“Champagne: in victory, one deserves it; in defeat, one needs it.” For lovers of bubbles, this Napoleon Bonaparte saying comes in handy. Yes, it’s always a good time for Champagne. While there’s some debate whether or not Napoleon is the true source of the line, the famed saying also serves as a source of inspiration for The St. Regis and what it refers to as its Evening Ritual of Champagne sabering.
Each night, typically at 6 p.m., at every St. Regis hotel around the world, a staffer will recite the line and provide some brief background on their charming in-house ritual before sabering open a bottle of Champagne. It honors the close of the day, as well as the start of a hopefully festive evening, and guests in attendance are given a free glass of Champagne in the process.
Sabrage is one of several signature St. Regis rituals, along with longstanding brand pillars such as butler service providing daily clothes pressing, morning coffee delivery, and luggage packing and unpacking services. Other St. Regis rituals include the Bloody Mary, with every property developing its own distinctive recipe riff, and afternoon tea.
While John Jacob Astor IV founded The St. Regis New York in 1904, it’s mommy dearest who deserves the credit for these renowned rituals. “His mother, Caroline Astor, enriched this vision by hosting infamous Gilded Age events that introduced compelling social rituals, many of which endure at St. Regis today.” So says The Bloody Mary Book, a giftable hardcover tome released by St. Regis that delves into the drink’s history and recipes.
Midnight Supper parties are another ritual, again honoring Caroline Astor’s personal traditions. The brand even has a dedicated scent inspired by her, Caroline’s Four Hundred. The name is in homage to the list of 400 notable guests representing her high-society peers in the Gilded Age, while the Carlos Huber-created scent from Arquiste Parfumeur evokes the fragrant blooms of her residence and the exotic woods of her ballroom. Specific notes in the bouquet include American Beauty rose, palm frond, violet, Easter lily, and quince blossom.
The Champagne sabering and the Bloody Mary are what come to mind first and foremost for many guests and brand devotees, though, and as such are worthy of further exploration.
Nightly Champagne Sabering
It appears that Caroline Astor knew how to throw an excellent and decadent party. But even she could not imagine the Champagne celebrations still taking place at The St. Regis 120-plus years later. Consider that there are, as of the time of this writing, 63 St. Regis hotels around the world. If each of these properties sabers one bottle of Champagne every night of the year, that’s 22,995 bottles sabered per year. But a crowd gathers to watch the ritual and nab their Champagne at many of the properties, requiring more than a single bottle to serve everyone. If it’s two or three bottles per night per hotel, we’re now at about 46,000 or 69,000.
Not any old implement will do for The St. Regis, either. They have an official saber: a handcrafted silver saber from Maison Christofle’s Haute Orfèvrerie workshop in Yainville, a commune in Normandy, France. Napoleon and Caroline Astor, peas in a pod when it came to an appreciation of pomp and circumstance, would both approve.
Bloody Marys at the St. Regis
The Bloody Mary dates back to 1934, coming into the world known as the Red Snapper. It was created by bartender Fernand Petiot at the King Cole Bar at The St. Regis New York, and just as Caroline Astor couldn’t have conjured the Champagne celebrations she’d be spawning around the world, neither could Petiot have dreamt how beloved the Bloody Mary would become.
While the original drink is known as the Red Snapper, its original name was indeed intended to be the Bloody Mary. “The spicy libation was originally christened the Bloody Mary but ultimately appointed the Red Snapper, so as not to offend the hotel’s refined clientele,” the aforementioned The Bloody Mary Book tells us. The collection includes 46 Bloody Mary recipes, and as it happens, actually makes for a great coffee table or bar counter book for any cocktail maker, Bloody Mary enthusiast, or home entertainer.
Every St. Regis concocts its own trademark Bloody Mary. With the hotel collection now up to 63 hotels, that number also reflects the official riffs being poured. The Bloody Marys are created to reflect local ingredients and tastes, drawing inspiration from each locale.
The St. Regis Bangkok serves the Siam Mary, highlighting the kick of Thai chilies, while also incorporating Thai basil and lemongrass, while the Bora Mary from The St. Regis Bora Bora is a more refreshing take made with watermelon juice. Elsewhere around the world, everything from grappa to Baiju and raki is used as the starring alcohol, while in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a non-alcoholic option is served.
Each recipe, along with an accompanying illustration, can be found online in an official portal where you can search by region. Try a new recipe every day and you’ll be floating in Bloody Marys for the next two months. To which Napoleon might respond: “never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” Perhaps it’s best to space them out, then. Enjoy one with brunch each Sunday and you have more than a full year’s worth, plenty of time to plot out which ones you’d like to sample at their home properties around the world. Sounds like it’s time to start booking that next trip.
Feature image courtesy of St.Regis
