The new café-bistro run by the Alajmo Stern brothers, a historic engraving workshop located in the heart of Paris at 47 Passage des Panoramas, has reopened after a seven-year closure. The workshop is reborn with a new soul, that of an Italian-style café in the Alajmo style. It’s the culmination of an idea born over three years ago in the Salle des Chevaliers at the “Calandre”, when Gianni Frasi, roaster at the “Laboratorio Torrefazione Giamaica Caffè” in Verona, and brothers Massimiliano (Max) and Raffaele (Raf) Alajmo, owners of the “Le Calandre” restaurant in Padua and the “Gran Caffè Quadri” in Venice, met. Their wish was to revive this extraordinary place, with its history and decoration, and to offer everyone the chance to simply have a coffee at the counter, or even just to visit this new kind of place. For the reopening of Caffè Stern, the Alajmo brothers and David Lanher, a young Parisian entrepreneur (Racines, Racines 2, Vivant), called on the collaboration of two great professionals: architect Dominique Averland, who studied every inch of Stern and carried out a meticulous restoration, and internationally renowned designer Philippe Starck, who reinterpreted the magic of the place while respecting the codes of this historic French monument. “The meeting between Stern and the Alajmo brothers was a magical meeting of the minds. Like the engraver Stern, the Alajmo brothers – 2 brothers from Padua, now based in Venice – cultivate excellence and originality. To honor this magical encounter between Stern and Alajmo, we’ve barely transformed the listed historic site; we’ve simply perfected the existing magic. The result is an ideal place, probably the most pleasant bacaro in the world. Every visit to Alajmo’s Caffè Stern is a journey through time, history and culture, and an invitation to creativity and excellence. Our contribution has been to give pride of place to magic, poetry, surrealism and, of course, food,” says Philippe Starck.
The coffees, natural Arabicas selected by Gianni Frasi for Caffè Stern, are ground for each of these typically Italian coffee preparations: from classic espresso to “Lì per lì”, a small cappuccino from Trieste, to “Senza fretta”, prepared in a Neapolitan coffeepot… Open from 8.30 a.m. to midnight, Caffè Stern accompanies its guests from breakfast, with croissants and brioches in extra-virgin olive oil, to the aperitif with Alajmo “cicchetti” (a reinterpretation of typical Venetian antipasti) such as cod brandade and fried polenta, saffron rice dumpling stuffed with meat, or bread and tomato soup. For lunch and dinner, the menu features traditional Italian dishes revisited by Max Alajmo, such as Smoked Piedmontese Meat Tartare, Spaghetti Carbonara with extra-virgin olive oil, or Fried Shrimp Involtini with bottarga sauce. The menu also offers simpler dishes, but reinterpreted and enhanced by Max, such as Steamed Pjzza. All served in a historic environment where antique woodwork mingles with furnishings ranging from the 16th to the 18th century. “Caffè Stern is an informal place where people should feel at ease. The kitchen is a declension of Italian expressions, simple but thoughtful,” explains Max Alajmo. What’s more, responsibility for the kitchen has been entrusted to his young pupil, Sergio Preziosa, who worked alongside him for over four years at the restaurant “Le Calandre”.
An address not to be missed for tea or dinner…
. Caffè Stern 47, passage des Panoramas 75002 Paris +33 (0)1 75 43 63 10
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