Sastrería Martínez: what to drink and eat on your first visit to the popular hidden bar in Lima?

After going through the second door of the Martinez Sastrería, the most popular hidden bar in Lima, the diner travels to the golden decade of film noir. Warm, eerie lighting simulates 1930s speakeasies in NY or Atlantic City. The decoration is inspired by the series of HBO “Boardwalk Empire”, which takes place during the era of alcohol prohibition in the United States. Just like in fiction, the waiters at the local Lima walk smiling around the tables, carrying in their hands some of the 18 cocktails on the menu offered by Diego Macedo, the host and owner of the Miraflores business.

It is not a themed bar, but, at the entrance door, Macedo wears a suit in the style of Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, the politician and gangster from the aforementioned Martin Scorsese series. After watching the first season, the owner of the Martinez Tailoring Store was surprised by Steve Buscemi’s portrayal of a booze kingpin. Coincidentally, 10 years ago, Macedo came up with the idea of ​​having a business inspired by a ‘speakeasy’, as American clandestine bars were called between 1920 and 1933.

“Speakeasy means ‘speak down,’ ‘quiet all.’ As a result of the dry law, which prohibited the consumption and sale of alcohol in the US, secret places dominated by gangsters appear. Through a password, the person entered. All this was so that the prohibition agents would not discover them”, Diego Macedo comments to Provecho de El Comercio.

The main characteristic of the ‘speakeasy’ was that, behind a legal business, such as a laundry or a bookstore, a clandestine one was hidden. In this case, the Lima venue imitates a tailor’s shop at the entrance, which is actually a carpeted bar with a fine marble bar and a stage with an antique piano on top. On the first level, the bartenders prepare some of the 18 signature cocktails, for which they have as input 75 different whiskey labels on the shelves, among others (gin, vodka, rum and pisco).

Among the classic drinks are the Manhattan, Negroni and Dry Martini, in addition to the cavas, wines and beers that are also an option to order. On this occasion, Sastrería Martínez recommends a complete gastronomic experience for two to Provecho. These are the house cocktails, the Mr. Martinez and the Speakeasy, and their accompanying appetizers, the Pizzeta Taleggio e Pera and the Tuna Tartan.