Aperitif dinner, aperitif boxes, escape game… discover the new ways to share this friendly moment

Amiens (Somme), a Wednesday evening in summer. In the Maison de la culture, where an exhibition on sports is being held, a dozen men and women, most of them in sneakers and tracksuits, are chatting over an aperitif of cider or apple juice. They are taking part in the Apéro au petit trot, a new tourist offer in the Picardy capital, which includes a leisurely run, interspersed with commented stops in front of emblematic places, and ending with an aperitif based on local products. “I found the ad in the local newspaper,” confides Cathy, 54, enjoying a verrine with goat’s cheese cream and smoked duck breast. “If the three concepts (running, visit and small glass) had been separate, I’m not sure it would have caught my attention!”

When it comes to festive trends in this third millennium, the aperitif could win the prize. There is now something for everyone: knitting aperitifs, sewing aperitifs, games aperitifs, singles aperitifs, heritage aperitifs, research aperitifs (where we discuss current scientific research), citizens’ aperitifs (an electoral meeting), pétanque aperitifs, painting aperitifs… There are even “death aperitifs”, where grieving people meet. An event associated with the magic word immediately becomes more marketable. An entrepreneur from Perpignan has not been mistaken: he is preparing to launch lagendadesaperos.fr, a site that will compile announcements from France.

The apéritif has long been a part of French customs, but it has never evolved as much as in recent years. Two centuries ago, the term “apéritif” referred to herbal drinks that whet the appetite and stimulate the body in an almost medical way.

During the 19th century, absinthe, vermouth and bitters became widespread in taverns and on their terraces, such as the Café Voltaire in Paris, where Rimbaud and Verlaine sometimes wrote their poems.

It was not until the 1950s and 1960s that this moment of conviviality became popular in the domestic sphere. Whisky, mulled wines and aniseed drinks appeared on trolley tables, accompanied by peanuts and salty appetizers. The bottles were brought out to celebrate a family event or during Sunday dinner.

In 2023, according to a study by the Appinio Institute for LSA, 69% of French people engage in this ritual at least once a week.

A revisited aperitif ritual

Nowadays, the aperitif has become a moment of pleasure in its own right, longer, more frequent too, able to bring together, beyond the family and friends circle, colleagues, or even strangers as in the case of the Apéro au petit trot in Amiens. “We spend more time there and we no longer need a special event”, says Véronique, 53, while savoring her appetizer in the local Maison de la culture.

Marie, a 26-year-old from Calais, admits to giving in to this pleasure several times a week, with her partner, her family, her friends, at home, outside, or even via video call – a practice inherited from the Covid-19 lockdowns. “At my parents’ house, when I was a child, it was often summertime at a large table with friends,” she remembers. The aperitif started at 5 p.m., we had dinner around 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. Over time, the occasions have multiplied. And it’s more elaborate. For example, I love salmon toast with cream cheese!”

While chips and peanuts have not said their last word, it is now fashionable to take out meat, vegetable, fish spreads or to open a packet of plant-based crackers. You can add fresh raw vegetable sticks or a homemade pizza cut into small squares, some even try verrines.

“When we are among friends, everyone brings a little something that they have prepared,” say Valérie and Thierry, a couple from Savoy, aged 57 and 62. “It is almost a meal.” Rich in cooked foods and quality products, the aperitif becomes a dinner, increasingly replacing the traditional evening meeting. “To paraphrase Michel Houellebecq, it is the extension of the domain of the aperitif,” analyzes Pascal Lardellier, anthropologist and professor at the University of Burgundy. “There is none of the solemnity and decorum of meals. Everyone helps themselves, it is more convivial, more collegial, like an enchanted interlude.”

The author of the Terrace times, a collection of short stories (published by Ateliers Henry Dougier), also points to a move upmarket. “Until then, this moment of conviviality had a little “populo” side – I insist on the quotation marks! – with Beaujolais and Ricard à la Patrick Chirac from the films Camping . Now it is more premium: the success of the Spritz – a mix of prosecco and seltzer water – is a good illustration of this. » The glasses filled with the famous orange liquid make beautiful images on social networks…

The aperitif also tends to lose a few degrees. “As for drinks, we most often drink wine and beer,” Thierry and Valérie continue. Professionals confirm: the most popular drinks are lighter or completely alcohol-free, a booming sector (read the box at the end of the article) . “Ten years ago, we were selling triple beers with an alcohol content of 8° or more. Now, we are looking for beers with an alcohol content of 4° or 5°,” says Franck Deherripont, head of the La cerise sur l’apéro brand in Lille. “It makes sense: consumers have an aperitif several times a week, they don’t want to drink drinks that are too strong every evening.”

A variation to your liking

Services and businesses accompany this appetite. Aperitif boxes to receive at home, escape game whose aim is to free drinks and food stuck in a cooler, games to liven up aperitifs, cooking workshops geared towards aperitif dinners, etc. “These are by far the most popular classes,” admits Maeva Lezaud, who teaches her guests from the Basque Country the basics of ceviche and apple black pudding cromesquis.

Bars, for their part, are abandoning the peanut bowl to offer aperitif platters, an area in which the Le 17.45 franchise specialized eight years ago. Present in Paris, Lille, Metz, Lyon and Angers, it has doubled the number of its locations in recent months to reach 20 bars and is aiming for around fifty establishments by 2027. “We have a lot of requests to deliver our platters to companies, after working hours,” notes Alban d’Orsetti, one of the co-founders.

And for those who are lacking ideas, the aperitif even has its own lounges. In Narbonne, Sébastien Lafage invites producers and consumers to discover new trends, gelatin-based drinks, for example. The forty-year-old is convinced: the aperitif has not finished expanding. “Twenty years ago, burgers arrived in France and multiplied to be on every table today. The aperitif menu will follow the same trend!”