Bar Bibliothèque du Saint James

The impeccable lawn and babbling fountain will make you feel like you’re walking up to the entrance of Marlinspike Hall! The Hôtel Saint-James, which just received a facelift in July of 2021, truly resembles the palace of an aristocrat of yesteryear. The hotel bar, run by Mathieu Le Feuvrier (ex-Peninsula) and housed within the building’s library, has a very posh English clubhouse feel with its coffered ceiling, leather-bound books and plush caramel-toned velvet armchairs. The night we went, seated at the marble bar, we tried: a spicy Abeille (gin, honey from the garden, verjus, homemade ginger beer, Kampot and Timut pepper – €22), served in a goblet crafted from beeswax; an “Il n’y a pas de pépin” with subtle vegetal notes (gin infused with grape blossoms, Champagne, verjus, grape sugar syrup, Kampot pepper – €22); and, masquerading as a dessert, a gourmet Caprice (Moutai baijiu, espresso, coffee liqueur, bitter cherry), which arrived at the same time as an incredible chocolate mousse with dried seaweed, prepared by Sophie Bonnefond, the hotel’s pastry chef (€40 for cocktail-dessert combo). // Paul Hackett