“Friends, with an absurd idea, a bit of innate bullshit and a taste for challenge”: this is how Les Beaux Gamins describe themselves from this neighborhood bar with the eponymous name, “certified” since 2016 and which celebrated its 4 years on last month.
Maison Montagut went to meet Pierre, the bearer of this surprising and welcoming project: bar-flea market where you can have a drink and leave with your chair or glass, Les Beaux Gamins settled in rue de Saussure in the 17th arrondissement of Paris and does not intend to stop there. It is a generous and friendly bar, where everyone is familiar and called by their first name.
The meeting between Pierre and Maison Montagut
At the beginning there is therefore Pierre. A former amateur rugby player, he was a school educator in a children’s home for ten years. It was after a DUT and a master’s degree in social career, both culture-oriented, that he found himself working in the field, even if it was not a vocation for him. Having looked for a long time for what he wanted to do, he then comes across “a bit by accident” on an auction room opposite his home, a Drouot annex in the 9th arrondissement, accompanying a friend. Always “a little by chance”, he began to buy objects and resell them for a year: “I found it interesting and lucrative. You buy objects and you find yourself a little more and more aware of their time, their history, to see what you can do with it and draw from it, ”he explains. Then came the idea, that of why not, open a bar where you can buy everything!
“I liked the bistros and I thought it was cool to have a slightly decorative atmosphere, in which people could say” I’m sitting in this chair and I can buy it. Besides, I wanted to be my only boss. By working for Les Beaux Gamins, I feel free ”.
Les Beaux Gamins, the launch
Even if the concept existed a little in the provinces, in the United States and in certain countries like the Netherlands or Germany, Pierre does not really find an equivalent in France. According to him, there was this bar in the 20th arrondissement “but which was a flea market during the day and bar in the evening”. Lover of the 18th century, where he lived almost fifteen years, it took a year and a half before finding the rare pearl. For him who was in no hurry and who wanted to put his project together, came the day when he came across an ad from Le Bon Coin, with “this bar to be completely renovated and this incredible rent”. Armed with his IV license and his second-hand book delivered by the prefecture and after having broken everything and redone everything (only the scraped walls and the radiators remain), Pierre joined forces with two other friends to open Les Beaux Gamins. Barbara, his right arm, helps him run the bar.
“Because of rugby I have always been collective so I didn’t see myself doing it alone. I talked about it around me and two friends who were working next door joined me. “
Where does he find the objects to feed his bar? Pierre chines a lot: in flea markets in the provinces (not those in Paris, untouchable because they are too expensive) or on Le Bon Coin. Sometimes, he even buys from individuals or professionals. These objects go from the beginning of the 20th century to the 60s and 70s.
But don’t bother to scaffold your burglary plans (we can already see you coming) because no piece is worth gold. The bar is not an antique shop, however, everything can be bought, from the coffee grinder to glasses and plates, through carpets, chairs, or even the sink in the toilet, really everything . Except the owner of course…
The reputation of the bar
Very quickly, the bar and its reputation took off thanks to the word of mouth of the three partners: “Kevin is a man of extraordinary network, and I by the friends of rugby, we made it a place of destination. Our network really made the bar work for the first three months. ”
This cheerful group of friends has established themselves in the neighborhood with humor and kindness, so much so that they come to establish daily ties with their customers :
“I ride the groceries of the old lady who lives next door, we keep keys. The atmosphere is relaxed, you are familiar with people of all generations. On an evening I know at least half of the room and very often we call people by their first name. We’re anchored in the neighborhood and that’s what I wanted, “says Pierre. “I like people, take an interest in what they do, I find that we meet incredible people and no day is the same. “
When asked about his future plans, he speaks to us with open hearts, full of enthusiasm, with the idea of opening a second bar. Same concept? The question is debated…
Les Beaux Gamins
1 rue Lebouteaux 75017 Paris
or
13 rue de Saussure 75017 Paris
Metro Villiers or Rome
Open Monday to Saturday, 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Chinese portrait of Pierre
If I were an era ? “Post-war until the 60’s: there was a crazy atmosphere”
If I were an emotion ? “Laughter: I am someone positive, I love life, I find it important”
If I were an alcohol ? “All, without preference. But otherwise right now it’s vodka, in moscow mule for example, it’s very fashionable right now ”
If I were a superpower ? “Teleporting or knowing how to speak all languages”
If I were an everyday object ? “At home I have a terrestrial globe that I adore, bright, from the 1940s which is too beautiful. At the same time it is decorative and it makes travel “
