Hadrien Moudoulaud: the power of scent in cocktails
- Bar Nouveau and Abastract Bistrot in Paris
- Ranked #17 @ The World’s 50 Best Bars list
- #5 @ Europe’s 50 Best Bars
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Co-owner of bar Nouveau and abstract bistrot, I began my career in a high volume cocktails bar, but quickly realized that I wanted to focus more on quality in terms of cocktails and customer experiences and find the notion of crossing different universes to be inspiring every day. After spending several years in a few cocktails bars in Paris, I made the decision to relocate to London for a few years to work at the Langham Hôtel at the Artesian, where I gained valuable insights into the guest experience.
After returning to Paris, we decided to open a bar with some friends based on ‘L’art nouveau.’ A few months later, we opened Bistro Abstract, a distillery and bistro based on the abstract art. Bar Nouveau is a 16m² bar in the heart of Paris. Inspired by Art Nouveau, the bar’s concept reflects nature in a post-technological world, blending Parisian heritage with modern design.
Co-founded by Remy Savage, Sara Moudoulaud, Hadrien Moudoulaud, and Marc Puzzuoli, Bar Nouveau celebrates Art Nouveau with meticulous details, featuring the world’s largest private collection of Bimini glasses and custom Art Nouveau-inspired lighting. The bar has two levels: the upstairs imagines Art Nouveau 130 years ago, while the downstairs reintroduces nature through modern technology. A curated menu of six cocktails offers elegant classics and inventive creations, capturing simplicity and sophistication.
Next project, Abstract Bistrot, is a small bar in the heart of Paris’s Sentier, paying tribute to the traditional French bistrot through the lens of Abstract Art. The concept is simple: we distill all of our spirits ourselves, allowing us to focus on what truly matters — the flavour itself, rather than the spirit behind it. Abstract Bistrot is about stripping things back to their essence: taking the familiar codes of the French bistrot and reinterpreting them through an abstract approach to flavour, technique, and creativity.
