Best of Boston

Stripped down to its raw form, a martini is just a stiff belt of gin, which any jamoke can pull off a no-name bottle in an alley. So how to judge? Presentation and accouterments. The white-jacketed waiter at the plushy-not-stuffy Bristol pours each traditional martini tableside from its own chilled shaker with not one, not two, but three meaty olives. Utterly civilized. Keep in mind, while the martini is traditional, the $9 price tag is a tad nouveau.