This month I’m being interviewed by Oliver Gee about speakeasies and hidden Paris bars for his show, the Earful Tower. We talk about secret places, CBD cocktails and the changing landscape of the Parisian speakeasy.
The Earful Tower is a podcast, videos, and blog posts about Paris and France. Oliver Gee is the guy behind it and he also wrote Paris On Air, Kylie the Crocodile, and more recently Roger the Liger.
Places mentioned in the Hidden Paris Bar episode
Full list of the speakeasies and hidden bars I shared with Oliver for his show
Rehab in Hotel Normandy:
254 rue Saint-Honoré, 75001 Paris
This is one of the city’s truly hidden bars that requires hotel staff to guide you through ongoing construction work to an unmarked door. Take the slim spiral staircase down to a dreamy underground den of CBD cocktails that transport you to another time and place. (non-CBD cocktails available too!)
Gentlemen 1919
11 Rue Jean Mermoz, 75008 Paris
Need a shave and a haircut and a dry martini? This ‘gentlemen’s club’ (that happily welcomes ladies, too) is hidden behind a hip little barber shop. Soak in the retro vibe while sinking into the comfy chesterfield sofas. Cigar smokers will appreciate the fumoir area.
L’Épicier
24 Rue Notre Dame de Nazareth, 75003 Paris
Like its sister bar, Lavomatic, the entrance to this bar is completely hidden within a different facade. Here, rather than a laundromat, you step into a miniscule shop and check the shelves stocked with boxes of couscous, harissa and various other sundries until you pull just the right box off the shelf to open the secret door to this Moroccan flavoured speakeasy.
Yago
25 Rue Victor Massé, 75009 Paris
While not officially a speakeasy, the entrance to this very new and sexy little boudoir style SoPi cocktail bar is discrete enough and its online presence minimal enough that it’s a very confidential address to have in your backpocket – especially for a romantic date night.
1905
25 Rue Beautreillis, 75004 Paris
Hidden above the busy bistro Aux Vins des Pyrénées is the belle epoque inspired bar, 1905. With a sweet little terrace and comfy corners it’s a perfect way to finish the night after dinner downstairs. Please also has an interesting history, with this space being known as a spot where Jim Morrison did his wine shopping for the day
Mobster Bar
8 Rue de Crussol, 75011 Paris
New York bar PDT was one of the OG of the Speakeasy bars with its entry hidden with a phonebooth in a hotdog shop. Paris now has their own version, and it’s all 20s feeling with old phonographics, art deco lamp shades and its own phone booth entrance.
Castor Club
14 Rue Hautefeuille, 75006 Paris
Though it’s been around for many years now, this is still a hush hush address with an unmarked door. No pretension, just know which door to open and enter into a bar with a vibe of “colonial hunting lodge meets English gentlemen’s club.” As I descried it for one publication. Since then, I’ve seen it referred to as a lodge in Iceland, a Norwegian village tavern, something from Twin Peaks, and a Siberian chalet. And somehow all of these are appropriate. Plus the cocktails are topnotch.
Le Secret 8 Buddha Bar
8-12 Rue Boissy d’Anglas, 75008 Paris
It may have been years since you went to the Buddha Bar, but there’s a secret door now hidden within its walls that make it well worth a revisit. If you know the password and can find the door you enter into a cabinet of curiosities and a truly secret bar within a bar. Discover the password by solving the riddle of the week posted on their instagram page.
Serpent a plume
24 Place des Vosges
Jewel tones and kitschy Wes Anderson vibes are a good way to describe this cool bar hidden within a Paris concept shop. It’s a beautiful-person kind of spot with stylish people who come to buy the hip PJs in the store and then listen to cool DJ’s in the bar.
Spootnik
57 Rue des Gravilliers
75003
Hidden with the Datsha restaurant, downstairs is a new Russian cosmic themed bar called Spootnik.
Paris Speakeasies and Hidden Bars we references from previous Earful Tower episodes:
Cocktail of the Month: Bee’s Knees
2 ounces (60 ml) gin
¾ ounce (22 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
¾ ounce (22 ml) honey syrup* ((1 tablespoon honey mixed with 1/2 tablespoon warm water))
*Honey syrup: mix equal parts honey and warm water until honey dissolved
Shake all ingredients over ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass.
Big thanks to…
World Radio Paris for editing and production
Son Little for the music we use
and YOU for tuning in, downloading and listening!
You can also find more of the best Paris cocktail talk at:
52 Martinis site or if you’d like to carry me around in your pocket, download the iOS app, Paris Cocktails.
Paris Cocktail Talk is available on iTunes, World Radio Paris, 52 Martinis or wherever you get your podcasts.
As usual, we remind you to drink responsibly.
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