Most French cafes and bistros in Tokyo are carefully constructed fantasies of “Amelie”-esque hues and Edith Piaf songs. They represent a far cry from the reality in Paris, but at least in these bubbles, the food is rarely mediocre, and you never have to deal with moody waiters.
Instead, at La & Le — a posh new cafe in Tokyo’s Minamiaoyama neighborhood — you have Tetsuya Yamashita. Dressed in a sharp double-breasted suit, he stands attentively behind the entrance’s glass doors, opening them for every arriving and departing guest.
Before opening his cafe in March, Yamashita spent 20 years as a waiter at Paris’ 140-year-old Cafe de Flore, which in its heyday attracted writers and artists such as Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso. Today, it draws tourists and locals looking to people-watch from a table on its sidewalk. A native Tokyoite, Yamashita was Cafe de Flore’s lone non-French staff member until he returned to Japan in October 2025.
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