"Celebrating the Bloody Mary’s 100th anniversary, this historic Parisian bar is credited with Fernand Petiot’s invention of the vodka-and-tomato cocktail in 1921 and with the recipe’s first publication in a 1921 cocktail manual. Centenary events around December 16 proceeded despite worries about the Omicron variant, with staff demonstrating the classic preparation — salt, pepper, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, vodka and tomato juice mixed directly in the glass — while enforcing COVID-19 health-pass checks, providing hand sanitizer and wearing masks in line with French regulations. Renowned for literary patrons such as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald and notable for having been dismantled on New York’s Seventh Avenue and rebuilt in central Paris in 1911, the venue’s timeless decor and international clientele give it a reassuring, iconic atmosphere that regulars and visitors praised while observing safety measures." - Alex Turnbull, Associated Press (AP)