London is stacked with both wonderful bars with cracking cocktails and beautiful bakeries with loaves and viennoiserie a-plenty. But if you’ve ever bitten into a croissant and thought hmm I could dip this in a cocktail instead of a coffee you’re not completely weird. Or alone, it turns out.
Mayfair’s bougie Bar Antoine at the Four Seasons Park Lane has devised something a little less classic and a little more contemporary, taking a series of French culinary classics. The chefs (Michelin-starred Yannick Alléno and manager Leon Gasco) have taken big-hitters like buttery croissants and nutty Comte cheese and mixed up the flavours into something special.
You may already be familiar with the usual saying of Savoir-Faire, and feel fairly chic whilst dropping it into conversation. This fresh twist from Bar Antoine is cheekily called Savoir-Boire – translated as The Art of Drinking Well. The new cocktail menu launches on 7th May, making cocktail hour feel a little more like picky bits.
(Image credit: Lateef Photography / Bar Antoine)
Serves include the Croissant Old Fashioned with croissant-infused cognac and Byrrh, the Cornichon Martini with olive oil vodka and a Peach & Mustard Margarita with tequila, peach eau-de-vie and mustard tincture. The final offering is a Fig-Affair Paloma finished with a delicate Comté tuille garnish.
A new food menu has been designed to accompany the cocktails, featuring classic French ingredients with playful riffs on the usual bar snacks. Bites include Carabineros prawn toast, a Pissaladière – which is more appetising than it sounds with zero bodily fluids, but plenty of caramelised onions, olives and anchovies. Larger plates include a twist on the traditional with the Croque-Antoine, the bar’s cult dry-aged Wagyu Antoine Burger and a new addition, The CFC (a decadent caviar fried chicken), alongside a rotating selection of French cheeses and artisanal charcuterie, showcasing regional specialities, aged classics and delicately cured meats.
The idea is to create a tribute to French drinking rituals, taking sippers on a journey across the tradition of L’Apero, Les Classiques, and finishing off with Les Rituels. All cocktails have a theatrical flair, all prepared tableside.
Basically, it’s Gen Z foodie heaven, turning trendy Cornichons and queue-for-it croissants into decadent new cocktails. As you can imagine, cocktails at a legendary London hotel-bar won’t exactly be a budget option, but if you’re looking for something a little whackier, then it’s worth trying one of them out.
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Dining and Cooking