TO Paris is depopulated rooms designed and built for animals. With a local variant, these dog first places seem to prefer dogs. After that in the large metropolises the cat café model had spread, Paris has shifted the trend towards caninesbut without these places being mere attractions. Here the dog is a guest in all respects, with a dedicated gastronomic offer and spaces redesigned for his comfort.
Places for dogs are very popular in Paris dog first
The so-called dog first premises, literally “dogs first”, are multiplying in the French capital. The formula is simple in intention but elaborate in execution: Dog owners can sit at a table, order a coffee for yourself and a delicacy for their animalwithout having to worry about disturbing or being seen badly. The city has around one hundred thousand dogs, and for a long time a substantial part of public and commercial spaces responded to their presence with a more tolerated than enthusiastic welcome.
La Casa del Doggo, where the pastry shop is also for dogs
One of the pioneers of this movement is Clara Zambuto, a twenty-six year old of French origin, who opened it House of the Doggo after living with Hulk, her three-year-old Pomeranian, had shown her a void in the city’s offerings. The restaurant offers artisanal desserts displayed under a showcasewith names and shapes that explicitly recall the Parisian pastry tradition: “Le Merveilleux”, based on banana puree, cream cheese, apple and beef, or “Le Mignon” heart-shaped with sweet potato, blueberries and cream. Prices are around five euros.
Patisseries with beef and cream desserts, bars with off-leash terraces, in Paris taking care of your dog has become a social act. (Getty Images)
Ingredients, prohibitions and flavors
The composition of the desserts is not random. Zambuto, who started producing the sweets at home and then availed himself of the advice of a professional pastry chef, he built the menu around a strict list of allowed and prohibited ingredients such as chocolate, avocado, grapes and onion, which are excluded because they are toxic to dogs. An approach that noIt does not differ much from the logic of quality human nutritionwith the difference that here the supply chain starts from a veterinary basis.
A space without fear
Not all initiatives, however, arise from a gastronomic vocation. Rebecca Anhaltfor example, an American transplanted to Paris, he founded Le Bone Appartafter receiving a hefty fine for letting her five-year-old whippet off the leash in a city park. Anhalt has thus created a place where pet owners could move without fear of reproachin an atmosphere of genuine hospitality. In his bar, Dogs of all sizes roam on an outdoor terracemunching on croissant- and baguette-shaped treats, while the owners meet and converse.
The dog as a political issue
Behind this flourishing of venues we can also glimpse a broader question, which concerns the way in which the city manages the animal presence in the urban space. The association Paris Condition Canine has long reported that the over forty off-leash dog areas in the capital are insufficient. A criticism that has even found an echo in the political debate. The phenomenonIn short, it does not end in the niche of trendy consumption. Rather, it speaks of a change in the way in which a growing segment of city dwellers conceives the relationship with their animal. A close relationship where not only human needs count.
