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I tried the chicken martini at Martha and it’s really good

Stop scrunching up your nose, the chicken martini at Martha is a tasty cocktail.

The Chicken Martini at Martha. Don't sleep on a gin-soaked drumette.
The Chicken Martini at Martha. Don't sleep on a gin-soaked drumette.Read moreSteven M. Falk / Staff Photographer

Granted, it looks strange.

There is something about a smoked, boneless, baby drumstick floating in a pool of cloudy gin that could be considered, well, unappetizing.

But the bottom line is this: The chicken martini at Martha is good. I mean really good.

The specialty cocktail will be the featured drink Friday evening at the swanky bar and restaurant. General manager and mixologist Daniel Miller crafted it to raise money for Philadelphia Chicken Man Alexander Tominsky’s beloved Philadelphia-area community fridges.

Tominsky — the bearded bro who made headlines in November when he ate 40 rotisserie chickens in 40 days — became friends with Miller at the City Fitness on East Passyunk Avenue, where they both work out. Miller admired Tominsky’s charitable spirit, and wanted to partner with him for a one-night-only, boozy, chicken affair.

One hundred percent of the sales from the $11 martini will go towards staffing and filling the fridges, Miller said.

“We wanted to have fun with it,” said Miller, adding a twist of lemon to my martini. “And all of the money, we mean all of it, goes to a really good cause.”

I hesitated before taking the first sip.

Good stuff.

A fan of shrimp cocktail Bloody Mary and a maple-bacon old fashioned, I don’t mind a bit of meat in my cocktail.

To make the base of the martini, Miller poured rendered chicken fat into several quarts of gin. (Miller prefers gin martinis over vodka.) He placed the fat-washed gin in the refrigerator overnight, skimmed the fat off and added vermouth, rosemary, thyme, lemon, and black pepper. The result: a savory, smooth drink that goes down easy, leaving just a hint of chicken on the tongue. I wanted more.

Also on Friday night’s menu is a Waldorf chicken salad hoagie, featuring all the crunchy yumminess of a Martha Waldorf salad — Asian pears, toasted black walnuts, dried cranberries, chickpeas, and vegan mayonnaise — on a seeded hoagie roll. All of the proceeds from the sandwich, priced at $15, will be donated to community fridges, too.

Miller isn’t sure if the chicken martini will be a permanent fixture on Martha’s cocktail menu just yet. The curious can order a chicken martini — with or without the poultry garnish — starting Friday afternoon. But I say, don’t sleep on the gin-soaked drumette.