>> Susan Schwartz: How does someone from Brittany end up in Britain
Speaker:only to return to Paris and open, of all things,
Speaker:a, uh, pub? Don't be surprised though. This pub
Speaker:comes with a touch of ooh la la. I'm, um, Susan
Speaker:Schwartz, your drinking companion, and this is
Speaker:Lush Life podcast. Every week we're inspired to
Speaker:live life one cocktail, cocktail at a time. I'm
Speaker:joined by Jacynt, uh, Lesquitt, whose journey
Speaker:began in France, where his love for hospitality
Speaker:was first sparked while helping out in his
Speaker:mother's Pizzeria. At just 12 years old, after
Speaker:earning his master's degree in advertising,
Speaker:Jacynth made his way to London, igniting his
Speaker:passion for the craft of the cocktail. He then
Speaker:returned to Paris where he championed seasonality,
Speaker:sustainability and innovation. With this wealth of
Speaker:experience, in 2019, he teamed up with friends to
Speaker:open their own bar, the Cambridge Public House. A,
Speaker:uh, space that brings his philosophy of flavor,
Speaker:creativity and hospitality to life. Today, he's
Speaker:here to tell us how it all began. But before that,
Speaker:if you love Lush.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Life, we would so appreciate your support.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: By signing up to our newsletter, you can get our
Speaker:advice on anything to do with home bartending,
Speaker:where to drink in every major city, special
Speaker:recipes, and even your very own Lush Life mug.
Speaker:Just head to a lushlifemanual.substack.com and
Speaker:sign up now. Let's join Jacent.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: So it's really great to have you on the show. I'm
Speaker:so excited to have you, especially right after
Speaker:your global series. So we're. Why don't you
Speaker:introduce yourself? Even though I've done a little
Speaker:intro in the beginning and tell the people who you
Speaker:are, where you work and then we'll start.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Yeah. Well, thank you for having me. It's really
Speaker:good to be here this morning. My name is Yassin
Speaker:Espette. I'm the co founder of the Cambridge
Speaker:Public House cocktail pub in Paris and also the co
Speaker:owner of Little Red Door, also in Paris. And I'm a
Speaker:bartender, owner and everything that's related to
Speaker:this profession, this age.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Of time, all that great stuff. So here at Lush
Speaker:Life, we always like to go back before we go
Speaker:forward. It would be great to hear where you're
Speaker:from and a little bit about your upbringing.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Yeah, of course. So I'm from, uh, Brittany, from a
Speaker:tiny island in the west of France. I've been going
Speaker:there until I was 18. They went to university. I
Speaker:studied advertising strategy, which brought me to
Speaker:Italy, Germany, and then some internship that I
Speaker:didn't really like. So I moved to London and
Speaker:started to Work in, in cocktail bars and.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Oh, wait, wait, wait. There's a lot to unpack
Speaker:there. All right, so a little town in Brittany.
Speaker:And were you always bartending while you were
Speaker:studying? Was this something that you were doing
Speaker:for extra money or was that something that came
Speaker:after?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Yes. Uh, my mom had two pizzerias. So, um, I was
Speaker:like 12, which is not really legal. I was working
Speaker:there in the summer to just help and make some
Speaker:money. And all the time throughout my university
Speaker:time, I've been working in restaurants. Balls,
Speaker:mostly. Drink, like waitering, not really
Speaker:cocktails until London.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Was it something that you thought that you would
Speaker:ever get into? I mean, was you. Did you have
Speaker:parental pressure to say, come and take over our
Speaker:pizzerias or was it, no way am I doing that, I've
Speaker:got to do something completely different?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: No, there was no pressure at all. But it's just, I
Speaker:guess a lot of people going in my age going to
Speaker:marketing or communication, uh, studies was like
Speaker:kind of where you go and you don't exactly know
Speaker:what you want to do. So I think I've been looking.
