Alice's Little Black Book of Bordeaux addresses
◆ Ma Première Boutique
For clothes, I always head straight there. Everything is so wearable. They stock one of my favourite designers, Isabel Marant. I bought this grey jacket there by her that I adore.
11, rue Maucoudinat, 33000 Bordeaux, 05 56 81 57 01
◆ Miles
For us it is always a pleasure to leave Les Sources de Caudalie to enjoy very different food in town. The cuisine is so innovative and colourful at Miles. It was launched by four chefs from different parts of the world, all of whom are very well-travelled. We are happy that they chose to settle down in Bordeaux!
33, rue du Cancera, 33000 Bordeaux, 05 56 81 18 24
◆ L’univerre
This restaurant has an amazing selection of Old Bordeaux and wines from other regions of France. I recently drank an impressive Burgundy there. They also serve my distant cousin Sylvain Cathiard’s Vosne Romanée wine.
40, rue Lecocq, 33000 Bordeaux, 05 56 23 01 53
◆ Mollat
This is my favourite shop in Bordeaux! It’s the biggest independent book-store in France, and they’ve really proved they can stand up to Amazon. They give good advice when you’re hunting for a book. When I go, I first check how well they’re selling our latest book, Art de Vivre au Coeur des Vignes éditions Glénat. The food and travel section is my favourite. Last time I bought my friend Mimi Thorisson’s new cook book, French Country Cooking, Meals and Moments from A Village in the Vineyards. I also like contemporary novels. I recently bought Fates and Furies, by Lauren Groff, an American author. It’s a sinister take on a love story. My kids love comic books like Les Legendaires or Tintin. 15, rue Vital-carles, 33080 Bordeaux, 05 56 56 40 40
◆ Le Point rouge
This bar is almost local for us, and they have 1000 wines and 100 cocktails! L’absinthe is my favourite cocktail. Jerome and I own a hotel outside Paris called Les Etangs de Corot. Corot was the first impressionist painter and he loved to drink absinthe, so we had to taste it! It is served in the traditional way. First a measure of absinthe is poured into a glass, then a perforated silver spoon is placed on top of the glass, and a sugar cube balanced on the spoon. Then, water is slowly poured onto the sugar cube which dissolves. This bar is a great place to socialise in. We were there recently with our friend Benoit Trocard from chateau Clos Dubreuil. I thought their chocolat and caramel tartlet was delicious and a perfect match with the red wine.
1, quai de Paludate, 33800 Bordeaux, 05 56 94 94 40
◆ Le 7 in la Cité du vin
I love to take friends from out of town to the restaurant at The Cité du Vin. We’re good friends with Nicolas Lascombes, whose restaurant group also includes The Brasserie Bordelaise. If we go on a weekend we take our time trying a lot of wines.
134, quai de Bacalan, 33300 Bordeaux, 05 56 16 20 20
◆ Darwin
This series of converted warehouses is great. I love the concept of open-space design. Here businesses and artists share resources and collaborate economically, all helping each other out. My kids have skateboarding lessons sometimes at the indoor skatepark in the Hangar.
87, quai des Queyries, 33100 Bordeaux, 05 56 77 52 06
◆ Le Petit Souk
This little toyshop is perfect when you need a present for a child – which I often do – my kids get invited to a lot of birthday parties! I love their night-lights in the shape of stars, clouds, apples, and pineapples. No child could be scared of the dark with one of these in their bedroom.
26, rue du Pas-saint-georges, 33000 Bordeaux, 05 56 90 83 01