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

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.

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“We offer drinks that are inspired by different K-pop groups and sell K-pop merchandise, but more importantly, we hold up to three K-pop-related events every week, ranging from fan events to conferences to exhibitions.

“Recently, we ran a pop-up store for Netflix’s hit Squid Game and made more than 1,000 dalgona – a Korean street snack that was featured in the series.”

Another memorable event for Truong took place in June 2021, when fans gathered at her cafe to celebrate the eighth anniversary of K-pop titans BTS’ debut.

“We had a three-hour queue in front of our 24-seater coffee shop,” she recalled. “Since then, we have been organising events for groups like Blackpink, NCT and StayC, among others, trying to celebrate every single K-pop act.

“We also have been raising funds for good causes by opening a flea market, having lectures on cyberbullying and holding exhibitions to celebrate Asian women, because we want to have a positive impact across the globe and give a helping hand to different communities via non-governmental organisations like Unicef.”

Truong has been an ardent K-pop fan since 2008. She was mesmerised by K-pop music videos for their fascinating incorporation of music and visual aspects.

“Some of my favourite songs were Wonder Girls’ Tell Me (2007) and BigBang’s Haru Haru (2008),” she said.

“What I also like about K-pop is that it changes and evolves every day. There are always new songs and new groups people can fall in love with. K-pop artists never take things for granted and work hard to showcase a better version of themselves as well.”

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Asked about K-pop’s growing popularity in Europe, Truong said the genre shows a new aesthetic that is not found elsewhere.

“In France, rap is one of the most popular genres, but if you are not a rap fan, you do not have many other options of music to enjoy. But in the world of K-pop, you can always find a group that fits your liking, as there are so many groups that pull off different genres like hip-hop and R&B,” Truong explains.

The most popular Korean artists in France these days are Stray Kids, Ateez, Enhypen, Itzy, Everglow and Dreamcatcher, she adds. “Most French fans are fond of strong concepts that come with strong beats, EDM and hip-hop sounds,” she said.

Truong got the idea to set up Kick Cafe in 2019 after going to a concert featuring Sunmi of girl group Wonder Girls, one of her favourite K-pop stars.

“After the concert, a friend of mine told me that it was a shame that there was no real place for K-pop fans to hang out in Paris,” she said. “As a long-time K-pop fan and a student who was about to finish my studies in luxury marketing, it just made sense to create a space for K-pop followers to meet, share their passion for music.”

For Truong, the best thing about running the first K-pop concept store in France is that she can experience something new every day.

“Our team, which is made up of architect Cindy X Nguyen and marketing director Melanie Bahn, among others, is never bored because we work on new projects all the time,” the passionate founder said. “I am so happy to have made a space that can bring joy to people.”

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The popularity of Kick Cafe has grown so remarkably that even K-pop stars visit this trendy place when they come to Paris.

“We had the chance to meet Mark Tuan of K-pop boy band Got7 earlier this month. He visited our shop and took a bunch of pictures with us. As a huge fan of his, I was so honoured to meet him.

“On top of that, up-and-coming boy group MCND will also come to Kick Cafe in April to organise a fan event with us.”

Another special guest was South Korea’s culture minister, Hwang Hee, who paid a visit with John Hae-oung, the director of the Korean Cultural Centre in France, last year.

Truong said that the minister had said he was appreciative to her for opening a place dedicated to hallyu, the wave of Korean pop culture.

“Hwang said he was very pleased to see a French person like me who is so passionate about hallyu,” Truong said. “Thanks to him, we were able to organise the opening ceremony of the ‘2021 K-World Festival’ and I got to talk with Jeno of K-pop boy group NCT.”

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Running a K-pop cafe in Paris, however, is not a piece of cake.

For Truong, the most challenging part of her work is that she and her colleagues have to pour a lot of energy into every project they run.

“I always tell my teammates that Kick Cafe is like a train that goes 200 kilometres [125 miles] per hour,” she said. “So we should catch it on time and keep the pace.

“Since we have a lot of K-pop labels and influencers reaching out to us, we have to see how we can work together in the best ways.”

One of the goals that she wants to accomplish in the days ahead is to change the negative perception of K-pop which she believes is still prevalent in most European countries.

“Even now, K-pop is seen as something childish in France, with numerous people describing it as ‘groupie’ – a word referring to young women’s admiration of singers,” Truong said.

“They claim it is a superficial and artificial genre of music. So when I first opened my coffee shop out of my love for K-pop, a lot of people mocked me and made fun of me.”

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Truong thinks these biases stem from cultural differences and xenophobia.

“A lot of French newspapers made insulting remarks about BTS, saying it was an artificial group consisting of feminine [male] members,” she said.

“But following the global success of BTS and other K-pop acts like Blackpink, I think a lot of critics are now more tamed, although it will still take some time to change the mentalities of European people.

“I want to play a more active role in changing the negative perception, so that more people will see it as something cool and trendy.”

Her ambition does not stop there. “I want to invite Sunmi to our cafe, since she is the reason that I opened Kick Cafe,” she said.

“I also want to meet WJSN (Cosmic Girls), StayC, Ateez and NCT. And I and my teammates are hoping to open a new K-pop cafe in another city, possibly London or Lyon.

“I actually want to have at least 10 Kick Cafes in different cities, so that we can spread even more joy and happiness through K-pop around the world. I want all K-pop followers based in Europe to have a place that they can call home.”

Read the full story at The Korea Times.