Capitale Belleville, A Liberated Café

I’m an entrepreneur in the restaurant business. I have two businesses, Combat and Capitale, both located in the Belleville district of Paris.

I grew up in Normandy and studied in Caen and Rennes. I then lived in London, then Paris and NYC. I originally worked in the music industry before moving into mixology. I discovered spirits in the USA. When I moved there in 2012, I didn’t know much about the cocktail world. I discovered the world of spirits and tasting them in New York bars, and it instantly became a passion! When I came back from the States, I looked for a job in a cocktail bar, and I was lucky enough to be trained at the amazing Experimental Cocktail Club, a pioneer in Paris. I quickly became part of the team behind the bar where I fitted in immediately. I was able to learn a lot and make my first creations. Then I opened Combat in 2017. I’d been wanting to start a business for several years, and the cocktail and bar business was the territory I wanted to explore. I wanted to open in the Belleville district. Cocktail culture wasn’t very highly developed there, and my more popular “cocktail bistro” concept was a perfect fit. I sought to create the most inclusive space possible, caring and open to everyone.

Capitale has the same goals as Combat but with a daytime offer. It’s a hybrid place, both in its menu and in its decor. Absolutely everything in Capitale is second-hand. The carbon footprint has been reduced to a minimum. As for the drinks menu, it’s highly eclectic and quite surprising. It’s suitable for all tastes and all diets. It is aimed at lovers of cocktails with and without alcohol, coffee lovers (or not) with a very varied list of hot drinks, and the cold drinks include not only soft drinks, but milk shakes too. There are no and low cocktails (no sugar and no-calorie), a fine beer selection, and so on. Capitale also has a kitchen, and we serve food right through from morning to evening (9.30 to 17.30). And all this is in Belleville! It’s the address that offers everything that’s essential in my eyes and in my Parisian capital: Belleville.

As I said, everything in Capitale is second-hand. The logic of constantly destroying and rebuilding with new material no longer appeals to me in terms of eco-friendliness, sustainability and style. I furnished the space with the help of all the flea markets in Normandy, where my parents live. It took me two years to put it all together.

I wanted to mix the concrete and brick on the walls with oak for the counter top to make it as simple as possible, raw and elegant. For the rest of it, the colours are soft: cream and beige. I’ve displayed lots of old trinkets and posters here – things I’ve had for years. So there’s a lot of me in the décor. Childhood memories, travel souvenirs. The bench outside was the one in my parents’ kitchen that I sat on when I was growing up. Some of the cutlery was also from my childhood. The decoration is mainly based on recycled materials.

Carl is the head chef at Capitale. He has a super-eclectic background. He’s worked in lots of restaurants with different concepts all over the world. He has significant experience in Michelin-starred restaurants. He’s also travelled extensively and lived for a few years in Australia, where the brunch and daytime eating culture is highly developed. Carl immediately captured the spirit of the menu and what I wanted to do with the place. He’s highly responsive and open to feedback, which makes for a great dialogue. But above all, he’s extremely talented and shares the same passion I have for simple ingredients.

Tatanka, the toy shop on the street almost opposite Capitale. Pascal, the owner, is so kind and caring. As for his shop, you can see that it is run by a passionate person. He focuses on high-quality materials, robust objects and local production.

It’s an inspiring shop and media offering for the individual and the professional alike. And with lots of ideas to pinch when you’re decorating a café!