Speaker:I, um, didn't really know what I wanted to do. So
Speaker:I've just been, okay, I'm going to study and
Speaker:hopefully it will appear to me.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: But you worked in IT for a couple years, you said.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: I wanted to get a master degree in Italy, and then
Speaker:I moved a little bit to Germany, still in the
Speaker:process of studying. So I've done some internship
Speaker:throughout my university time and never actually
Speaker:worked full time in there.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: What was it about the drinks industry or what you
Speaker:had been doing that was kind of so seductive that
Speaker:you said, you know what, screw it, I'm going to
Speaker:try my hand at this.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: On the first day in London, it was, uh, at the
Speaker:radio bar and there was the bar backing. So I just
Speaker:wanted to stay for the summer and I just got
Speaker:interested. So I tried to push really hard to jump
Speaker:behind the bar every time I see an occasion. I
Speaker:tried to study cocktails. It just looked very, uh,
Speaker:fun. And also the interaction with the guests and
Speaker:the people and it was actually also really good
Speaker:money. So there was a lot of factor that was
Speaker:attractive to this profession. And then I was
Speaker:lucky enough to push the right dolls and world of
Speaker:like world, uh, class Cartel came to me and I hear
Speaker:hand services. And um, yeah, I started at 69
Speaker:copycrow and a drink factory. And that's where I
Speaker:actually learned everything.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: I know you've mentioned a few things about the
Speaker:community, about making some money. The cocktails
Speaker:at that Time. Did you realize that this could be a
Speaker:profession? You know, was. Because it's a while
Speaker:ago.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Uh, yeah, for sure. I mean, the first year I was
Speaker:like, okay, should I go back into what I've been
Speaker:studying? So I don't like wasting it. I always say
Speaker:the past five years of my life. No, I think also
Speaker:my goal after doing some internship, I didn't
Speaker:really enjoy the office of his job. I didn't
Speaker:really enjoy having like, uh, the same schedule
Speaker:every day and doing the same, like going to the
Speaker:same office every day. So I think through
Speaker:bartending and also seeing what could happen with
Speaker:like events and guest shift and mostly also being
Speaker:my own boss was something that really, uh,
Speaker:interested me.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Especially working someplace like 69 Cobweh, which
Speaker:was at the forefront of the cocktail renaissance
Speaker:revolution or whatever you want to call it,
Speaker:Especially here in London. Those you just. It
Speaker:could blow your mind. I guess what they were doing
Speaker:then.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Yeah, definitely. It wasn't really about the. The
Speaker:cocktails are really interested there. I mean the
Speaker:cocktails were interesting, of course, but it was
Speaker:more the. The way the service was going was such a
Speaker:tiny space, but, uh, so many people are going
Speaker:through it. Uh, working there was probably still
Speaker:the best bar ever walked out because it was like a
Speaker:dance with the team. I, uh, was lucky enough to,
Speaker:to be there at golden age the bar as well. So it
Speaker:was a really incredible place to, to work at. And
Speaker:then after I entered the drink factory part where
Speaker:you can actually see the lab and you can see
Speaker:production. And so, yeah, I was lucky enough for
Speaker:them to trust me to go in every single department
Speaker:of the company.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Having such a great experience there. Did you
Speaker:always want to come back to Paris or, you know,
Speaker:did you think that London would stay your home for
Speaker:a while?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Uh, London was a little too intense for me. So
Speaker:it's a really major city and um, it's quite long
Speaker:to go any place to commute. Paris seems to be a
Speaker:big city, but it's actually quite small. And if
Speaker:you want to go from east to west, I cycle there in
Speaker:30 minutes. Uh, London, everything takes 30
Speaker:minutes minimum in London, which is good, but it
Speaker:just wasn't for me. I think I also cherished like
Speaker:work, life, balance. So Paris was a, uh, bit more
Speaker:that to me and also a business perspective. I
Speaker:think it was easier for me to. To open a bar in
Speaker:Paris because I've got like my people here and I
Speaker:didn't know the market at the time, but maybe it's
Speaker:one or so came back to Paris. So we had. And I
Speaker:think the cocktail wasn't as developed as London.
