This new Paris café is precious in more ways than you’d expect

The ritual of a café au lait sipped from a Haussmannian-style terrace is so ingrained within Parisian daily life that it’s taken a few years for the French capital to open up to a new crop of artisanal roasters. Refreshingly, an adventurous wave of new-gen designers hasn’t been shy to offer their take on the spatial side of what constitutes this sacred tradition. From Crosby Studios’ brutalist poetry at Café Nuances in the Marais to Uchronia’s vibrant take on traditional Korean hanok houses at Café Shin near Palais-Royal. Now it’s local architect and designer Sophie Dries to shine (quite literally) with her gleaming Quartz Café.

Inside Quartz café, Paris

Dries’ first speciality coffee shop is first and foremost an ode to the 7th arrondissement, where her studio has been based for the past six years and where, before this, she had honed her skills, including a stint at Christian Liaigre’s studio on rue de Grenelle. Like Café de Flore was once a meeting point for intellectuals, artists, and writers of the 20th century, Dries hopes Quartz Café will be that for the present-day design world, inspiring conversation and collaboration.

As its name suggests, the bijou spot reflects Dries’ affinity with the mineral world, which, alongside natural wonders, frequently informs her aesthetic and material vocabulary: pyrite used for andirons, selenite for a fragrance diffuser created with D’Orsay, gypsum candleholders... This fascination extends to the cafe’s technical side, integrating a highly advanced water filtration and remineralisation system that uses dolomite containing quartz, which releases magnesium and calcium at the end of the process.

From the outside, windows dressed in pleated café-style curtains treated with a bleach tie-dye process conceal an intimate cove-like venue defined by natural light and soft tones. Inside, a Corten steel floor perfectly complements a counter referencing the contemporary boudoir-like Octa bar, which the architect and designer presented at the Mobilier National last autumn (2025). Dries’ Styx mirror also makes a comeback, this time revisited with passementerie details. While there is no seating inside, a sleek red plywood bench awaits outside.

Spot skilled baristas wearing aprons by L/Uniform preparing drinks using utensils that continue the café’s metallic themes: cupping spoons, milk pitchers, trays, and Italian-style napkin dispensers (or portatovagliolo). Service here is accompanied by silver and Baccarat crystal accessories alongside soothing tunes transmitted from a custom sound system by Matéo Garcia.

The almost alchemistic attention to detail extends to the suppliers selected for the project. Brews are concocted using beans from local speciality coffee roaster Partisan, while matcha originates from Kyoto, via Komā. Dries also tapped catering duo Toutia to conceive pastries defined by telluric textures and mineral oxidations: cocoa sablés, date fondant, yuzu mochi, and black sesame biscuit.

Quartz Café is located at 36 Rue de Bellechasse, 75007 Paris, France