At HolyBelly

We met up with the globe-trotting founders of HolyBelly, Nicolas Alary and Chef Sarah Mouchot, the vibrant duo who brought breakfast food back into the Parisian spotlight. Having opened more than 10 years ago, HolyBelly has since become a fun and lively institution and a must-visit spot.

When we speak about Institutions at GiftShop, we like to think of places that embody the spirit and culture of Paris. Do you have any characteristics that you would say make a place an institution?

Nicolas:

There is definitely a time factor, although we acknowledge that some institutions are still emerging. But I love the fact that we’ve made it through 10 years. We’ve managed to weave ourselves into the fabric of Paris, and that’s really cool. Consistency is also important!

Sarah:

I agree, consistency is important. But I think the most important thing is having a personality—you know what you want to do and have a strong backbone for an institution.

"This is what I want to do, and I'm going to continue doing it, whether it's fashionable or not." It’s about not constantly changing based on trends, but having a vision and sticking to it.

Nicolas:

You can always improve, we’ve been here for 10 years, and we’re still constantly refining what we offer. We always try to make it better, but our core values have not changed since we first opened.

I think another important characteristic of being an institution is a sense of family. The group photo at Holybelly captures a team of people who enjoy working together. We’re not a place with extras or temp workers, nor do we have a high turnover of staff.

When you go to an institution, like Brasserie LIPP, you can tell that the people have been working there for many years and truly enjoy their work. As a customer, you can really feel it, and it’s wonderful to see these people, who work in a real institution, take pride in the long careers they’ve had there.

When you have off days, if ever, where do you like to go to eat ?

Nicolas:

We're lucky, as we now get Saturdays and Sundays off, so it’s pretty special.

We don’t eat out too much, but we really like to go to Bistrot Paul Bert for a nice lunch—another great institution. You know what you’re going to get; it’s consistently good. We also like to go to Brutos; it’s always good as well.

Sarah:

We really enjoy cooking at home, so we eat a lot in-house as well.

Nicolas:

I’ll pop into Ten Belles once in a while because they’ve been around forever, and they’re close by. It’s always nice to go say hello.

Sarah:

I also like Breizh Café; it’s really good.

Nicolas:

We haven’t visited in a while, but we really enjoy the lunch at Mokonuts.

What do you enjoy doing on weekends that isn’t centred around gastronomy?

Sarah:

We try to stay fresh in our approach to Paris because, sometimes, when you live here full-time, you start to take it for granted a little bit, and you almost stop seeing how beautiful it is. You begin to focus only on the downsides of the city. We try to take the opposite approach because we really love Paris. We love the city and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

Nicolas:

We love to just walk around the city on the weekends because everything is so beautiful. It’s easy to discover new neighbourhoods and new charms of the city.

Nicolas:

I would say a good weekend for us is waking up a bit late, going for a bite to eat, and just wandering around—even getting lost a little.

Sarah:

We also like to take our ping-pong rackets and find a park to play in. The last time we did that, we ended up playing in a park overlooking the Eiffel Tower. It was just mind-blowing and kind of surreal—where else in the world would you be able to do that? We are still very much amazed and dazed by Paris.

At GiftShop, we like to focus on new institutions—places we believe will only continue to grow and achieve great success. Do you have any places in mind that you feel don't get the recognition they deserve?

Sarah:

We recently went to Amarante in the 12th arrondissement. I don’t believe it gets enough love. It’s very under the radar, but so, so good!

Words : Claire Dhooge / Photos : Richard Banroques