Cravan, a Parisian cocktail bar with a rooftop music kiosk
Where to find a bookstore, two cocktail menus, three centuries of French culture — and a bandstand ?
Neatly packaged in a 2,700 square foot 17th century townhouse on Boulevard Saint-Germain now home to Cravan, the five-story cocktail-centric venue dreamed up by historian-turned-restaurateur-turned-mixologist Franck Audoux.
A quick glance from the street might suggest it's just a another classy cocktail bar, complete with stools. neatly lined with a wooden counter and a series of alcoves scattered along the paneled walls.
But from the entrance with its 1:15 model of the building which contains an even smaller replica Stepping inside alone is the start of a surreal continuation of the universe Audoux created in the first Cravan bar — a 17-seat venue housed in a 1911 building in the 16th arrondissement. They are named after Arthur Cravan, poet, boxer and Dadaist figure who was Oscar Wilde's nephew.
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The first floor with its elegant elements is crossed by a steel and marble bar from the 70s. Vincent Leroux/Courtesy of CravanThe 120-seat Saint-Germain townhouse is intended to be "the kind where you can lose," where "the higher you go, the more you become immersed in the references that nourish Cravan," explains Audoux who, before embarking on mixology, worked for a decade in contemporary art and another in gastronomy as a as co-founder of the famous gourmet restaurant Le Chateaubriand in the 10th arrondissement.
The original bar applied what he learned during his research for his “ French Moderne: Cocktails from the 1920s and Book from the 1930s, published in 2019 by Rizzoli. Drawing on their history as the embodiment of an era of social and cultural change, Audoux has transformed the idea of "French excellence in an American or English drink" into contemporary concoctions that have garnered rave reviews. p>
They continue to be the star here, served with no frills or fancy toppings. Ice cubes only show up in long glasses and if there's one secret Audoux is willing to share, it's that a dry rather than sweet finish is key to avoiding saturating the taste buds and making the next sip as tasty as desired. /p>
Despite all the sophistication and sleight of hand involved in these drinks, the "apparent simplicity" remains the key for its founder, whose work revolves around two to three ingredients at most.
“It opens a door to gastronomic complexity. But it's better if the basic ingredient is first-rate," he says, explaining that a cocktail is above all "a question of the tension between the ingredients".
Example: Royal Basil, on the menu at both Cravan outposts. This two-ingredient cocktail, an infusion of Sicilian basil flowers enhancing the floral facet of Champagne Brut de Ruinart, is the...
Where to find a bookstore, two cocktail menus, three centuries of French culture — and a bandstand ?
Neatly packaged in a 2,700 square foot 17th century townhouse on Boulevard Saint-Germain now home to Cravan, the five-story cocktail-centric venue dreamed up by historian-turned-restaurateur-turned-mixologist Franck Audoux.
A quick glance from the street might suggest it's just a another classy cocktail bar, complete with stools. neatly lined with a wooden counter and a series of alcoves scattered along the paneled walls.
But from the entrance with its 1:15 model of the building which contains an even smaller replica Stepping inside alone is the start of a surreal continuation of the universe Audoux created in the first Cravan bar — a 17-seat venue housed in a 1911 building in the 16th arrondissement. They are named after Arthur Cravan, poet, boxer and Dadaist figure who was Oscar Wilde's nephew.
Related Articles
The first floor with its elegant elements is crossed by a steel and marble bar from the 70s. Vincent Leroux/Courtesy of CravanThe 120-seat Saint-Germain townhouse is intended to be "the kind where you can lose," where "the higher you go, the more you become immersed in the references that nourish Cravan," explains Audoux who, before embarking on mixology, worked for a decade in contemporary art and another in gastronomy as a as co-founder of the famous gourmet restaurant Le Chateaubriand in the 10th arrondissement.
The original bar applied what he learned during his research for his “ French Moderne: Cocktails from the 1920s and Book from the 1930s, published in 2019 by Rizzoli. Drawing on their history as the embodiment of an era of social and cultural change, Audoux has transformed the idea of "French excellence in an American or English drink" into contemporary concoctions that have garnered rave reviews. p>
They continue to be the star here, served with no frills or fancy toppings. Ice cubes only show up in long glasses and if there's one secret Audoux is willing to share, it's that a dry rather than sweet finish is key to avoiding saturating the taste buds and making the next sip as tasty as desired. /p>
Despite all the sophistication and sleight of hand involved in these drinks, the "apparent simplicity" remains the key for its founder, whose work revolves around two to three ingredients at most.
“It opens a door to gastronomic complexity. But it's better if the basic ingredient is first-rate," he says, explaining that a cocktail is above all "a question of the tension between the ingredients".
Example: Royal Basil, on the menu at both Cravan outposts. This two-ingredient cocktail, an infusion of Sicilian basil flowers enhancing the floral facet of Champagne Brut de Ruinart, is the...
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