Coffee Corner #21

Aside from several Oxford premises, one of the oldest extant coffee houses is found in the heart of Paris, France. Café Procope was opened in 1686 by the Sicilian chef Procopio Cutò, who originally moved to France to promote his ice-cream making machine. Although there were other Paris establishments selling coffee at the time, the main patrons were foreigners and those of the lower classes of society. Procopio began selling coffee at the Foire Saint-Germain fair, which made coffee more acceptable to the upper classes. Eventually he moved his coffee business to a building in central Paris, but the interior was so dim that some referred to it as a “cave”. However, Procopio soon brightened the space up with crystal chandeliers, marble tables and mirrors on the walls — setting the precedent for cafés across Europe.A few years later, the French State Theatre opened directly across the street, which greatly increased traffic, especially from the upper classes. Famous patrons included Maximilien Robespierre, Victor Hugo and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, while visitors included Napoleon Bonaparte, Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Oscar Wilde and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Café Procope played a massive role in transforming France into a coffee-drinking society. The original café closed in 1872 and the space was used for a variety of other purposes, before it re-opened as a restaurant in 1957. You can still order a double espresso there today.