About
When you step away from the bustle of Ginza, you find yourself enveloped in a timeless serenity and warmth. Established in 1911, “Café Paulista” welcomes visitors into a space where it feels as if time has stopped. Upon entering, you are greeted by a calm atmosphere created by the heavy wooden furniture and soft lighting, while the walls are adorned with photographs from the time of the café’s founding and landscapes of Brazilian coffee farms.
This café is known as the first place in Japan to serve authentic Brazilian coffee, and it has also been a gathering spot for many literary greats and cultural figures. There are anecdotes that Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Ogai Mori, and even John Lennon and Yoko Ono visited this café and enjoyed its coffee. Sitting in the seats where they may have once sat and feeling the same air is a moment when you can truly sense the weight of history.
Opening the menu, your eyes are immediately drawn to a cup called “Forest Coffee.” This special coffee is brewed from beans grown naturally without any pesticides or chemical fertilizers. Bringing the cup to your lips, a rich aroma teases your nose, and with a sip, a mellow acidity and deep richness spread across your palate. This flavor can truly be called a work of art woven by nature and human hands.
Alongside the coffee, you’ll want to try the café’s proud homemade cakes. The especially popular Mont Blanc is topped generously with plump, domestically grown chestnuts, and the smooth marron cream and coffee cream are exquisitely balanced. With a restrained sweetness, it allows you to fully savor the original flavor of the chestnuts.
Inside the café, low leather sofas are arranged spaciously, and the soft light from chandeliers envelops the space. The time spent here feels like a special moment where past and present intersect. You forget the bustle of Ginza, and a luxurious time flows by in which you can quietly face yourself.
“Café Paulista” is not just an ordinary coffee shop. It is a special place filled with history, culture, and the thoughts of many people. A cup of coffee enjoyed here becomes part of a story that continues from the past to the present, and into the future. When you visit Ginza, be sure to open this door and savor a moment that transcends time.