{"id":15542,"date":"2019-12-09T10:00:33","date_gmt":"2019-12-09T10:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devourparisfoodtours.com\/?p=3042"},"modified":"2019-12-09T10:00:33","modified_gmt":"2019-12-09T10:00:33","slug":"speakeasy-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devourtours.com\/blog\/speakeasy-paris\/","title":{"rendered":"Hidden Paris: Speakeasies, Hidden Bars & Where to Find Them in Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Enter through a laundromat, a pizza place or an Indian restaurant; the basement of a creperie, the back of a mezcaleria or through a dimly-lit red door on a street in Le Marais. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Behind the graffitied facade of what seems to be a crumbling edifice in Strasbourg-Saint Denis, you\u2019ll find one. Or in the back of a tiny taco shop, another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The speakeasy has made its way to Paris. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hidden bars, or \u201cspeakeasies,\u201d were originally an American invention, designed in the 1920s for moonshiners looking for a fix during a time when alcohol was prohibited. In those days, they were the lairs of mustachioed men in bowler caps and women dressed as flappers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly a century later, the idea has gone global. There are speakeasies in New York, London, Singapore. Just about anywhere people drink cocktails, there is a hidden bar. Paris hasn\u2019t been immune to this trend, going from just one or two hidden bars in the early 2010s to at least a dozen today. <\/p>\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n

An American trend in Paris<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, what is it about the speakeasy that has people lined up outside of a laundromat at 10 p.m. on a Thursday in November, as I recently found myself and a group of my friends? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really know, to be honest,\u201d Romain le Mouellic, a member of the group Barmen With Attitude<\/a> and one of the founders of Le Syndicat<\/a>, a speakeasy in the 10th arrondissement, tells me. \u201cI know that the speakeasy, at its base, is a concept that comes from the United States. But for me, the real thing about it is that people simply like to be in places that aren\u2019t open to the public, that are a bit hidden from the view of everyone.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Le Syndicat, which is hidden behind an unmarked door covered with peeling posters and graffiti,  frequently makes lists of Paris\u2019 top speakeasy bars. Inside, a mix of foreigners and locals drink \u20ac12 cocktails from a revolving menu that\u2019s devised by local bartenders who use local products, from Normandy calvados to whiskey from Brittany. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bartender
Le Syndicat prides itself on using French products as often as possible in their craft cocktails. Photo credit: @francoisquillacq<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Cocktails make a comeback<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Taking a concept popular to New York and transplanting it to Paris was never really the idea, le Mouellic says. Rather, Le Syndicat and its sibling bar La Commune<\/a>, which is also run by Barmen With Attitude, aimed to launch something that kept its sense of place, but could also attract people from all over the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current drink menu, for example, includes cocktails that reflect some of France\u2019s major holidays, such as the F\u00eate de la Saint-Jean <\/em>(the Feast of St. John) or the F\u00eate de Breton <\/em>(a cultural event celebrating the region of Brittany). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe really reflect on what it means to have a French cocktail, made in Paris.\u201d<\/p>Romain le Mouellic<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The history of the cocktail, le Mouellic says, is inherently tied to Paris. \u201cPeople don\u2019t really remember this, but the cocktail is historically a French product. By that I mean that there have been great periods of the cocktail in French history, notably after the second World War,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Craft
The beautiful handcrafted cocktails at La Commune (here) and Le Syndicat are putting speakeasies back on the map in Paris. Photo credit: @francoisquillacq<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The drink, quite popular in post-war France, became less so with the emergence of the wine lobby, and many spirit distillers began to export their products, rather than sell them domestically. By 2000, only Harry\u2019s New York Bar<\/a> and a few others made cocktails in Paris. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the early 2000s, one would have been hard pressed to find a good cocktail in Paris\u2014let alone a good cocktail at a speakeasy\u2014outside of fancy hotel bars. That changed in 2007 with the Experimental Cocktail Club<\/a>, launched by a group of French entrepreneurs who wanted to democratize the drink. The Experimental Cocktail Club was not so much a hidden bar, but rather a section of a different bar tucked behind a curtain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED<\/em><\/strong>: The 6 Best Bars in Paris for Any Night of the Week<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Candelaria<\/a>, which opened in 2011 on a quiet side street in le Marais, that was considered to be the first true speakeasy in Paris. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"La
Enter through a secret door at a nondescript taco joint, and you’ll find yourself inside Candelaria. Photo credit: Candelaria<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Launching a speakeasy \u201cwasn’t the idea to begin with,\u201d says Joshua Fontaine, who founded Candelaria along with two business partners in 2011. \u201cThere was just kind of this weird space that we found and there weren\u2019t any cocktail bars in the area.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They initially set out to start a traditional sort of Mexican bar and restaurant (\u201cthere wasn\u2019t any good Mexican food at the time,\u201d Fontaine says), but the odd layout of the space made them rethink the concept. Eventually, they settled on a small taco shop up front and a sleek metallic door near the counter that leads to the hidden bar, which can seat up to 26 people at a time. It was already filling up when I stopped by on a recent Wednesday evening around 6 p.m. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cocktails
As the first modern speakeasy in Paris, Candelaria also helped revolutionize the local cocktail scene. Photo credit: Candelaria<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Off the beaten path\u2014and hidden in plain sight<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fontaine echoes le Mouellic when I ask about how the speakeasy concept grew to be so popular and why he thinks it works in Paris. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI mean, alcohol is not banned anywhere now, and people open speakeasies in New York and everywhere else in the world,\u201d he says. \u201cI think it’s just kind of the delight in finding something that maybe you kind of have to know about, or that’s a little bit off the beaten path.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, some speakeasies are easier to find than others. To get into Blaine<\/a> in the stylish 8th arrondissement, <\/em>you\u2019ll have to whisper a password. Moonshiner<\/a>, also near Republique, is in the back of a functioning pizza shop. Baranaan<\/a> is one of the biggest speakeasies, but it\u2019s also a bit further from the center at the Porte Saint Denis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To le Mouellic, the rise of the speakeasy is simply a matter of taste. \u201cThese are things that are universally pleasing: a nice glass, a good alcohol, the aesthetic, the association of the taste,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s logical.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Enter through a laundromat, a pizza place or an Indian restaurant; the basement of a creperie, the back of a mezcaleria or through a dimly-lit red door on a street in Le Marais.  Behind the graffitied facade of what seems to be a crumbling edifice in Strasbourg-Saint Denis, you\u2019ll find one. Or in the back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":15545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1329,1330],"tags":[129,258,926,1223,1405],"ppma_author":[2355],"class_list":["post-15542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-and-drink-in-paris","category-paris-blog","tag-bars","tag-cocktail-bars","tag-cocktails","tag-hidden-gems","tag-speakeasies"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDevour Tours<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Finding a speakeasy in Paris takes a bit of sleuthing, even though they're relatively numerous. 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