Speaker:So, yeah, a lot of factors.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: What year are we talking about? When did you move
Speaker:back?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: In 2015.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Okay. So a good 10 years ago when.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: I worked at the Bacon, La Marie Celeste, which is
Speaker:part of the Quixotic Project. So Candelaria Group
Speaker:and I opened the. A new business for them. And
Speaker:after that, in 2019, we opened the Cambridge.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: When you were in London, what do you think that in
Speaker:your mind, being an inherent marketer and having
Speaker:studied it for a long time, that you were
Speaker:thinking, okay, my goal is to have this kind of
Speaker:thing that you thought, when I get to Paris, I
Speaker:want to do everything that I can to do that.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Yeah, definitely. I think, again, the ultimate
Speaker:goal was to not have any bosses.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: All right, I forgot. Yes. I don't think you said
Speaker:that before. Exactly.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Yeah. It's to be free to do, like, whatever kind
Speaker:of whatever I want. So that was. That was the goal
Speaker:behind opening a bar.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Sometimes the bar can be the boss, you know?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Yeah. There's always the bank.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: So the bank and the bar. Right. There's always
Speaker:some ball. All right, so. So you're working,
Speaker:you're doing your menus. Did you have a kind of
Speaker:bar in mind? Because it's. It's funny that you
Speaker:started one that's named after some place in
Speaker:Britain. Not Britain, but Britain, you know. So
Speaker:what were some of your ideas before you started,
Speaker:uh, the Cambridge?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Well, to be honest, when we moved to Paris, we
Speaker:were, like, maybe a little cocky. Was like, oh,
Speaker:we've been to London. We're going to move to
Speaker:Paris. We're going to. We're going to open the
Speaker:best bar. Something like that. And then after one
Speaker:week, we realized, like, we weren't ready. So we
Speaker:pushed back the project for.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Okay.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: We didn't decide for how long, but we're like,
Speaker:okay, we're not ready. Uh, you guys are gonna do
Speaker:what he's doing. I'm gonna walk in different bars
Speaker:and restaurants and see how it goes. We didn't
Speaker:have the idea of the pub at first, but it's, uh,
Speaker:with another. Our third partner called Greg, is
Speaker:from London. We used to work together there. And,
Speaker:um, we realized we. We miss pubs, so we are
Speaker:meeting every week for some drinks. And then we
Speaker:always talked about it. So the idea came. Came
Speaker:like that, just by having something that we were
Speaker:missing in Paris.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Now, you said we. Who was the other person?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Uh, so a guy called Greg Inder.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: No, no, I meant other than Greg. You said, we came
Speaker:in So I wasn't sure if there were two of you @
Speaker:Paris.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: My partner today is uh, called Hugo, uh, is uh,
Speaker:doing more the back of house and the financials
Speaker:development part of the company. It's not working
Speaker:in bars. It's always working as uh, an
Speaker:entrepreneur or in startup, something like that.
Speaker:So he's my m business partner.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: So the three of you, you got your two Frenchmen
Speaker:and one Brit and you come up with this idea for a
Speaker:pub type bar, right?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Exactly.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Did you think there is kind of a rivalry between
Speaker:the Brits and the French? How did you think the
Speaker:Parisians would take to it?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: I say everybody, everybody loves a pub here. We do
Speaker:have a lot of pubs but they all have the same
Speaker:offers kind of so you can find the same beers and
Speaker:the same food, etc. Uh, and it's not really well,
Speaker:well seen. Sometimes it's a little bit dirty. It
Speaker:doesn't have the same appeal as the pubs you have
Speaker:in London and UK or in Ireland. So we want
Speaker:something a bit more modern. We already saw some
Speaker:cocktail pubs in London where it's a little bit
Speaker:more of a modernized version of a pub. So we
Speaker:really wanted to have this like, include cocktails
Speaker:and into like casual environment. At the time it
Speaker:was still very much a speakeasy trend. In Paris
Speaker:you have a lot of speakeasies and we didn't want
Speaker:to walk in the dark for our life. So we want
Speaker:something very open, something welcoming. Cocktail
Speaker:culture is a bit hard in France because we have a
Speaker:big wine culture, beer culture, sorry. So to have
Speaker:like a very uh, welcoming space to make everybody
