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Including an intriguing Midori sour that won’t remind you of college parties.
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Bar Lunette. / Photo by Nathan Tavares
Coolidge Corner’s tiny cocktail bar scene is growing, thanks to the May 13 debut of Bar Lunette. The petite venue, from the team behind next-door neighbor Paris Creperie, boasts French vibes and a laser-focus on boozy concoctions, with food as the chaser. In a neighborhood full of spots that are restaurants first and bars second, it’s a novel idea. There are exceptions, to be sure, such as Barlette, which pivoted from its original BYOB concept to operate as a more traditional bar late last year. But the people want what they want, and they want more classy-meets-fun spots to drink: “We’ve already had a ton of people say, ‘This is exactly what the community needs,’” says Nick Mallia, operating partner of Paris Restaurant Group, which owns and operates Bar Lunette and Paris Creperie. “‘This is what we’ve been waiting for.’”
Speaking of waiting, the spot has been about three years in the making—and its space has decades of history. The building was once the home of Coolidge Corner Opticians, which former owner Jack Katz operated for over 50 years. “Lunette” might sound like the name for a hip Parisienne aunt, but the word actually means “eyeglasses.” You can spot lots of references to the building’s previous life around the bright yellow room, from the giant cat-eye glasses to vintage signage to placards that once labeled Jean Paul Gaultier and Yves Saint Laurent frames. Try-on mirrors and secret eyeglasses join vintage French posters and fashion illustrations Mallia sourced from all around the Eastern seaboard.
The Trader Nick’s Mai Tai at Bar Lunette. / Photo by Nathan Tavares
On the menu: original creations, not to mention classics done creatively—like the Midori sour, which has no right to be this good. The elixir features the Greek anise-like liqueur mastiha from Kleos (a spirits line founded by Boston native Effie Panagopoulos), the herbal French liqueur Chartreuse, and of course Midori, a sweet Japanese melon spirit favored by college students with dubious IDs the world over. Sure, cocktail hounds love the combo of kitsch and kooky liqueurs. But…a Midori sour? Like its cousins the whiskey sour and the amaretto sour, it’s a drink that, on its surface, is perhaps geared toward people who don’t really like to drink and who rely on bottled sour mix to mask the bite of booze. But Bar Lunette’s Midori sour, dubbed “Lost in Translation” due to its globetrotting ingredients, is another story entirely.
“It’s about reinvigorating the Midori sour in a really adult way,” Mallia says, “and taking this thing that you’ve only had when you were a fresh 21-year-old drinker and turning it from a poorly balanced drink into something cool.”
Which is to say, Bar Lunette’s Midori sour graduated college with a double major in Comparative Literature and French, boasts an unbroken Greek Duolingo streak, and digs Kurosawa flicks. The sip is still sweet, balanced by an herby heft thanks to celery bitters, a dash of house-made parsley and dill oil, and a parsley garnish. “It’s basically a health drink, if you think of it,” Mallia says with a laugh. “I’m trying to go with the whole vegetal moment here, you know?”
Bar Lunette. / Photo by Nathan Tavares
Mallia, who has worked his way up at Paris Creperie over the past 20 or so years, was the driving force behind opening the now-closed Paris Seaport Bar and Creperie in 2019. That swanky sibling to Paris Creperie featured a French-forward cocktail menu designed in collaboration with Mallia’s good pal Brother Cleve, the late cocktail legend and musician who passed away unexpectedly in September 2022. The last time the duo spoke in person, Cleve was spinning a DJ set at Wusong Road in Cambridge. They set a date to meet up and hash out the drink program details for what would become Bar Lunette. Paris Seaport only had a cordial license, which limited the spirits Cleve and company could sling. For Lunette, Mallia is shooting for the moon.
“I said to myself, ‘What would Cleve have done with a full liquor license?’” Mallia notes of the initial inspiration. The menu does feature a few basically unchanged Cleve-crafted cocktails from Paris Seaport. Like the Stardust, a lush purple daiquiri with shimmering edible glitter. La Byciclette, too, is proof of Cleve’s genius. The low-ABV spritz boosts the grapefruit notes in Cap Royal sauvignon blanc with Salers, a classic French apéritif, and Giffard Pamplemousse, a pink grapefruit liqueur.
Bar Lunette’s Nutella espresso martini. / Courtesy photo
The menu isn’t all a tribute to the past, though, with plenty of room for Mallia to spread his wings. (He recently tied for second place at the Big Queer Food Festival’s cocktail wars competition with his Midori sour.) He wanted to explore the richness of French liqueurs throughout the menu, like Combier Liqueur de Rose—a spirit made from rose petals from the Loire Valley in central France—found in the cosmopolitan-like Guillo-tini. If French ingredients didn’t work, he looked to New Orleans and Martinique influences, with one outlier. The spicy-smoky-sweet Paris Is Burning margarita references the seminal 1991 documentary about queer ballroom culture in 1980s Harlem during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis and not the City of Lights. (Though the Ancho Reyes chili liqueur and rosemary tincture lends a certain je ne sais quoi.)
Four spritzes on the menu offer lighter sips with bubbles and allow Mallia to showcase some less-common spirits. Take the Hail Holy Queen, a hat-tip to the late Queen Elizabeth, which mixes gin and Dubonnet. The latter is a quinquina, basically vermouth spiked with quinine. Bar Lunette also offers luxe spins on classic drinks. Think: a classic martini with a house blend of Plymouth and Hayman’s gins, Dolin Blanc French vermouth, and a lemon twist. And don’t miss the three sippable desserts, especially the Nutella espresso martini, in which a house blend of Nutella and vodka is topped with Coole Swan Irish Cream Liqueur foam.
Bar Lunette. / Photo by Nathan Tavares
Once the bar is operating seven days a week after an initial limited schedule, Mallia will roll out the food program and eventually weekend and Monday brunch. Expect fluffy dinner omelets, pressed baguette sandwiches, and snacks like herb-packed deviled eggs and tater tots. Down the line, too, he’ll throw events for folks to sip cognacs or discover interesting vermouths and quinquinas. But for now, the window-wrapped corner in the former eyeglasses shop is the perfect fishbowl to just people watch and amble through one magnifique menu of drinks.
“Right away, I want to set the tone here,” Mallia says. “This is a cocktail bar.”
To start, Bar Lunette opens at 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. 278A Harvard St., Coolidge Corner, Brookline, barlunette.com.