is the contact person for the event, she says volunteers organize and run it.
“I go to the meetings, but a lot of it’s in the volunteers’ hands. They’re wonderful,” Johnson said. “There are four main volunteers that are planning and running this event.”
Each business has been working on its respective martini. Some will be choosing a martini from their menu, while others plan on creating an entirely new concoction.
Vinology is one of the restaurants that plans on making something special.
“We are still perfecting ours. We have brought Chef into the mix, and every time that happens, things always get a bit more complicated and a little bit more exciting,” said Kristin Jonna, owner of Vinology.
“He has some molecular, gastronomy things that he wants to do. In other words, he’s manipulating some components to add to the drink, which is kind of fun,” she added.
Café Felix, on the other hand, is still up in the air on its decision.
“We’re not quite sure if we’re going to use one from the menu or if we’re going to come up with something different. Dave (Landrum), one of the owners, is going to end up making the martini, which is sometimes a good thing and sometimes a bad thing!” laughed Aaron Peterson, the wait staff manager for Café Felix. “I don’t know what other places are doing. They’re probably keeping it pretty heavily guarded.”
Johnson agrees.
“Some of [the restaurants] have been working on theirs for over five or six months,” she said. “Black Pearl, who was the winner last year, they’ve been pretty excited about this for a while.”
The only stipulation is that every martini must have Ketel One or Ciroc vodka in it. These brands will be providing the beverages and sponsoring the event along with Yelp.com and Busch’s.
Voters can travel however they see fit throughout the event. Once all the drinks have been tasted, they are encouraged to come to Café Felix’s after party at 10 p.m.
Once there, votes will be cast and Café Felix will donate and serve food. The winning restaurant will receive a hand-made ceramic replica of its winning martini — along with a year’s worth of bragging rights.
“Black Pearl has theirs displayed in the bar,” Johnson said.
Of course, all of the restaurants benefit from being involved in the event whether they win or lose.
“The proceeds benefit the Ann Arbor Art Center, but we get good publicity from it,” Peterson said. “Either way, it’s going to be a good thing.”
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