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THE TEMPLES OF THE COCKTAIL MARTINI
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Auberge de la Maison, Entréves (Courmayeur)
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In the golden days of motoring journalism, me and good old friends like Athos Evangelisti or Sandro Munari would drive to Genéve on the eve of the Press day of the yearly 'Salon de l'Automobile', timing our departure so that we could arrive in Courmayeur in the late afternoon of that first Monday in March and have dinner at the excellent 'Maison de Filippo' in Rue Passerin d'Entréves, just a few metres below the entrance of the Monte Bianco tunnel. There were several good reasons to stop there every year, the excellence of the 'Maison's' food and the warm reception by Leo Garin, for example; but there was also a romantic note. When the rallyes were still something heroic, crazy runs halfway between off-roading and street racing, the formidable Lancia HF squadron had decided that the narrow, twisty streets around Courmayeur were perfect testing grounds. This was especially true in the night, when nobody was around....so the HF drivers and staff would hang around for the day in Courmayeur, then had dinner with Leo Garin (himself a racing driver with a couple of Monte-Carlos under his belt, and a splendidly affable chap as well) and afterwards strapped their racing helmets and went off like scalded rabbits all over the Vallée. Did it work? Well, they won everything in rallyes at the time, and even more when the archaic little Lancia Fulvia Coupé was superseded by the unbeatable Stratos that Sandro Munari, 'il Drago', used as an all-conquering weapon for years.
At the time, the 'Maison' was for us all a sort of
last outpost where to have a hearty dinner before crossing the
Italian-French border and then driving to Géneve on the Autoroute
Blanche. Gino Rancati and other stylish friends would be waiting for us
at the bar of the Richmond or Beau-Rivage to savor one last whisky
together and then, the morning after, everybody would pile up in our
cars and drive to the Palexpo for the opening of that splendid Salon.
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The Auberge's Martini cocktail is not only good (Hendricks' is always kept chilled, a commandable idea) but comes with an assortment of olives, pickles, chips and the like, so you can really enjoy it all |
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The stylish old-style armchairs in front of the bonfire are a perfect place where you can sip your Martini..... |
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A special Barbera bottle, dedicated to the Arma dei Carabinieri. The sense of State is still strong, luckily, between Piemonte and Valle d'Aosta |
The bartender uses Noilly Prat Vermouth for his Martini. Nice idea |
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You can also ask for a superb Steak Tartare and, believe me, it's difficult to find a better one |
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Auberge de la Maison
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