In a quiet street of Paris hides La Main Noire, a little coffee shop gem where you can have a seat all day from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the week, and until 5 p.m. at weekends, to enjoy a latte break or a tasty brunch (excluding on Mondays and Tuesdays). Open the door of this welcoming venue and have a seat at one of the wooden tables to have a good time.

At La Main Noire, the 3 associates, Ludovic, Quentin and Ryan, wanted to create an Australian coffee shop. In 2017, the 3 friends first launched their artisanal brand with products to help create virtuous latte: Chai Latte, Golden Latte, Green Latte, Black Latte, Raw Cacao Latte and Spiced Raw Cacao Latte… Preparations made in their lab, on site and that like other brands offer genuine blends and not powders, but fresh produces rich in flavors. You can purchase these pastes and preparations on site or online, and enjoy these produces used in several cafés in Paris such as Café Kitsuné.

The adventure continues in 2020 for the trio with the creation of the coffee shop right amidst “difficult times”. Raw walls, cement, and industrial inspiration. The atmosphere is very friendly. From the moment you get in, you get caught by viennoiseries, cakes and cookies, the tone is set, we can already predict we will have a delicious time.

At La Main Noire, the menu changes twice a week. It is never boring, then! A menu for the week, and another batch for the brunch at weekends. The last week of the month is devoted to all-things vegan, so note there will be always vegetarian or vegan options. Here is what we have been able to try when we came, but of course, the menu has changed so you can always enjoy fresh and seasonal produces depending on the market. Even if some dishes can make it back to the menu, of course.

Pumpkin soup with rosemary, burratina, mushrooms and pesto, granola and savory bacon pancakes were available. We loved the Toastie served in the morning before 11 a.m., this toast of melted cheddar, pan-seared mushrooms with parsley and mushroom mousse and pesto (and some family-friendly vegan cheese).

When meat is on the menu, note there is only one an it is worked in all fashions possible to waste none of it. Complying with the environment is a major wish of the house. That day we then discovered some beef tataki, cheek confit and Bourguignon-style beef served with homemade Monalisa potato mash.

As for dessert, the Australian chef loses it and unveils a wonderful graphic pavlova mixing black and white meringue, blood orange, kiwi, Granny Smith, and beetroot coulis.

• To be read
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In other words, you get it, whether you come for a quick lunch, or a delicious and flawless brunch, or to simply have a great breakfast or afternoon snack with a plant-based latte (oat milk available for latte art!), here is a venue to remember. For real coffee fans, note the place serves a new special coffee weekly, perfect to delight the addicts we are. Anyway, the coffee we had the day we came was atypical and very good.