Le Café des Arts - l'Art du Café
The Café des Arts first opened in 1957, just in front of the textile factory Pascal-Valluit & C.ie, the largest of the various ones founded in Vienne since the 18th century. Its name - rather than referring to the fine arts - echoed the "arts & métiers" of this once industrial district of Vienne, with its many handicraft workshops. At least four owners have been m
anaging it from those early days, with the last one - Monsieur Vergne (Toto or Totof, for his many friends and customers) - running it for eleven years with great success until May 2017. Califano, known as Alex, Sasha, Iskandar, or Alessandro, depending on the context - is a museum professional and cultural heritage consultant, the former manager of a visual arts library at a contemporary art museum in Italy, and the president of the Archive aux Arts cultural association in Vienne. So, his personal interpretation of the coffee shop's name will rather bring up an echo of the fine and visual arts. Though the Café des Arts' first and foremost aim will of course always be to provide the best possible coffee drinking experience in Vienne and its surroundings (as well as excellent food for lunch), it will also focus on providing art related reading matters to its customers, and on organising visual arts exhibitions on its premises. For a description of the origin and history of the district of the Pascal-Valluit factory in Vienne, a booklet published by the Groupe Mémoire of the Centre Social d'Estressin à Vienne is highly recommended: "Les Mémoires de Pascal-Valluit, recueil de textes, témoinages et illustrations" (2010).
