Portrait/Interview: Phil Euell
Phil Euell is an American designer living in Paris, he runs the eponymous studio Euell
and a little coffee shop in the Marais. Words by Anna Stewart.
The Boot Cafe is a very special little cafe in Le Marais, which is adored by all Parisians. It’s also the smallest cafe I’ve ever seen. How did this project happen?
Well, about ten years ago I quit my job as a lawyer in New York, and moved to Mexico City
to attend Le Cordon Bleu; the idea was to move back to New York and open a restaurant with a friend. While I was there, I met a French girl who was finishing her studies. I convinced her to move back to New York with me, and we opened a furniture store in the East Village.
You are an American living in Paris, what brought you to Paris and what do you love about the city?
My wife brought me here. Before having met Elsa, I never would have considered moving to Paris. For the first couple of years I had a lot of doubts about our decision to leave New York. But, 8 years later, I can honestly say that Paris is not only my home, but my favorite city
(Hong Kong is a close second).
There are three main reasons why I love Paris:
First: the scale is perfect – Paris isn’t big, the buildings aren’t tall, and almost everywhere slopes toward the river. These things give the city a softness that other places don’t have.
You always know where you are, and you always run into people you know. whilst, at the same time, Paris is very cosmopolitan.
Second: Paris is avant garde. Whether it’s fashion, design, art, film, photography, or cuisine, Paris is at the forefront. This gives one a sense of being very much in the present – even if
it’s in a passive way.
Third: Paris is conservative – not in a political sense – but culturally. So, while there are trends here as elsewhere, style seems to be more grounded in tradition. The rules of tradition form the framework within which the avant garde is expressed – this yields sophistication and subtlety.
One of your most recent projects was in London, the Le Labo shop on Redchurch Street. This follows the Hong Kong and Paris shops and now – Milano?
Can you tell us what do you find interesting about working in the different locations?
The strangeness of new cultures. The food, drink, language, mannerisms, expressions and the landscapes, the colours, the smells. I love it all. And, surprisingly, I found London to be
as foreign as Hong Kong.
You are a furniture designer as well as a designer of interiors. And you even made a bespoke sash window for a restaurant (sash windows don’t exist in Paris so this must be a rare skill!). What’s next for you?
Right now I’m working on the design of a new restaurant in Paris from the owners of Verjus. It’s called Ellsworth and I’m creating the furniture and lighting. It should be open mid-march.
After that, I’m doing the Le Labo offices on Arnold Circus in Shoreditch, London. At the same time, I’m preparing some new work for Milan [the furniture fair in April], I’m also putting all the pieces together for a new cafe project in Paris and our Boot Cafe is about to produce an original vinyl ep that will be out in a month.
Also, I try to be home early enough to cook dinner for my wife and two kids most nights
of the week.
Phil Euell working in the new Le Labo shop on Redchurch St in Shoreditch, London.