It has happened. My dream has come true.
I walked into Le Poutch a few days ago, and the lovely girl behind the counter looked up at me, smiled, and said, “Café filtre?”
Ladies and gents, I’m home.
To be fair, there are more than a handful of places where I feel at home in Paris. There’s Season, where the guy behind the counter sometimes pretends someone has stolen my laptop while I was in the bathroom (ha.) There’s the American Library in Paris, where I regularly cart a good ten pounds of books to return and depart with another ten pounds to read. But this is the first place – I think in my life – that anyone has ever known my order when I come in, and bearing in mind that I have pretty much always wanted my life to be as close to an episode of Gilmore Girls as possible, this is a major life win for me. I could die tomorrow, and I would die happy.
Le Poutch is a cosy little coffee shop not far from République and the Canal Saint-Martin. This neighborhood is rife with spots adhering to this description, which is maybe why I’m usually able to get a seat here, at least if I arrive before the lunch rush.
I’m a big fan of the size of this shop: with maybe ten tables, it’s small enough to feel intimate without being so small as to make it impossible to find a seat during busy hours. There are also numerous outlets for charging computers and whatnot, which may not be something you notice when you check out a new coffee spot, but seeing as “getting coffee” has become code for “working in silence face to face” with most of my friends here in Paris, outlets are essential.
But also, pillows. So many pillows.
If you’re not working, this little seat by the window is the prime people-watching location. (Particularly pleasant when it’s raining.)
Like many others who have jumped on this trend, Le Poutch offers American-style baked goods like cookies, brownies, and quick breads, freshly juiced juices, meal salads, sandwiches, quiches…
…Â and most importantly, at least as far as I’m concerned, an excellent cup of filter coffee.
Le Poutch -Â 3 Rue Lucien Sampaix, 75010