Food and cocktail pairings with culinary chefs

By choosing So Barman to support your event, you will enjoy a completely tailor-made culinary experience.

Virginie and Julien, each with their own world and area of expertise, will be delighted to prepare every detail of your gourmet event and take exceptional care of your guests.

Food and cocktail pairings

Bars and restaurants each have their own audience. Bringing together our culinary chefs, Virginie and Julien, with our mixologists is first and foremost a way of opening up, and sometimes blending, two worlds that still meet too rarely in France. Each craft keeps its identity.

Today, the most exciting food-and-drink pairing is the food-and-cocktail pairing.

A cocktail requires more preparation than opening a bottle of wine, but it also broadens the aromatic spectrum : From bitter to floral, savoury to sweet, with room for smoky notes.

The harmony between a cocktail and a dish can elevate the culinary experience and awaken the palate. This is the purpose of cocktail pairing :

The balance of flavours, complementary aromas, texture through contrasts and echoes, and temperature as a key factor in overall harmony.

Cocktails have become essential on bar menus.

This growing offer responds to guests who increasingly choose to drink less, but better. Cocktails are back at the centre of the experience.

Yet despite what is often said, cocktails are not truly accessible to everyone. A fifteen-euro cocktail is hardly democratic. With expert guidance, less expensive products can be used intelligently, including ingredients from French culinary heritage. Whenever possible, fresh, local and traceable produce should take priority.

So Barman invites you to experience this emotional dimension and share it with your guests.

Alongside you, we are delighted to show how mixology can become the future of pairing.

If you wish, we also present the proposed pairings on dedicated materials, inviting your guests beyond their comfort zone towards new tasting experiences. A tangible extension of the experience created for your event.

Our commitment

Our food-and-cocktail experience combines tasting with participation : Guests cook, plate individual bites together and take part in creating their own cocktail. The atmosphere remains interactive and warm.

We share practical tips, discuss ingredients and recipes, and take you behind the scenes with a chef and a mixologist working in harmony.

Every experience is created around your expectations, theme, current occasion and practical requirements.

Below is an illustrative selection of food-and-cocktail pairings developed jointly by our mixologists and culinary chefs.

Dish : Beetroot rounds, dill whipped cream and smoked salmon.

Cocktail : Purple Spirit, with gin, violet syrup, cucumber, lemon, beetroot, strawberry nectar and a Perrier top.

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

Cocktail : Gingerbread Sangria, with red wine, gingerbread syrup, a dash of orange juice and orange-lemon garnish.

Dish : Bell pepper and Espelette chilli crème brûlée.

Cocktail : Our mojito made properly, with Cuban rum, fresh bruised mint, lime, cane sugar, sparkling water and Angostura bitters, plus a bell pepper and red berry variation with an optional spicy finish.

Dish : Goat's cheese balls with hazelnuts and beef tataki.

Cocktail : Japanese Whisky Sour, with Japanese whisky, hazelnut syrup and a dash of chocolate bitters.

Dish : Watermelon and strawberry spheres with elderflower and hibiscus syrup.

Cocktail : Hibissim Edel, with vodka or gin, elderflower, hibiscus, strawberry, lime and watermelon garnish.

Dish : Speculoos and mirabelle plum tiramisu.

Cocktail : Plum Tart, with vodka, plum liqueur, orgeat, lemon and cranberry.

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The art of bringing mixology and gastronomy together

Barman So Barman pendant un service événementiel

A tailor-made, human and creative experience for all the senses

At So Barman, synergy is a driving force. With PEPeat, it comes fully to life. PEPeat stands for PEP : Passion, excellence and proximity. Behind these values are Sami and Dane, childhood friends who built their story around strong family values, conviviality and the shared meal as an essential moment.

Their ambition is not simply to create beautiful, delicious dishes, but to offer a genuinely human experience at the meeting point of produce, creativity and care.

A creative, tailor-made partnership

Every service is conceived as an invitation : Remain 100% faithful to the brief, while adding the spark and subtle attention that surprise and delight. At the heart of this approach, a trio of chefs with varied influences works boldly to make each experience unique, luxurious and accessible.

At a landmark event, the 20th anniversary of Courbevoie tennis club, which brought together 400 guests last June, the partnership took the form of a vibrant culinary and mixology show. The Food and Cocktail Pairing experience stood out for its elegance and inventiveness.

