Wednesday Cocktail Adventures: E7

E7
Hotel Edouard

39, av de l’Opéra

75002 PARIS

Tél: +33 (0)1 42 61 56 90

I'm behind in my blogging. And, I didn't even know where to begin again until someone asked me for bandaid. Looking through my handbag in search of one, I noticed what a mess it was & decided to clean it out right then. I dumped its contents and surveyed the result. Those of you who know me well will, of course, think it was full lots of practical, useful things like hand sanitizer, chap stick, dental floss and little packets of tissues, right? (Ha. ha.) No. It was my phone, an (empty) wallet, breath mints and....a handful of business cards from bars, a few dozen cards from various wine & spirits industry folks, a couple of invitations to drink & cocktails thingies, an envelope stuffed with postcards featuring recipes for limited edition Beefeater Summer gin and a stack of napkins covered with notes about drinking. Yes, people, that boozey bag debris tells you WHY I'm behind. Sometimes my social life gets in the way of blogging about... my social life!

One of aforementioned cards belonged to Régis Célabe, head barman at the E7 bar in the Hotel Edouard which I visited a few weeks back. With well-respected Sandrine Houdré-Grégoire (formerly of Murano) at the helm as Beverage Manager, the E7 has been on my list of spots to try for awhile. I liked Régis. He seems an amiable guy who not only knows what he's doing but enjoys being behind the bar. I wouldn't want to let my positive personal feelings about someone color my review. Fortunately I need not worry about having to knock the friendly Mr Célabe or his smooth running bar in this somewhat quiet and stylishly modern hotel where cocktails ring in at around 18 Euros.

That evening's bartender, Nicolas, stirred me a lovely Geranium/NP martini with a twist, which was served with barsnacks of nut and jellied candies. This may be the first Paris bar I've seen that stocks Geranium. Matt and Violaine arrived and ordered a first round of...something that unfortunately I can't remember. And, see, dear readers, this is why you should get your blog posts done in a timely manner. For the second round Nicolas mixed up a few surprises. I got a simple but sexy looking ginger-infused vodka, St Germain, lemon juice & tonic garnished with sparkly gold flakes and a hefty ice stick. While we know it's not usually my first choice in spirits, I'll take your wrath on this one, vodka-haters, and fully own up to enjoying Nicolas' twinkly cocktail. Violaine also got a vodka based concoction that involved lemongrass and ginger liqueur, bean & rose mousse and some form of green peas.

The place was rather empty save a few older anglophone tourists. Régis tells me that they have monthly 'after works' which would bump up the interest level for drinks at this price. Régis brought out a bottle of their Licit absinthe to offer a taste. On a side (but potentially interesting) note, he'll be mixing up special cocktails with this Absinthe at the next Blablabla & Co's "Cook Me Drink Me" I would definitely hit this event if I were in town - so if you're interested in cool people and fun drinks, check them out.

In short the E7 is putting admirable thought into their drinks and making sure the bar is stocked with some interesting product. And, apologies again for my lag time and lack of detail. But you can blame some of it on the following friends and folks who kept me busy over the last few weeks: Cocktails Spirits, Paris by Mouth, La Cuisine de Paris & GVine. I can enthusiastically plug all of them without feeling like a sellout because if you like yummy consumables and don't already know who they are, you are missing out!