Ode to the Cafe

The more time I spend here, the more I fall in love with cafes.

Not any one cafe in particular -- although this one in my neighborhood is one I regularly visit -- but the institution as a general concept.


Let's start by defining a cafe as a place that's open from early in the morning continuously to late at night, as opposed to a restaurant, which only opens at mealtimes (typically 12-2:30 and 7:30-10:30). It serves coffee, alcoholic drinks and light meals.

Let's further note that many cafes, as defined above, call themselves "brasseries" but really are cafes. Brasserie literally means brewery, and in days gone by, brasseries were restaurants that served beer and Alsatian or Belgian food. These days, the word is more likely to mean a cafe with a good selection of beers.

A good cafe -- and I've found several, both near home and my office -- evolves as the day goes on. In the morning the regulars come in and have their coffee, and maybe a croissant or tartine, standing up at the bar. It's cheaper that way and, at that hour, more social. A good counter man gets to know his customers' drinks and starts preparing them as soon as the customer walks in. (It took only about a week for the guy at the cafe near my office to learn mine.)

Most cafes serve a standard menu with several types of salads, sandwiches, croques monsieur and madame, sausages and one or two other things. They will also usually have a hot dish of the day or maybe two, a full meal with meat, starch and veg. And this is lunch for many Parisians. Perhaps with more coffee, perhaps with some wine.

Although you can get coffee at any time at a cafe, during the afternoon and evening most of their business is done in wine and beer, as groups of friends or coworkers drop in for a drink between work and dinner. Food is still available, but people who are hungry in the evening tend to go to a real restaurant rather than eat cafe food.

Almost all cafes have outdoor seating facing the street, and peoplewatching is a chief feature of time spent at a cafe:



Many cafes have heat lamps to make the outdoor seating comfortable at this time of year. But even if they don't, people will often sit outside in their overcoats:



New York sidewalk cafes -- where the seats face each other rather than the street -- just don't compare, particularly when they are actually restaurants that want to sell you a full meal to justify the real estate you're taking up. Being able to sit down and get drinks or a snack with your friends at any hour like this is something I'm really going to miss.