I was originally going to write an article titled "Coffee Addiction," but then I realized something unexpected. I've loved coffee since I was old enough to understand, and I've been drinking coffee at specialty coffee shops since I was in high school. That said, at the time, I only went to "Colorado," a shop with a South American name that served straight coffee made with a siphon every day, located in the Pearl Shopping Street underground at nearby Funabashi Station. However, when I entered university in 1980 , even though it was my hometown, Chiba University, I became interested in fashion and started going to Harajuku to buy clothes. It later became famous with the "Ura-Hara" boom, but even in the early 1980s , there were already brand shops in Ura-Harajuku, and my favorite brand of clothes was " pool ." It was a brand worn by Hiroyuki Okita, an idol from the Takenoko-zoku group, and I still have a few pieces in my collection.

Since I had already come to Harajuku and Omotesando, I decided to have a coffee before going home. At the time, there was a famous specialty shop called Daibo Coffee Shop, but it seemed a bit expensive, so I went to a stylish shop called "Les Grenieres" behind Kotobuki-dori. At that time, I had already started eating French food, so there was no way I wouldn't go to a shop with French names. As I walked towards the Nezu Museum, I found "Cafe Figaro", but "Les" had a completely different atmosphere, but for some reason it called itself "French style". After that, a young lady from Sendagaya who ran a private fan club for a certain French pianist took me to "Voleur de Fleurs" behind Laforet in Harajuku, and I also found "Ensaigne d'Angle" in a slightly deserted area heading towards Yoyogi from Harajuku Station, and I finally became addicted to "French style" coffee shops. There was also "Trois Bagues" in Jimbocho, and "Vois Cafe" next to Hakusuisha. When I graduated from graduate school and began teaching at university in the 1990s , the standard meeting places for dates were Ensaigne d'Angle in Hiroo or Georges V in Shinjuku.

And the deciding factor was that I started to visit Keimeisha every day in Motoyawata, which was a transfer station on my commute. Keimeisha is a French-style coffee shop that was opened in 1982 by Shoichiro Shimoda, a painter who trained at Reju, in the building that used to be his studio in Yatsuyuen, and Motoyawata is a branch. However, at the time, Shimoda's younger brother, who passed away at a young age, was in charge of the Yatsu shop, and Shimoda was running the Yawata shop. The part-time staff were university students, including graduate students from Intetsu, the university where I was working at the time, and I would go out for drinks with them after work and share wine with Shimoda, spending a great time together. I fell in love with the 50s female jazz vocals that were playing in the shop, and the part-time students were the same, so we all went to see Anita O'Day's live performance in Japan in her later years.

This time, I wanted to confirm what that "French style" was. The reason is that in the 1990s , on the other hand, branches of so-called Parisian cafes were opened, and many "French cafes" appeared where you could have espresso on an open terrace and eat a decent meal. "Café Deux Magots" in Shibuya Bunkamura, where I used to open the wine I brought with me every night, "Café des Pres" in Hiroo and Harajuku, "Au Bacanal" in Harajuku and Akasaka Ark Hills, "Café Flore" next to "Café Deux Magots" in Saint-Germain-des-Pres also had a branch in Omotesando for a short period of time. These cafes are clearly different from "French style coffee shops". The "French style" that appeared in the late 1970s is probably unique to Japan, and many of these shops are still popular as long-established stores. "Café La Mille" opened this style as a chain, and although "La Mille" is not as popular as it used to be, it is still going strong.

So when I started researching this "French style," I searched the internet, and the first thing I found was an article written by Shimoda of "Hotaru Meisha." In it, he wrote down four conditions:

1. French roasted old beans (aged beans)

2. Nel hand drip and decanter

3. Porcelain demitasse coffee cup

4. Plus French country decor

Personally, I would like to see the restaurant name in French and jazz or classical music played in the background. It is true that "Hotaru Meisha" is an exception because it is not French, but I think that before Deux Magots and other establishments appeared in the 1990s , the majority of restaurants with French names even though they were not French restaurants were "French-style coffee shops."