Speaker:feel like safe and welcome to enjoy your cocktail
Speaker:beer they want, that was the goal.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Maybe you can talk me through not just your first
Speaker:menus but maybe your kind of your mission for it
Speaker:because you're a B corps now. I mean was this
Speaker:always part of your plan to put sustainability at
Speaker:the forefront?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Well, the last, last project I worked at before
Speaker:the uh, Cambridge was called Les Gros Vert. It was
Speaker:the new bar restaurant of the quixotic groups in
Speaker:Paris. And it was a goal to be to waste as less as
Speaker:possible. Even with the kitchen, to the bar, to
Speaker:the furniture was really well uh, thought of. So I
Speaker:got a lot of inspiration from that. But it was
Speaker:mostly to work with seasonality and I think was it
Speaker:wasn't really nice everywhere but it wasn't that
Speaker:much at the time. We always had the idea to change
Speaker:the menu a bit every week. Also it's, I find it
Speaker:boring sometimes to work in bar where you know,
Speaker:you don't really have access to creativity and you
Speaker:just replicate the menu for one year. So after a
Speaker:few months it becomes quite monotonous. So
Speaker:changing a little bit every week, working with
Speaker:season because we have such a great terroir in
Speaker:France. So it wasn't so much about being like,
Speaker:okay, we're not going to waste anything away. It
Speaker:was always to incorporate this in the creative
Speaker:process. But some of it, you have fun and to be
Speaker:playful with ingredients.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Uh, I don't know if you remember it's been a while
Speaker:since you opened, but you know, some of those
Speaker:first cocktails and how you felt that the people
Speaker:who were coming into the bar and enjoying them, as
Speaker:you said, how they took to these cocktails, did
Speaker:they like them? Were they open to this? Was it
Speaker:tough to get people thinking about the way or
Speaker:thinking the way you thought?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: No, to be honest, it was quite easy. Uh, the first
Speaker:menu was mostly some classic twists I've learned
Speaker:from London that was maybe not very famous in
Speaker:Paris. So we took a stone friends and worked with
Speaker:quints. We took an army navy and worked with
Speaker:seaweed. Uh, just having a little twist on this
Speaker:classic. Mixing spirits as well into cocktails is
Speaker:something like we always did. And slowly, slowly
Speaker:we walked throughout the, the cocktail of the week
Speaker:phase. So every week we have a, we have a new
Speaker:cocktail. And it was a great way for us to um, to,
Speaker:to work with Regulus to open the uh, cocktail
Speaker:world to some of, some of the guests that were
Speaker:just coming for beers and we became friends. So
Speaker:after a few weeks, like, okay, we have this new
Speaker:cocktail. Do you want to try it? It's on us. And
Speaker:then, you know, slowly, slowly, they just come
Speaker:every week to, to try the new cocktail. So it's
Speaker:very, very easy and well received from a
Speaker:community.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: That's a great idea that cocktail of the week,
Speaker:especially to get beer drinkers. Because obviously
Speaker:you come to a pub here, most people drink it.
Speaker:Actually, most people don't expect cocktails to be
Speaker:that great at a pub. It's really. I won't say it's
Speaker:rare, but they're definitely coming for the beer.
Speaker:So if that's the same, and especially in Paris
Speaker:where they weren't, as you said, so in tuned to
Speaker:cocktails. That's brilliant. It's a great see the
Speaker:marketing in you.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: And the cocktail of the week is always our best
Speaker:sell, whatever it is. So even if we have a drink
Speaker:with red onion, it will still be the best sell.
Speaker:But people get really interested and I think they
Speaker:kind of trust us now.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: So, yeah, they're coming back for that cocktail of
Speaker:the week. It's a brilliant one. So let's go on to.
Speaker:Okay, you're chugging along. You're doing your
Speaker:cocktail of the week. Why don't you talk about
Speaker:what your global series is and why you thought it
Speaker:was necessary to start something like that?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Definitely it was more about community than
Speaker:sustainability. I think we look more into, like,
Speaker:community and responsibility, but it's just
Speaker:because we've always been kind of grateful. We are
Speaker:really lucky to be living in Paris. We have
Speaker:everything we need. So, uh, very grateful to have
Speaker:some food on our plates and, like, a roof over our
Speaker:head. So we're always grateful for all of this. So
Speaker:we really want to give back to our community.
Speaker:Also, the first year we opened in Paris, we were
Speaker:struggling, so we only survived because we have
Speaker:communities. Always been very grateful, and we
Speaker:kind of want to give back. So the global series
Speaker:started as a fun project. We used to have this
Speaker:amazing, amazing festival in Paris, Cocktail
Speaker:Spirits, where they were really pushing education.
