“So anyway, that’s part of why I think France has more of a cafe culture than a coffee culture,” I concluded, having just explained how much I appreciated the growth of specialty coffee in Paris.

We were dining outside of the cathedral at Chartres and I was enduring the prison coffee so often served in many otherwise lovely restaurants in France. One of the Baby Boomers in the party heartily disagreed with my sentiment. “I think this is very good coffee,” he sniffed. I wasn’t sure why he felt the need to defend the general state of coffee in France, but I certainly feel no such need, despite loving life here.

The General State of Coffee in France

The coffee in France in general and in Paris in particular is, at best, average. At worst, it’s dire, reminiscent of the strange brew you would find inside a Shell gas station in America in the late 1980s. No love, no care, just some grounds and hot water. And why have the French been okay with this? Because, as I contend, coffee in this country is, like a cigarette, more of a ritual. It’s about what is going on when you have a coffee, not the quality of the coffee itself. This isn’t to say that the French don’t know good coffee when they taste it. They just aren’t going to go out of their way to find it.

The Coffee Ritual

Coffee ticks so many boxes in France. Many Parisians push a button on their Nespresso machines every morning before going to work. That first sip of the hot, dark beverage helps to wake them, and if they are so disposed, to enlighten them about the possibilities of the day. At 10h00 and 14h00, coffee is often taken with colleagues: outside if the weather is nice, in a lounge area if not. Here the coffee is a lubricant for the conversation. It allows the French to hold something hot and comforting in their hands while they share the difficulties of their jobs. If you’re out during the day to meet with a friend, that coffee is a shared understanding — we’re here to talk about important details of our lives, and coffee often accompanies those conversations, whether those details be light or grave. After a coursed meal, coffee helps to summarize a culinary experience, and perhaps give you just what you need in stimulus to make it home on the métro before collapsing into a (lovely) food coma. In none of these circumstances is good coffee required, and hence, the French have never really asked for it.

Here you might reasonably argue, “Why are you being such a snob, Stephen…not everyone needs a V60 or a particular type of bean from Ethiopia.” It’s not about that. We have never had access to so much good coffee from around the world and so more and more people are getting to taste this good coffee and when they go back to the prison swill we so often experience (even in our favorite restaurants) the difference is palpable.

Add in the ever-growing number of places in Paris that care about coffee, and often, there’s no going back to the bad stuff, often made from robusta (instead of Arabica) beans. You’d rather just have a chocolat chaud or nothing.

What is Café Richard?

I’m sure I had my very first Café Richard coffee somewhere in Montmartre in 2009, when I first visited Paris as a tourist. I was starry-eyed, and at the time, not that interested in coffee, so I was enjoying the ritual of sitting on a Parisian terrasse, taking in the crowds, and feeling like everything was right in the world. That’s where Cafés Richard (pluriel for the corporate name) comes in.

This (still) family-owned business was founded in 1892 and is probably the single largest supplier of coffee in Paris. The thing is, they don’t just supply the coffee, they supply the whole infrastructure to deliver it.

There’s the machine. The cups. The saucers. The tools and implements. The beans. And if the machine breaks, they have someone who can come out right away to fix it.

Do you know how much that would cost if you had to cover it all yourself? As if starting a cafe or restaurant wasn’t already expensive enough? Cafés Richard knows, and they are very happy to solve this problem for you by letting you lease their machines and everything that goes with them. No upfront cost in tens of thousands of euros, no big bill when the machine goes bust. You pay one fee each month which correlates to all the services you might ask for.

Many a restaurateur gladly takes on this arrangement. Most French don’t care about good coffee and Cafés Richard has nourished a good reputation over the years such that the name is recognizable all throughout Paris. And, since the French don’t really care about the quality of the coffee, can we blame Cafés Richard for delivering a mediocre product? Non. They deliver a product and services that both restaurateurs and guests appreciate. Who am I to interfere?

The Particular State of Coffee in Paris

I first moved to Paris in 2013 and the specialty coffee scene was still quite new. All coffee lovers in Paris will know that many specialty coffee roads here in the capital lead back to le Cafeotheque near Notre-Dame and that many of the people who have continued on in coffee in Paris first got their start there. Here is a very short (not exhaustive) list of places (which reflects my unapologetic rive droite bias) where you can get excellent coffee in Paris. Please feel free to add more in the comments section.

• 1er Kitsune — right by Palais Royale if I want to take a cup “to go” and sit by the fountain there.
• 1er Kawa — if you want to feel totally out of your depth, surrounded by people very knowledgeable about coffee, and are willing to learn and try something you have likely never tried before, come to Kawa.
• 3eme Maison Plisson — come for the amazing cheese and lovely comestibles, stay for the coffee and pastries? 🙂
• 3eme Fringe — if you’re wandering around the Marais and need your coffee fix, duck into this lovely spot.
• 4eme la Cafeotheque — does it get any more serious than this place for coffee in Paris? Not sure. 🙂
• 4eme le Peloton — not too far from la Cafeotheque is the Peloton Cafe, which often has delicious baked goods for the sweet of tooth.
• 5eme Shakespeare and Co Cafe — don’t let the swarm of tourists scare you off: the coffee is good and the view of Notre Dame is probably the best of any public cafe in the city.
• 7eme Coutume — I know they have lots of locations, licensed and otherwise, in the city. I happen to like this (relatively) quieter location on rue Babylone.
• 9eme KB — amazing coffee + lovely neighborhood = can’t miss (they also operate Back in Black just a few steps from Bastille, I think).
• 10eme Holybelly — Craig Carlson (owner of Breakfast in America) and I were at some expat meetup years ago and someone complained to us about the lines outside Holybelly. “I enjoy eating at Craig’s,” I said, “but Holybelly might be the best breakfast in Paris.” Craig humbly nodded his assent. They make good coffee too. (fair disclosure: I’ve worked for Holybelly in the past)
• 10eme Ten Belles — it’s a location that’s so cute some may squeak when they see it for the first time.
• 11eme Passager — when I want a breakfast bagel sandwich and a V60 and people-watching on a quiet weekday, I come here. Too busy on the weekends.
• 11eme The Hood — there’s so much I love about this place (and, fair disclosure, I’ve worked for them in the past as well) but apart from getting exposed to some foods you may have never tried before, you’re always going to get good coffee, made with love, here.
• 14eme Hexagone — look, I’m never, ever, down this far south, but if I happen to be, I’ll be here.
• 18eme Hardware Societe — you’re probably coming here for the food first, but if it’s a less busy time, stop in for the coffee.
• 18eme Cafe Lomi — brightly lit, filled with friendly staff and attractive patrons, and so much good coffee.
• 18eme la REcyclerie — I love this place for many reasons not just related to coffee, but they also offer a menu item that allows you to anonymously buy a coffee for someone in financial need (note that they are only open Fri-Sun).

Well, what if you’re not a coffee person? There are plenty of other options, and perhaps that’s an article for another time (and another writer). For now, I’ll just leave you with Plaq, on Rue du Nil (my favorite food street in Paris), which is a bean-to-bar chocolate shop that has some of the best chocolat chaud in the city (pace Angelina, which is an experience on its own).

Photo on Rue Reaumur near my old apartment in the 2nd.

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