Cafe Fiore is a small but busy trattoria located just off the ‘main drag’ in downtown Ventura, CA.   The decor is rustic modern; very clean and comfortable with a lot of exposed woodwork.   The bar is front and central in the restaurant, the very first thing you notice upon entering.  The restaurant tables are spread around the bar itself.  There is also an outside patio that looked very inviting.  But I chose to sit at the bar.

The martini was ‘ok’; properly shaken with the right mix of Gin and Vermouth.  However the glass was not chilled in any way; neither pre-chilled in the refrigerator or freezer nor even filled with ice water during preparation.  Furthermore the Martini was not served in the preferred classic stem but in one of those horrid bulbous squat glasses.

On the plus side, we sampled several appetizers and they were really good.  The other patrons appeared to also be very pleased by the food.

Cafe Fiore gets a “B” for number of gins; on the order of 12 from which to select.  But for the martini itself they get a tipped stem: