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Little Red Door debuts reopening cocktail menu
Paris bar Little Red Door has revealed a funhouse mirror-inspired menu, after opening under new ownership on 1 July.
Titled Twisted Mirrors, the new menu is inspired by funhouse mirrors at an amusement park, which the bar says ‘distort the known into the unknown to create a sense of wonder and anticipation’.
The list comprises five classic cocktails alongside the bar’s signature interpretation. Each is made with French ingredients, spotlighting seasonal and local produce and keeping sustainability as a core of the menu. Each is also listed with an environmental score out of 100, to showcase the carbon footprint and impact of each drink.
On the menu, guests will find a Negroni Sbagliato and its signature counterpart the Sbagliato Sbagliato (made up of strawberry Crémant, French vermouth blend and French bitter apéritif blend), as well as a Margarita with its French interpretation, the Pêche Marguerite (combining peach, everlasting flowers, un-oaked Armagnac and Fine de Bourgogne).
For punch fans, there’s a Fish House Punch, which is also presented beside the bar’s French version, the Poisson Maison Melon – a mix of melon, lemon verbena, Cognac, agricole rum, walnut aperitif and fizz.
Little Red Door was acquired in June by Hugo Gallou and Hyacinthe Lescoët, the owners of nearby The Cambridge Public House.
The menu is just one of the changes Gallou and Lescoët are implementing as they look to ‘ensure LRD’s DNA remains true to its roots’ while freshening up the bar.
Alessandro Rancan has been brought in as assistant bar manager, while Oliver Eardley (previously of the Savoy in London) has been hired as head bartender.
Bringing back the old DNA
Speaking to The Spirits Business on why they decided to purchase The Little Red Door, Gallou said: “First of all, we started hearing rumours about Little Red Door not doing too good. They were neighbours. We know the staff, the staff know each other, the bar managers and so on. When the administration was made official by a lawyer, we thought we should do something about it. It’s a neighbour and it’s driving a lot of business in the neighbourhood and, obviously, it’s also a great bar. So we should do something about it.
“We didn’t want [the site] to go to a restaurant chain or to some venture capital fund where a big company or spirit brand could buy it… It’s an independent bar and we thought it best if it stays an independent bar.
“There was a little competition in the end, but we were the highest bidder and we had the closest address, so we were given the keys. Now it’s about how the bar works – it’s a different place with different clientele and ambience.”
To reinvigorate the bar’s design, Gallou says he is meeting an architect to see what the team can do, but he doesn’t want the bar to lose its DNA.
He explained: “The DNA – maybe not from last year, but before that, when it was fun. Little Red Door used to be quite fun. I think when the economic tensions started appearing, it got too serious. The first aim for us, though, is to get it back to profit because it lost its way. It’s a great bar and it should be profitable.
“For decor, there might be a few things we will change – simply because some chairs are broken, so we need to change those. Companies in administration usually can’t buy stuff any more. So, we need to do some maintenance, which is normal.
“Maybe we’ll close for a week or two in January to do a bit of painting.”
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