As if anyone needed another reason to spend time in the neighborhood surrounding the Palais Royal and its gardens, my favorite new coffee shop is mere blocks away. At Télescope, Nicolas Clerc (photographer-barista) and David Flynn (expert barista formerly of Le Bal) peddle the kind of exceptional coffee that makes bean connoisseurs everywhere reconsider Paris as a suitable stomping ground to fuel their obsession.
Of course it helps that these two apt roasters have equipped their earthy, rue Villedo café with first-rate machines. They are the first in the city to use the Über Boiler from Irish brand Marco which precisely regulates the quantity of water and temperature necessary to produce a consistently perfect, flavor-locked brew or infusion.
My first visit was two days after they opened for business, right at 8:30am. I was so impressed by the machinery and their poised expertise that I immediately felt compelled to imbibe myself with what would turn out to be an inordinate amount of coffee. I began with the sumptuously rich crème and a toasted Poujauran tartine topped with jam for a breakfast so sublimely simple and delicious I mentally scheduled my next visit on the spot.
Then just as I looked at my…
