The Lockwood Bar
A bartender in the cocktail bar The Club said, that I
have to visit The Lockwood bar, that I will like it… I promised to him that I
will go there…
It is a bar which is located close to the Experimental
Cocktail club and it is pretty easy to find it. If you will not get lost… As I
did… Anyway, when I arrived there
I was wondering, why is this bar so good. Well, in the menu there are only like
10 cocktails and 5 of them are in the category Aperitivos… Is this, tiny place
(with an amazing music, though) really a cocktail bar, that You are not
supposed to miss, when You will go to Paris? I Asked myself. However I am
stubborn enough, that I stayed there for a while.. It took me ages to choose
the cocktail and finally I have ordered my first cocktail that night. Also, I have completely forgotten the name of it, but it has
very simple recipe :
- Fresh puree from pears
- Jerry Sailor rum
Nothing less, nothing more. First You chill the glass
with ice cubes. Than You stirr the water away and You change the ice cubes and
then You pour the puree over the ice and by mixing you are continously adding
the rum…with no garnish this recipe goes very straight forward in its
simplicity, that I even wondered, if it is for me, because it was ready
in less than 1 minute since I have ordered it.
Bartender cought my thoughts and laughed. He said that
it is really for me. He wasn't busy that moment, so he waited for my first sip
and asked, how do I like it. It is so surprising how well these two ingredients are going together, that this drink
has been added to the list of my most favourite cocktails of all times!
And this is exactly what I said to the bartender .
Apparently he didn't expect such an answer. He lifted his eyebrown and
made a *not understanding, why* face. He said : ,,If this cocktail is amazing
for You, go and have a look downstairs.”
,,Ermm… there is something downtairs?” Was my first reaction. ,,Yes, you will
just keep going straight to the back of this area, and on the stairs down, but
before You will go there, I will need to ask You to pay this cocktail now, as
we cannot transfer your bill down.”
After this necessary informations we have been
chatting for a while and when he said, that he is from Rome I told him, that I
am going there in a few days. He took a napkin and he gave me a few adresses
where exactly do I have to go : ,,Those are the places and those are the names
of the bartenders, that are working there.” When You will get there, tell them my
greetings, he laughed…
I paid and (as always) I left some tip and I went down
the stairs…. What I found underneath the ground level, left me speechless.
Especially, when I could hear my favourite song, when
I just came in... What a coincidence! I wasn't even planning to go here, I've been sent here by
another bartender and now I hear my favourite song in an amazingly looking bar,
and I even know, where do I have to go in Rome… at this moment it doesn't even
feel, like I am writing down the blog. It is writing down itself...
By the way, I am not going to describe, how does the
bar look like. All I will ask You is :
Do you like rock music?
Because I do, and thanks to that I have enjoyed the
place so much. It is so stylish that You should visit it at all costs.
My second drink I took in this cellar was
prepared by bartender named Julien. (if I heard correctly) His style of working
is worth mentioning. He was using a wide jiggers, that were allowing him to do
a long pour, where the bottle is actually really far and very high above the
jigger. This technique requires a special kind of precision, as your cutting of
the pouring liquid from the bottle has to be very fast but soft at the same
time, to make sure that You are not going to move your whole body, because when
the jigger is so full, that the liquid inside makes the cone over the edge, it
is so bloody easy to spill it. And yet Julien have never spilled anything and
he always kept his rhythm and tempo, wether he was doing 2 cocktails at the
same time or 4 different cocktails and 2 Mojitos at once. Thanks to this
fact, that he seemed to never be under the pressure, even when the place was
fully packed with people, together with the long pour technique, You will know
that You will always have an exceptional cocktail at this place. To the other
bartender's defense I have to say, that I've been sitting at the very end of
the bar and I've been chatting with another guests from San Francisco and
Durban, and therefore I could not really see the way he was working… But hell
yeah… both bartenders that I could interact with, (Simone from upstairs and
Julien from downstairs) were
great bartenders, so I have no doubts, that the third one should be any
different. Especially, because – apparently - this bar has won the award for
the best cocktail bar in France of the year 2014…. I think, that it speaks for
itself, doesn't it?
As I've been here for the cocktail week, I have taken
a cocktail participating in this event :
Little Belleville
- Bourbon Four Roses Small Batch
- Liqueur de café maison de la brulerie de Belleville
- Café filtre ethiopien
- Sirop maison aux fruits rouges macadamia
Obviously this cocktail tastes like a coffee. I think
that it is not even necessary to remind You that. As well as the cocktail taste
is perfectly ballanced. Basically if You know, what are You doing, the
cocktails you prepare, will always be ballanced. It has a strong taste by its
base, which is bourbon. But the nutty taste goes so well together with the
coffee, that it creates one continous taste which is connected so well with the
heavy taste of bourbon….
This has been my last cocktail of the evening and
ufortunatelly even the last coctail of my visit in Paris…. As I am writing this
down I have only 2 hours to leave the hotel room and get back to the airport.
And as I am writing this down, I am feeling so grateful, that I have visited
all those places. You may spend 14 days in Paris and You may visit all the
landmarks 2x, but unless You will visit Candelabria and The Lockwood bar and
the Harry's New York bar, your visit will never be complete…
And thank you Paris!
I hope I will be back for more, soon….
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