See the Courbevoie Sport Tennis case study and video

Two examples of inspired, evocative and memorable experiences

America theme : A Black Angus mini burger with crisp red cabbage, melted Comté and fig confit was paired with our smoked Gin Basil Smash, made with gin, fresh lemon juice, basil and cucumber, then smoked under a rosemary-filled cloche. Basil quietly bridges the cabbage and herbs in the beef; lemon acidity balances the richness of the dish, while the smoky finish recalls the flavour of the grill.

India and Comoros theme : A selection of vegetable and ginger samosas, chicken pili-pili and polenta with truffled mushroom cream met our bright, refreshing Ginger Lemon Cooler mocktail : Fresh lemon juice, house-infused ginger, sparkling water, cucumber slices and lively green mint. A subtle pairing full of character, where freshness lifts the spices and truffle meets the vibrancy of ginger.

See the Courbevoie Sport Tennis case study and video

What makes our experience unique?

Human and collaborative :

Chefs and bartenders work together every day, with a shared understanding, to create rich and thoughtful experiences.

Tailor-made and creative :

Every experience is designed around your event's theme, atmosphere and guests. There is no fixed formula; everything is created for you.

Innovative and exclusive :

Through bold combinations of flavours and expertise, our Food and Cocktail Pairing experience pushes the boundaries of culinary events.

Experiential and sensory :

More than a service, it is a moment of sharing, discovery and emotion, with flavours your guests will remember.

With So Barman and PEPeat, every service becomes a human dialogue and an ephemeral creation shaped by passion, inventiveness and precision. Each event is an opportunity to surprise, move and reveal the subtle marriage between cuisine and cocktails. This is the signature of a talented, inclusive and inventive Food and Cocktail Pairing experience created in your image.

PEPeat's promise in three words :

Passion, excellence, proximity.

Virginie Legrand, a creative and passionate chef

Enthusiastic and inspiring, creativity is her uninhibited expression of imagination, an endless exploration of originality that awakens the senses and shifts expectations.

Virginie's mantra says almost everything about her : Learn the rules like a professional, so you can break them like an artist. (Picasso)

A privileged link between artisans and the client, she experiences the joy of being a chef by bringing visual and gustatory pleasures together.

Virginie creates uninhibited, generous cuisine for everyone who loves cooking and sharing good food beyond the conventions of a traditional restaurant.

Let's Celebrate!

Are you a discerning gourmet, a relaxed home cook, a philosopher of the table or a proud beginner?

We were made to get along.

A nomadic devotee of culinary art, Virginie delights in pulling out all the stops for clients who want to be treated like royalty at home.

She comes to your home or to the venue of your event.

Your kitchen becomes fertile ground for her inspiration, and your dining room the welcoming setting for the tasting.

Virginie in a few words, images and sensations :

For Virginie, being a private chef means...

Virginie Legrand | Private chef (@communicpassion) • Instagram photos and videos

But also an anecdote that is not so anecdotal...

Virginie Legrand | Private chef (@communicpassion) • Instagram photos and videos

And more than the cherry on top : Essential and delicious client feedback 😊

Virginie Legrand | Private chef (@communicpassion) • Instagram photos and videos

Julien Dumas, Michelin-starred chef

The closeness offered by event catering as we conceive it gives Julien a playground where he can express his passion through new codes.

A favourite of the foodie scene and a Michelin-starred chef, Julien Dumas champions living cuisine.

His sincere cooking, shaped by an environmental awareness patiently developed throughout his career, finds its place in every event setting. “My cooking reflects 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.”

An ambassador for produce and its stories

Through extensive sourcing, Julien is committed to eco-conscious cuisine.

“I try to put people at the centre of my cooking. First come the producer, fisher, forager or gatherer. It is only natural that I make them central to my work.

I have deep admiration for those who cultivate the land with respect. I work mainly with local producers. For fish, for example, I chose two Breton fishermen who help protect the oceans. I like pairing noble fish with ingredients considered more humble, such as sardines... and caviar.”

From intimate executive committee lunches to high-profile public events, Julien relishes ambitious challenges.

His latest was a contribution to the Coca-Cola Food Fest at the heart of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in the Invalides terminal. The spectacular 1,000 m² pop-up restaurant took the form of a food court, serving recipes from around the world created by ten internationally recognised chefs selected for their expertise, authenticity and creativity.

“To find perfect harmony, Julien has a reference point : Music, particularly that of Matthieu Chedid. It accompanies him in the kitchen. To balance the unpredictability of nature with the precision of gastronomy, he adapts without ever giving up, whether in the dining room or on a tennis court. This absolute energy and concentration opened the doors of the Michelin Guide, with a first star.” (TF1, 30 July 2023).