Signature drinks on Cravan’s menu, like the Tunnel, might date back a century, but Franck Audoux’s fresh takes keep the cocktails feeling thoroughly modern.
• Since opening the original 16th arrondissement location, Franck Audoux has opened a second, much larger spot in Saint-Germain-des-Prés in partnership with Moët Hennessy. It’s not only more central but it’s also a lot bigger, with three bars (including a replica of the original Cravan on the ground floor) and a Rizzoli bookshop. It also takes reservations.
• For a taste of the local classics, try Cravan’s take on the Jungle, a sherry-spiked Martini, or the Yellow, a Suze and gin drink.
NICE TO KNOW
There aren’t many cocktail bars in the 16th arrondissement—Cravan really does stand out—but Les Coltineurs, a contemporary French bistro, is a favorite among Cravan’s staff, who recommend it for a glass of wine or dinner.
NOTABLE AND NEARBY
Among the drinks at Cravan, opened in 2019 by Franck Audoux (left) is the Cambon, a mix of dry vermouth spiked with caper juice and topped with tonic water (right).
Franck Audoux opened Cravan in 2019, the same year he released his book French Moderne, which explores the 1920s and ’30s Parisian cocktail scene through stories and recipes, some of which can be found reinterpreted on his bar’s menu. This, coupled with Cravan’s setting—a 1911 building designed by Art Nouveau master Hector Guimard—could have made for a bar steeped in nostalgia, but that’s exactly what Audoux wants to avoid. Signature drinks on the menu, like the Jungle, the Tunnel and the Yellow, might date back a century, but it’s Audoux’s take on them, reworked to meet the contemporary palate and to strike the perfect balance of flavor, that keeps them feeling thoroughly modern. The rest of the menu changes regularly, but not based on the season. Audoux particularly likes to play around with “off-season” cocktails, meaning he prepares an ingredient at the height of the season, preserves it, and then finally adds it to the menu once the season is over. “How does it feel to taste a white peach in winter?” he recently asked, and The Lady from Shanghai, a combination of gin, white peach, jasmine and lime, was born.
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Around the corner on Grand Street, Fresh Kills (from Richie Boccato) has been quietly serving some of the best cocktails in Brooklyn for nearly a decade.
NOTABLE AND NEARBY
• When outdoor seating is available, the wisteria-draped garden (book ahead on Resy) might fool you into thinking you’re somewhere between Louisiana and Provence.
• While Maison excels at the A-list classics, look closely and you’ll find lovingly executed takes on B-side hits, like the Yellow Parrot and the Obituary, that make the case for revival.
NICE TO KNOW
One of the bar’s takes on local classics is the Yellow, a drink made with Suze and gin.
The Cambon, a mix of dry vermouth spiked with caper juice and topped with tonic water, at Cravan.