Speaker:And this disappeared with COVID So we didn't have
Speaker:really a, uh, platform for this in Paris. I think
Speaker:it's also very, uh, for me, I mean, I'm super
Speaker:happy to invite this, like, nine people, A, uh,
Speaker:lot to say about. And there's three topics that
Speaker:are very important to the Cambridge, which are
Speaker:education, environment, and the social aspect of
Speaker:the bar industry. So every year now, we invite
Speaker:nine bartenders from all around the world to share
Speaker:the story. There's three days of events and guest
Speaker:shifts, but there's also one big day of education
Speaker:where we do some roundtables about very, uh,
Speaker:important topics. And it's super well received. We
Speaker:had over 100 people this year, uh, attending the
Speaker:seminars, which is very good for Paris, for
Speaker:France. So, yeah, very happy about this. It was
Speaker:just an idea at the beginning where the Rugby
Speaker:World Cup. I wanted to do something with all the
Speaker:cocktail pubs. And then we're like, okay, why we
Speaker:don't do it with more bars?
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Who comes to these?
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Who attends them?
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Um, are they geared towards on trade or also
Speaker:consumers? Do any consumers come as well?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: It's open to everyone for the education part and
Speaker:even the guest shift. Really, it's really fueled
Speaker:by the industry part. So we have a lot of
Speaker:bartenders, chefs, waiters, et cetera coming. But
Speaker:we try to open it to Pakta schools as well. So we
Speaker:try to have a lot.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Of students coming because I find, uh, you all in
Speaker:the industry are just so conscious of it. So Hyper
Speaker:conscious. I always tell people I think you guys
Speaker:are really doing the most that I've ever seen in
Speaker:any industry. Of course, I only know this
Speaker:industry, but so much for sustainability. And I
Speaker:wish that everyone could attend. These are, uh,
Speaker:people not in the industry to hear and to be
Speaker:influenced by you guys. And obviously that's why
Speaker:I'm interviewing you, is that I also want to get
Speaker:that word out because I find it so important. Do
Speaker:you find that this is getting disseminated as much
Speaker:as you would like to the greater world at large?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: I think it's just the right amount. Now we don't
Speaker:want to stream it as a thing. We're really
Speaker:conscious about greenwashing, social washing. So
Speaker:everything we do is for us and the community. And
Speaker:we have all the information on our website. If
Speaker:people want to know more about it, we're happy to
Speaker:share. If people want to know more about it. But
Speaker:we don't want to put it in people's face and be
Speaker:like, hey, listen, we are the first big. That's
Speaker:what we. This is not really us. We try to be
Speaker:humble about it.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Oh, gosh. Well, I'm going to shout it out, let me
Speaker:tell you. Hopefully people like me do. Now you
Speaker:brought it up, but I would love to talk a little
Speaker:bit about your B Core status and what that process
Speaker:was like and why you decided to take those steps.
Speaker:Because a lot of people might not even know really
Speaker:what a B Core is, of course.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Well, B Corp is the certification that is all
Speaker:about all the scopes of sustainability. So not
Speaker:necessarily just the planet, but also community
Speaker:and guests and, um, transparency, governance. So
Speaker:it's all the parts of the company are taking into
Speaker:consideration, which is why it was really
Speaker:interesting to us because we had a motto, because
Speaker:we always say, like, be nice in the planet, but
Speaker:don't forget the people on the way. We're very
Speaker:close to our community and we really want to push
Speaker:this. So BICOP was a good structure for us to go
Speaker:through and that's what we needed. The way Hugo
Speaker:works as well, uh, it's always about trying to
Speaker:find some structure to get better. So, um, the
Speaker:goal was not to achieve it, but when we looked
Speaker:through different structures and there was like
Speaker:the Paris Agreement or the Sustainable Development
Speaker:Goals of the United nations, we looked at all
Speaker:these things and BCOP gave us, you have 200
Speaker:questions to or 200 reports to do. And for us it
Speaker:was 200 opportunity to get better in different
Speaker:ways. So we just took them one by one.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Can you give us an Example of one or two of them.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Yeah. Somewhere really simple uh, is to do like
Speaker:transparency meetings with your, with your
Speaker:employees and staff. It's something we do, we have
Speaker:always done, we always meet every week. But we uh,
Speaker:don't have any report, we don't have any, we don't
Speaker:really follow up. We do it, we have a small team
Speaker:and we go on. But bcorp, uh, say oh no, you need
Speaker:to have this report and structure. You need to be
Speaker:uh, organized about it. So this kind of
Speaker:organization really helped us to get better. It
Speaker:was also some simple thing with like maybe uh, the
Speaker:data of your guests, like how do you treat the
Speaker:data of your guests? Or we went through a website,
