Following on from its 2018 picture book, Menu of Universal Values, the World’s 50 Best Bars stalwart’s latest work takes its inspiration from words that do not have a direct translation into English.
The project stems from the experiences of a multinational bar team and the language barriers that they come across.
The Little Red Door team gathered a list of words from around the world that seemed not to have any direct translation into English and created cocktails that evoke their meanings.
Drinks from the new menu include Na’eeman; Arabic for “a feeling of self-freshness; the purity and ritual of cleanliness”, which takes a light and floral form, served straight up in a ceramic cup and garnished with a seasonal flower (see photo). Using fermented agave wine that is made is Paris, Na’eeman also sees the use of a red apple verjus and mastiha soda with hops resulting in a pure, fresh flavour with a hint of grass.
The menu features the work of surrealist photographer Natacha Einat, whose landscapes and sceneries are aimed at evoking the feeling of the words behind the drinks.
Rory Shephard, group bar manager of Little Red Door, said: “We’ve told the story of these words through the medium we know best, cocktails. We’ve tried to embrace the essence behind each word and the reason it is within certain cultures’ dictionaries.”
Coinciding with the launch of the new menu, Little Red Door will be undergoing a small refurb to refresh the space. Meanwhile the Little Red Door team will take the new menu on tour, showcasing its cocktails. The first stop is FAM Bar in London from April 12-14.
