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Blue Cheese. It can be socially divisive. It can be socially bonding. This evening at The Frontenac Hotel’s Bar 1608, it is bonding.
As you walk into The Frontenac Hotel’s Bar 1608, your eyes draw to the chandelier. The glass tubes, add elegant illumination to the circular bar below. (Our Guided Tour of The Frontenac Hotel ,tour guide, explained the design’s meaning).
After an arrival day of navigating around airports, we desire a relaxing, unplanned, evening. After checking in, and spending a few hours at the pool, we head to Bar 1608.
The cocktail menu is beautifully illustrated. It’s the best kind of menu, for someone like me, who is attracted to cocktails that are a combination of taste, and visual aesthetics. Each cocktail’s description contains the drink’s, eloquent, backstory.
The Frontenac Hotel’s Bar 1608’s, libations, include ingredients like smoked olive brine, cacao and vanilla maceration, and coconut tincture. Their zero alcohol beverages, reflect the same amount of creativity, as those that are spirit forward.
I’m in the mood for something bright and fruity, so I order the Le Rose Et Le Renard.
It is comprised of gin, apricot liqueur, pear and cognac liqueur, clementine, ginger, prosecco, soda, lemons, and peppers.
Happy, for a seat at the bar, I’m amazed as I watch the bartender, masterfully craft, my cocktail. I’m sure he makes dozens of Le Rose Et Le Renards, per night, but he does not show an iota of boredom. His zeal for crafting, makes me even more excited for an evening of sipping.
The merge of flavors is perfection. It’s bright and fruity. You can taste the delicious apricot, which is a drink ingredient, I rarely encounter.
The Frontenac Hotel’s Bar 1608, is known for having their own, custom, Le Chateau Frontenac Maker’s Mark, as well as a custom Woodford Reserve. A whiskey fan, Shannon selects the 1943 cocktail. Named for the hotel’s historic significance, the drink includes the Le Chateau Frontenac Maker’s Mark, Calvados Boulevard XO, brown butter angostura, cinnamon and star anise maple gum, and soy. Though no longer as novel as they once were, watching
the show that comes along with a Smoked Old Fashioned never fails to delight. Shannon exclaims that the drink is a well-crafted, well-blended, pleasure.
Exceptional bars, always serve, complementary, bar snacks. The chips and snack mix, served at The Frontenac Hotel’s Bar 1608 are tasty. Hungry, we do our best to take classy nibbles, and not inhale the snacks.
One can’t live on bar snacks alone, so we peruse the food menu, for additional sustenance. It is hard to pass up a Charcuterie Board.
The bartender informs us the included cheeses are a Brie and a Blue. He states they are happy to switch out a cheese if we wish. Proclaiming our love for Blue cheese, he smiles, and tells us, the Blue, is one of his Frontenac, favorites.
The Blue Cheese is delicious. Creamy, with a distinct tang. The inclusion of several salad tastings is a nice, board, touch.
If you have a larger group, or desire a more intimate evening, there are areas with cushy chairs and sofas. The dark, wood, and warm lighting, makes the sips and bites, feel cozy.
The Frontenac Hotel’s Bar 1608 feels like sitting in someone’s vintage study, a study that perhaps is slowly being transformed into a wonder- room.
Evening views of the St. Lawrence River, add to the bar’s charm.
Chatting with our seat neighbors, encountering excellent service, bonding over blue cheese, tasting interesting salads, and sipping, meticulously prepared, cocktails, is the ideal way to spend an evening in Quebec City.
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