March of the Martinis: it's a block party with a twist--of lemon, plus gin, vermouth, ice, and great neighbors. Laura Fraser on the delightfully icebreaking tradition known as the Martini Walk.(great drink)

SOME PEOPLE, WHEN THEY'RE NEW TO TOWN, INVITE the neighbors over for cocktails. But when Jonathan and Kimberly White bought a house in Hillsborough, California, in 1998, they brought the cocktails--martinis, to be precise--right to their neighbors. "We'd just moved in, we were sipping our drinks, and I said, 'Let's take a walk around the neighborhood,'" recalls Jonathan, a mergers and acquisitions adviser. Strolling the leafy streets with a long-stemmed glass seemed to invite interaction and inspired them to ask others to join the parade. Soon Kimberly and Jonathan were regularly filling their baby stroller with martini shakers, glasses, and olives, and rambling around the neighborhood, acting as the Pied Pipers of the after-work set. Neighbors who'd never spoken to one another were clinking glasses, laughing together, and trying not to spill. (Walking with a martini requires practice.)

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Thus began the first "Martini Walk," a (very) loose tradition now in its seventh year with eight chapters sprinkled up and down both coasts. Jonathan--the "Grand Martini" of the organization--says his walks have shaken up what otherwise might be a rather chilly neighborhood just south of San Francisco, where houses are hidden behind trimmed hedges and neat gates. "Most people drive into their garages and never see their neighbors." But by hosting a moving block party, he says, "we get to meet everybody."

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THIS EVENING THE WHITES are holding the Martini Walk season opener,