The Left Bank continues to step up on the Paris Cocktail scene with its own speakeasy, Fitzgerald, hidden within a restaurant of the same name, which serves a simple, seasonal menu.

Located in a relatively residential area not far from the Eiffel Tower, Fitzgerald speakeasy is hidden behind the unmarked door at the back of a luminous, chic restaurant. Since opening over a year or so ago, it’s polished itself up a bit and settled nicely into this somewhat traditional neighborhood. This lounge is small and cozy and offers an up-to-date take on decor of bygone days with stylish flamingo wallpaper and shabby-chic velour banquettes. There are no doormen; there’s no need for them. This is a low-key lounge for well-behaved adults.

The hidden lounge is probably the biggest surprise in the restaurant, which serves tried-and-true fare like burrata, lamb tajine or prawn risotto. The cocktail menu follows suit with solid offers that don’t stretch cocktail boundaries — though they may stretch the palettes of Parisians unused to particular flavors like the bitter notes of their negroni with its tonka infusion (following the trend). Things here are conventionally good. And that’s not meant pejoratively. While so many try to stretch their wings before properly learning to fly, it’s refreshing to see something that’s regular good stuff. Now that cocktails are mainstream, your average customer is probably going to want a good standard on a regular basis rather than searching out the mindbending oddities that the cocktail geek may seek.

The drinks are based on the usual suspects with whiskey, vodka, gin and mezcal from solid nicely priced brands like Tanqueray, Monkey Shoulder, Plantation. Their (literal) smoking cocktail carafe is a bit of a show stopper, but otherwise, they do up a decent martini and I’m pretty partial to their Guadalquivir with Bulleit bourbon, lustau Pedro Ximenz and Cointreau. Prices are about 13 to 15 Euros per cocktail, which is a touch above average but unsurprising given the area and the ambience.

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