Marcelle Explores Paris With A Stop At Little Red Door

Little Red Door is a speakeasy cocktail bar in La Marais, a trendy area of Paris filled with great restaurants, bars, and plenty of shopping. The bar team rotates their cocktail menu every few months, featuring unique combinations unlike anywhere else.

My boyfriend, Jordan, and I were in Paris over the holidays. There are a variety of speakeasy bars throughout the city, and Little Red Door came as a recommendation from a friend. It’s also included on a couple of different lists we saw. We arrived at 11:30pm on Friday, December 27th, and there was a long line to get in, comprised mostly of American tourists. We thought immediately that it must have been some kind of tourist trap (never a good sign when there aren’t any locals in sight), but decided to stick it out regardless. Because of the line, we figured it would be crowded inside, but soon found out that they only allow as many people in as there seats to sit. After about thirty minutes of standing in line (and after having made a couple of new friends in said line; two of them in one of the photos attached), we entered through the door to the left of the little red door. We were hoping to go through the red door itself, but it was a bit too small (hence the name of the bar — LOL). 

Similar to Trick Dog, the bar team comes up with a completely new cocktail menu concept every few months. The printed menus themselves (or shall I say books?!) are extensive and a bit intimidating. Hefty size, lots to read through, unfamiliar ingredients and unique combinations. I had a hard time understanding the bartender’s French, but he explained their menu concept, “Away With Words,” as featuring one single word from 13 different countries. Each ingredient in the cocktail then came from that country, and all somehow tied into the featured word/name of the cocktail. We didn’t recognize many of the ingredients listed throughout the menu, so we told the bartender what we liked and he recommended what he felt would be best for us, based on the information we shared. I opted for their Spanish-inspired beverage, the Madrugada, made with Altos LRD Blend, Racines de Suze (root aperitif), Aperitif Wine, and Digestif Berries. Meanwhile Jordan got the Naccman, an Arabic-inspired cocktail made with Fermented Agave, Forbidden Fruit, and Hopps. Both cocktails were perfectly to our liking — and we quickly applauded the bartender for getting our taste spot on with the little detail he was provided. We loved it here and are glad we stopped by, though not sure if we’d feel the need to go back and wait in another long line. Either way, I’m sure I’ll be keeping tabs on what kind of fun cocktail creations they come up with next.