Hollywood Cocktails

by Tobias Steed, Ben Reed

A debonair book about the great era of Hollywood classics and the cocktails typically served in films, from those in Rick's Bar in Casablanca to the vodka martinis in My Man Godfrey. Each chapter lists recipes for festivities or for an evening, pre-dinner cocktail hour. It also includes a compulsory section of morning-after concoctions. The recipes, with entertaining anecdotes linking drinks to specific films, give readers a true taste of Hollywood. Beautifully presented in period typography with elegant duotone, vintage photos of specific actors and drinking-related scenes.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Food and Drink, Cocktails, Reference, Cooking

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Colleen]

I liked this book. A quick read. I found lots of very good cocktail recipes and a list of old movies I haven't seen but now would like to! All good stuff. If I had to say one negative about the book it would be that there are several pages that are grey printing on a white background and the printing is fairly faint in relief against the white and I found those parts hard to read. Some I couldn't manage and skipped over. But otherwise the book was fun!

[Mieke]

got super drunk bc these recipes are so yummy 😋

[Tomi Pakei]

A cafe talk trigger
The last sentence on the back cover (of the edition I have) says:

"This is a stylish new look at cocktails through the Hollywood lens."

I guess that's what this book is all about. Surely will help you talk about 'Hollywood cocktails'--cocktails from Hollywood classics, along with some trivia like the one who makes vodka martini famous is no less than Mr. Double-Oh-Seven himself(!).

And the book's classy yet elegance design will make putting this book on the bookshelf a nice addition to a cafe's collection.

[Lisa]

Gorgeous book from 1999, purchased used. As this edition was published in 1999, the still from After Office Hours 1935 with Clark Gable/Constance Bennett at the bar is on the front dust cover.

Stills reproduced from all the usual suspects, and a few this 30s-40s Hollywood films fan had never heard of.

With drink recipes, of course. Didn't realize there were so many drinks in the past made with raw eggs, so beware.

This copy was in German, but easy for non-native speakers to understand as well.

[Creolecat]

1999 British edition with David Niven on the cover from My Man Godfrey (1957).

[Dana]

Fun read while hanging out at the beautiful Everyman cinema with an Old Fashioned.

[Susan]

Interesting origins of various classic bar drinks along with their recipes plus photos, dialogue and trivia about classic Hollywood films. Fun, quick read that made me want to go back in time and get swankily sloshed.

[Erin]

Spiffing, what.