The Modern Alchemist

Who’s at the helm of this industrial bar with bare brick walls, wood and leather features that opened in 2019? Christopher Ducat, Sébastien Bourdain and Benjamin Deniel, who’ve all shaken about the Brussels cocktail scene (Life is Beautiful, Greenlab, Cipiace). They’re the brains behind the sharp and seasonal cocktail menu (€14), prepared with a medicine-cabinet full of homemade syrups and cordials, which they add to their inspired remedies: Bitter Jungle (bitter chinato, Antique rum, green Chartreuse, Citadelle gin, verjus, gentian and passion fruit), or Epicurus (Ferrand Cognac, Isle of Fiji rum, sherry and clementine cordial) – ooof, it packs a punch! Add to that a (generous) portion of chorizo flambéed with rum, gobbled up in seconds (€9) and XXL green olives (€4) to go with a spot-on Pisco Sour. The added bonus? It’s also a first-class shop selling premium rums, whiskeys, liqueurs, and even signature bottled cocktails, like an Old Fashioned Rum or Negroni pimped with (or without) mezcal. // Cléo Popina