Acknowledgments & Historical Note - The Barman of the Ritz

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to:

Anna Pavlowitch, director of Albin Michel, who opened her door to me at a time when I had serious doubts. She generously gave me her expert eye, her kindness, her know-how, and her friendship. Such a precious friendship.

Gilles Haéri, chairman and CEO of Albin Michel, for his warm welcome.

Francis Esménard, for the extraordinary spirit and dedication that pervade his wonderful publishing house.

Susanna Lea, literary agent and consultant extraordinaire, for her energy, her faith, and her poise in all circumstances. Thanks to her, Le Barman du Ritz will be translated and published in several countries.

Louise Danou, an exceptional editor with a passion for people, for her vitality and sharp sense of synthesis.

Frédéric Schwamberger, a distinguished gentleman who loves books, and with whom I feel a deep connection. This novel owes him a debt of gratitude.

Claude Roulet, assistant to the chairman of the companies of Ritz Paris Hotel Ltd. between 1980 and 2004, and an amateur historian of the Ritz, for agreeing to the meeting that set everything in motion, and for providing me with firsthand information and sources.

Tilar J. Mazzeo, a Canadian American writer who studied life at the Ritz during the Occupation and whose research proved invaluable to me.

Special thanks go to all the historians who have contributed to this novel through their academic works. I mention only a few of them here, but there are many more: Jean-Pierre Azéma, Pascal Ory, Henry Rousso, Olivier Wieviorka, Laurent Douzou, Christian Ingrao, Julian Jackson, Bénédicte Vergez-Chaignon, Éric Alary, Robert Paxton, Laurent Joly, Jean-Paul Cointet, Yves Pourcher, Nicolas Roussellier, Milo Lévy-Bruhl, Annette Wieviorka, Renaud Meltz, and Claire Andrieu.

My sincere thanks to Colin Field, head bartender at the Ritz until 2023. He welcomed me into his domain, and we spent many winter evenings talking in the Hemingway Bar, where he taught me so much. I would also like to thank Anne-Sophie Prestail, Colin Field’s assistant for many years, who took over responsibility for the Hemingway Bar.

Thanks to Fernando Castellon and David Wondrich, two eminent experts of bartending history, for allowing me access to so many archives and notes.

I would also like to thank Bertrand Guillot and Virginie Plantard for their expert advice.

Nicolas de Cointet, a talented publisher, for his acute sense of style, and thanks to whom The Artistry of Mixing Drinks, Frank Meier’s 1934 book, will have a second life. Thank you for making this wonderful mise en abyme possible.

And then, of course, an emotional word for Frank Meier, a man whom I obviously never knew, but with whom I have spent so much time over the last seven years.

Not forgetting a few fellow travelers: Aurore Clément, Dean Tavoularis, Laurent Bon, Muriel Meynard, Laurence Bloch, Sébastien Gnaedig, Sébastien Goethals, Pascale Clark, Candice Marchal, Gérard Lefort, Benoist de Changy, Henri-Marc Mutel, Fabien Archambaut, Frédéric Bonnaud, Charles Berling, Yann Chouquet, Emmanuelle Pouliquen, Fabrice Bouthillon, Clément Léotard, Sophie Berlin, Caroline Psyroukis, Florence Godfernaux, Anne-Julie Bémont, Florence Platarets, Jean-David Zeitoun, Violaine Ballet, Juliette Médevielle, Irène Menahem, Raymonde Ley, Régis Collin, and my parents.

A special nod to Andrea and Aurélien, the Belghiti brothers. Finally, to Sonia Devillers, without whose love I would have been lost.

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A NOTE ON THE COCKTAIL RECIPES

The recipes for cocktails, which may differ from modern ones, are taken from Frank Meier’s The Artistry of Mixing Drinks, Fryam Press, Paris (1936).