This is one of the first pieces of information you come across when you work on Frank Meier: he published a worldly bestseller in 1936. A book that Philippe Collin rushed to buy, in an American edition. “I noticed that there had only been an English-language edition. So, when we started working on my novel project, I spoke to Anna Pavlowitch, who is an editor at Albin Michel, about this slightly strange book which had never been released in French.” After checking, it turns out that the rights are free. “So, we said to ourselves that we were going to translate everything into French for the first time, that we were going to “remaster” it with a Belgian illustrator. Delius, has seized the material to bring a graphic universe that is both 1930s and 2024. We said to ourselves that we were going to release, at the same time as the novel, a sort of reissued archive. I found it quite dizzying, it’s as if Frank was there a little. For the reader, it’s great to say that he also has a little bit of Frank, his recipes, his sophisticated and sober universe at the same time. We worked on this book for a year to make it a beautiful object.”
Cocktails but not only
A book in which we find, obviously, the recipes for the cocktails that made Frank Meier famous. Like the Élégant (in a mixing glass, a dash of Grand Marnier, half French vermouth, half gin, mix well and serve) or the Temptation (in a shaker, two sixths rum, one sixth juice lemon, half of pastis, shake well and serve). But also lots of practical advice, measurement tables comparing alcohol levels and all-round practical information.
In the introduction to his work, Frank Meier writes “Knowing how to drink is as essential as knowing how to swim”. A sentence which, seen from here and now, may surprise. “It’s all very 1930s.”, smiles Philippe Collin. “It’s a question of good manners, of education. When we read his preface, we realize that, for him, drinking for the sake of drinking is of no interest. You have to learn to drink according to your moods, your character, your body shape. So, yes, knowing how to drink is like knowing how to swim or ride a bike: it’s important.”
As for the legend which claims that it was Francis Scott Fitzgerald himself who whispered the idea of this book into Frank Meier’s ear, the author admits, not a little proud of his sleight of hand, that This is just literature. “I know he was very close to Fitzgerald but that’s not true. There are other things in The bartender at the Ritz, which we want to believe but which are not true. I’m going to tell you a secret: the underground that goes from the Ritz to the Jardin des Tuileries doesn’t exist”he concludes with a laugh.
⇒ The art of cocktails | Practical guide | Frank Meier, preface by Philippe Collin | Albin Michel, 192 pp., €20
