What can we say about a place where the martini scored almost perfect on every Bond attribute and where our server, Donna, told us of the time she served Sean Connery?  (Alas, he ordered a glass of merlot.)

The Stanford Court frankly did not excite us going in.  This is a slightly tired establishment, whose lounge decor is a mix of California Rail Baron and general contemporary hotel.  Your best bet is to locate the alcove seats in the corner to the right of the bar and notice their uncanny resemblance to Ursula Andress' apartment in the film version of Casino Royale.

When the drinks arrived in Donna's tray, each was in its own small shaker, and shake she did.  He martini gyrations reminded us of the gypsy fight in From Russia With Love, and what came from it was the coldest, strongest, yet smoothest vodka martini any of us had tasted.

The bartender chose Grey Goose as the vodka for our tasting and while we had mixed reactions to that vodka elsewhere, his vermouth choice and formula made this drink transcendent. The only drawback to the drink itself was the rather dated looking novelty glass it was served in, something with a blue lighting bolt as the stem.  We would have preferred a quiet, classic v-glass, but since you'll be enjoying this martini so much, your hand will be wrapped around that stem and you can just ignore it.

Highest marks for a sleeper establishment that seldom gets the headlines of its better know rivals.

The lobby and entrance to the lounge at the Stanford Court is rather unremarkable.

Cmdrs. Johnson, Morse and Griffin await their martini in a cozy corner of the Stanford Court lounge, with the Casino Royale-esque garden setting outside and the San Francisco skyline beyond.

The rather unfortunate "lightning bolt" martini glasses did nothing to detract from the drink itself.