We have had many new amazing openers in Dublin this year but a venue inspired by New York's gangster hangouts in the 1980's was not on our bingo card.
When business partners Nick Twomey and Ben Mulligan decided to open a cafe, they were originally inspired by the aesthetic of the epic crime thriller The Departed. Even the name of the cafe, Mr French, is derived from one of the characters there.
While the Martin Scorsese film was actually based in Boston, it was New York that inspired most of the cafe interior. Mr Twomey told Dublin Live: “We took a lot of influences then from like 1980s New York and just kind of the whole lifestyle and the fit outs, we like that dark walnut wood and the marble countertops.
"We're just trying to focus a lot on the service then as well, do the best coffee in Dublin, the best customer service, the best cups, the best interior. We want the customers to come in and have the best experience once they enter into Mr. French.”
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The cafe only opened last week, but Nick says it has been really busy and is “just getting busier and busier”. They are doing everything they can to ensure their venue makes it big, from putting a kitchen in the back, to opening areas at the front and the back of the cafe for customers to enjoy the summer sunshine.
They get their coffee from the boutique roastery Sumo Coffee Roasters, which is world-champion coffee taster Daniel Horbat’s Coffee Roasters. Other than the regular coffee, teas, and hot chocolates, they also have a brew bar which is for filtered pour-over coffees. Nick added: “They're a lot more delicate, and the people that are really into coffee, that's what they drink.”
They will soon have matcha tea and nitro coffee from later this week. Nick described nitro coffee as a really strong cold-served coffee with a creamy texture, almost like a Guinness but “obviously with no alcohol”.
Another interesting and rather unique thing about Mr French is that they will also have a secret menu. Nick said: “We’re doing a special drink every month. It’s on the menu; this is [under] the three question marks.
“This month is the Greek-inspired drink called Alfredo - Iced Freddo Cappucino - which is a shaken espresso over ice with cold milk foam. So it's almost like an iced version of a cappuccino.
“The specials will always be available – we'll have a new one every month, but they'll always still be available.” However, customers will need to know what to ask for.
Most of the prices in the cafe are pretty affordable. For example, a butter croissant is about €2.95, a flat white - €3.85, an Americano €3.50, and a cappuccino is €3.85. Filter coffees are more expensive and range from €6 to €12.
Mr French's head barrista came sixth at the World Championship for Ireland and the owners also want to guide their customers and tell them more about the world of coffee and especially filtered coffee - to let them explore the different flavours and how they are achieved.
Nick added: “It's kind of almost like what wine was like maybe 40 years ago where people are just getting more and more experimental and they want to try new things, they come in with the entry-level wine, and then they just want to keep exploring new different tastes and their palate gets better and I think it's going to be be similar with the coffee the years to come.”
The business owners also want the cafe to become a hotspot for events, and they are open to hosting lots of events and renting out the space.
They are putting a kitchen at the back and will start doing breakfast and sandwiches, as well as small plates in the evening. They are also planning to get a wine license. What they currently have on offer when it comes to food are pastries from Tartine Bakery.
Mr French is located on 34 Erne Street Lower, Dublin 2. You can check out their Instagram at @mrfrenchs.
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