Claves pays homage to Parisian café culture at Le Cornichon Bistro

Photography: Matteo Verzini

The work of Paris-based interior design studio Claves, local café, bar and restaurant concept Le Cornichon has recently reopened in the French capital with a transformed aesthetic. Crafting a design concept that blends traditional French décor with a contemporary take on the city’s famed café culture, Laure Gravier and Soizic Fougeront (who founded Claves in 2022) modelled the bistro as an ode to the familiar, friendly bars and tobacconists that have lined the streets of Paris since the 1930s.

Complete with neon signage, painted frescoes, plush banquettes and vintage arcade games, the studio envisioned Le Cornichon as an archetypally Parisian, everyday haunt for locals open morning to night – in Gravier and Fougeront’s words, catering to everything from “the morning coffee while reading the paper to the business lunch, the aperitif with friends, the romantic dinner, the evening out.”

Beginning with the façade, the bistro’s traditional aesthetic is evident from the pavement, blending harmoniously with its well-established neighbours. Le Cornichon’s large backlit sign, neon lights and flag signs bearing La Française des Jeux help the café stay visible and welcoming from day to night, with bottle green furnishings, chrome and stainless-steel details and shutters in a bold, Bordeaux red all reflecting the traditional, instantly recognisable codes of the Parisian café.

Inside, Claves aimed to create an almost cinematic space with strong visual references, taking diners back in time and placing them within the very image of a French bistro. Rather than drawing inspiration from one particular decade, the interiors instead are an amalgamation of 20^th century décor. Speckled mosaic and art deco details from the 1930s are joined by a sweeping ceiling fixture in the shape of a wave, itself an Italian reference from the 50s, while the laminate bar top evokes post-war Formica. Illuminating tables from above, the sleek metal light fittings nod to the space age style that was popularised throughout the 60s, a feature echoed by the shining chrome furniture and wall trims reminiscent of the 80s. 

Continuing this authentically Parisian approach, Claves incorporated bespoke, thick velvet café benches that were designed and manufactured by a local workshop. The wave-shaped backrest on these benches mirror both the ceiling fixture and the wisps of smoke in the painted red frieze by decorative artists Mauro Ferreira, which encircles the dining area. The chromed steel and black skai chairs were also custom-made, thanks to the studio’s ethos of bringing talented artists and craftspeople into their design projects – reflected also by the colourful fresco mural paintings that brighten the dark, moody walls of the bistro’s bathrooms.