Run Bear Naked This Valentine’s Day with Bear & Bear Travel

BearChat with Colin Peter Field: author, mixologist extraordinaire and voted the world’s best bartender by Forbes and Travel + Leisure.  He recently left the Hemingway Bar at Hotel Ritz Paris and now he has rebranded himself into a global sensation.

JB: How long were you at the Hemingway Bar and what have you been up to since then?

CPF: I left the Hemingway Bar after 29 years. It was a privilege as it is today for anyone to work within the walls of the Ritz. It was an honour to work for the Al Fayed family.

Only James Bond lives twice and having created new service techniques which were obviously successful and made the Hemingway Bar the bar it is today, it was time to share and move on.

Since the beginning of June I have worked in Maxims, Le Palais Galliera in Paris, Le Touessrok Shangri-La in Mauritius, The Colony in Palm Beach, la Maison Proust and am booked for events at Shepherd’s Hollow, Michigan, in the Vittoria Excelsior Sorrento and in 2 hotels in Switzerland. I am also a member of the Advisory board for Mujen Spirits and negotiating at this moment collaborations with another very special distillery…stay tuned!

JB: Do you have a special Signature cocktail recipe you can share with my readers?

CPF: In honor of Valentine’s Day, I have created a cocktail just for you!

RUN BEAR NAKED:

In a white wine glass:
1/3 fl oz Manguin Oli’Still Eau-de-Vie (Olive brandy from Provence)
1/3 fl oz La Tomato (Japanese tomato liqueur)
4 fl oz Champagne Brut Barons de Rothschild

The Olive Eau-de-Vie and La Tomato should be poured cold from the fridge and poured directly into the glass. No need to stir.

JB: For the sober curious, do you have a favorite Valentine’s Day mocktail that you can share with me?

CPF: I know that it’s very fashionable to drink non-alcoholic cocktails these days, a little bit like driving electric cars, so I shall give you a recipe. Not that I make it very often, but I did create it about 25 years ago. It’s called “The Pilar” after Ernest Hemingway’s fishing boat and, to my surprise, I have seen it in several bars in Paris on the menu. I wonder if they know who created it?

THE PILAR:

In a tall glass:
1 fl oz Lime Juice
2 fl oz Clear Apple Juice
2 untouched branches of Fresh Mint

Top up with Ginger Ale and add slices of lime and apple to the drink. Stir.

*Ernest Hemingway was a regular at the Hemingway Bar at Hotel Ritz Paris. He first visited the bar in the 1920s, when he was a young writer living in Paris.

JB: Do you have a favorite champagne?

CPF: My favorite Champagne is Premier Cru Brut of Frerejean Frères. The Champagne is fabulous, fantastic, professional and deep with notes of almond and walnut with pear. It’s made of Chardonnay and Pinot noir in the Avize Town, Côte des Blancs.