#3 | The GRID Bar, Cologne, Germany
Visit: Summer 2022
I’ll start this post with a confession: When the GRID Bar opened in the middle of Cologne in a nightlife district (on Friesenstraße, directly to the side of the famous Ring) in the summer of 2018, I was a bit skeptical and was also supposedly confirmed at the start.
The previous station of Marian Krause, the co-owner and bar manager, was not really my thing and the hype in certain circles around just that previous bar sometimes even got on my nerves. Then a friend and I went to the opening event 2018 nevertheless - and waited almost an hour on the first ordered drinks, because it was hopelessly overcrowded. This was in itself for such a large, new project somewhere understandable, but I had enough for now. Once shortly thereafter we still went to test at least again a few drinks of the menu with less of a crowd. This first menu then (2018) was creative and fresh, but also not quite my personal taste, it just did not quite fit.
But it should develope rapidly, being in my personal favorite bars & recommendations in Germany these days.
Main bar room / Copyright: GRID Bar
Let's start all over again. What I already like very much and is probably also for the best: Since it is located in the middle of a well-known Cologne nightlife district and the above-mentioned Ring proximity is there, GRID has decided on a speakeasy concept (like the similarly located Seiberts). You're always greeted in a friendly manner at the beautifully renovated modern façade and are first amazed about the rooms themselves, a separate small reception room, numerous historical and current spirits already in a modern showcase wall to the right. A longer corridor with chic, small seating with tables to the left, more bottles and elegant lighting to the other side. Then you come into the main bar room seen above (from the opposite side in the picture), with lots of gold and a modern counter design. Behind that room, it goes on and on with larger tables for groups, way back a small DJ booth for events and late nights on weekends, and then even further to a spacious garden lounge (see below) in cooperation with a local cigar dealer and Davidoff (incl. a nice and now rarely found cigar selection).
Bar Manager Marian Krause / Copyright: GRID Bar
The whole thing looks 1) for an independent cocktail bar in Cologne, without a 5-star hotel behind it and 2) for a bar especially in the rather cozy & crowded (lots of old, small houses) Friesenviertel quite impressive in terms of effort, design and size.
As so often design is a matter of taste, I find it to be very successfully applied here, even if it is not my personal taste. It seems even after almost 5 years as fresh as on the first day, modern and at the same time timeless, suitable for many occasions as a visitor.
Davidoff-Lounge in the inner courtyard / Copyright: GRID Bar
The bar team over all this time, with changing faces etc. was always authentically friendly and at the same time very professional, always hitting the exact balance, certainly a sign of good training and experience in that training from Marian himself. But aside from the team and Marian's exemplary hospitality, let's get to the main reason why GRID Bar is now one of my favorites: the drinks.
Meta (WT bourbon, amaro, Grand Marnier, champagne)
To put it very simply, I just like the current menu, which has been used for around 2 years now, very much. You can see that they have moved a little more in a classic direction, not as much cutting edge as before maybe (quantitywise) but with various exciting, elegant twists on classics and still more than enough room for creative signatures. Exactly my taste. This also applies to various drinks, here are only 2 of my probably 7-8 favorites and including even 2 champagne drinks, almost never ordered by me otherwise. Above we see the Meta, a riff on the Seelbach, with Wild Turkey Bourbon and (Averna) Amaro, Grand Marnier and Pol Roger Champagne, deep, spicy, dry, sweet, maybe a touch too sweet for me personally, but very, very intriguing. By the way, the other champagne drink would be the Aviation 75, as the name suggests a twist/mix of French 75 and Aviation, with the herbal Monkey 47, the famous violet liqueur, Maraschino and champagne. Very refreshing, complex and slightly herbal, while also being elegant like the Meta.
Blutsbruder (rep. tequila, red vermouth, cherry liqueur, pimento dram) - remixed at home
Two examples of my highlights in the stirred drinks section would be the Blutsbruder (Bloodbrother), an already well-known own creation of Marian with reposado tequila, red vermouth, cherry liqueur and a dash pimento dram for the necessary spice. Dark, earthy, spicy and yet slightly dark fruity, a fantastic, somewhat tart blend. Then there's the Time Flies, probably my number one on the menu. So "simple" and so good, one of those rare eye openers when trying it for the first time. Marian told me this was his favorite too. Agricole Rhum Blanc, Punt E Mes, white port and a few dashes of two bitters make for an awesome blend, elegant, somehow classic and yet quite uniquely exotic. In the Ory Bar in Munich (and surely also elsewhere) there was this great menu, where all the drinks were named after & inspired by "materials" such as gold, fabrics or woods and should remind you of them tastewise. With the Time Flies I had to think immediately he would have been on that menu as "teak wood". Dark polished, elegant, Pacific grassy, on an archipelago between Japan and Southeast Asia.
Sichuan Panda (baiju, yuzu, carrot, pandan)
For the sake of completeness, it should be said here that there is a great homemade chilli con carne as the one "big" meal with nachos on the menu, a solid to good selection of spirits, and Marian himself (Worldclass Bartender of The Year, Worldclass Finalist 2021, etc.) can of course prepare any classic perfectly on point and spontaneously create new concoctions for your unique mood, in addition, you have some exciting events on a somewhat regular basis (my highlight was a Ming River Baiju event including flaming Hot Toddy variants), regularly bookable courses and much more.
I think you can see my enthusiasm about the current or now already for years existing state of the bar, I'm already excited about what new drinks will probably come this year to the menu and can only extremely recommend the GRID Bar to every Cologne citizen and visitors.
