Hexagone Café

A broad cream arch separates the front of Hexagone Café from its back seating area. Wooden floors, simple chairs and globe lights give the room a restrained character, quite different from the gilded landmark cafés of central Paris. The setting is compact and domestic in scale, with the coffee rather than the décor doing most of the talking.

A Brittany roaster in a Paris coffee shop

Hexagone is a roaster as well as a coffee shop. Its roasting operation is based in Louargat in Brittany, while the Paris address presents the coffees through the bar and the bags available to buy. The business puts particular emphasis on aromatic clarity and the relationship between roasting and extraction.

Espresso and filter in Plaisance

That gives espresso and filter different roles on the menu. Espresso offers a concentrated preparation; filter brewing can bring out another side of the same interest in origin and roast. The drinks are accompanied by the café's smaller food selection, with what is available at the counter shaping a short breakfast or afternoon stop.

Rue du Château places the café in Plaisance, south of the main Montparnasse bustle. The surrounding residential streets fit the room's modest scale. Visitors who enjoy the practical details of coffee will find a connection between the roaster's approach and the drink, while the back tables provide somewhere to sit within a much quieter visual setting than a grand Paris café.