Coolidge Corner’s tiny cocktail bar scene is growing, thanks to the May 13 debut of Bar Lunette. The petite venue, from the team behind next-door neighbor Paris Creperie, boasts French vibes and a laser-focus on boozy concoctions, with food as the chaser. In a neighborhood full of spots that are restaurants first and bars second, it’s a novel idea. There are exceptions, to be sure, such as Barlette, which pivoted from its original BYOB concept to operate as a more traditional bar late last year. But the people want what they want, and they want more classy-meets-fun spots to drink: “We’ve already had a ton of people say, ‘This is exactly what the community needs,’” says Nick Mallia, operating partner of Paris Restaurant Group, which owns and operates Bar Lunette and Paris Creperie. “‘This is what we’ve been waiting for.’”
On the menu: original creations, not to mention classics done creatively—like the Midori sour, which has no right to be this good. The elixir features the pine-like Greek liqueur mastiha from Kleos (a spirits line founded by Boston native Effie Panagopoulos), the herbal French liqueur Chartreuse, and of course Midori, a sweet Japanese melon spirit favored by college students with dubious IDs the world over. Sure, cocktail hounds love the combo of kitsch and kooky liqueurs. But…a Midori sour? Like its cousins the whiskey sour and the amaretto sour, it’s a drink that, on its surface, is perhaps geared toward people who don’t really like to drink and who rely on bottled sour mix to mask the bite of booze. But Bar Lunette’s Midori sour, dubbed “Lost in Translation” due to its globetrotting ingredients, is another story entirely.