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!

Mini-Shout Out: Park Hyatt Vendome

Park Hyatt Vendome
5 Rue de la Paix
75002 Paris
01 58 71 12 34

This will be a quickie! A few weeks back, Kate came up from Geneva and we treated ourselves to a fancy, spendy afternoon drink (well, two) at the Park Hyatt Vendome. Several people have recommended that I visit this Park Hyatt and I can see why. The staff are topnotch, the selection behind the bar impressive, the garnishes, ingredients and little extras are well thought out. There's an extreme and impressive attention to detail here.

My Beefeater 24/NP martini was excellent. I've lost my notes on this visit, which partly explains my delay in writing it. But, Kate's cocktail was a sort of berry themed fizz. The barman took the time to stagger the ice and the fresh berries in the cocktail, so it was as pretty as it was tasty. Little trays of olives, cashews and macadamia nuts came with our drinks. Gleaming silver bar tools were lined up on the bar, along with fresh fruit and a nice selection of bitters. Their menu seems to be divided into a handful of house creations (which are riffs on classics), mojitos, daiquiris, martinis and classics. Prices were approximately 25 Euros.

While we sipped our 2nd drinks Evgeni Plushenko showed up with a lady friend and they drank mock-tails for a brief photo shoot at the bar. I'd be happy to go back and spend some time on the small sweet courtyard terrace as well. They also offer a cocktail class (for around a hefty 140 Euros) which I'm impressed enough by their drinks to sign up for. Overall, I love what they're doing behind the bar here - but it ain't cheap!