Sunday, October 12, 2008
Food, Wine, Beer & Spirits, "Behind the Bar", Q&A

Man of the world

Jèrôme Legendre on France, Atlanta and bubble gum cocktails

By Hope S. Philbrick

New lounge manager Jèrôme Legendre is bringing new tastes to Park 75. Born and educated in France, this married father of 2-and-a-half-year-old twin boys has been living and working in America just four months. The Sunday Paper recently talked to Legendre about his impressions of Atlanta and his creative take on cocktails.

Q What brought you to Atlanta?
A I’ve been working in the industry 12 years. I earned a bachelor’s degree in hospitality from Helene Boucher in France. I learned service and also kitchen—I’ve worked most of the time as a server but also as a chef. At the start of my career, I traveled a lot through France, working at different five-star hotels. Then I moved to Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s town, in England. There I became a sommelier. Then I moved back to France. In Paris I worked at Four Seasons Hotel George V Paris, a very famous hotel. I worked there six years, doing room service, banqueting, and also started to play with mixing drinks. Then I decided to move to Atlanta. I was looking for a position of lounge manager and there were three places with openings: Vancouver, Philadelphia and Atlanta. I think the weather is very nice here, so I picked Atlanta.

How does Atlanta’s bar scene differ from the one in Paris?
In France, people drink more aperitifs—it’s part of life when we go to a restaurant to have a drink before dinner. It’s very important. In the U.S., it’s not as common. People may have a drink, but then also order tapas. In France, people drink lots of champagne and also drink more cordials after dinner, especially cognac or Grand Marnier. I thought Americans would drink more cordials, but they don’t. In Atlanta, I’ve seen people drinking wine more than anything else, especially white wine, and some cocktails, usually martinis. In France people don’t drink many martinis; French cocktails are very complicated.

This bar at Park 75 in particular is very friendly, enjoyable and comfortable. It’s not too big; it’s a nice size.

Tell me about some cocktails you’ve created.
Sweet Memories is fun. It’s made using French vodka that’s been infused with Bazooka bubble gum, [with] a bit of simple syrup for sweetness and shaken over ice. It tastes exactly like that gum. It’s very interesting to infuse the vodka because as it sits on the shelf the pieces of gum start moving up and down in the bottle, and you can see that something is going on. At first, I tried different candies and about five different gums, but Bazooka is much tastier than any of the other ones.
   
I really like to play with food and drinks. For example, I made Quince Delicacy, a drink using quince, cloves and champagne. I did a Chai Margarita using Cointreau, tequila and loose black tea flavored with cinnamon, clove and other spices. A drink I think will be very popular uses raspberry Absolut vodka with rose essence and lychee syrup—it’s very sweet. When I was working in Paris, a pastry chef made a nice raspberry macaroon with lychee sorbet; the combination had a great taste, and I said, “I’ll try to do that with a drink.”

I made a star anise syrup. I’ll take fruit and macerate it in vodka or gin for about two weeks and the spirit takes all the flavor of the fruit. It’s very nice. In summer, I did a rhubarb martini. I like to take some fruits that are not very famous here, and what I’m trying to do is help people discover something. People seem to really enjoy what I’m trying to do.

I'm a gourmet, and I like to prepare foods for family and friends. When I think about something new for the hotel, I also play with flavors to make a drink. The menus change with the seasons, including the cocktail menu. I’ve come up with fall cocktails for the fall, but I’m already thinking about winter. SP

The Lounge at Park 75 is located in the Four Seasons, 75 14th Street. To learn more, call 404-881-9898 or visit www.fourseasons.com/atlanta.