I have been following Nicolas Rouzaud’s work since his debut at The Connaught, so I was thrilled to see this chic pâtisserie open in the Burlington Arcade. From the coffee and branding to the exquisite food, the entire experience feels like a Parisian daydream.
How did you choose the Burlington Arcade location and the idea to build your own stand-alone cafe?
Burlington Arcade felt like the right home for the café because of its history and character. I wanted to create a place that brings the spirit of the French café to London and somewhere you can drop in at any time of day, for a meeting, lunch or simply to sit with a coffee and feel at home. For me, it’s about lifestyle as much as pastry, while staying true to the values that guide my work from seasonality, craftsmanship and a creative boldness.
How would you describe the venture in your own words?
With Le Café, I wanted to return to something instinctive: warmth, memory, and emotion, yet with a freer, more playful spirit. A little bolder, more spontaneous, more alive. A place where everyone is welcome, where you come for a simple pleasure and leave with a souvenir, something comforting, seasonal, and made at its absolute best. In terms of what it actually is, I think of it as somewhere between a French brasserie and a great coffee shop. It has the conviviality and the all-day rhythm of a brasserie: you can arrive alone, stay as long as you like, eat well at any hour but with the informality and accessibility of a café.
The interiors are so chic yet playful. What inspired this?
We wanted to translate the idea of gourmandise into the space so the interiors play with colour, texture and form inspired by pâtisserie. The sofas are softly rounded like brioches and the lacquered gourmand tones evoke the sheen of glazed pastries. At the same time, it was important to keep the space chic and respectful of the heritage of Burlington Arcade, so the playfulness is balanced with elegant details and collaborations with local artists.
As you grow your brand and presence, what should we expect from your menu
The menu will always follow the seasons, that is the one thing that will never change. Every ingredient we use is chosen at the moment it is at its best and when it is no longer at its best we move on. That discipline gives the menu a natural rhythm and it keeps things genuinely exciting, for the team as much as for the guests. Le Café is genuinely all-day: from the viennoiseries at breakfast through to a leisurely lunch, an afternoon pastry and a late cocktail. I want to continue developing each part of that day with the same level of intention. The savoury offer, in particular, is something I find very compelling. The brioche à tête filled with seasonal, savoury ingredients is just the beginning of that conversation and dishes like our eggs Benedict and French toast show how far we can take classical comfort food when it is made with the same rigour as the pastry. The seasonal soup served inside a bread loaf is another example: a dish that is entirely about generosity and warmth, and that changes with every season. There is also the little takeaway shop, which I am very attached to — the idea that you leave Le Café with something in your hands: a madeleine, a tartelette, a jar of jam. A small souvenir of the visit.
I am massive coffeeholic, so for me coffee is the most important aspect of any cafe. How did you go about sourcing the coffee partner and what makes your coffee offering stand apart?
For me, the starting point was very clear: I did not want to approach coffee any differently from the way I approach pastry. The same rigour, the same search for the right partner, the same refusal to compromise on quality. That search led me to EXTRACT coffee roasters, who share a philosophy that I respect deeply — an obsession with provenance and craft, a genuine care for where the coffee comes from and how it is treated at every stage. I wanted to approach coffee as a gourmand experience, as a dessert in its own right. We have created some signature drinks and they have been thought about in terms of layers, texture, foam, crunch, the same sensory intention that goes into a pastry. That is unusual, and it is deliberate. For someone who loves coffee as much as you do, I hope it is also genuinely surprising.
What are your favourites currently on the menu?
The brioche à tête is impossible to separate from. It is the dish that started everything: the memory of my father filling a brioche with whatever he found in the fridge, baking it and bringing it to the table for the family. To see that memory made real at the highest technical standard, and offered to guests every day, that never gets old for me. If I am honest though, I always come back to the tartelette aux fruits. It is the most distilled expression of what I believe: one seasonal fruit at its absolute best in a buttery pastry made with classical technique. Nothing added that does not need to be there. When the fruit is right: a cherry in summer, a pear in autumn, there is nothing more satisfying to eat or to make.
Visit the website to learn more: https://www.nicolasrouzaud.com/
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