Café de la Poste Joins the Beijinger's Dining Hall of Fame

For the second year running, the Beijinger 2016 Reader Restaurant Awards Ceremony invited members of Beijing’s F&B industry to recognize their peers by electing new members to the Beijing Dining Hall of Fame.

Café de la Poste was one of four venues elected to join the elite hall inaugurated in 2015 to recognize those that have provided meritorious service to the city of Beijing for over seven years.

Opened in 2006, Café de la Poste is no stranger to our readers, having regularly won or placed in Best French, Best Steak, and Best Wine List awards in both the Beijinger Reader Restaurant Awards and Reader Bar and Club Awards. 

“This bistro is both a hang-out for drunkards and a place to meet-up and share. To my total surprise, these two very different groups coexist quite happily. Maybe they are one and the same?” said founder Christophe Rovan, who was also inducted into the Dining Hall of Fame. On most Sunday afternoons, for example, some of Beijing's best amateur chess players – including former professionals – converge in the cafe to play. As the hours go by, however, many of the same chess enthusiasts go from placing pawns to pounding beers.

"Café de la Poste is a small French bistro close to the Lama Temple. When we opened in 2006, we were virtually the only foreigners in the district. We would have parties and fancy dress evenings every night. Customers would sing and dance on the tables. It was really great! There were a lot of students, but there were also executives, teachers, and civil servants. People loved that little corner of France tucked away in the Hutongs. And luckily for us, they still love it, it is impossible to explain!" Rovan said, regarding CDLP's concept.

"We created and developed it without thinking it through. To be frank, I should say that we were mostly drunker than our customers were. The idea was to offer very simple French dishes, made with the best market produce. And to have as much fun as possible doing it! That was the concept – our concept!"

"Nowadays, there is a new management team around Justin Barthelemy and Tristan Macquet, and with their own very different style, they are keeping the spirit of the place alive," he said.

A lot of the reviews point out that Café de la Poste is a locus for francophones. Asked if they did anything to make it local or keep it original, Rovan said, “The Chinese and the French share an immoderate love of good food, of cuisine. They are the only two peoples on the planet who, while eating lunch, will be talking about what they will have for dinner. It is therefore quite easy to attract the French to the Café de la Poste: you just have to cook familiar, homely French food that they recognize as their own.”

Café de la Poste is a niche hangout that has drawn a loyal following from an eclectic demographic mix, from bikers to artists, and francophones to chess players.

More stories by this author here.

Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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Photos courtesy of Cafe de la Poste