Painting the Parisian coffee culture purple
Ube (purple yam) is a well-loved dessert staple in the Philippines. Now, it’s making waves in Paris, thanks to a duo who dared to add a little purple to French café culture.
This is in part thanks to long-time friends Jessica Gonzales and Aurélie Véchot who have been inseparable since studying chemistry in college.
“Over time, our friendship grew around a shared love for food, creativity, and meaningful connections,” they say in an email interview. “Eventually, that love evolved into the dream of creating something together—a place of ours that feels warm and rooted in our stories.”
In 2019, the two opened Bobi, a Filipino restaurant in the bustling Oberkampf district. Four years later, in 2023, they took Filipino cuisine further with Kapé, a more casual café in the chic Le Marais district. “With Kapé, our idea was to share another side of the Philippines—its rich coffee culture and comforting homemade pastries,” they add.
With these unique purplish drinks, Kapé Paris appears to be part of the new wave of neo-coffee shops on the rise in France.
The French Filipino community
Entering the small but stylish space, you can choose to sit at any of the modern marble furnishings. The room is accented with Filipino touches. Capiz lights shaped like lotus petals hang from the ceiling. On one wall is an homage to Filipino comfort food, with capiz dividers featuring ubiquitous brands like Chocnut, Silver Swan, Ligo, and SkyFlakes.
Lining up at the counter, we meet Véchot, who, despite not being Filipino, takes orders and answers questions in Tagalog with ease, all with an accent. It’s hard to believe she isn’t Filipino. When I ask how she can speak Tagalog so well, she laughs and says she’s spent lots of time at Gonzales’ home.
Gonzales is nearby, catering to guests, many of whom appear to be Filipino, too. But when we try striking up a conversation with a few who look like our typical kababayans, they respond, flustered, in French. Throughout our time in Paris, we hardly saw any Filipinos, but here in Kapé, we realize how strong and close-knit the French Filipino community is.
For Gonzales, who was born in Paris to Filipino parents, her connection to the Philippines is personal.
While Véchot reflects how, “through Jessica, I discovered Filipino culture and found what felt like a sense of home in it… That shared connection made it feel natural to create a place that truly represents us both, where we could translate the experience of Filipino soul food.”
Filipino soul food
For Gonzales and Véchot, ube is more than a trending ingredient with a cool color. It’s a way to honor Filipino traditions.
“For us, ube represents what we want Kapé to be: a bridge between Filipino tradition and Parisian coffee culture.”
Kapé’s creations range from simple ube milk drinks to coffee-based beverages like ube lattes and ubeffogatos (ube affogatos). Beans are sourced from Mount Apo in Davao to Atok in Benguet.
Noticeably, the food is subtler and focuses on fresh ingredients—featuring an ultra-delicate play of flavors on the palate, which we discovered to be consistent in the tastes of French food. We suspect this understated yet complex flavor profile is thanks in part to the absence of preservatives.
As Filipinos fresh from home, what first caught our eye were the large, round, pancake-like silvanas lightly dusted with sugar. Inside was a delicate cashew nut dacquoise filled with Filipino chocolate mousseline cream and a touch of crushed Oreos. I stared greedily at my husband’s affogato, which featured ube ice cream in a bright, soft violet hue and a texture closer to a sundae than gelato or sorbet. With food and drinks that are subtle yet flavorful, Kapé is true to both Filipino comfort and French finesse.
With food and drinks that are subtle yet flavorful, Kapé is true to both Filipino comfort and French finesse. “People are drawn to its (ube’s) color, then fall in love with its delicate taste, and through it, they discover the warmth and soul of Filipino culture,” the founders say.
At the next table, diners were having what looked like arroz caldo, listed on the menu as “hot rice.” The steaming porridge wafted up, with the familiar smells of chicken, ginger, garlic, and lime. Their pandesal had a French twist too, served with confited garlic and semi-salted butter. The reinvented adobo dip featured a toasted potato bun with chicken adobo, arugula, atsara, more adobo sauce, and a generous spread of confited garlic butter.
Coffee and connection
While everything at Kapé is made from scratch, with recipes inspired by Filipino traditions, the cafe truly has that French touch.
And besides the subtle flavors and ingredients, the French touch also shows in the atmosphere of the space.
The duo puts it best as they say, “We want people to feel that Kapé is a place where they can connect—not just to good coffee, but to a sense of home.”
Kapé Paris is open daily at 3 Rue des Gravilliers, Le Marais, Paris
