Espresso martinis reach their peak — and their nadir — at this downtown meat palace

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Any time a restaurant server puts a torch to my food, be it tuna belly or marshmallows, I have to resist the childlike urge to squeal and clap. Which is exactly what happened last week at International Smoke when a server whipped out the blue-jet flames and set my drink alight. 

Michael Mina and Ayesha Curry’s eight-year-old meat palace hadn’t suddenly pivoted to tiki. Well, maybe just a little: This was a s’mores martini, made with Tullamore Dew Irish whisky, Bailey’s, and macadamia cordial. Specifically, the server was browning the fluffy little marshmallows on top — rotating the glass as he did so and otherwise hamming it up. Having shot guns for the first time in my life only a few days before, I realized how much more fun it is to play with fire. 

Unfortunately, the fun sort of stops at the top of the drink: The whiskey vanished into the cloying sweetness of the other ingredients, and the dusted chocolate rim had an unpleasant, powdery mouthfeel. To be blunt about it, the drink — one of four concoctions on International Smoke’s new dessert cocktail menu — would not feel out of place at an Applebee’s. So who is an $18 s’mores martini for, exactly?

Well, according to lead bartender Jorge Delgado, it’s for all the people driving the frenzy for sweet, caffeinated espresso martinis and other back-in-vogue retro drinks. The fad roared back a few years ago amid the nitro coffee boom and simply will not yield the floor. Delgado, however, didn’t want to copy everyone else. So he had to go bigger. And torchier. If you’re not whipping out the flames, do you even dessert martini, bro?

The other dessert cocktail option that can be flambéed tableside is the creme brulee martini, crafted from Grey Goose, white creme de cacao, and Amarula — a South African equivalent of Baileys, made with the fruit of the elephant tree. It’s milkier than the others, and the torch is pure theatrics: a Swiss-cheese-shaped shard of brulee is already straddling the rim.

By far, the best of the lot was the tiramisu martini, made with Santa Teresa 1796 rum, Borghetti coffee liqueur, Licor 43 Chocolate, and cream. The rum is strong, but the drink is balanced, garnished with a ladyfinger that’s fun to dunk. To my amazement, it paired well with a plate of Nashville fried chicken. (Two pieces of Curry’s cornbread slathered with Thai red curry butter are also a must.)

The fourth drink on the menu is, of course, a classic espresso martini, simply prepared with Grey Goose and Borghetti. The float of foam, though, is the best part, holding together without being overly whipped and curdy. Atop that sit three gold-painted coffee beans.

The last of the International Smokes, as the Vegas Strip location closed in January, the FiDi location is still a destination for big-spending carnivores eager to tuck into $44 plates of braised oxtail and $76 portions of Galbi-style beef short ribs. The fact that it’s thriving despite being on the ground floor of the no-longer-tilting Millennium Tower speaks volumes.

Delgado isn’t done milking the dessert cocktail trend for all its worth. He’s mulling over a fifth drink, made with the velvety, pistachio-filled Dubai chocolate that broke the internet over the winter. He saw it all over TikTok and Instagram. “Plus, I took my kids to the mall and saw a bunch of people eating it there,” he says.

Sounds a lot better than a Wetzel’s Pretzel …