Naughty Paris fans already know about the Experimental Cocktail Club, a très cool cocktail bar with New York style in the Montorgueil district. So when rumor spread that the same owners-- Olivier, Romée and Pierre-Charles -- were opening up a new "Speakeasy Rive Gauche" of course we all showed up, no questions asked. And that's saying a lot, especially when the address is on the edge of the Latin Quarter, where no Parisian with any style at all would be caught dead.

Gentlemen, you've done us proud.

The Curio Parlor is spacious, cozy, sexy and unique. Its cabinet de curosités includes a menagerie of taxidermied animals, from the fox peeking out from behind the bar to the peacock over the mantel and several hunting trophies, butterflies in glass cases, shells and bones and other curious collectibles behind the Art Deco bar. Walls are covered in deep green jacquard, small nooks off to the side hidden behind thick curtains, and a second bar downstairs where, the first night I arrived, there were silent films being screened. The crowd is a bit older than at the Experimental (30-something), with the same sense of casual stylishness and not a hint of snobbery anywhere in sight.

The cocktails, of course, are sublime. I have tried almost all of them, but my favorite is the Spiced Mule (high quality rum, homemade vanilla sugar, and ginger beer are the main ingredients, served over ice in a chisled lowball). Like the Experimental, the Curio Parlor only serves cocktails and Champagne, so don't come looking for a beer. Prices are from €10, and for the moment the opening hours are from 9pm until 2am Mon-Sat (check back in the fall for changes).

Curio Parlor
16 rue des Bernadins, 5th
M° Maubert-Mutualité

PS: This Thursday, July 17, would be a good time to check out the new bar for Bart & Baker's Soirée Epicurio. Put on your finest and come shake your booty.