Le Syndicat debuts SY2K menu
Paris bar Le Syndicat has created a new menu that reimagines ‘guilty pleasure’ flavours from the 2000s as cocktails.
Founded in 2014 by Romain Le Mouëllic, Le Syndicat celebrated its 10th anniversary last year and is known for championing French spirits soundtracked to a hip-hop playlist.
Titled SY2K, the concept – which the team dubs ‘the hip-hop revolution, the cocktail version’ – aims to capture the spirit of the early 2000s, a period when rap and R&B were defining popular culture.
Drawing on CD compilations from 1995 to 2005, the menu’s pages are illustrated like a mixtape, with each of the eight cocktails paired with a ‘distinct, reference-driven universe’ that blends photography, collage and digital creation.
The bar explained that an SY2K cocktail is “the taste of our youth, reinterpreted with sophistication. Strawberry, banana, coconut, vanilla, pecan: bold, fun flavours enhanced by innovative techniques and exceptional spirits, many of which are often overlooked by younger generations”.
Aligning with the bar’s philosophy, all drinks are made with French spirits, including a few ‘artisanal gems’ such as an unaged Armagnac from Castelbajac.
Highlights from the menu include The French Kiss, a long drink combining peppermint, xylitol and liquorice with French craft gin Jos’berri. Bond’s Sneaky Martini features pecan, cream, vodka and Mattei Cap Corse Blanc – think ice cream meets a Martini, said the bar.
The Tropicool, meanwhile, is made with Armagnac Janneau, tropical cordial and Poire Belle de Brillet, a pear spirit from Cognac. The cordial is house-made and clarified, which the bar said ‘recreates a tropical flavour by focusing on aromatic notes – passion fruit, mango, and orange, all balanced with care’.
The bar added that the recipes reinvent guilty pleasures from their teenage years: “A chocolate bar, a yogurt drink after school, a candy, an ice cream… popular flavours, elevated to new heights.”
In September 2022, The Spirits Business spoke to Le Mouëllic about how Le Syndicat is breathing new life into ‘grandpa French spirits’ such as Cognac and Armagnac.
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