From a Los Angeles Magazine online article:
“The most important thing that we do is we never shake the martini. James Bond had it all wrong,” says Scuto. Shaking it incorporates too much ice, making for a watery drink, and, if it’s a gin martini, it potentially bruises the delicate aromatics. Instead, the drink is stirred roughly 12 times—bartenders use careful discretion—with ice, which is made with filtered water and a top-of-the-line Japanese Hoshizaki ice machine. The liquor is then carefully strained into a glass. It’s “all in the hand of the masters,” says Scuto.
Perhaps more than any other cocktail, a perfect martini demands a perfect venue. It’s not for drinking on beaches or cafè patios; it’s too easy to spill if you’re not sitting down; and it should be consumed somewhere with history and grit and texture. In short, it’s best at Musso & Frank Grill. This fall the storied Hollywood steakhouse celebrates its 100th anniversary and, with it, hundreds of thousands of servings of the classic cocktail. “The whole room, the whole setup, really, makes our martini special,” says Andrea Scuto, the restaurant’s general manager and beverage director. Here, Scuto shares just what goes into Musso & Frank’s signature cocktail.