A Toast to the Tomatini (and Tomati-No)

The Tomatini at LPM is our signature, trendsetting cocktail. It is a savoury concoction of Campari tomatoes, Ketel One vodka, balsamic vinegar from the celebrated Maison Pensato, sugar syrup, salt, and pepper.

On paper, there’s no way these ingredients could work to make a cocktail. Tomato fruit, not juice? Balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper? This one reads like the recipe for a nice salad.

World-renowned, award-winning mixologist Jimmy Barrat disagreed and persisted. Jimmy is himself a product of the French Riviera; he is from Nice. In an interview with Forbes, he explained that he wanted to recreate the taste and feeling of biting into a seasoned (salt and pepper) fresh tomato drizzled with olive oil. He succeeded and made the Tomatini, the cocktail embodiment of a pleasantly sweet, sour, and savoury tomato snack.

Jimmy gifted La Petite Maison Dubai with his creation in 2010 (our opening year), partly in thanks and partly in celebration that the cuisine of his beloved French Riviera is coming to Dubai. In a way, the Tomatini also contributed to the rising savoury cocktails trend. Since its addition to the LPM Dubai menu, our signature cocktail has become one of our mainstays and, for first-time guests, an obvious must-try.

The Tomatini is simple to make.

1. In a cocktail shaker, muddle 100g of quartered tomatoes.
2. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper.
3. Add 10 milliliters of balsamic vinegar.
4. Add 5 ml of sugar syrup.
5. Add 50 ml of vodka.
6. Add ice and shake.
7. Double strain into a martini glass.
8. Sprinkle seasoning (salt-and-pepper mixture) on top.
9. Garnish with a whole, salt-and-pepper-dipped cherry tomato.

Did you know? The XL pepper mills we use to add the final touch are hand-painted by one of our talented team members!

With its pink colour and cherry tomato garnish, the Tomatini at LPM is reminiscent of a French Riviera sunset. It tastes even more sublime than it looks.

The Tomatini is light, crisp, rousingly bright but refined, and definitely refreshing. It’s everything that inspires us about the French Riviera.

Take one sip. The juicy, fruity, sweet aromas of sun-ripened tomatoes fuse perfectly with the tangy Mediterranean balsamic vinegar. The vodka? It’s the perfect backdrop to showcase the interplay between the tomatoes and the vinegar, while the sweetness of the syrup tempers the harshness of the vinegar, the salt enhances the flavours, and the crack of pepper adds a sharpness to elevate its savoury profile.

The Tomati-No cocktail is an alcohol-free variant of the Tomatini. It’s as refreshingly sweet and tangy as the Tomatini, as it has the same ingredients: the juicy tomatoes, the bright balsamic vinegar, the saccharine syrup, salt, and pepper. Instead of vodka, however, the Tomati-No has lemon juice.

Our LPM Dubai cocktails menu is as varied as it is long, but nothing stands out quite as much as the Tomatini, a cocktail whose identity is inseparable from LPM. It’s the French Riviera (and LPM) in a martini glass.

Join us as we celebrate this quintessential LPM cocktail on World Tomatini Day, November 12. The celebration will take place across all LPM locations worldwide throughout November.

Enquire about the World Tomatini Day at LPM Dubai.