Fringe Coffee

Photography is part of Fringe's purpose, not simply decoration around the coffee bar. Founder Jeff Hargrove is a large-format photographer, and the café brings prints, books and magazines into a small espresso-bar setting on rue de Turenne. The result is a place where the image on the wall and the coffee on the table both have a deliberate role.

European coffees and the pastry counter

The beans come from small European roasters, with a changing selection available to drink and buy. Espresso and pour-over are joined by the Barista's Choice coffees, which give particular lots a place of their own on the menu. The approach makes the selection more interesting than ordering a permanently fixed house flavour.

The food extends beyond a token pastry. Cinnamon and cardamom buns, homemade granola, banana cake and cookies offer different companions to a cup. The menu also lists a Danish-style butter-and-cheese sandwich with pickled onions. It is a short range, suited to breakfast or a smaller daytime meal rather than a long restaurant service.

Photographs, books and the café room

Sculptural white lamps and a restrained room keep the photographs visible. Table service gives the stop a settled café rhythm, while the books provide another way into Hargrove's subject. The food, coffee and photography work together: there is something to look at and read without the room feeling like an exhibition space that happens to sell drinks.