Words by Sean Hotchkiss
Photography By Justin Chung

Thomas Lehoux, Belleville Brûlerie

Paris, France

The first time you cross the footbridge over the Canal St. Martin and duck into Ten Belles, Thomas Lehoux’s tiny coffeeshop and bakery in Paris’s 10th Arrondisement, you’re practically positive you’re not in France anymore.
The tight quarters and bustling crowd say Brooklyn, the yellow façade and white washed walls scream Los Angeles, and the coffee, well, it certainly couldn’t have been made by a Parisian… or could it? Yes, coffee in Paris is changing. And 28 year-old Lehoux is one of the reasons why.

"What's the point of making good coffee if you can't share it with someone else?"

In the hospitality industry, one must love what they do. And Lehoux does. “I love eating and drinking. I’m not really a party guy, but going to restaurants, bars, coffeeshops, that’s what I do with the small amount of free time I have… We have the passion for this stuff, and want to pass it along. That’s why we started doing this – learning ourselves, and then educating people – in the first place.” Lehoux pauses. “If we didn’t share this with the roasters, the farmers… we’d have no chance to get better. And if you don’t share with your customers, you don’t sell your products… What’s the point of making good coffee if you can’t share it with someone else?” ●

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Full story available in Faculty Department Vol. 1.

Photographed in 2014 – Paris, France.

Profile: Thomas Lehoux, Belleville Brûlerie

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