French-influenced Bar Pompette burst into the list of North America’s 50 Best Bars 2023 at No.15, earning it the coveted Disaronno Highest New Entry Award. Charlene Rooke meets its co-owner Hugo Togni to talk bringing chef-skills to drinks, why the bar’s 50 Best ranking is drawing a new crowd and how he is converting Toronto locals to pastis cocktails, one sip at a time
As a veteran of celebrated, multi-decorated fine dining kitchens in France, Bar Pompette’s Hugo Togni knows something about awards jitters. Yet attending North America’s 50 Best Bars for the first time in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, in May, caused next-level anxiety. As the countdown climbed into the top 20, the co-owner of the French-inflected Toronto bar turned to assistant GM Simon Taggart and co-owner Maxime Hoerth and said: “This is really bad. They must’ve forgotten about us or something.” Togni can be forgiven for his incredulity. Rocketing to No.15 in its first 50 Best outing earns Bar Pompette the Disaronno Highest New Entry Award for 2023, a feat made even more incredible considering its unplanned origins during the pandemic.
Togni was originally recruited to the opening team at restaurant Pompette on College Street in the heart of Toronto’s Little Italy in March 2020. When the pandemic torpedoed the original concept of pairing small plates with wine and cocktails, the restaurant evolved to a brasserie-style menu. Then, several months later, when a café-bar a few doors down closed, Pompette founders Hoerth and Martine with Jonathan Bauer proposed a natural extension: a bar offshoot – Pompette, after all, is French slang for ‘tipsy’ – that Togni would lead.
Bar Pompette's Simon Taggart, Maxime Hoerth and Hugo Togni (L to R) were in disbelief as they collected the Disaronno Highest New Entry award on stage in San Miguel de Allende
He was drawn to bar culture after years in high-powered restaurant kitchens in France. “I love cooking, but I could see something [in bars] that was new and I had an ambition for it,” he says. “The idea was to be French-inspired but not necessarily 100 per cent French” – an accent that’s apparent in flourishes from black truffle shavings to a soupçon of Cognac in cocktails to occasional live jazz in the breezy, casual-chic room. Bites range from classic jambon-beurre sandwiches to terrines or decadent puddles of dip (think cod-roe or ricotta), joyously swiped up with crackling house baguette.
While being French-ish, Bar Pompette embraces the diversity of a city as famously multicultural as Toronto, and of a lively street equally populated by cafés, flag-toting sports bars and modish restaurants. “We are a neighbourhood cocktail bar; a very welcoming space,” Togni says. “Somewhere where you feel good, you can come for a glass of wine or for a beer, and just hang out.”
He strives for chef-level simplicity and purity with the cocktail menu. “When you read the ingredients, you understand already what you’re going to have in your drink.” Togni has a talent for flavour combinations that “find the right balance; they create something new. You read it on paper, then taste it and think: ‘That all makes sense now.’” The culinary influences are undeniable: Beet It is a ruby-coloured, beet-infused mezcal cocktail that chills on a king cube of ice covered in shaved cacao nibs, boosting the earthy flavour and aroma essence of the root vegetable.
The Cornichon cocktail adds dill-kissed distillate to a classic gin Martini, topped with an orb of dill oil making a dry visual pun on the classic green olive garnish. Bar Pompette’s deceptively simple-looking drinks do, however, make full use of the modern mixology toy box. “Yes, we have exciting tools like the Rotavap and [immersion] circulator… but I don't like to show off too much with them,” Togni says, always putting technique in service of creating flavour.
Minimalist garnishes are part of Bar Pompette’s signature style. The cocktails here don’t just strive for a ‘wow’ first impression, but create an experience worthy of lingering. Its whitewashed tin ceiling, patinaed hardwood floors and leather banquettes (not to mention its leafy, charming back patio) cultivate a flaneur-friendly vibe. “I want people to enjoy our cocktails from the first sip to the last. Because, like dessert after a meal, the final sip is the last memory that people will have from the experience.”
To that end, Togni creates distillates and essences that are spritzed onto a drink immediately before serving – “the same way you will express the zest of a citrus orange drink” – like cocktail fragrances. The drink called It’s Pink gets a spray of Earl Grey tea essence for top notes of bergamot and tea tannins, which slowly give way to rhubarb, vanilla and tequila notes. “You never get bored of our drinks. It's always like something is happening all the time.”
Love it or hate it: the 11 am in Marseille (roasted almond orgeat, beeswax infused pastis, lime and egg white) is one of Pompette's signature serves
He has taken particular pride in introducing guests to a French summer staple, ice-cold pastis drinks. “I say it’s a 50-50,” he laughs, “because of the strong flavour of anise and liquorice, people either love it or hate it.” The cocktail named 11 am in Marseille combines deeply roasted almond orgeat (housemade to mimic the flavour of roasted peanuts often served in French bars) and French pastis (infused with beeswax from a local honey producer) with lime and egg white, for a not-so-typical summer-fresh sour that has converted many a guest to the divisive liqueur.
Bar Pompette’s neighbourhood clientele has admittedly shifted a bit since North America’s 50 Best Bars 2023 and the Disaronno Highest Entry Award were announced. “A lot of travellers are going to check the list and maybe go to a new city where they’ve never been before. I think our job today is to be kind of a window to so many other Toronto bars that are doing a wonderful job,” Togni says. While Bar Pompette now welcomes more international liquivores, maintaining a no-reservations policy keeps the hospitality vibes chill. “It’s like the bistro-café kind of idea that you can find in France. You just come and sit and enjoy your drink for as long as you want, and no one's here to tell you that you need to leave.”
The Bar Pompette crew will never overlook its locals. Togni describes returning from North America’s 50 Best Bars and flinging open Bar Pompette’s French doors to College Street. “Our regulars were passing by, with their dogs or just walking around the neighbourhood, yelling ‘Congratulations!’ That was one of the best feelings, as good as being recognised by our peers in this industry. It means a lot to hear ‘Thanks for your hard work and for being a part of this neighbourhood and giving us the chance to go out at night to a nice cocktail bar like yours.” It’s a simple promise of great bar hospitality; one which has been richly rewarded.
Miss the ceremony in Mexico? Recap the highlights here:
North America’s 50 Best Bars 2023, sponsored by Perrier, was announced at a live awards ceremony in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, on Thursday 4th May 2023. Browse the website to browse the full ranking and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube to stay up to date with all the news and announcements.
