London’s Latest Drinking Craze Is the Vegetable Martini

It was probably just a matter of time: With espresso martinis wielding a caffeine-charged grip on drinkers in the US, and orange-adorned Aperol spritzes asserting themselves everywhere there’s a sunny day, bartenders were bound to find their way to a vegetable martini. In London it’s the drink of the summer.

The city has revered its classic martinis for more than a century, but plant-focused interpolations are a recent phenomenon. (Olives don’t count.) LPM Restaurant & Bar, a mainstay in posh Mayfair, started offering its signature Tomatini almost a decade ago. “But this summer we’ve seen a significant uptick in orders,” notes Tibor Krascsenics, global bar manager for the upmarket restaurant brand, which now has six locations across three continents. “People are shying away from sugary cocktails, and the trend toward savory and vegetal continues to rise.”