The Martini shows drink dedication

Building costs being what they are, the savvy purchaser of a property tends to be well served to adopt a name that requires changing the signage as little as possible, a case in point being the conversion of the South Coast to the South Point.

But in the case of The Martini -- formerly Martinis -- I think it goes deeper than that, because this is a place that's dedicated to the art of the martini. There's a long list of martinis both classic and innovative and artful pictures of martinis all over the place. In my limited experience at The Martini I can confirm that the people behind the bar know what they're doing.

My Negroni -- not a martini, but a wicked stepsister, or redheaded stepchild or some other obscure relative -- was not only listed on the menu (a rare thing for this classic) but perfectly prepared, exactly in balance and thoroughly chilled, so they've definitely got that side of the equation down. Luckily they have the food side down, too.

My favorite on the evening of our visit was no doubt the Martini Sliders ($10). Sliders are all over the place these days, and most of them have all of the charm and flavor of a White Castle burger (oh, spare me the phone calls; in your heart you know that what's so good about those things is that they're so awful). These were quite the opposite. When our server asked if medium would be OK we replied that medium-rare would be better and they were indeed served that way, a thick, meaty, well-textured trio stacked onto buns that were slightly soft but substantial enough to handle those pink-interior burgers. With a tangle of caramelized onions and a sprinkle of blue cheese, they were beefy, juicy, spectacular.

A Margherita flatbread ($8) was simplicity defined, and well-defined at that. The thin, square, slightly crisp crust had been scored into squares, each topped with some mozzarella, a slice of well ripened tomato and a shower of basil chiffonade, those longish, squarish shreds. I'm pretty low on the OCD scale but I really liked the symmetry, because each piece had the proper balance of the classic triumvirate named for an Italian queen who would, I feel sure, be pleased by this particular tribute.

Chicken scallopine ($16), a simple dish we don't see much anymore, was gussied up considerably in this rendition, to mixed results. The chicken itself was delicately sauteed, the properly thin scallop retaining flavor and moisture, and it was topped with a well-flavored mix of smallish chunks of mushrooms and artichoke hearts and shreds of prosciutto, and so far so good. It also was accompanied by a mixture of roasted vegetables, cut into stick shapes, and they brought much to the party. What wasn't quite as successful was the risotto that also accompanied it. Risotto can be problematic and this one had that curious quality that sometimes befalls it, in that the grains of rice were a bit chalky, the whole a bit soggy, instead of it all adding up to a creamy delight.

Service throughout was very good, our extremely busy server handling the entire room nearly by herself, with just a little help from a runner. Through it all she stayed pleasant and focused.

The interior is pleasant as well. Aside from the art, we don't think it changed all that much from its previous incarnation, which is not a bad thing -- lots of wood, soft lights, comfortable seating. And while the menu has changed considerably, one constant is that the food is, for the most part, reliably good, much like that of its predecessor.

What's in a name? Hard to say, but at any rate, despite Martinis' relatively brief life span, we hope The Martini will, like its long-stemmed cocktail namesake, manage to endure.

Las Vegas Review-Journal restaurant reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or email her at hrinella@ reviewjournal.com.