Coffee culture common sense Paris cafe is like a bistro

The early cafes in Paris were typically run by poor Mediterranean coffee merchants, often by foreigners. As La Roque, the son of a Marseilles businessman, concluded, "Gentlemen and fashionistas are ashamed to go to such public places, where people smoke and drink smelly beer, and their coffee is not the best. Customers can't enjoy the most thoughtful service.

A significant change in cafes in Paris occurred in 1676. At that time, an Italian Procopia opened a shop at the annual Saint-Germain bazaar. He "sets off" the cafe with "tapestries, large mirrors, pictures, marble tables, many candles and other decorations" to attract more prestigious customers.

His success in the bazaar led him to replicate a more lasting storefront on Duhron Street. After 1686, Procopia Cafe in St. Germain de Forsyte was converted into a restaurant and introduced himself as the oldest cafe in the world. "with a better decorated room," Laroque commented, "there are gentlemen who come here for coffee and decent friends, and scholars and the most serious people do not avoid these gatherings."

France has strict license control over the drinks sold in various stores. Although the right to sell wine is limited to members of the wine guild, beer can be sold in many industries. The emergence of cafes in the early 1670s coincided with the advent of new wines, including brandy and fruit wine, which, like coffee, were used more as medicine.

In 1673, the king allowed the newly formed lemon company to sell coffee and all kinds of brandy. Three years later, the lemon merchants formed a guild with the winemakers and brandy merchants. Selling brandy is a lucrative business, and a stable market can be found quickly, forcing early cafe operators to move upmarket. This occasional shift in business rules has permanently changed the sociality of Parisian cafes.

From the beginning, the main commodity sold in French cafes was alcoholic beverages. Although coffee is nominally different from its competitors (bistro, bistro, cabaret), it is basically just a name. As many visitors to Paris will find, the cafe in Paris is not really a pure coffee-house.) .

When cafes spread all over Europe, their form and nature have changed in different social environments. In Britain, cafes are still dominated by men, focusing on giving people access to news, reading and writing, doing business and sniffing out rumors and news. Such cafes are especially suitable for all men in business, as well as priests, courtiers and critics. Although the London model was successful in North America, it did not become the mainstream model in Europe.

The French-style cafe is a mixture of cafes and taverns that attract many distinguished customers and are very influential in continental Europe, especially in Italy.