A place in Paris to celebrate bands like BTS, Blackpink, NCT and StayC, Kick Cafe has given K-pop fans somewhere for meet-ups at last
- Opened in 2021, Kick Cafe is the first K-pop concept store in France. Its French founder wants to change the negative perception of K-pop in Europe
- It has given fans a place to meet up around concerts, and holds regular events to celebrate acts such as BTS and Blackpink. It’s on the radar of K-pop stars too
By Dong Sun-hwa
In the second arrondissement in central Paris sits Kick Cafe, one of the most sought-after places for K-pop lovers in France.
It’s a place where they can sip a cup of coffee named after their favourite singers or try Korean dishes like samgak gimbap (a triangular filled seaweed rice roll) while listening to the latest K-pop songs.
Since its establishment in 2021, Kick Cafe – an acronym for “K-pop is for cool kids” – has served as a hub of Korean culture in France. About 200 people visit the place every day.
According to its founder, Savannah Truong, most visitors hail from France but a growing number of people from other European countries, including Germany, Spain, Hungary and Estonia, come during their holidays to savour Korean culture.
“Kick Cafe is the very first concept store in Europe dedicated to K-pop, where people can share their love and passion for this genre,” Truong said in a recent email interview.