LONDON — It’s likely that any drinker who’s lived in London will, at some point, have tried a martini by Agostino Perrone, director of mixology at the Connaught Bar since 2008.
He’s made more than 25,000 martinis in his lifetime – some with olives and others with a lemon twist. Last week at the launch of his “Martini Icons” exhibition at Maison Assouline, he made them with fermented peaches and Belvedere 10 vodka.
Perrone isn’t just a master of the bar. He’s also a student and a photographer, studying customers and passers-by and capturing them on his Leica camera.
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Belvedere commissioned him to produce three photographs for the “Martini Icons” show, which is on until June 20. His martinis will also be served at Maison Assouline’s Swans Bar during the show.
Other images on display is a black and white shot of the Royal Ballet and Opera; a woman on a spiral staircase holding a drink and a self-portrait of the photographer himself.
Perrone, a charming, dapper Italian, said the secret to his martinis is to keep stirring.
“The martini cocktail is really my life because it has given me the opportunity to interact with people and learn about them. It’s how I started to work in hospitality. When I was working abroad, I loved the fact that I could interact with people and learn from them,” he said.
Perrone compared cocktail making to photography – highlighting that both occupations require precision, attention to detail, and the creation of a “moment.”
“It’s about seeing everything around you – where we put a napkin, the garnish, and the degrees of the cocktail glass,” he said, adding that with his photography, “there are moments that spark my attention and I want to capture them,” he added, referring to a photograph of two friends with their backs to the camera.
