BearChat with Colin Peter Field,
author, mixologist extraordinaire of Hemingway
Bar at Hotel Ritz Paris and voted the world’s best bartender by Forbes
and Travel + Leisure magazines.
 |
| Talking with the always charming Colin Peter Field |
JB: How long have you been head bartender at the Hemingway Bar?
CPF: 22 years.
JB: Hotel Ritz Paris has been closed for
renovations since 2012. What have you been up to for the past 4 years?
CPF: I’ve created a
program with Air France called, ‘Cocktails
in the Sky’ and I present my signature cocktails to the First and
Business Class passengers ; it’s great fun to talk with the travelers and crew
on board and an opportunity to see the world. Since I am
interested in motivating young bartenders, I am also President of the jury of Meilleur Apprenti de France bartenders.
The graduates of
this prestigious school eventually earn a university degree in this noble
profession.
I am also constantly
traveling since I like to discover and make sure I am utilizing the best,
authentic ingredients in my cocktails. I just spent time at a monastery with
the Carthusian Monks since they produce the best chartreuse.
JB: When the Ritz opens this month,
will there be any noticeable changes or enhancements to the Hemingway Bar?
CPF: The Hemingway is
still considered an iconic cocktail bar so we are not veering too far away from
tradition, however, I am now introducing the ‘hemburger’, my Parisian version of the American sliders.
JB: I last interviewed
you in April 2004 and the star high-end cocktail at the Hemingway Bar was the ‘Ritz Sidecar’ made with Vintage 1830
Champagne cognac. It was 420 Euro then (approx. $500 in 2004) and there were at
least 5 sold per week. What is the price now?
CPF: It’s not about the
price-what makes the ‘Ritz Sidecar’
so special is it is still made with the Vintage 1830 Champagne cognac! In 1923,
Frank Meier, the charismatic bartender at the Ritz, created and introduced this
cocktail and the ingredients, the tradition and the passion are in every ‘Ritz Sidecar’ we mix!
Interestingly enough, right before the Ritz closed for the renovation in 2012,
a gentleman ordered 6 Ritz Sidecars at 1500 Euro each.
JB: Over a decade ago,
your clients loved the ‘Benderitter’ named after Brigitte Benderitter, the PR Director
of the French Publishing house, De Chene. It was made with champagne, ‘Essence
of Ginger’ and garnished with a medallion of kumquat. Which
cocktails are most requested?
CPF: If you get a
cocktail named after you then you become immortal so it is an extreme honor.
Years ago, two sisters used to come in quite often with their boyfriends. The
Bond sisters each wanted a cocktail named after them and it would not have been
politically correct to choose one sister over the other so I created a cocktail
called, ‘Miss Bonde‘ (added the e to
make it plural) to pay tribute to both of them. It is still one of the most
popular cocktails and the people that order them are usually confident,
independent and have a certain joie de vivre…
CPF: I have always
tried to be on the cutting edge. Twenty two years ago, I was serving
raspberry vodka. The Hemingway was the first bar in France to use frozen
glasses (American bartenders were doing this much longer) and we were actually
the first cocktail bar in the world to serve cucumber water to our patrons.
Now, I present my guests with a variety of tomatoes on a silver tray
so they can choose which tomatoes go into their ‘Hemingway Bloody Mary’. Instead of celery salt, I use fresh celery
and radish. I have always been using the freshest, most natural
ingredients in my garden- to- drink cocktails. I have a few new cocktails that
will appear on the new menu when we reopen-I hope you don’t mind if I can’t
share them with you, but I want it to be a surprise.
JB: Many chefs don’t
like to deviate from their signature dishes. Where do you draw the line when
making changes to our signature cocktails?
CPF: We make people
whatever they want because we want the Hemingway to feel like their home. We
are also genuine and try to be engaging and sincere. Many times patrons don’t
know what they want to drink, but, after speaking with them, we can usually
make a cocktail that suits their personality.
JB: What are some of your favorite bars in Paris at the moment?
CPF: I like the bar at
the fairly new Maison Souget Hotel opposite the Moulin Rouge. The bar is
similar to a boudoir and, Clara, the young, female bartender, is very creative.
I also like to go to the Moonshiner which is in back of a
pizzeria. It is a low-key, friendly bar and you can just relax and be yourself.
JB: Do you have any stories about famous people you can share?
CPF: Many years ago, Sharon Stone was staying at the Ritz and, when she called
for a cocktail, I brought it up to her room, but her body guards answered the
door. Since I thought I should deliver it to her personally, I told the 2
gentleman that there was a specific procedure to mixing the drink so they had
me present it to her. When I walked in, she was standing in the middle of the
room all in black. Her beauty was so mesmerizing that I could all but give her
the cocktail, bow and leave.
