In 2023, a well-liked Paris bar made waves when it employed a bouncer to regulate the crowds swarming its doorways. The bar, named Folderol, isn’t a sizzling night time membership or a star hang-out, however slightly a small area serving pure wine and selfmade ice cream.
Folderol shortly turned a neighborhood favourite when it opened in December 2020, however after a sequence of TikToks gushing over the wine bar’s completely Parisian aesthetic went viral, an awesome variety of keen drinkers lined up simply to snap a video of the wine and ice cream combo. House owners Jessica Yang and Robert Compagnon carried out a number of measures to attenuate the mob, hanging an indication that learn “no TikTok,” limiting the outside seating, and, sure, hiring a bouncer. The excitement sparked a world phenomenon, and a variety of bars impressed by Folderol shortly opened in New York, London, Tokyo, Mexico Metropolis, and past.
Conventional ideas would advise towards serving wine with ice cream. So exterior of the plain visible attraction — images of orange wine positioned round dainty tin cups of good ice cream scoops appear to hit a really particular pleasure heart within the mind — why did this idea take off with such gusto? And why are so many bars getting in on it?
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An Unlikely Duo
Although these institutions are wildly well-liked, there’s nonetheless some confusion over the core premise: Are company meant to benefit from the wine and ice cream collectively or individually?
At spots like Tokyo’s Kasiki, the 2 are offered as a pairing, however Folderol’s homeowners insist that they by no means meant for the wine and ice cream to be consumed collectively.
Spouse-and-husband-team Yang and Compagnon each have in depth expertise working as cooks at prime Michelin-starred eating places. The 2 opened their first joint restaurant, Le Rigmarole, in Paris in 2017, and when the subsequent door area turned obtainable, the couple noticed it as a possibility to develop. Beforehand a cave à vin, Yang and Compagnon needed to maintain the integrity of the placement as a wine bar, however had additionally all the time dreamed of opening an ice cream store. So that they determined to place each ideas in the identical area.
“Lots of people pooh-poohed the thought at first: Sugar breaks your palate and chilly breaks your palate — the equation doesn’t make sense,” Yang says. “For us it was simply sharing two of our passions. When folks come within the level isn’t to pair wine and ice cream collectively. We have now good ice cream. We have now good wine. Do with that what you need.”
The concept felt very whimsical, but additionally made sense from a enterprise perspective. “The French don’t normally eat ice cream within the colder months,” Yang says. “We thought the wine bar can be a security web for the winter.” In addition they knew that the idea gave them the potential to face out from the abundance of comparable spots in Paris. “Inside a 10-minute stroll of the place we’re, there are 12 pure wine bars that serve related bottles,” Compagnon provides. “Why not do one thing totally different that units you aside?”
The ensuing bar clearly tapped deep right into a common need for childlike pleasure and nostalgia — one thing that’s presently manifesting in additional methods than one throughout the beverage business. “That’s form of what we love to do, concentrate on issues folks have constructive associations with,” Compagnon says. “Ice cream can flip grownups into children once more, and company go away Folderol feeling elated.”
Inclusive Areas
The newest in a string of Folderol-inspired bars is Detroit’s Bar Chenin, which opened in early 2025. The area places a distinctly grunge, Midwestern spin on Folderol’s authentic vivid and clear aesthetic, generally even putting bottles of Underberg on its less-than-perfect ice cream scoops. Proprietor Nick Arone admits that he was taken by the sense of group that Folderol created and needed to deliver that feeling to his residence in Detroit.
For the reason that combo so blatantly flies within the face of wine’s historically stringent pairing suggestions, why not order a makgeolli to accompany a scoop of banana leaf ice cream?
“You need to make folks really feel like they’re a part of one thing. That’s what Folderol does,” he says. “Hanging on the road ingesting with your folks, possibly having wine, possibly having ice cream. It brings one thing totally different to how we usually consider eating places.”
At Bar Chenin, the ice cream acts as a separate menu merchandise slightly than a required pairing — although if pressured to decide on, Arone would match Vin Jaune along with his peanut ice cream — so these not taken with ingesting can nonetheless bask in a well-known deal with.
“I see ice cream in a wine bar as an extra non-alcoholic choice,” Arone says. “Going to the bar with your folks, it’s good to have one thing that isn’t a mass-produced product made with 1,000,000 substances. These are easy, pleasant issues that deliver you again right down to earth of what a pure wine bar is — showcasing people who find themselves stewards of the land.” Fairly than the big-brand NA choices, Arone believes his artisanal ice lotions higher replicate the expertise of having fun with pure wine.
Inclusivity and accessibility have been a few of the authentic motivations for Yang and Compagnon as nicely. The couple famous that as new mother and father on the time they opened Folderol, the idea felt sensible for households who may need to cease by a bar — wine for the adults, ice cream for the kids (OK, and ice cream for the adults, too).
One other issue is the naturally unpretentious nature of ice cream. At any stage, wine bars may be intimidating. Friends may fear about saying the incorrect factor to a sommelier or not recognizing any of the esoteric names on the by-the-glass checklist. However including ice cream to the equation immediately makes the area really feel extra welcoming. It provides the visitor a way that they don’t must play by wine’s conventional guidelines and that something goes.
Pushing the Pairing Boundaries
For Lai Rai, a bar that opened on Manhattan’s Decrease East Aspect in 2024, the notion of serving ice cream with wine unlocked a wholly new stage of pairing potentialities. As an alternative of creating anticipated flavors like chocolate, vanilla, and pistachio, the Vietnamese wine bar — from the groups behind NYC’s beloved eating places Mắm and Di an Di — used the ice cream as a canvas to convey Vietnamese flavors.
Lai Rai serves creations like fish sauce caramel, chrysanthemum, banana leaf, and Vietnamese espresso. And along with a collection of pure wines the bar expands its beverage alternatives past simply grape wines, providing sake and specialty rice wines from Korea and Vietnam.
Although some may discover the wine and ice cream idea complicated, it opens folks’s minds to attempting one thing they wouldn’t have thought of earlier than. For the reason that combo so blatantly flies within the face of wine’s historically stringent pairing suggestions, why not order a makgeolli to accompany a scoop of banana leaf ice cream?
The various iterations of the wine and ice cream bar don’t all replicate Folderol’s authentic thought, however the idea opened a door for wine bars to experiment with one thing new — and one thing that they already knew clients love. Whether or not that be exploring new taste combos, offering an accessible area for the group, or simply including an additional layer of chocolate chip-filled pleasure to the standard wine bar outing.
