GreenHouse: A Natural Wine Bar in Paris, Botanical Edition - Remodelista
New in Paris, on a quiet street near the Ménilmontant metro: GreenHouse, a quiet green cafe serving garden-fresh dishes and natural wines. Photography by Alison Engstrom for Remodelista. Now, she’s transformed a former “American-style sandwich shop” on Rue Crespin de Gast with vintage French school chairs, botanical prints, collected glassware, and brocante finds sourced by Vanessa Grall of Paris blog Messy Nessy. The front entry, looking out onto the potager. “We had to warm it up to encourage our customers to get comfortable.” Frederick sourced houseplants and vintage furniture to save money and create a thoughtful, green space. To cut costs, the team preserved a few features from the sandwich shop, including the menu board and the tiled floor. “A small sink was left over from the previous concept but it’s so dang practical,” Frederick says. Clipped to one wall: a vignette of botanical prints, designed by Vanessa Grall of Messy Nessy. On the repurposed metal shelves: mix-and-match glassware and a green pitcher from Merci. A quartet of baskets from Maisons du Monde. Glimpsed behind the outdoor tables: the raised-bed potager. In order to start a working community kitchen garden on a Paris street, the team had to get authorization from the city; “then it was a matter of getting the community involved to help us plant and protect it,” Frederick says. Herbs and cuttings, ready for the kitchen. Reader tip: GreenHouse serves food mid-day, and turns into a natural wine bar in the evening.