Le Cornichon: the new neighbourhood café that’s bringing Paris back to life
In Paris’s 11th arrondissement, Le Cornichon has established itself as an old-fashioned contemporary haunt. With its revisited bourgeois cuisine, retro decor and intergenerational ambience, this is a café you’ll come back to again and again. And often.
At the crossroads of Rue des Goncourt and the most spontaneous Parisian life, Le Cornichon is an address like no other. Opened in 2024 by Bertrand Chauveau (formerly of Jean-François Piège and David Toutain) and Paul Henri (ex-H&M executive turned bistro chef), this new, contemporary neighborhood café achieves a rare feat: combining authenticity and modernity, without falling into bistronomic caricature or overdone Parisian folklore.
A retro decor, designed as a tribute to the bistrot
The space was designed by Laure Gravier and Soizic Fougeront (Claves agency), in a deliberately nostalgic spirit. Green skai benches, wisps of smoke painted on the walls, antique furniture, patinated chrome… Nothing is left to chance. We are reminded of the cafés in the INA archives and the country PMUs of yesteryear – but without dust or misery. The result is warm, lively, almost cinematic.
And with 70 seats in the dining room and 20 on the terrace, Le Cornichon can be adapted to any time of day – or night.
From breakfast to the last cocktail
The day gets off to a gentle start with our simple, efficient breakfasts: toast and homemade jam, boiled eggs and hot coffee served at the counter. A retro proposal in the good sense of the word, at odds with the ultra-marketed brunch that has become standard in Paris.
At lunchtime, we offer a weekly menu, designed like an ideal canteen. For €22, there’s a starter, main course and dessert, including grated carrots, cabbage stew and chocolate mousse, or on Fridays, homemade breaded fish and white coleslaw. Fresh, straightforward, well-executed cuisine that’s already winning over a loyal local clientele.
In the evening, the place slowly shifts towards aperitifs, with glasses of wine mingling with pinball machines and cocktails. By 10pm, the lights dim, the music swells, and Le Cornichon becomes what it was always intended to be: a place of passage as much as a destination. You’ll bump into young neighbors, couples fresh from the theater, or groups of 40-somethings sharing prime rib and home fries.
Bistro cuisine that embraces its classics
There’s no imported concept here , no window-dressing: just French products, without emphasis or nostalgia. Chef Bertrand Chauveau injects a touch of technique learned from the greats, but always in the service of taste. Tournedos frites already have a cult following, weekend cocktail shrimps have a retro-chic flavor, and butternut mousseline subtly sweetens Sunday roast half-chicken.
Even the dessert menu pays tribute to our heritage: chocolate mousse, ice-cream cups, all unpretentious but precise.
A place to live, more than a restaurant
But Le Cornichon is also a living space. We play pinball, try our luck at scratch cards, meet up after work or to start the night. The Française des Jeux, the revolving postcards, the classic cocktails (Negroni, Dirty Martini, Old Fashioned…), everything is part of a popular imagination brought up to date.
And if this place appeals so much, it’s perhaps because it doesn’t try to be perfect, but sincere. A place where you can eat alone at lunch, come back for two on Saturdays, or finish the evening with a nightcap.
A new-generation Parisian café model
Le Cornichon brings back a certain idea of Parisian conviviality. Far from formatted neo-brasseries, it offers a quality, accessible, warm alternative with a real neighborhood soul.
A successful gamble for these two childhood friends, who have combined the demands of gastronomy with the instinct of the bistro. In 2025, in a Paris saturated with concepts, Le Cornichon stands out as an authentic refuge, designed to last.
