Serving Larchmont Village, Hancock Park, and the Greater Wilshire neighborhoods of Los Angeles since 2011.

Café Parisien Now Open on Larchmont

Café Parisien owner Sebastien Cornic in his new shop

After visiting the teachers and parents at Hancock Park Elementary school in the pouring rain this morning, we decided to stop in Café Parisien for some hot chocolate and a visit with owner Sebastien Cornic. (Apparently, it’s been raining almost constantly since Café Parisien opened, causing Cornic to comment, “it’s like the universe brought Paris to Larchmont!”)

Hot chocolate on a cold, rainy day

Café Parisien, located in the former Prado space at 244 N Larchmont, is the perfect place to warm up from the rain. It’s still in the “soft open” stage, serving breakfast, brunch and lunch…but will add dinner soon.  Cornic also runs Meet in Paris, in Culver City, which is humming along with its seasoned staff of 10 years, but Cornic says he’s spending most of him time on Larchmont these days, getting Café Parisien up and running.

Cornic comes from a French food family. His great grandfather was a farmer, his grandfather was in the sugar business and his father owned a number of large seafood brasseries in Brittany, where Cornic grew up. He and his wife moved to Southern California to get into the restaurant business. After first working for a large restaurant group in San Diego, Cornic and his wife moved to Los Angeles and opened the Culver City restaurant in 2009.  (It was during the recession, but Cornic said that actually made the initial investment a bit easier than it would have been at another time.)

Cornic said he found Larchmont when he was looking for a second location. While the neighborhood wasn’t initially on his radar, a realtor showed him the available space, and he was hooked.  “We saw the space, we saw the potential, and we thought we could do well here, ” he said. “We wanted a neighborhood; we wanted a family feel.”

“I found both on Larchmont,” said Cornic. “Larchmont is very friendly. We opened last Wednesday and served 100 people. The next day we served 200 [without any formal publicity], so it’s been a great start for us.”

Café Parisien offers authentic French comfort food in an “all day cafe” setting.  “We’re not a celebrity chef by any means,”  says Cornic, referring to the more low-key vibe he’s trying to create.  But he does aim for the same kind of personal touches a celebrity chef would bring, promising he will always have classic French bistro dishes on the menu that he develops himself. And he prefers to use only French food and bread suppliers, too, so he can give customers the feeling they are walking into a cafe in Paris.

Some of the authentic French breads and pastries you’ll find at Café Parisien
Crepes with eggs, fruit and breakfast potatoes
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Patricia Lombard
Patricia Lombard
Patricia Lombard is the publisher of the Larchmont Buzz. Patty lives with her family in Fremont Place. She has been active in neighborhood issues since moving here in 1989. Her pictorial history, "Larchmont" for Arcadia Press is available at Chevalier's Books.

Related Articles

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Calendar

Latest Articles

.printfriendly { padding: 0 0 60px 50px; }