Food and cocktail pairings and culinary chefs

By choosing to be accompanied during your events by So Barman, you will live a 100% tailor-made culinary experience !

Virginie and Julien, each experts in their own field, will be delighted to prepare your gourmet event down to the smallest detail and take great care of your guests.

Food and cocktail pairing

Bars and restaurants each have their own audience and the conjunction of our Culinary Chefs Virginie and Julien and our mixologists is above all intended to break down barriers between two worlds that do not meet enough in France.

The big darling of the food-drink pairing today is the food-cocktail pairing.

Cocktails require more preparation than opening a bottle of wine, but we expand the aromatic spectrum: We will go from bitter to floral, from salty to sweet or even add smoky notes !

The harmony between the flavors of a cocktail and those of a dish can enhance the culinary experience and awaken the taste buds. This is the whole point of "cocktail pairing":

The balance of flavors (a taste harmony), the complementarity of aromas (a subtle marriage of perfumes), the texture (a play of contrasts and complementarities), the temperature (a key factor for taste harmony).

On bar menus, cocktails are now essential.

This offer, which continues to develop, meets the expectations of consumers, who are fans of more moderate consumption. Cocktails have returned to the forefront with this trend of drinking less but better.

But contrary to what we hear a lot, the democratization of the cocktail is not yet fully effective in practice. A cocktail for fifteen euros is not accessible. With our support, you can use less expensive products and draw on French heritage. Fresh, local and traceable products should be favored as much as possible.

So Barman thus offers you the chance to experience this emotional experience and share it.

We will be delighted to demonstrate to you that mixology could indeed be the future of pairings!

And if you wish, we will be delighted to put the proposed food-cocktail pairings on dedicated media, so that your guests can be encouraged to get out of their comfort zone to try new taste experiences. Offering a concrete extension to the experience offered as part of your event!

Our commitment

To ensure that our food-cocktail animation involves both a tasting format and a "we cook, we prepare pieces together, we participate in the creation of our own cocktail" format, with a very interactive and warm dimension.

We share tips, discuss products and recipes, and take you behind the scenes into the world of a chef and a mixologist working in harmony!

We will be happy to work tailor-made, according to all your expectations and themes, current events and requirements.

Here is an illustrative selection of food-cocktail pairings, the fruit of a collaboration between our mixologists and culinary chefs.

Dish : Beetroot palets, whipped cream with dill and smoked salmon.

Cocktail : Purple Spirit (gin, violet syrup, cucumber, lemon, beetroot square, strawberry nectar, topped with Perrier).

Dish : Gingerbread bites, sun-dried tomato mousse, ricotta and crispy smoked duck breast.

Cocktail : Gingerbread sangria (red wine, gingerbread syrup, dash of orange juice, orange-lemon decoration).

Dish : Crème brûlée with peppers and Espelette pepper.

Cocktail : Our mojito done by the book (Cuban rum, fresh mint, lime, cane sugar, sparkling water, Angustura bitters) and its variation with peppers and red fruits (spicy option).

Dish : Goat cheese balls with hazelnuts and beef tataki.

Cocktail : Whiskey sour, Japanese version (Japanese whiskey, hazelnut syrup, dash of chocolate bitters).

Dish : Watermelon and strawberry balls, elderflower syrup and hibiscus.

Cocktail : Hibissim Edel (vodka or gin of your choice, elderberry, hibiscus flower, strawberry, lime, watermelon decoration).

Dish : Tiramisu with speculoos and mirabelles.

Cocktail : Plum tart (vodka, plum cream, orgeat, lemon, cranberry).

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Our culinary chefs

If So Barman has chosen to attach only two talents, Virginie and Julien, it is as much for their gastronomic culture and mastery, as for their adherence to our commitment to a joyful event, in that it appeals to our five senses. Their trust honors us in return, as it obliges us!

Virginie Legrand

Exciting creativity is for her the liberated expression of a fantasy, the infinite variation of an originality that provokes the senses and shakes up benchmarks.

Virginie's mantra says (almost everything) about her: Learn the rules like a professional in order to be able to break them like an artist. (Picasso).

A privileged link between artisans and the customer-consumer, she could only see the pleasure of being a chef by combining pleasures that are as much visual as taste.

Virginie thus offers an uninhibited, gourmet cuisine that is accessible to all those who like to cook and feast outside of a classic restaurant.

Let's Celebrate !

Are you a discerning gourmet, a relaxed cordon bleu, a philosopher of the table or an avowed neophyte?

We are made to get along!

A nomadic culinary art enthusiast, Virginie delights in putting on a great spread for clients who want to feel like they are at home.

She travels to your home or to the location of your event.

Your kitchen then becomes the fertile ground for her inspiration, your dining room the smiling ground of your tasting.

Virginie, in a few words, images and feelings :

A Chef at home, that’s for Virginie…

Virginie Legrand | Chef à domicile (@communicpassion) • Photos et vidéos Instagram

…But also, an anecdote, not so anecdotal…

Virginie Legrand | Chef à domicile (@communicpassion) • Photos et vidéos Instagram

…And more than just a nice cherry on the cake… The “obligatory” and delicious passage of customer feedback 😊

Virginie Legrand | Chef à domicile (@communicpassion) • Photos et vidéos Instagram

Julien Dumas

In the proximity offered by the profession of Event Chef as we understand it, Julien finds a playground allowing him to express his passion for new codes.

A "darling of the foodie scene" and starred Chef, Julien Dumas advocates for a living cuisine.

His sincere cuisine, marked by a sensitivity for the environment patiently built over the course of his career, finds its setting whatever the context of the events in which he takes part. "My cuisine is the reflection of my personality at a given moment, in a given place. Here or elsewhere, it will certainly be different because the energy of the place will not be the same."

Conveyor of products and messages

Through significant sourcing work, Julien is committed to eco-responsible cuisine.

“I try to highlight the human in my cuisine. The human is first and foremost the producer, the fisherman, the gatherer or the collector. It is therefore natural that I put him at the center of my profession.

I have a deep admiration for those who cultivate the land with respect. I work mainly with local producers. For example, for fish, I chose two Breton fishermen who participate in the preservation of the oceans. I like to associate noble fish with products that are less so, like sardines… and caviar.”

From the most confidential Comex lunches to high-profile public events, Julien loves great challenges.

The latest: his contribution to the Coca Cola Food Fest, which was held at the heart of the 2024 Paris Olympics in the Invalides terminal, offering a spectacular ephemeral restaurant resembling a 1000m2 food court. The concept then offered recipes from around the world, created by ten chefs from the four corners of the globe and recognized by their peers for their know-how, authenticity and creativity.

"To help him find perfect harmony, Julien has a reference point, music and in particular that of Matthieu Chedid. The artist also accompanies him in the kitchen. To maintain the balance between the chance of nature and the accuracy of gastronomy, he adapts without ever giving up, as much in a dining room service as on a tennis court. An absolute energy and concentration, which opened the doors of the Michelin Guide for him, with a first star." (TF1, July 30, 2023).