Why do we go to coffee shops? It’s not just for the hot drinks | Emma Beddington

Why do we go to coffee shops? It’s not just for the hot drinks | Emma Beddington

Starbucks wants people to stop hanging out in its US branches without buying anything. But sometimes we all need somewhere to sit that isn’t home

There has been a kerfuffle about cafes recently. In the US, Starbucks’ new “Coffeehouse Code of Conduct” is making people buy something or leave, reversing its previous laid-back attitude. Meanwhile, in Paris, cultural barricades are being raised between trad cafes and the kind that sell €5 almond milk cortados. The New York Times last month set out the “zinc bar v barista” philosophical divide between classic community hubs and hipster roasteries in the city, while a Parisienne on TikTok has posted a video pointing out three new-gen coffee shops within 50 metres of each other in the Marais, explaining that French people “take our time to have a coffee … we sit on a terrace”, but now “les Américains” are demanding takeaway americanos.

This is about what cafes are for – and the answer has always been more than coffee. Seventeenth-century coffee houses offered a democratic meeting space (well, unless you were a woman). Revolution brewed in US and French ones in the 18th century. They were also, historically, a refuge. In one of her memoirs, Simone de Beauvoir described spending whole days in the Café de Flore through the freezing winter of 1942-43, arriving early to get the hottest spot, next to the stovepipe. “We always had a shock of pleasure, emerging from the cold darkness, coming into this warm, bright den,” she wrote. She and others who did the same became a “family” of regulars. “We felt at home, safe.”

Continue reading… Starbucks wants people to stop hanging out in its US branches without buying anything. But sometimes we all need somewhere to sit that isn’t homeThere has been a kerfuffle about cafes recently. In the US, Starbucks’ new “Coffeehouse Code of Conduct” is making people buy something or leave, reversing its previous laid-back attitude. Meanwhile, in Paris, cultural barricades are being raised between trad cafes and the kind that sell €5 almond milk cortados. The New York Times last month set out the “zinc bar v barista” philosophical divide between classic community hubs and hipster roasteries in the city, while a Parisienne on TikTok has posted a video pointing out three new-gen coffee shops within 50 metres of each other in the Marais, explaining that French people “take our time to have a coffee … we sit on a terrace”, but now “les Américains” are demanding takeaway americanos.This is about what cafes are for – and the answer has always been more than coffee. Seventeenth-century coffee houses offered a democratic meeting space (well, unless you were a woman). Revolution brewed in US and French ones in the 18th century. They were also, historically, a refuge. In one of her memoirs, Simone de Beauvoir described spending whole days in the Café de Flore through the freezing winter of 1942-43, arriving early to get the hottest spot, next to the stovepipe. “We always had a shock of pleasure, emerging from the cold darkness, coming into this warm, bright den,” she wrote. She and others who did the same became a “family” of regulars. “We felt at home, safe.” Continue reading… Life and style, Coffee, Food, Privately owned public space, Cities 

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