ENDING THE YEAR "PROPERLY"

There is nothing like a properly made cocktail in a beautiful environment when you are in the mood to celebrate. When I bought a ticket for a musical and realized that I had about an hour free, all I could think was champagne and oysters (Harrod's is closed, I couldn't remember the exact street of Wright Brothers in Soho which would be quite busy). This is when wandering around while taking photos comes in handy (and a memory that flags the restaurant locations). I immediately remembered the beautiful French bistro I had seen in Piccadilly Square area. I was pretty sure it would be open and if it were that they would have oysters. So, I headed right there (after making sure I remembered where the theater was... can you imagine the disaster if I couldn't find my way back after a glass of champagne?)

The street level was empty, but the doorman was very friendly while opening the door. I asked him if there was a bar where I could have oysters and champagne (bars are not a given here, not in the sense that we know in the US. Some pubs and restaurants don't have bars. Some don't have chairs at the bars. Some don't like people using the bars (standing or sitting.) He assured me that there was something I'd like downstairs. I was there, and for some reason I knew this place had it right (advantage of reading menus and analyzing design for many years). 

While I was going down, I was already smiling with the sight of famous French posters and the tastefully done staircase area. Once I went down, I knew I was in for a treat. I could see a beautiful bar through the doors and I could hear the perfectly balanced 1920s music. I felt like walking into a bar in a dream. This is what I expected New Orleans to be when I was there for New Year's two years ago: properly dressed, professional bartenders; properly lined up cocktail tools, beautiful bottles, and glassware. Bartenders making cocktails with the necessary but minimum amount of movements, almost as if dancing to a ballet. This went on for a while as I wasn't sure what to get anymore, and I felt like if I spoke the dream would go away. For a while I watched the bartenders make their beautiful concoctions but my mind was stuck on the first one I saw, it was a drink being topped with champagne in a champagne glass, which turned out to be a manhattan topped with champagne, and of course I had to have one:

And I did, with great joy, and a large smile on my face while the music played on and the bartenders quietly danced to it as if the music was there to help them move to make the cocktails. I never got any oysters, but didn't even think about it. That would have to be another time. One can always find places to get oysters, but one cannot always find a place that makes proper cocktails in a beautiful environment, even for a woman alone on New Year's Eve! Thank you Brasserie Zedel (and the bartender and the doorman), for creating such a wonderful experience, and setting a new standard for the cocktail experience. I will be back...