Café de la Presse

‘Having historically hosted printing presses and an energy factory, today the site of Café de la Presse is looking to rediscover its role as a motivating force in the neighbourhood.’ Thus reads the Facebook page of this venue, opened in spring 2014 on the quieter side of the Place de la Bastille. Epitaph for print media or brave new world, there’s no denying the enormous popularity of this place, which offers food, booze, culture and clubbing in equal measure. Youthful, attractive crowds spill out onto the street nightly; when we visited, for some reason a jogging club in brilliant lycra was meeting here before setting off on their run, lending an air of eccentric enthusiasm to the proceedings.

Everything on the menu comes with wordplay; ‘bloc de foie gras en rubrique’, ‘fusilli paparazzi champignons’, ‘salade HuffPost’ or ‘le pain brioche archivé’. What’s actually delivered is good, generous, unremarkable dishes that do very well to mop up the alcohol, line the stomach for a DJ set or refuel during a tattoo exhibition. The real interest here is in the large, well-designed interior space – all exposed brick and metal and a mezzanine fro which one can observe the heaving crowds on club nights – and the lively program of soirées, exhibitions, DJ brunches, cinema screenings and more. Equidistant between the Rue de la Roquette and the Maison Rouge, Café de la Presse pleases both the party crowd and culture vultures – and is having a whale of a time doing so.