Motors Coffee

A rotating multi-roaster board in central Paris

Filter is the reason to plan around Motors. The bar runs a rotating multi-roaster programme, with Sey, Manhattan, Coffee Collective, Rose from Zürich and guest roasters from the UK all having passed through, plus micro-roasters bringing competition-level coffees. The selection changes regularly and leans towards higher-end pours, which makes filter central here rather than an alternative to espresso.

One cup that came through was Sey’s Finca Morales Sidra, which gives a fair sense of the level. Espresso comes off a La Marzocco Linea PB, and the rest of the board covers flat white, cold brew, espresso tonic and dirty chai. For a short order, start with filter, then work outwards from there.

An old travel agency, now industrial and compact

The room was a travel agency before it was a coffee shop, and the conversion left it industrial and sleek rather than soft: brick walls, white tiles, a simple black bench, cinder block tables, corrugated iron and visible equipment, with outdoor seating and a large terrace with low seating in front. It suits the name better than a lounge café would.

It sits between Notre Dame and the Louvre, near the Bourse de Commerce, La Samaritaine and the Pinault Collection, which explains both the queue that often runs out the door and the mix of locals and visitors inside. The staff are young, knowledgeable and happy to talk coffee, and the service runs on that exchange rather than on speed alone. The founders came out of high-end fashion and set out to build a hangout that turned into a coffee shop, which is still the tone of the place.

What to order

Choose by how much of the rotating selection you want to taste. Filter coffee is the clearest route into the guest-roaster programme, especially when a lot such as Sey’s Finca Morales Sidra is on bar. Espresso gives a shorter read on the same setup, and a flat white shows how the coffees behave with milk. In warm weather, cold brew and espresso tonic are the two to consider, and dirty chai covers the spiced end of the board.

For food, keep it sweet. Motors makes its own cakes and cookies, and the Basque cheesecake is the one singled out as excellent. Doughnuts come from a collaboration with Boneshaker and are the other pastry to remember. There is no brunch service, sandwich list or hot kitchen behind it, so treat the sweets as a selective programme built around the coffee.