The natural wines and specialty coffee of Paris 🇫🇷
“I’m a big fan of natural wine, so it’s easy to have fun in Paris.”
I stumbled across Télescope Café on my first stay in Paris. Situated a few blocks north of the Garden of the Tuileries, it sits in the middle of everything the guide books say to do. There in 2012 Nicolas Clerc founded Télescope at the vanguard of the Parisian craft coffee scene: only two years before, Oliver Strand had memorably asked in the New York Times why the coffee in Paris “sucks so bad.”
Nico is a native Parisian whose previous career was in luxury fashion photography. After training at Intelligentsia and Blue Bottle in New York City, he returned home to open Télescope which has been ever since an institution in Paris’s blossoming craft coffee scene.
Filter: What do you like to do for fun around Paris?
I’m a big fan of natural wine, so it’s easy to have fun in Paris. Of course there are the great places like Delicatessen, Septime La Cave, Chambre Noire, L’Avant Comptoir du Marché, Giclette and Augustin.
Nicolas Clerc founded Télescope Café in central Paris at the beginning of the city’s specialty coffee scene. Photos courtesy of Télescope Café
But I have fun being in a random area and instead of going to the famous spots, to stay in the area and try to see if I can find a local gem - I remember finding The Moosehead sports bar for a football final, and a wine fan there was stunned to have found some Ganevat and Valette there.
Nicolas Clerc founded Télescope Café in central Paris at the beginning of the city’s specialty coffee scene. Photo by Télescope Café
Filter: What would your ideal day in Paris look like?
I love to eat and drink—I work to pay for it, and I do sports to hide it. So of course I’d right away plan lists of restaurants. For instance, go to Jones for dinner, but make sure you have an aperitif before at Septime Cave. And if you’re still thirsty after Jones, have a cocktail at BlueBird.
I like to read in the Parc of Belleville or Butte Chaumont. They aren’t known for their quietness, but you’d be surprised how some perfect bench in the shade can be a quiet place to read or relax.
Then I’d stroll down to Belleville’s Asian restaurants like Dong Huang or Tintin. They’re super easy, super good: you’ll never see someone instagramming there, and it feels good. I love saté soup at Tintin and Dong Huang makes very tiny pork spring rolls that I love, as well as dried shrimps on steamed rice noodles.
I also have a craving for culture (it's perfect in between meals), so my go to are Pompidou, Tadeus Ropac, Templon, and Jeu de Paume. I also suggest taking a look at the opera activities, because a ballet night is always special.
Last Sunday, I saw Pina Bausch at la Vilette, then went for an ice cream and wine at Folderol. I must admit it was one of the best combos I've done in a long time.
I like the way our brains work, in a very repetitive manner. In coffee our jobs are possibly even more repetitive than other jobs, but art is like gymnastics for brain cells—it stretches them, it feels wonderful. In this way I like to see artists I already know, but my favorite is the unknown, and I'm not only talking about paintings, but also performing arts, dance, concert, cinema, etc.
Filter: What do you do to escape the city?
Sorry, but again…WINE! So that's the perfect excuse to visit France! You can join a tasting, help during a harvest, or it can also be just going to a random town just because it has a great restaurant, and from there discovering a region. I’ve been amazed to find extreme beauty almost everywhere. I’m especially thinking of the wine regions of les Corbières, Plateau de Gergovie, Layon, and Jura.
Filter: You worked at a vineyard?
I went to work at Domaine de la Tournelle, in Arbois. I loved it there. I already knew the region—that’s why I went—but living there was such a different experience. It was a 3,000-person village with fantastic people (not just winemakers), beautiful nature, and one extraordinary bar.
Harvest is the most useful for winemakers, because it’s a big job that needs to be done in the shortest time. Plus most of the time it’s a very festive period. My love for wine plus some extraordinary luck let me spend 6 months in the vineyards. I learned a lot, and helped how I could. I didn’t choose crorbieres or jura, I think it starts with a wine, then you meet a winemakers, and from there a region opens up…that’s how it went for each region.
Filter: What popular things in Paris are actually worth the hype?
I’m answering these questions from the Jardin des Tuileries.
There are so many well-known places. I love Centre Pompidou for its stunning architecture and perfect collection and exhibition. But don’t miss their dance programs, movies, and concerts—it’s a full cultural center.
And of course, the great restaurants that are always worth the visit include Paul Bert, Chez George, and Relais de l’Entrecôte. You’ll get the full French experience, from the great food and wine, but also the slightly arrogant service. If you manage well it can make a fantastic moment (but also can ruin it with the same enthusiasm).
Filter: What's one other coffee shop there that you really admire?
There are a bunch of new places that do fantastic job. I admire Hexagone for its regularity, and its carefulness. I admire Kabane for its extremely wide selection of beans. They are run by my old friends—we’ve supported each other for years in the economic complexity of running a coffee shop in a country that doesn’t really care about coffee.
Filter: Is there anything you'd like to add about what you love about Paris?
This year, I left Paris for 6 months after living here for 20 years. Coming back made me rediscover my own town like a tourist, or like an amateur. I love its size: not too big, but with a high variety of things to do. I'm always shocked at how Parisians are disrespectful to each other, there’s always some tension for no reason. But this demanding mind also translates into an elegance, and interesting cultural knowledge.
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