Speaker:we didn't know about this and went through a
Speaker:website. Okay, this maybe we need to change
Speaker:because you will be more secure for, for the
Speaker:people that go through our website or with the
Speaker:banks with the credit card details, et cetera. So
Speaker:you have a lot of different things that you don't
Speaker:actually know about. And some are very simple,
Speaker:some are um, not that simple. It's definitely not
Speaker:something that's easy for a small business and a
Speaker:small team to accomplish but it's really rewarding
Speaker:at the end.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: And how do you feel that it's changed you? Was
Speaker:there something on the list where you thought oh
Speaker:gosh, I've never even thought of that and now I do
Speaker:it completely differently. There may not be
Speaker:because you may have been doing everything but I
Speaker:was just wondering if there was something that it
Speaker:just awakened in you to do more of.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Well here's something really eye opening and
Speaker:something that's ah, really hard for us to
Speaker:improve. Like there's some categories with like
Speaker:um, we sell alcohol so uh, with big copies like
Speaker:not nice because you don't sell a nice product to
Speaker:your guests. So this is really challenging. So
Speaker:maybe we have to push more of a non alcoholic
Speaker:offer or there's something we can try to do. We
Speaker:also been doing our uh, carbon footprint audit so
Speaker:to know exactly where we spend the most of our
Speaker:footprint and this is really high opening because
Speaker:we realize some small decision can actually have a
Speaker:big impact. We knew beef was bad for m the planet
Speaker:when you actually see the. But your spending is
Speaker:incredible. And from one day to another we changed
Speaker:chicken and we saved about 8% of our footprint. So
Speaker:something like this, yeah, you can always get
Speaker:better. And that's the nice thing we have about B
Speaker:Corp. I don't want to preach about because I'm not
Speaker:here for that but uh, you always have to get
Speaker:better. Like, we have three years to, in three
Speaker:years we have to redo the audit and we don't have
Speaker:to go through the initial score, but we have to
Speaker:get better than our score. So that's what's
Speaker:interesting is that you, they always push you to
Speaker:get better.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Uh, you're not preaching at all. No, it's really
Speaker:interesting. And also I'm hoping that if any other
Speaker:bars or anyone in the industry who may be
Speaker:listening might want to do it, they can hear from
Speaker:you that it is absolutely achievable. And it's
Speaker:something maybe to have a goal for because it's,
Speaker:uh, a really wonderful thing that you've been able
Speaker:to achieve with this and it's really important for
Speaker:the world. You should be so proud of yourselves.
Speaker:There are a couple other things as well. I know
Speaker:you started something called Shaken Leaf and I was
Speaker:wondering if you could tell everyone what that is.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Yeah, of course. It came from, um, from something.
Speaker:We have something called the Community Plan within
Speaker:the team, the Cambridge, where everybody, every
Speaker:single person from the team works into either like
Speaker:some team, um, sorry, education, part, environment
Speaker:focus, uh, topics. And it was the goal of one of
Speaker:our, uh, teammates called Julien. He was like,
Speaker:okay, I want to share information and to collect
Speaker:information and share to the world. So the first
Speaker:goal was to interview pioneers from the world of
Speaker:sustainability and responsibility. So we were in
Speaker:art and interview people like Luke Worthy and Matt
Speaker:Wiley and Agun from penicillin. And he was to have
Speaker:this interview and put into poor advices. So you
Speaker:can go on the website and go into like, um, I want
Speaker:to improve my electricity, uh, spending on my
Speaker:water concentration. So you can go through water
Speaker:and you can find some tips and maybe they will
Speaker:apply to your market, maybe they won't. But it's
Speaker:to have all this thing really simplified for
Speaker:everybody around the world to, to get some ideas
Speaker:and to, to get better. Because sometimes you
Speaker:don't, you don't know where to start. And people
Speaker:want to get better, but there's also some pressure
Speaker:to be like, oh, I want to, I want to be zero waste
Speaker:or I want to, to be sustainable. It's a really
Speaker:like step by step process. And the thing is to get
Speaker:better every day or every week and not
Speaker:necessarily, you can't, you can't get there in one
Speaker:day or so. Simple devices. Yeah, of course, all
Speaker:collected in a single platform. We also ask
Speaker:people, anybody in the world to go and put the
Speaker:information. There's like a form where you can,
Speaker:you can share your story, you can share Some tips,
Speaker:and then we will, we will go through it and put it
Speaker:on the website as well. So it's a new project you
Speaker:just started. Hopefully it will get bigger.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Yeah, it just shows how, um, after three years of
Speaker:doing the um series, a lot changes within that
Speaker:world. And it's great to have something that makes
Speaker:it completely up to date. Now I would love to talk
Speaker:about some of the things that you do in the bar.
