If you read our previous article, you'll know that there are not many places where you can expect to get a good coffee in Paris As we said in that piece: "a quick question that will no doubt occur to the average Anglo Saxon (Australian, New Zealand, west coast of the US, and occasional English) reader with an even-slightly refined palate - does this mean that this is all the decent coffee cafes to choose from in a city the size of Paris? Sadly the answer is pretty much 'yes'.
We have omitted most of the traditional cafes because, with sadly few exceptions, the pattern was the same - they all served terrible coffee - stale, burnt, under-extracted or made on a machine that tasted like it hadn't been cleaned for the last 150 years...
for a country with the gastronomic credentials of a country like France, the general state of coffee in its capital city [apart from the few exceptions listed here] is a disgrace.
However, all is not lost there are a few places in Paris where you can pretty much be assured of a good coffee: 1.
Café Lomi - a little way out in the 18th Arr.
[Metro: Marcardet Poissoniers] these guys live & breathe coffee.
In a converted industrial space, Café Lomi is the closest we could find to an aussie-style café, with a La Marzocco sitting on great bench space, and a mixture of seats and armchairs, making for a comfortable, welcoming café space.
It serves great food, but the wonderful thing [for tired, good-coffee-starved travellers] was that they actually had good coffee; things like café latte and flat white [well, they didn't actually have a 'flat white' on the menu but it was no problem for Paul, our ex-Melbourne barista].
The point is, they had a good shot of espresso underneath, which we were sadly finding a rarity after several days in Paris.
2.
Ten Belles - cross an inner city canal à la Amsterdam, with a little piece of Melbourne in a slightly edgy part of town, and you wouldn't be far off the impression one gets of DixBelles n a gentrifying part of the 10th Arrondissement, only 15-20 minutes walk from the groovy-chic area east of the Pierre Lachaise Cemetery [where Jim Morrison from the Doors is buried].
It's a compact upstairs/downstairs arrangement that is popular with the locals, and will become more so, as it's name spreads.
Part-owner Thomas worked for several years in Melbourne and knocks out a flat white that any barista there would be happy to lay claim to; he's a very engaging frenchman with a realistic view of currently standard of Paris coffee, but an optimistic vision of where coffee in Paris could go, and he intends to be part of it.
3.
Black Market - in an amazingly unassuming space, Bob Dylan playing on turntable accompanied by an eclectic mix of elegant decorative elements.
The owner [Youssef] didn't seem like your regular coffee-guy - he just seemed a little too laid-back, and it turned out that up until six months earlier, he had been working as a web-designer.
His casual approach was disarming; yet when he actually got to work on his stunning Mirage machine, Youssef spat out a couple of surprisingly good shots.
We just couldn't get over how quiet things were, and wondered as to how he managed to make things pay.
Verdict: 'low-key' he certainly may have been, but he definitely delivered the goods - in fact up until now, this was without doubt the best coffee we'd had since we'd hit the streets of Paris! 4.
Le Coutume Café & Roastery- the first of the 'new world cafes we cover here, Coutume was opened in 2011 by joint partners, Frenchman Antoine Netien and Australian Tom Clark and certainly for a couple of years, Coutume has lead the move for a change with respect to quality of coffee in Paris.
With both partners having been independently influenced by the Australian coffee scene, they have created an inviting space with an equally inviting array of coffee and food offerings.
With its spacious and crisp white interior (although a bit of detergent on the chairs wouldn't go astray), soaring ceilings and floor to ceiling windows/bifolding doors, it is Left Bank-genteel with a serious coffee focus.
5.
Cafeotheque - owned by Gloria Montenegro Chirouze, the former Guatemalan Ambassador to Paris, this is in a fantastic location.
Just off the Ile de France, on the Rue de l'Hotel de Ville, Cafeotheque is a boon for the weary traveller, tired from pounding the streets of the historic le Marais and Ile de la Cite parts of central Paris.
