As Paris reopens after years of pandemic closures and construction, the établissement d’en face has never been more vital. It is the buffer zone. The second living room. The rival who keeps you honest.
“You don’t choose the place across the street based on stars,” says Camille the graphic designer. “You choose it because the wind is blowing the cigarette smoke away from your face. Or because the sun hits their terrace at 5 PM. Or because the bartender at your usual spot just got a new haircut you don’t know how to compliment.” etablissement d'en face
“When you sit en face ,” says philosopher and flâneur Henri Legrand (author of the unpublished Ethics of the Asphalt ), “you become a spectator of your own habits. The distance of the road gives you perspective. You realize your ‘local’ is just a stage. And sometimes, the better show is across the street.” As Paris reopens after years of pandemic closures
Paris, France – There is a famous line in French cinema, often muttered by a weary detective or a lovelorn waiter: “Je connais bien l’établissement d’en face.” Literally, it means “I know the establishment across the street well.” But in the vernacular of neighborhood life, it means so much more. The rival who keeps you honest
There is a melancholic beauty to it. At dusk, when the lights flicker on in both establishments, the street becomes a diptych. On one side: the known, the comfortable, the slightly worn leather banquette. On the other: the unknown, the possibility of a better wine list, the allure of a different crowd. In the age of Google Maps and Yelp, one might think the établissement d’en face has lost its mystique. Why guess when you can read reviews? But locals know that algorithms cannot capture the geometry of loyalty.
In the 11th arrondissement, on the bustling Rue Oberkampf, the rivalry between Café Charbon and La Mercerie is legendary. Locals have fierce allegiances. Charbon is loud, historic, and bohemian. La Mercerie is chic, quiet, and slightly bourgeois. They are twenty meters apart. “You go to Charbon to be seen,” says Camille, a graphic designer. “You go across the street to La Mercerie to see who you saw at Charbon.” The établissement d’en face operates under a strict, unwritten code.