Coffee Connoisseurs Continue their Quest at Café Coutume

I ran into P. at CUPA the other day (we were both there straightening out some class logistics), and we decided to grab lunch together - and coffee. P. is a barista in Portland, so he knows his java - he's one of the friends who put his seal of approval on La Caféothèque a few weeks ago. So I knew I was in for a treat when he suggested a nearby café in the 7eme arrondissement.

When you walk into Café Coutume, you feel like you've stepped out of Paris and into some trendy little place in Brooklyn or LA. The décor is done in a soothing color palette; minimalist, but with some charming quirks. Plants grow out of stainless steel sinks, and there are rolling office chairs at a little side bar. There's a diagram of the human tongue on the wall.

Once seated, we were brought the menus (attached to clipboards) and a carafe d'eau. But this wasn't just any carafe d'eau - it was a test tube!

P. ordered a regular black coffee, while I opted for a café crème. FYI, that's what you have to order if you want coffee with cream in France - and it always costs extra. No free little containers of non-dairy creamer here! But no matter, I was quite hungry and didn't feel like subjecting my empty stomach to the burn of black coffee (albeit black coffee made from single-origin beans roasted on the premises). Usually when you order a café crème, you get a shot of espresso with the milk already mixed in, or on the side. But at Café Coutume, I got a lovely surprise:

Remember, I ordered a café crème, not a cappuccino! And it was as delicious as it was pretty!

Then came lunch. I ordered their Lebanese offering, which came impeccably presented on one of those trendy square plates:

An elegant presentation of tabouleh, flanked by succuluent roasted eggplant, a blob of creamy goat cheese, and some baby greens drizzled with lemon oil. Everything lightly sprinkled with sesame seeds. You could tell just by looking (and by tasting!) that these were high-quality ingredients. So high quality, in fact, that I think the 8,50€ price tag was well-justified.

I also noted as we were leaving that Café Coutume sells small bundles of vanilla beans from Madagascar. There were perhaps 7-10 bean pods in each bundle, which went for about 7,50€ each - though nothing compared to the deals I got in Madagascar, it's still the best price I've seen since leaving the island.

We then strolled up to Invalides...

...then across the Seine into the 8eme arrondissement - the part that's filled with high-end couture shopping (aka, nowhere near my appartment!) - where we gawked into the windows purportedly selling "stylish" clothes. Is it just me, or do "designer" stores often sell a lot of ugly things, too?

Then it was off to the metro to catch line 14 for class at INALCO!

After-school snack, Paris-style

Four hours of orientation class every day is enough to make any CUPA student hungry (even with lunch before and a snack during the break!). So S. and I decided to make a few stops at the end of the schoolday...

First was the Poilâne bakery, which was a comfortable walk from CUPA. We picked up two apple pastries - one that was round like a little tart, and one that was folded over empanada-style. We ooh-ed and aah-ed over the stunning breads in the window display, though: check out this sourdough with raisin design!

We took the pastries to go and hopped on the métro in search of what is reputed to be "the best cappucino in Paris" at Terres de Café. The store also sells beans and a lot of coffee-making gadgets and gear.

Two cappuccinos, s'il vous plaît!

They came in these chic glass orb-like cups that helped retain the heat surprisingly well!

Both S. and I appreciated the generous little sprinkle of cocoa powder on each...

Coffee and pastry - a match made in heaven, non?

I'm very lucky to have found a friend who enjoys taking pictures of food as much as I do!

Makes even the most boring conversation class worth it in the end!

Bon appétit à nous!

Sunday Vignettes (9/18)

Sunday I met up with V., an American friend whom I hadn't seen since mid-high school. She now lives in London and was visiting Paris with her boyfriend, boyfriend's sister, and boyfriend's sister's friends. It was a lively international bunch - exactly the kind of group one would want to romp around Montmartre with.

We met at métro stop Pigalle, then trekked up the hill to the Sacré Cœur cathedral by an alternate route and somehow managed to avoid the scammers who prey on tourists (grab your wrist, start making a bracelet around it, then make you pay for it) AND the long line to get into the cathedral (we cut without realizing).

We were still allowed to tour the inside of the stunning neo-Byzantine cathedral, even though Mass was going on at the same time. It was kind of awkward to be a "looky-loo" while people who were genuinely there for service sat and prayed or took communion...but so be it.

As we descended the hill, we passed a Paraguayan harpist playing on the steps - the same harpist I saw there in 2009!

2009

2011

We then passed the famous Moulin Rouge and a variety of sex shops (Montmarte is home to Paris' red light district) ...

And then, since it was an unabashedly touristic day, we ate lunch at Le Café des Deux Moulins - the café from the movie "Amélie" ("Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain"). It was un peu cher, but we vegetarians (there were several of us) were able to get lovely salads sans jambon (without ham).

Finally, we took a stroll through the Cimetière de Montmartre. We spent a good amount of time looking for Oscar Wilde's grave before realizing that he is in fact buried in the even-more-famous Père Lachaise cemetery (20e arrondissement). Still, all was not lost, since we happened upon the grave of French Romantic composer Hector Berlioz, most noted for his Symphonie fantastique; as there were several musicians in our little group, this was almost just as exciting!

What does a girl have to do to get a decent cup of coffee in Paris?

For those of you who associate the term "French" and "Parisian" with all things sophisticated, refined, and delicious, you're in for a shock: the coffee in Paris is terrible.

Don't let those little cups of espresso that you order in quaint corner cafés fool you - close your eyes, forget you're in the City of Light and romance, take a sip, and admit it. It tastes bad.

And it's not just me and my friends who think so: the New York Times magazine wrote on article on that very subject. Luckily, this article also provides suggestions for where one can in fact find a good cup of coffee (so the title of this blog post isn't as provocative as it might have seemed at first glance). Our main man David Lebovitz also weighed in on the issue, so we decided to check out La Caféothèque (metro stop: Pont Marie).

Upon entering La Caféothèque, our nostrils were met with a scent that we hadn't smelled since we left the states: freshly roasted coffee beans. We wandered to the back of the place, and sat near the coffee bar, and took in the scene. Eclectic chairs and stools. Patrons sitting in groups of two and three, chatting in a variety of languages. Names of the beans' countries of origin on the walls. A shelf well-stocked with books. A piano waiting to be played. Frank Sinatra playing in the background.

We ordered: filter coffees for my friends, a cappucino for me. The fact that each was accompanied by a square of dark chocolate didn't hurt...

Note: When I say "we" I mean two fellow CUPA students who go to Reed College in Portland Oregon - a city with quite the taste for java. So you don't just have to take my word for it - these two coffee conoisseurs (one of them a barista) put their seal of approval (along with mine, for what it's worth!) on La Caféothèque!

As delicious as it was beautiful!

One of my friends had brought along some of her own whole coffee beans from the states, which La Caféothèque was kind enough to grind for her (I told you these friends were quite the coffee connoisseurs!). Plus we learned a new verb: moudre = to grind.

I savored my cup down to the last rich, frothy drop...with classes starting soon and the weather getting colder, you can be sure we'll be back!