Recipes for a Friend
“SI JE N'AVAIS PAS ÉTÉ ACADÉMICIEN, J'AURAI PEUT-ÊTRE ÉTÉ BARMAN.” “IF I HAD NOT BEEN AN ACADEMICIAN, I WOULD HAVE BEEN A BARTENDER.”
Poet, novelist, painter, artist, playwright, designer, filmmaker,critic: all suitable ways to describe Jean Cocteau, yet all insufficient to truly honour his genius. Words, no matter how accurate, can only do so much. Which is why we have created this menu. To not only celebrate his achievements, but the qualities of the man himself: his loves, his whims, his passions. Among them, of course, his joy at sharing a drink with his dearest friends. Great writer of drama that he was, he also found time to pen, with the help of chef Raymond Olivier, his own culinary collection, Recettes pour un ami. So Jean, wherever you are, if you can read this we hope you accept this humble cocktail menu as its belated companion.
Now, please allow us to indulge both his memory and your taste buds, as we celebrate his life in the only way we know how: with twelve entirely original and meticulously created cocktails. Just as every story needs a beginning, middle and an end, so too a menu. Our four chapters will guide you through Jean’s life and the places he once called home. In each of these you’ll find three cocktails inspired by his time there. Please read at your leisure and take your time. Should you wish to try more than one that is, of course, entirely acceptable. In fact, it’s what he probably would have wanted.
COCKTAIL HIGHLIGHT 1889 Americano
Martini Ambrato, Suze, Toasted pineapple, vanilla, lemon and fever tree slim light tonic.
1889 Americano stands for the birth year of Jean Cocteau, 1889. But it is also the year of the launching in the market of the French bitter apéritif made of gentian roots named Suze. This apéritif was described as capturing the essence of the earth, that could remind us of the idea of birth. In 2010, Suze decided to pay a tribute to Jean Cocteau by creating a limited edition of the bottle displaying a drawing of a gentian flower by Jean Cocteau, that you can find on the walls of his chapel at Sainte-Blaire-des-Simples. As a little nod to Jean, the cocktail will contain toasted pineapple which was his favorite fruit. The pineapple is also known around the world as the symbol of hospitality, dear value in the heart of Jean Cocteau as it will rhythm his life. It is a light and fruity introduction to the crazy and uncomparable life of Jean Cocteau
