Seventh Suppers: Ola’s Cafe
Nestled in the 18th Arrondissement on a tranquil street, we stopped by the cozy and homely Ola’s Cafe. Founded by Bosun Ola & Fay Latham, the couple opened up in 2020 and have been in Paris for 9 years. Accompanied by coffee classics, you can also indulge in petit bites from their menu, which change weekly. We caught up with the founders to discuss moving to Paris, fostering diverse spaces & their favourite bites!
What’s your ultimate comfort meal with an accompanying drink?
We usually go for Indian food—a mixed grill with rice, butter chicken, and garlic cheese naan or a Thali, a good mix of everything. Simple but delicious! For a comfort drink, we’d have an oat milk hot chocolate!
Why food & beverage over anything else?
Easy! Food and beverage venues are our favorite spaces—from coffee shops, cocktail bars, and restaurants to wine bars. There are so many great places to eat and drink here in Paris, and the standard is incredibly high. You differentiate yourself through the vibe and community these spaces create alongside their products. That's the beauty of the food and drink industry in Paris: each business has its own small universe, even if they're selling the same product.
What do you enjoy the most about your work?
We enjoy the freedom! Changing our food and coffee menus often keeps our workflow interesting. We work with many talented roasters, so it's fun choosing the coffee list, devising recipes, and extracting flavors from different regions of the world—and convincing people to try different coffee profiles. I love the social and spontaneous aspects of the days the most! So many interesting conversations happen during the day that we should write a book. It's funny because many of our close friends are people who just randomly walked through the door one day, and over time we built relationships.
If you were to recommend anything from your menu what would it be?
The dish of the day whatever it is that day!
Originally being from the UK, how would you describe the process of moving to Paris and cultivating your own community via your cafe from scratch?
The logistics were easy—we arrived pre-Brexit, so we just jumped on the Eurostar and started our new life. It's a strange feeling to move abroad as an adult and navigate a new cityscape and language. (Bosun) I was lucky to have worked in an amazing cocktail bar "Dirty Dick" for 5 years and was able to build many relationships which helped us, as expats, feel more comfortable in this city. "Third" spaces are really important, and I always wanted to create our own—somewhere people can spend time, meet others without pressure, and just vibe. Ola's cafe represents that, and people feel good in the space because it's a reflection of our tastes in food, music, and literature.
You have such a diverse range of people convening in your cafe: to eat, to work and to lounge - what do you think it is about your cafe that invites all walks of life into the same space?
First and foremost, we chose the perfect neighborhood to live and work in. The 18th arrondissement is one of Paris's most racially diverse and working-class neighborhoods, and we're fortunate to live just around the corner. The space itself is unique—its design naturally encourages conversation and connection, which is why we see so many familiar faces. Parents stop by for a morning coffee and chat after school drop-off, regulars settle in with their laptops to work before lunch, and friends pop in for a quick coffee.
What are your earliest memories with food and hospitality that made you want to pursue the path that you chose?
We’ve just always loved sitting down for a good meal with good company. We love to get people together and feed them! So it was a natural progression into opening our own place.