Speaker:You alluded to the fact that it was really tough
Speaker:for your first year a few minutes ago. Why do you
Speaker:think that was and why do you think things
Speaker:changed? Is it just people became more aware of
Speaker:what you were doing or what the world was doing in
Speaker:cocktails?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: I think there was a lot of different factors.
Speaker:Also. We struggle because we make some mistakes.
Speaker:We are here like too much stuff. The stuff. Um,
Speaker:rates in Paris are really high. You have a lot of
Speaker:taxes. And because we really care for our staff,
Speaker:it took a long time for us to, to, to restructure
Speaker:the team and to let people go. So it affected a
Speaker:lot of the money we had. But also in Paris it's
Speaker:people like novelty. So over the first two months
Speaker:we're doing really well. And then after you have a
Speaker:big, big crash, which is pretty hard to, to deal
Speaker:with. We didn't really have any money for PR or
Speaker:communication. So it just, it just takes some
Speaker:times. I think it's, it's a normal thing in Paris
Speaker:to wait a year, year and a half, two years before,
Speaker:uh, you actually see some, some improvement. Lingo
Speaker:also was really hard for us that we've been
Speaker:getting some awards right away. So we wear, wear
Speaker:Smith pudding. So we won like best bar. And then
Speaker:you win this award and you're like. But nobody's
Speaker:there in the box. It's really frustrating. But
Speaker:that after one year we had Covid. And so, oh yes,
Speaker:for us in France, it was really, really easy. We
Speaker:had some good help from the government. All the
Speaker:staff were taken care of. We didn't struggle as
Speaker:much as the communities or countries, but, um,
Speaker:also give us a lot of time to reassess and to, to,
Speaker:to take a step back and see our, uh, mistakes and
Speaker:what we can do better. And yeah, we were seeing
Speaker:some improvement before COVID but after that we
Speaker:really. It's really when it started, uh, for us to
Speaker:get busy. And of course three years ago we had
Speaker:the. Or two years ago we had the first appearance
Speaker:in the 50 Best World list. So that gave us a big
Speaker:push. But also it changed a lot of the guests. We
Speaker:have in the bar. So we used to be. Maybe we lose a
Speaker:little bit of regulars. We sell more cocktails
Speaker:definitely. But uh, we also had to adapt to this.
Speaker:So I give way long answers. But you can.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Sometimes people speak for an hour and a half. So
Speaker:don't. No, we want to hear you. It's all about
Speaker:your bar. Also you had the Olympics, so that.
Speaker:Sure, I'm sure uh brought some other people in.
Speaker:But I love the fact that you're doing something so
Speaker:new in the oldest part of Paris and Le Marais. Was
Speaker:there a reason why you picked there, Sammy?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: We had a few areas in mind. The biggest thing was
Speaker:to be in the area that were open to having a pub
Speaker:of course, but also where there's the ratio of
Speaker:consumers between 25 and 40 years old. Some
Speaker:locals, both, some tourists, a mix of everything.
Speaker:But finding that this bar in Marais was really
Speaker:great because it was also in this little cocktail
Speaker:hub of this little red dog on the layer like
Speaker:Celeste. Everything is like five minutes walk. And
Speaker:so it really helped us to be in this cocktail
Speaker:world rather than just being like a pub in the
Speaker:neighborhood.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: So what are you doing going forward now? Now that
Speaker:the global series I know just ended well with the
Speaker:Cambridge.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: I think now we're looking for more stability. As I
Speaker:mentioned we had this thing called community plan.
Speaker:So we really try to push the team to work within
Speaker:the field, uh arts in the bar, but outside of the
Speaker:bar towards education, environment, some social
Speaker:aspect. We haven't done as much as we wanted the
Speaker:past year because we really got busy and we hired
Speaker:new positions. So the team got bigger. We also
Speaker:purchased um, a uh, Little Red Door last year. So
Speaker:we went through a company of 8 to a company of 29.
