What a wonderful place Italy of the 1950s and ’60s must have been. A glance back through rose-tinted glasses at the cinema of the day and you’re instantly awash with the glamour – Hepburn and Peck whizzing about Rome on a Vespa, Anita Eckberg in the Trevi fountain, Sophia Loren…everywhere. Those were most certainly the days, and at Caffè Burlot, those days are back.

With fabulous Italianate retro style, and a menu of Italian trattoria classics with an artisanal twist, where else could we be but Paris? It seems strange to think of a Parisian venue evoking the glory days of anywhere other than Paris, but chefs Thierry Burlot and Thierry Costes saw an opportunity to create something a bit different just off the Champs-Élysées, and succeeded admirably. This is largely down to the work of Dimore Studio of Milan, whose vintage work went down a treat with We Heart at Grand Hotel et de Milan’s Caruso bar and restaurant.

Here at Caffè Burlot, the eye is immediately taken by the choice of bold upholstery and wallpapers – tropical greenery and oriental gold fans – and although the main theme is Italian, there is influence form the Near and Far East in evidence not only on the walls but in rugs and ceramics as well. Subdued lighting and a lot of marble amid more, living, greenery create an intimate but upmarket environment – the perfect place for the likes of Loren to lose herself under a headscarf and a huge pair of sunglasses.

Photo © Benjamin Loyseau

Photo © Benjamin Loyseau

Photography © Andrea Ferrari
unless otherwise specified.