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Head over to the up-and-coming Canal St-Martin to watch Parisian bobos, or bourgeois-bohemian, in action. The area is home to fashion designers, artists, and media folk who make the most of the waterside cafés on sunny days. The bistro scene gets interesting east of the Bastille, where lower rents have encouraged young chefs to set up shop. Around Père Lachaise the selection thins, but wander a little farther to multicultural Belleville to find an intriguing mix of Chinese and North African eateries alongside some superb gastrobistros from a handful of gifted young chefs.
An easy walk from Place de la Bastille and the Marais, this sleek 2,000-square-foot café is a favorite spot for breakfast, veggie-centric nibbles, and exceptional scones, breads, and sweet rolls served all day, seven days a week. Mornings are a good time to enjoy the fragrance of fresh roasting coffee, performed in full view.
This ever-popular eatery near the canal is the go-to spot for locals and expats with a hankering for all those breakfast comfort foods Mom used to make, but with a gourmet twist. Stacks of ethereally light pancakes or eggs and bacon come with bourbon butter and maple syrup, or a side of fennel sausage, baked beans, hash browns, or a copious serving of green salad. Fruit, yogurt, and granola bowls and other homemade sweets are equally soothing: chia pudding, pecan cake, and an extra-light cheesecake. Wash it all down with a gourmet coffee, homemade soda, a sparkling mimosa, or a bloody Mary.
You don't have to be a chocoholic to appreciate this cozy little nook of a café focused on all things derived from the cocoa bean: decadent cakes and pastries, chocolates and tablettes (bars of chocolate), and a most sinful chocolat chaud. There are also coffee and other beverages to linger over inside or at a sidewalk table.
One of the city's best examples of the casual gourmet cafés popping up around Paris, Mokonuts is run by a talented husband-and-wife team who create delicious dishes and pastries that are as pleasing to the eye as they are to the palate. Prepare for crowds at breakfast and teatime, when you can choose from chunky multigrain cookies, sweet or savory muffins, tarts, and other sweet goodies. At lunch, locals elbow their way in for a variety of gourmet salads, sandwiches, and hot dishes. Accompany your meal with excellent coffee, a selection of teas, or a freshly made juice, like the refreshing orange-blossom lemonade. Dinner (€70) is served only by reservation for at least eight.
This place is irreverent in every way except about what goes into the product. From the flours to the chocolates, everything is meticulously sourced for the team's “food porn,” pastries that delight every sense, whether it's the chocolate and pistachio babka, almond croissants, praline brioches, fudge brownies, or “cruffins,” a melt-in-your-mouth croissant-style brioche dusted with cocoa or sugar.
Pedigreed baristas cater to a hip crowd of good-brew connoisseurs here, with an accompanying menu of delicious sandwiches, soups, snacks, and pastries. For Sunday brunch, head over to sister café Ten Belles Bread, where the crusty organic breads and pastries are baked on the premises.
The two British chefs behind this bustling café in an industrial-style loft on an up-and-coming corner of the 11e are known around town for their gourmet take on healthy foods. Here the emphasis is on breakfast, lunch, and brunch, with a range of salads, savory pies, and pastries all made in the on-site bakery. Besides some of the best fresh-baked bread in Paris, you're also guaranteed great coffee and daily food specials. There are a couple of other branches, too.
