Drinks at the Ritz Paris - Bar Hemingway & Ritz Bar

Drinks at the Ritz require one decision before the first sip: which fantasy do you want? Bar Hemingway is the legend. With only twenty-five seats, quilted leather, sepia light, books, photographs and handwritten letters, it feels like a private club that has accidentally admitted you. There is no music beyond ice and conversation. Order the house-born Serendipity, a Dry Martini or, better still, ask for something made to your mood; the tailored cocktail remains the great pleasure here. The Ritz Bar is its more contemporary counterpart, where mixology borrows from perfume and gastronomy - jasmine, sandalwood, saffron, truffle and white cocoa may all enter the glass. In summer it moves into the Grand Jardin, and its cocktails become a scented voyage through imaginary gardens. The choice is not between good and better, but between romance and spectacle. Begin at Hemingway if you can secure a seat, then cross the hotel for a second chapter. Dress smartly, leave the clock outside and accept that the price includes one of Paris’s most accomplished forms of theatre.