What makes a zeitgeist? How many shops or photos denote a “cavalcade”? A cafe boom? A moment of precipitous growth? By any metric, in any system of measurement, there’s something very special happening right now in Paris, where no fewer than 5 quite promising cafes are set to open this autumn, in time for the city’s busy (and magical) holiday season.
Credit where it’s due: Oliver Strand was the first English language journalist to really document the Parisian specialty coffee scene, first in 2010, then in 2011, and again in 2012 (sounds like a lot of trips to Paris to us). But it’s 2013 now, and with it comes 5 more new entries to the list of quality-focused Parisian specialty coffee bars: Holybelly, Lockwood, Foundation Cafe, Fragments, and Belleville.
Belleville is featured last in our list, but its co-owner, David Nigel Flynn, serves as a kind of intrepid guide to these new cafes throughout. Welcome to the Parisian specialty coffee boom.
David Nigel Flynn says, “Nico Alary and Sarah Mouchot (Holybelly) are both French, but spent years abroad first in Vancouver and then Melbourne where they worked at Market Lane and Duchess of Spotwood, respectively.”
As told by Nicolas Alary & Sarah Mouchot.
Can you tell us a bit about your new space?
The space will be called Holybelly. It will be a café focusing on 3 main elements: great coffee, great food and great service. Having lived and worked in Melbourne we feel like these are three things you can easily get in many cafés around town but it’s definitely lacking here in Paris. You can get good coffee, you can get good food, but you can never get them together. In Melbourne people get out of bed and meet up at Auction Rooms, Proud Mary or St Ali for a banging filter and some delicious food. I’m talking full on menu with savory options, a proper meal, not just a muffin at the counter. We used to love that and thought it’d be great to bring that experience back with us and give the Parisians a taste of it.
What’s your approach to serving coffee?
Having been trained by Talor Browne and then worked at Market Lane for several months, coffee is definitely something I intend to do well. We’ll be doing both espresso and filter coffee. For the espresso we’ll have a blend provided by the soon to be opened and kicking ass Brulerie Belleville and a rotating guest showcasing a wild range of independent quality roasters. For filter we’ll be using a Marco Shuttle brewer, again using Belleville as our main supplier while occasionally popping in a few kilos from other roasters we’d like to work with.
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
As far as equipment goes we made sure we wouldn’t be able to blame it on the tools. La Marzocco Linea 2 groups volumetric, Robur-E, EK-43 and yummy clean water using Bespoke RO system.
First meals and coffee should go out in the third week of September. Find HolyBelly at 19 Rue Lucien Sampaix in the 10th.
David Nigel Flynn says, “Christophe and Olivier Lehoux along with being the brothers of Thomas Lehoux (a partner at Belleville) have a lot of years in the bar and cocktail scene in London and Sydney where Christophe owns three bars. For Lockwood they teamed up to open a combo coffeeshop and bar here in Paris.”
As told by Christophe Lehoux and Olivier Lehoux.
Can you tell us a bit about your new space?
Lockwood is two concept split in 2 levels, a coffee shop on the ground floor and a cocktail bar in the basement. The idea is to provide good drinks all day long.
What’s your approach to serving coffee?
We want to provide good quality coffee with nice friendly service. Giving to parisian the opportunity of trying specialty coffee. The beans will come from Belleville roastery.
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
Linéa 2 groupes for espresso. Chemex on hand filter coffee. And we will use a Marco Bru for batch brewer.
If all goes according to plan, Lockwood will open its doors at 73 rue D’Aboukir 75002 Paris in Mid-October.
David Nigel Flynn says, “Chris Nielsen is an Australian and a former Barista at Mecca who has been between Paris and Sweden for the past few years.”
As told by Chris Nielsen.
Can you tell us a bit about your new space?
Our space is going to be REAL small! Triangular wooden stools with tables, a concrete bar and an entire wall covered in corten steel set our interior scene. Outside we have a terrace soaked in afternoon sun with a covered market and park nearby.
What’s your approach to serving coffee?
People are smart, they can tell when something is special based on the way you approach creating the beverage. If you take your time and answer their questions thoughtfully (and only when they’re asked), without barraging them with information, they’ll appreciate that and only make them all the more curious. Also, deliciousness is King.
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
We are lucky enough to be hosting the first Kees van der Westen Spirit in Paris. It will be front and center so should hopefully be turning some heads. We’ll be serving coffee from the soon-to-be-open Belleville Brulerie.
Fondation Cafe plans to open in late October at 16 Rue Dupetit Thouars, 75003 Paris, France.
David Nigel Flynn says, “Youssef Louanjli (Fragments) is french and last year opened Black Market Café, a tiny little spot with a commitment to serving great coffee. After applying himself to learning as much as anyone can hope to about coffee preparation he revealed that Black Market was actually something of a trial run and now he is opening what he considers his first ‘real’ project.”
As told by Youssef Louanjli.
Can you tell us a bit about your new space?
The shop is set in an old parisian bulding in rue des Tournelles, Le Marais-area. It is the relocation and evolution of Black Market -a café we have opened last year- and the materialisation of a three years project around serving great coffees and organic local vegetables.
Back in the 18th century, the spot was horse stables and we tried to keep it as authentic and sleek as possible.
What’s your approach to serving coffee?
“Fragments” is how we named the shop and it means a lot for us.
It is founded on the belief that small things matter. Maximum attention will be paid to each cup we serve and we will not compromise on quality. We will always stay beyond our confort zone and aim for better.
Yes, we are quite obsessed with details, then you can just walk through our front door and hopefully enjoy a fine cup of coffee.
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
A Kees Van der Westen Mirage on the espresso bar. It will share with the brew bar a Mahlkönig EK43 grinder and a water reverse osmosis system
Fragments Paris is slated to open in Mid-October. Find it at 76, Rue des Tournelles, Paris 75003.
As told by Thomas Lehoux, Anselme Blayney, and David Flynn.
Can you tell us a bit about your new space?
The space is located in the greater Belleville neighborhood sandwiched between the Parc de Belleville and the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont. It’s an old workingclass neighborhood that’s a mix of Chinese cafés, natural wine bars, and old ateliers. It was important to us to find a space in Paris and Belleville was our neighborhood of choice.
Belleville is primarily a roaster (Brûlerie is an old french term for roaster) but the space itself is split into a production area and a training and boutique space. We’ll be open to the public on the weekends and providing trainings and tastings during the week.
What’s your approach to serving coffee?
We want to share great coffee with people. As a result, a big focus of ours is filter coffee, and sharing with people how easy it is to make a great cup of coffee at home.
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
Our goal is to have a rotating lineup of coffee machines and equipment in our training area, but to begin with we’ll have a Marzocco Linea, Mazzer Grinders, an EK 43 and a marco bru system, as well as various manual brew methods. We’ll be roasting on a Giesen W15.
We’re excited about all of the coffees were bringing in but Particularly the Kenya Gatina AA and Peaberry lots we sourced with the help of Collaborative Coffee Source.
Belleville is slated to open at the end of September. It is located at 10 Rue Pradier, Paris 75019.