Speaker:So there were some big changes for us. I think we
Speaker:were looking for more stability in order to grow
Speaker:and to start doing again to community feels that
Speaker:really matter to us.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: And as you brought up you took over Little Red
Speaker:Door. How did that come about?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: So Little Red Door was going through some. They
Speaker:were under administration so not getting to
Speaker:bankruptcy but looking for some state uh of France
Speaker:or looking for some new owners. So we found it was
Speaker:honestly a good opportunity for us. When does the
Speaker:one of the best buy in the world next? 300 meters
Speaker:from your embarclass. So it was not a good
Speaker:opportunity uh, financially and to grow as a
Speaker:company. But also we didn't really want to see
Speaker:Little Red Door going to bigger groups or to be
Speaker:just bola for the. For the image or for the brand
Speaker:and not really after legacy it deserves. There was
Speaker:a mix of these things that led us for. To just go
Speaker:through it and to go for it. So we won the bid and
Speaker:we had the keys, and in two weeks, we had to, uh,
Speaker:was. Was still the sixth best Buy in the world at
Speaker:the time. So a lot of pressure, uh, on the team
Speaker:and from the guests. Like, I guess maybe 95% of
Speaker:the of our customers weren't aware that actually
Speaker:been a change. So we had to step into some
Speaker:pictures.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Yeah, yeah, I'm, um. You are their angels. I mean,
Speaker:if anyone should take over how fabulous that it
Speaker:was you guys, because you certainly have the same
Speaker:vision and ethos and missions, and so it's great
Speaker:to see. So, um, thank you. I think, you know,
Speaker:that's a great place to stop. Um, thank you. Um,
Speaker:obviously you've got a great website where anyone
Speaker:can find anything, and I'll have all the links on
Speaker:the show notes. So, you know, everyone head to
Speaker:Paris and go to the pub. I know that sounds funny,
Speaker:but I.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Think our website is also very interesting because
Speaker:we are the. Every year we do an ESG report. I
Speaker:think it's. It's nice to go through it as a
Speaker:bartender, as a business owner, because you can
Speaker:find a lot of tips, and we're very transparent and
Speaker:we love data. There's a lot of information in
Speaker:there that can be useful or not. But, uh, really
Speaker:interested to see us. If you're a little bit
Speaker:nerdy, Uh, I think it's nice to go.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Definitely. It is. I am a little nerdy, and I've
Speaker:been through it, and it's fantastic. But thank you
Speaker:so much for being on the show. It's great to hear
Speaker:your story. It makes me want to get on your show
Speaker:right now and come out and have a drink with you,
Speaker:even though it's only, uh, 8:30 in the morning
Speaker:here.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Thank you so much for having me. It was great.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Sure.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: It was great for me too. So, um, thanks and
Speaker:abiento.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Bye. Bye.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: I so want to thank Yasen for.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Joining me on the program.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: I must admit it, this may be the cocktail of the
Speaker:week that might have my favorite name. Our
Speaker:cocktail of the week is the cigarette after sex.
Speaker:How French is that?
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: First you need a wine glass.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Then wet the side of it and dip it into some
Speaker:lapsang souchong tea. Then fill that glass with
Speaker:ice and pour in all the ingredients. 25 mils of
Speaker:siete mistieros mezcal, 15 mils of sloe jam, 90
Speaker:milliliters of agua uh, de Jamaica and 10
Speaker:milliliters of verju and then stir well. Then add
Speaker:more ice if necessary and serve. You'll find this
Speaker:recipe and all the cocktails of the
Speaker:week@alushlifemanual uh.com thanks for everyone's
Speaker:patience. Seems like scheduling can be really
Speaker:tough at this time of year. If you live for Lush
Speaker:Life, then make sure you head out to the bars you
Speaker:love and order a drink. Theme music for Lush Life
Speaker:is by Steven Shapiro and used with permission. And
Speaker:Lush Life is always and will be forever produced
Speaker:by Evo, Terra and Simpler Media Productions. Which
Speaker:leads me to say the wise words of Oscar Wilde all
Speaker:things in moderation, including moderation, and
Speaker:always drink responsibly. Next time we head from
Speaker:Paris to Cinzi. Until then, bottoms.
Speaker:>> Susan Schwartz: Um.