During a recent visit to Bordeaux, my best friend Maxine and I stayed in an apartment in Chartons. This neighbourhood on the river Garonne is dubbed the ‘Marais’ of Bordeaux after the iconic Paris equivalent famed for its queer culture, arts and shopping. On our first day of walking into town, we passed a number of cute shops, bakeries and bars that really had a vibe. One of them was La Pelle, a charming café-cum-roastery that we went back to for breakfast and coffee on our last day.
It’s located on a short stretch of the Rue Notre Dame close to many other favourites of ours. These include Restaurant Pickles where we had an excellent dinner the night before and the Fire Walk bar where we went for a night cap after. La Pelle is a local roaster that, like L’alchemiste uses a modern Loring roaster, which is probably why it is allowed to operate in such a busy residential quarter. The Loring roaster massively elimiates any gases and odours that are created during the roasting process.
As you walk in, you immediately catch a glimpse of the roasting machine and sacks of coffee. The space is dominated by a large bar and offers seating at the front, in the back and on the terrace. We took a seat opposite the bar and managed to escape a heavy downpour by a few seconds only. There is a light but tasty breakfast menu and we ordered a combination of eggs and fresh fruit to go with our coffee and dirty chai.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to meet with founder and head roaster Carlos Pereira as he was out but we briefly chatted on Instagram while we were there. Carlos, who was raised amongst the coffee farms of Brazil, later moved to Paris where he co-founded Coutume. Bordeaux’s coffee scene is much smaller than that of Paris but I was very positively impressed by its quality and diversity. La Pelle has been around since 2016 and a large part of Carlos’ sourcing comes from Brazil.
After my flat white, I also had a batch brew while we waited for the rain to subside and we thorougly enjoyed our stay. The staff was friendly and welcoming and there was a nice bustle about the place. I can imagine that in good weather, the terrace is a great place to people watch and while the day away in this cute part of the city.