Commenting on the four principles above, straight coffee is not mainstream, but French roast blends are the base. There are two types of blends, one with a strong bitterness and one with a mild taste. Each has a distinctive name. At Reju, they have "Nire" and "Reju". At Hoteimeisha, they have "Kea" and "Roa". The blends are not brewed one cup at a time, but a certain amount is hand-dripped in a flannel, and an appropriate amount is reheated and served. In most cases, demitasse cups displayed at the back of the counter are used. Hoteimeisha has a lot of Ginori and Copenhagen, and I like Copenhagen, so I once went to the Imperial Hotel Copenhagen to buy a type of coffee that was used. As expected of Copenhagen, it was not available at the Imperial, but there was only one in Nagoya, so they ordered it for me.

And the fourth item, French country interior, is a typical example of "Rejoux". Generally speaking, it is a space like a small European salon, with dim warm lighting and a strong wooden feel in the furniture and interior. It is an antique-feeling space. The use of jazz and classical music as background music is probably influenced by the popularity of jazz and classical coffee shops in the past. In other words, it was an evolution of the coffee shops of the Showa era. And if there is such a thing as "cafe culture" in France, then in Japan, it is "coffee shop culture" that is the bearer of culture, and that is why "cafe culture" such as Deux Magots has remained a foreign thing, and the subsequent rise of Starbucks and other companies is a specialization in functionality, and the popularity of baristas is simply the penetration of "coffee culture".

The culture of "places" such as the French "cafe" and the Italian "bar" is one in which people meet and interact holistically through food. In Japan, that "place" is the "coffee shop," and it can be said that "French-style coffee shops" continue to play a role as carriers of culture.

This month's recommended wine

"Haut-Médoc, the base of Bordeaux wine"

"Chateau du Breuil 2015 AOP Haut-Medoc" 3,300 yen (excluding tax)

Regarding Bordeaux wine, we have already introduced Chateau Haut-Plantés in Saint-Emilion, analogous to Pommard in Burgundy. Haut-Plantés is a right bank wine made mainly from Merlot. However, when people think of Bordeaux wine, they are probably thinking of Medoc wines on the left bank, such as Chateau Margaux and Chateau Mouton-Rothschild. These wines are made mainly from Cabernet Sauvignon. In other words, Bordeaux wine can be divided into the two types mentioned above. Also, unlike Burgundy, it is rare to make wine from a single variety of Pinot Noir, and multiple grapes are blended together to make the wine. The ratio varies slightly each year depending on the quality of the grapes, so it is truly a type of wine that allows you to enjoy the intricacy of the blend.

And when learning about the left bank Médoc wines, which are mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, the standard is the wines of Haut-Médoc. All Haut-Médoc wines are relatively neutral and make the most of the fruitiness, and appellations that produce fine wines such as Margaux and Pauillac can be thought of as having the flavor of Haut-Médoc as the foundation on which the individuality of their respective land (terroir) is added. This is because Margaux and Pauillac also fall under the Haut-Médoc category in a broader area. On the other hand, wines from just AOP Médoc tend to be lighter in body than Haut-Médoc and have a unique flavor, which is interesting in its own way, but doesn't feel very neutral.

The Chateau du Breuil we are introducing this time is located in the village of Cissac, and was purchased in 1987 by the Vialard family, who also own Chateau Cissac in the same village. Cissac has a high ratio of Sauvignon and takes time to become drinkable, but Du Breuil has almost equal ratios of Sauvignon and Merlot, so you can enjoy it from an early stage. It is also reasonably priced, so we hope you will consider it as the benchmark of Bordeaux.

For inquiries about the wines featured,
To AVICO Co., Ltd.

Biography
Osamu Seki Born in Tokyo in 1961. Currently a part-time lecturer at Meiji University and other institutions.
He specializes in contemporary French thought and cultural theory, and is a director of the Reefer Wine Association.
His books include "An Introduction to Beautiful Men" (Natsume Shobo) and "My Neighbor is Arashi-kun" (Cyzo), and his translations include "How Should We Read Foucault?" by Oksara (Shinsensha) and "Mr. Pydrow, What Use Is a Gastronomic Critic?" by Pydrowski (Shinsensha).
Seki Osamu FACE BOOK
Seki Osamu Official Website