It features a range of yummy quiches and tarts, good coffee and most importantly, a pleasant space to take the load off your feet.
Note that there'll be plenty of other people [including, in the weekend, locals] with the same idea, so finding yourself a place is likely to be the only problem!
We have omitted most of the traditional cafes because, with sadly few exceptions, the pattern was the same - they all served terrible coffee - stale, burnt, under-extracted or made on a machine that tasted like it hadn't been cleaned for the last 150 years...
for a country with the gastronomic credentials of a country like France, the general state of coffee in its capital city [apart from the few exceptions listed here] is a disgrace.
However, all is not lost there are a few places in Paris where you can pretty much be assured of a good coffee: 1.
Café Lomi - a little way out in the 18th Arr.
[Metro: Marcardet Poissoniers] these guys live & breathe coffee.
In a converted industrial space, Café Lomi is the closest we could find to an aussie-style café, with a La Marzocco sitting on great bench space, and a mixture of seats and armchairs, making for a comfortable, welcoming café space.
It serves great food, but the wonderful thing [for tired, good-coffee-starved travellers] was that they actually had good coffee; things like café latte and flat white [well, they didn't actually have a 'flat white' on the menu but it was no problem for Paul, our ex-Melbourne barista].
The point is, they had a good shot of espresso underneath, which we were sadly finding a rarity after several days in Paris.
2.
Ten Belles - cross an inner city canal à la Amsterdam, with a little piece of Melbourne in a slightly edgy part of town, and you wouldn't be far off the impression one gets of DixBelles n a gentrifying part of the 10th Arrondissement, only 15-20 minutes walk from the groovy-chic area east of the Pierre Lachaise Cemetery [where Jim Morrison from the Doors is buried].
It's a compact upstairs/downstairs arrangement that is popular with the locals, and will become more so, as it's name spreads.
Part-owner Thomas worked for several years in Melbourne and knocks out a flat white that any barista there would be happy to lay claim to; he's a very engaging frenchman with a realistic view of currently standard of Paris coffee, but an optimistic vision of where coffee in Paris could go, and he intends to be part of it.
3.
Black Market - in an amazingly unassuming space, Bob Dylan playing on turntable accompanied by an eclectic mix of elegant decorative elements.
The owner [Youssef] didn't seem like your regular coffee-guy - he just seemed a little too laid-back, and it turned out that up until six months earlier, he had been working as a web-designer.
His casual approach was disarming; yet when he actually got to work on his stunning Mirage machine, Youssef spat out a couple of surprisingly good shots.
We just couldn't get over how quiet things were, and wondered as to how he managed to make things pay.
Verdict: 'low-key' he certainly may have been, but he definitely delivered the goods - in fact up until now, this was without doubt the best coffee we'd had since we'd hit the streets of Paris! 4.
Le Coutume Café & Roastery- the first of the 'new world cafes we cover here, Coutume was opened in 2011 by joint partners, Frenchman Antoine Netien and Australian Tom Clark and certainly for a couple of years, Coutume has lead the move for a change with respect to quality of coffee in Paris.
With both partners having been independently influenced by the Australian coffee scene, they have created an inviting space with an equally inviting array of coffee and food offerings.
With its spacious and crisp white interior (although a bit of detergent on the chairs wouldn't go astray), soaring ceilings and floor to ceiling windows/bifolding doors, it is Left Bank-genteel with a serious coffee focus.
5.
Cafeotheque - owned by Gloria Montenegro Chirouze, the former Guatemalan Ambassador to Paris, this is in a fantastic location.
Just off the Ile de France, on the Rue de l'Hotel de Ville, Cafeotheque is a boon for the weary traveller, tired from pounding the streets of the historic le Marais and Ile de la Cite parts of central Paris.
It features a range of yummy quiches and tarts, good coffee and most importantly, a pleasant space to take the load off your feet.
Note that there'll be plenty of other people [including, in the weekend, locals] with the same idea, so finding yourself a place is likely to be the only problem!
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