Friday Five

Because sometimes you want to hear someone besides, me, me me! Every Friday, 52martinis gets the scoop on the best cocktail stops from five in-the-know Parisians and cocktail aficionados.

Kim Laidlaw-Adrey, fab girl about town of both I Heart Paris and GoGo Paris says: My favourite place for cocktails in Paris right now is the Prescription Cocktail Club on the left bank. There's a chic yet laid-back vibe, it's an in-the-know place without being pretentious and the cocktails are expertly made and absolutely delicious. Perfect.

Gentry de Paris, tenacious, tempting and all around tantalizing burlesque queen says: I like Fabrice at La Villa because he makes the best Manhattan in town with my favorite difficult-to-find Van Winkle Rye.

Xavier Padovani, global brand ambassador for Hendrick’s and simply one of the coolest cocktail guys I know : This up and coming winter when visiting Paris one will start the night at the George V with a Hot George Punch and may probably somehow end up seeking L'Experience at Montorgueil’s best kept secret Experimental Cocktail Club.

Joseph Biolatto one of the masterminds behind the Forvm as well as one of my fav bartenders in Paris says: Mon bar préféré à Paris est le bar du Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme pour la qualité des produits sélectionnés et pour le service impeccable de Yann Daniel et de son équipe.

Doni Belau of Girls' Guide to Paris (keep an eye out for the new Girls' Guide launching in a few days!) says: One of the Girls’ Guide’s favorite places for cocktails in Paris remains L’Alimentation General on rue Jean Pierre Timbaud in the 11th arr. The bar/café sports a fabulous French blue exterior and décor reminiscent of a General Store and the crowd is of course young and hip. This wine/beer and cocktail bar serves up spectacular drinks as well as an eclectic mix of music ranging from hip-hop to jazz. No matter how great the drinks are – the atmosphere is king here. This is an excellent place to start a pub crawl as there are several more trés kool places on the same street and of course you can sneak around the corner to Oberkampf if you are in for the long haul.

A special thanks to friends and fellow cocktail enthusiasts who agreed to do the first Friday Five....because sometimes first is scary!

Wednesday Cocktail Adventure: George V

George V
31 Avenue Georges V
75008 Paris
Tel : 01 45 62 33 51

This will be a short post, because there’s not much to say: The George V is one of those bars, where they pretty much have to make good drinks & I’d say that the price you pay is not just for a good drink, but to keep the riff-raff out and for fancy touches like pretty spoon rests and twists in the shape of a "V".

It’s not a place where you are going for a bustling atmosphere, but rather to sip your expensive cocktail, content in the knowledge that you are in an lovely, upscale environment where people are there to serve your smallest need. I enjoyed it, but I’m still really more interested in finding places that exist for the purpose of great cocktails – not just where they make good cocktails to maintain the image of a bigger enterprise.

It’s been awhile (as I said before, I’m behind on my blogging) but I believe my martini (which was very good) was 24 Euros. We sat in the outdoor area, which is beautiful and quiet and offers good people watching. And, all in all this is a pretty lame post, because it’s been some time and I can’t even remember the other drink I ordered. Matt and I were joined by another friend, and we all enjoyed being there, but feel like it’s a bit out of our price range and not enough of a surprise-wow-factor for frequent cocktail visits. But, for a special treat, why not?