Bar Hemingway is the bar that turns a first date into a scene from a film.

The 30-second pitch

Bar Hemingway is the most cinematic Parisian first date.

The Ritz Paris on Place Vendôme has been a hotel since 1898 and a favorite of every famous person who could afford one — Coco Chanel lived in a suite for thirty years; F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in the lobby; Ernest Hemingway "liberated" the bar in August 1944 and ran a tab there for years. The bar took his name in 1979, and Colin Field — head bartender since 1994 — has built it into the most cinematic small bar in Paris. Twenty-five seats. Leather banquettes. Original Hemingway photographs and signed first editions on every surface.

For a first date this is not a casual choice. The price, the formality, the small queue at the door, the dress code, the difficulty of the reservation — all of these filter the night down to its most committed possible version. Bar Hemingway is the room you take a date who you want to make a point of, on a night you want to remember in twenty years.

The moment it makes

Colin Field arrives at your table. The room narrows.

The Bar Hemingway moment is Colin Field himself. The seventy-five-year-old head bartender — recognizable by his immaculate suit and his calm, unhurried air — moves between tables greeting guests, asking about their evenings, taking orders personally for cocktails he'll then return to his small back-of-the-bar station to build. When he arrives at your table, the rest of the room recedes for sixty seconds. He'll ask what you'd like, ask if you've been before, and recommend something specific to your mood. Whatever he recommends will be one of the most memorable cocktails of your life.

That sixty seconds is the moment because it is the most genuinely-Parisian piece of theater available to a tourist on a first date. You're not watching the bartender perform — Field is doing his job at his pace, having done it for three decades, and the pace itself is the gift. Your date will register this even if they've never heard of him. The room holds its breath when he's at your table.

What to order

The Clean Dirty Martini. The Serendipity. Trust Colin.

The Clean Dirty Martini. Colin Field's own invention — a dirty martini built without olive juice, instead using a precise infusion that captures the savory note without the cloudy texture. Cold, clean, perfect. The signature first round.

The Serendipity. Colin's other famous invention — Calvados, mint, fresh apple juice, Champagne. Apple-led, light, profoundly Parisian. The right round-two move.

The Bar Hemingway Bloody Mary. Yes, the Hemingway bar makes a Bloody Mary. The story claims Hemingway invented his own version here in the 1940s; Field's modern version is built with the same recipe.

"Tell Colin what you want." Genuinely the best order. Tell him three flavors you like; he'll build something only he could have built. The hit rate is better than anywhere else in Paris.

Timing strategy

Reserve weeks ahead. Take the 6:30pm slot.

Bar Hemingway accepts reservations through the Ritz's concierge or through OpenTable, and the bar's twenty-five seats book up two to three weeks in advance for any night you'd actually want to be there. The 6:30pm reservation is the magic — you arrive when the bar opens, get one of the small leather banquettes, have Colin's full attention while the room fills. By 9pm there's a queue at the door and Colin is moving between tables more quickly.

Walk-ins are theoretically possible but realistically won't seat you on a Friday or Saturday. Always reserve. Always arrive on time; the Ritz doesn't tolerate lateness. Dress code is real and is enforced — jacket required, smart shoes, no trainers.

What makes Bar Hemingway Bar Hemingway

Colin Field is the format.

Most great hotel bars have head bartenders who set the tone. Bar Hemingway has Colin Field, who has run the bar for over thirty years and has personally trained every bartender working there. His reputation is industry-defining; he was named the world's best bartender by Forbes in 2001 and has been near the top of every list since. The room exists because Field exists. The room's pace is his pace. The room's hospitality is his hospitality.

For a first date this matters because Field's presence elevates the room from "a Ritz hotel bar" to "the Ritz hotel bar where Colin Field works." Your date will notice the difference even if they don't articulate it. The room has a head, and the head is at the bar tonight.

What it costs

Plan on €100 each for two cocktails.

Cocktails €30-€38. Two drinks each lands at around €140 for two before service; service is included at the Ritz. Total: about €145. Add the small Champagne aperitif or the small bites and you're at €200. Among the most expensive rooms on this list and unapologetically so — the Ritz is the Ritz, and Field's drinks are pricing accordingly.

If your date is on a budget, this is the wrong room. The cost is part of the gestalt and trying to economize will read as wrong-fit.

Who you'll be sitting next to

The crowd is old wealth, hotel guests, and dates that mean something.

Bar Hemingway's regulars are the Ritz's regulars: international guests passing through Paris, Place Vendôme residents who use the bar as their living room, plus a small but devoted cohort of Parisians who come for Colin specifically. The age skews older — fifty to seventy on average — and the dress is uniformly elegant. Conversation stays at restaurant pitch even at peak.

You and your date will likely be among the youngest in the room and that is fine. The room's elders treat younger first daters with a small smile, a small generosity, a small "this is your moment" attentiveness from the staff.

Failure modes

Three reasons a Bar Hemingway first date doesn't deliver.

You under-dressed. The Ritz turns away poorly-dressed walk-ins without ceremony. Even with a reservation, the bar staff will visibly cool toward you. Fix: jacket required, smart shoes, no exceptions. Confirm in your booking text to your date.

Colin Field wasn't there that night. Field doesn't work every night and his deputies are very good but not him. The room is still excellent without him; the bar's identity, however, dilutes by twenty percent. Fix: ask the concierge when booking which nights Colin is there. Book those.

You wanted a casual evening. Bar Hemingway is the opposite of casual. Tourists who want a quick photograph and a quick drink will find the room's pace frustrating. Fix: only book Bar Hemingway if you want the full hour-and-a-half slow-paced evening.

If Bar Hemingway is full

Three second-choice Place Vendôme first-date rooms.

Bar Vendôme at the Ritz (next door, same hotel). Brighter, courtyard-facing, less famous. Same hospitality, different gestalt.

Bar 228 at Le Meurice (six minutes' walk). Different five-star hotel; equally cinematic; less queueing.

Le Bar at Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme (eight minutes). Modern Parisian-luxury hotel bar; less famous than Hemingway, almost as good.

Editorial verdict

The most cinematic Paris first date — but only if you book it correctly.

Bar Hemingway earns its #20 ranking by being the most-cinematic possible first date in Paris when everything aligns. The room is unambiguous theater of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, the Ritz, the 1920s — and Colin Field running the bar in 2026 makes the theater real rather than performed. For first dates between two people who want a piece of cinematic Paris, the room delivers like nothing else in the city.

The reason it isn't higher on this list: the price, the formality, and the difficulty of booking filter out most first dates. For the right date, on the right night, with Colin behind the bar, this is one of the great drinking experiences of any city. For everyone else, Little Red Door at #19 is the more reliable Paris choice.