Crosby Studios reimagines the espresso bar in Paris

(Image credit: Photography by Jenia Filatova. Courtesy of Crosby Studios)

Paris’ coffee landscape has grown crowded with artisanal roasters, but Café Nuances has managed to carve out its own rarefied space. The venture of brothers Charles and Raphaël Corrot now stretches to four addresses. The latest? A sculptural espresso bar in the Marais that joins satellites in the Golden Triangle, Place Vendôme and Saint-Germain-des-Prés.

Each location is a distinct experiment in form, and the Marais outpost is perhaps the boldest yet: a coolly industrial composition by Harry Nuriev of Crosby Studios. Nuriev, who recently turned his eye to east London with a futuristic seafood bistro, sees this project as a full-circle moment. The site is next to the café that his studio designed for Dover Street Market Paris shortly after he relocated to the French capital from New York. It becomes, as he notes, ‘almost spiritual to return to the spot where it all began’.

Café Nuances Marais

Nuriev had already collaborated with the Corrot brothers on a pop-up event a few years ago. Café Nuances Marais is, however, firmly rooted in Rue des Francs Bourgeois. Inside, Crosby Studio’s language is unmistakable. Stainless steel is bathed in an electric flash of orange. Inspired by Pierre Restany and Yves Klein’s Nouveau Réalisme, the space rejects ornamentation: every piece of furniture functions as sculpture, every line purposeful. Counters and seating evoke the crushed geometry of used coffee cups. ‘The light installation allows everyone to engage with the space from the outside,’ explains Nuriev.

Amid all the visual bravura, the coffee itself refuses to play second fiddle. Six bean varieties (from Brazil, Ethiopia, Peru, Tanzania, El Salvador, and Mexico) are roasted and served from early morning until late afternoon. These can be paired with homemade pastries, such as vegan banana bread or melt-in-the-mouth lemon and poppy seed cake, alongside riffs on Viennese classics. Kyoto-sourced matcha, creamy and hazelnut-toned, slips seamlessly into the ritual.

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Café Nuances Marais is located at 51 Rue des Francs Bourgeois, 75004 Paris, France.

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Sofia de la Cruz is the Travel Editor at Wallpaper*. A self-declared flâneuse, she feels most inspired when taking the role of a cultural observer – chronicling the essence of cities and remote corners through their nuances, rituals, and people. Her work lives at the intersection of art, design, and culture, often shaped by conversations with the photographers who capture these worlds through their lens.