Harry's New York Bar
After my experience in Milan, I don't like, when bars
are using strong words like “The best cocktail bar in the city” or “ The Most
famous people are coming here to enjoy only the best cocktails” and so on...
You have to be very careful and/or very good to claim such things, so when I
read that this bar is claiming the fact, that right here The Bloody Mary was
invented, I was very curious, but I had some doubts too.
These doubts have been gone as soon as I have opended
the doors. Just by the first impression, You know that You are in a New York/american
bar. The design itself, the bar desk, the guardrail for feet at the bottom of
the bar, the bartenders dressed in a traditional white clothes… And then on the
wall, there is a grand jewl.. it's a page ripped from the newspapers, that were
distributed in New York looong time ago, called The NewsWeek and an article
telling the story about creation of the Bloody Mary. This article is dated at
the bottom of the page to year 1967!
And just passing the menu is a symphony. Original
recipies for such cocktails like Aviation, Side Car (a first cocktail in my
life, that I had to prepare on my first bartending course many, many, many
years ago), Martini, Sex on the beach recipe with cranberries, which is a very
rare recipe to see and of course a Bloody Mary.
,,What can I get you, sir?” Said one of the
bartenders, who has been pretty busy, but who didn't want me to wait. ,,You are
famous for the Bloody Mary, so I am curious to try it.” I replied.
He smiled and said : ,,Coming up.”
First thing You expect, if You are an experienced
bartender, is that for Bloody Mary you will see rolling technique to be used.
Here You would be disappointed then, because The Bloody Mary is made in a
straight way. It actually makes more sense, because the cocktail was invented
by a straight way technique and rolling was added later on, because they have
realized, that it is much better for the tomato juice, because You are not
going to destroy its structure…
Pretty simple cocktail, made to a glass in a straight
way method was perfectly balanced. Not too salty, not too spicy but still
strong, served with no garnish and no straws.. only with stirrer.
I used to have some problem with a tomato juice, so I
have never been a big fun of Bloody Mary. However after 3 years of living in
Italy and eating Pizza with a lot of tomatoes almost every day, I enjoyed this
Bloody Mary until the very last sip... Its salty and veggie profile of the
taste made me very hungry and because it is more than 12 hours that I didn't
eat anything, I followed the suggestion written on the mirror behind the bar,
saying ,,Try our hot dogs.” So I did. And as a snack it's great. I got a
peanuts and a glass of water too. Thanks to that I was ready to get second
cocktail pretty quickly.
There were too many cocktails in the menu, that I
wanted to try but above all of them, there was the only one, that I was willing
to take. It was a twist and therefore an invention by one of the bartenders
from here and it wasn't written in the menu but on the big mirror right behind
the bar and yes…. It was the Boulvadier again…
However this time it was Le Grand Boulvadier, where
the twist was very classic. Only vermouth has been changed for a proper
one, (which I cannot recall the name at all (! Sorry) ) and it was divided
between the sweet and a bitter one. The result is… Well… with all my respect to
the Jamaican Mule – this was the best cocktail of the day.
Bartender asked me ,,Do you like it?”
,,You have no idea, what have you done!” was my answer.
,,There are three different categories of cocktails. There are the bad
cocktails, then there are good ones, and then there are cocktails, that you don't
even want to finish!” I laughed by saying that, while playing with
the ankle of the glass against the light, appreciating the colour of the
cocktail and wondering how awsome it actually is…
Such a simplicity again! No garnish, no anything. Just
the cocktail itself, completely fulfilling the glass was an exact opposite to
the feeling after you take a sip. Very rich bittersweet, orange-like full taste
accompanied by the same aroma which persists for a very long time…
By drinking this cocktail I had so much time,
that I noticed that many people were going somewhere downstairs. I asked the
bartender if it is like a private area or some extra space for reservations and
I have been told, that they do not accept any reservation at all, because it
would not be fair to other guests. When the bar is full, the bar is full and no
other people cannot enter the bar. And then You keep 2-3 tables empty for
reservations that won't come at the end….
The bartender said that I should have a look
downstairs, so I paid to him and I went down the stairs and the view what
I could see, was …. Amazing. It was a very,very small “almost like a
private club” area, with another bar for 2 bartenders and in the back, there
was a guy playing the piano accompanied by his collegue on saxophone. If I
would take a picture, and I would show you that by saying ,,I have been in the
New York,´´ You would have never guessed, that it was actually in Paris…
I took a Sidecar down there, just to enjoy the
atmosphere, but as soon as I finished I had to leave, as it was getting very
late…
Harry's Bar, which was openened in 1911 already (!)
still kept its origins and the atmosphere of good old times, when the music was
still worth listening, males were gentleman, cocktails great and members of the
IBF still active.
One extra point, why you should visit this place : I
know it is only a cocktail called Bloody Mary, which is noting to compare with
a tower called The Eiffel tower, but for god's sake - here in Paris it wrote
down a part of American culture… by the way :
Are you a member of IBF?
I am.
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