On a quiet street in the Marais, three friends have transformed the former Sherry Butt into a cocktail bar where migration becomes liquid poetry. Meet Marco, Matteo and Joaquin, three enthusiasts reinventing the art of hospitality.
On Rue Beautreillis, far from the bustle of Paris, a new address is already making waves in the cocktail scene. Memento was not born from a meticulous business plan, but from a chance encounter and an unexpected phone call. When the real estate agent who had sold Magnum (a wine cellar on the same street) to Marco calls him to suggest the Sherry Butt, the answer is blunt: “I don’t give a damn.” The place seems too big, unsuited to his plans. But sometimes the best stories begin with a refusal.
Three backgrounds, one shared vision
Marco comes from the wine world, owner of the neighboring Magnum. Matteo, former head bartender at Moonshiner, masters the art of cocktails. Joaquin, an Argentine who arrived in France in 2019, met Matteo at the final of the Angostura Versus competition and quickly joined the legendary bar’s team. “We clicked really fast — except that he supported River and I supported Boca,” Joaquin jokes, referring to Argentina’s fiercest football rivalry.
It is Matteo who connects the three. When Marco finally mentions his renewed interest in the Sherry Butt after reconsidering the opportunity, Matteo sets one condition: “I’d really like Joaquin to be part of the project.” For Marco, who has never hidden the fact that he barely knows how to make a Negroni, teaming up with two bartenders of this caliber becomes an obvious choice.
The birth of a name
On the night they sign the preliminary sales agreement, the three partners celebrate at Magnum before heading to the restaurant Vinello in the 17th arrondissement. On the metro, the question arises: what should they call this new place? The idea comes almost by chance, around a shared conviction: creating a good memory for the guest is the only true guarantee they will come back.
“In a street that’s not busy at all, what keeps a business alive are the regulars,” Marco explains. Memento naturally imposes itself. A Latin word, international, echoing Magnum and continuing that famous letter M — Marco, Matteo, Malki. The logo follows logically: an hourglass made of two martini glasses, where time flows like a cocktail.
A menu that tells stories of migration
As they refine their concept, the three friends realize they share a common condition: that of immigrants. Rather than tackling this delicate subject head-on, they choose the poetic metaphor of animal migration. Nine migratory birds and insects become the heroes of their menu, from the Peruvian hummingbird to the Mexican monarch butterfly.
“Everything is movement, constant change,” sums up Joaquin, who carried out real ornithological research with Matteo. Each cocktail retraces a migratory route, drawing ingredients from the countries crossed and from local food traditions. The Mariposa Monarca, for example, celebrates the butterfly that arrives in Mexico just in time for Día de los Muertos, believed to carry the souls of the departed — hence the use of Mexican marigold, the central flower of the ceremony.
The first three cocktails pay tribute to the neighborhood: Place des Vosges, Saint-Paul metro, Marché des Enfants Rouges. Served on tap and carbonated, these accessible creations anchor Memento in its territory. “We wanted to become a real neighborhood bar,” insists Joaquin.
The bestseller? Picaflor, a twist on the Pisco Sour evoking a journey to Peru. “People have a very strong cultural connection to the Pisco Sour — it reminds them of a moment they shared,” Joaquin notes. No wonder this hummingbird has found its audience.
Hospitality as a philosophy
In an increasingly dense and technical Paris cocktail scene, Memento deliberately chooses another path. “Our main concept is hospitality,” says Matteo. No rotovap, no high-tech lab. “We like to drink and eat, we know how to cook, and nine times out of ten we get the recipe right on the first try.”
This intuitive approach does not mean amateurism. Techniques are mastered — fat washing, macerations, carbonation — but always in the service of one goal: that everyone understands what they are drinking without overthinking it. “We want to share cocktails in a simple, non-pretentious way,” Joaquin sums up.
With around sixty seats, Memento embraces its status as a big bar, where you can talk loudly, laugh, move around. “In Italy and in Argentina, we live in bars,” Matteo reminds us. This social dimension, sometimes lost in overly stiff Paris cocktail bars, becomes central here. Warmth, fun, a “really very friendly” place where guests become regulars.
A food offer that keeps evolving
Because Mediterranean culture demands aperitivo, Memento has developed an original food concept: everything is eaten with the hands. Tartares are served on squares of toasted brioche brushed with clarified butter, already portioned into four bites. A quality kitchen supervised in consulting by chef Matteo Carlesso, former chef of Hank’s Corner.
“We realized it’s not easy to get people to eat in a cocktail bar,” admits Marco. On weekends, with sixty or seventy people standing, knives and forks are impossible. Hence this shift toward “sneaky, indulgent little things” that naturally accompany cocktails without constraints.
A combi oven should soon expand the offering, allowing a broader aperitif menu at accessible prices. The goal: make the place lively from 6 p.m., with ephemeral pairings of classic cocktails (Campari Soda, Milano Torino, Americano) and small plates. “That’s when we’ll really democratize the place,” promises Marco.
Aperitivo, the next revolution
From the end of January, Memento plans a true aperitif offensive. “Aperitivo isn’t obvious in cocktail bars,” admits Marco. “People don’t necessarily want to spend fourteen euros on a glass.” The idea: ephemeral formulas combining affordable classic cocktails (Campari Soda, Milano Torino, Fernet-Coke) and tapas of the moment, all at reduced prices.
“We really want this place to be buzzing from 6 to 8:30 p.m., before dinner,” insists Marco. No traditional Happy Hour trap: the cocktails offered will remain available all evening, but this time slot will “literally democratize” access to the bar. With brand activations and a stand-up-friendly selection, Memento wants to prove that Italian- or Argentine-style aperitivo has its place in a Paris cocktail bar.
Values on display
Four months after opening, the trio say they are “even more convinced” of the rightness of their project. Joaquin sums up Memento in three words: “festive, relaxed, friendly.” Marco adds “warm” and “welcoming,” despite the brutalist, minimalist architecture. Matteo insists on “elegance” — of both places and people. All three agree on two key words: simplicity and quality.
This philosophy extends to local collaborations. The neighboring vegan restaurant B.Better supplies a homemade smoked sriracha that elevates the Snow Goose, their twist on a Bloody Mary with cognac — a creation already making waves in the scene.
The adjacent twenty-square-meter room, formerly a storage space of the Sherry Butt, should soon host a pop-up gallery. Art exhibitions, performances, merchandising: Memento wants to become more than a bar, a true cultural hub for the neighborhood.
When the birds make a stopover
Memento has already found its cruising speed. Neighbors become regulars, regulars become friends. In this bar where sixty people can stand on a Saturday night without anyone feeling cramped, brutalist architecture has warmed up over the evenings and turned into a cultural hub where migration never really stops.
Arturo, Marco’s dog, already has his habits behind the counter. A tiny bartender outfit is even planned for him. After all, in a place where three paths from different horizons crossed to create something new, everyone has their place — humans, animals, and those migratory birds that continue to inspire every creation.
In the end, Memento tells exactly what its creators have lived for years: perpetual movement, the joyful blending of cultures, the idea that we always grow richer through contact with others. In their case, “the other” comes from Argentina, Italy, the worlds of wine and cocktails. And in the glasses they serve, it comes from Peru, Mexico, Europe and Africa. The story is only just beginning.
Memento
20 rue Beautreillis
75004 Paris
Open Wednesday to Sunday, 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.
