When I arrived in Paris last month, everyone immediately told me that I needed to visit the new oyster and cocktail bar, Le Mary Celeste, in the Marais. After a day spent wandering the angular streets of the Marais, circling back on the same streets by accident, I finally came across the curve of rue Commines, and just at its point was Le Mary Celeste. An open bar at the end of a triangular block with a pale blue exterior—a calm setting for a tired-footed traveler.
The owners, New Yorker's Josh Fontaine, Adam Tsou, and Colombian-born Carina Soto Velasquez Tsou previously worked with David Rager and Cheri Messerli of Weekends on the nearby Taqueria Candelaria (it's a small world). After the success of Candelaria, the trio and the duo paired up once again to design the interior of Le Mary Celeste, which is located in a former video editing office. The restaurant has a nautical vibe: rope coiled around columns, white-washed brick and seafoam green paint, and a tropical mural of a toucan. Top it off with slow Elvis ballads rotating in a vintage LP player in the back of the room—you'd swear that you were in a coastal village somewhere, and not deep in the streets of Paris.
Photography by Alexa Hotz for Remodelista.
Above: Fontaine described the origin of new restaurant's namesake to Vogue in February: "It was a boat in the 19th century that left New York carrying a cargo of pure alcohol and then was found adrift, all provisions on board, except for the crew."
Above: Large windows are on either side of the restaurant make for an open air feel.
Above: On the menus, typography by Rager and collages on the back by Rosemarie Auberson.
Above: The interior, formerly a video editing office, was stripped down by Rager and Messerli, who built it back up again from scratch.
Above: The brick was reclaimed from building sites around the area and whitewashed.
Above: The modular hex tables, barstools, and slatted backlit banquettes were all custom-built. The stained glass window designs were all done by Messerli.
Above L: Glassware is wrangled with rope, tied together with proper nautical knots. Above R: Basic rope is tightly wrapped around the restaurant's columns.
Above: A vintage stereo setup is matched with vintage LPs.
Above: A bucket of just-watered succulents behind the bar.
Above: Whitewashed bricks are color-blocked with seafoam green paint. The lighting is by LA-based artist Heather Levine.
Above: Watercolor flags hang above the back stairs.
Above: White chevron parquet, on the ceiling.
Above: The deck flooring that surrounds the bar along with the bar top are made from wood palettes that were previously used for shaping cement forms.
For more places to visit in and around Paris see our Travels with an Editor: Paris series and visit our Paris City Guide.
Location of Le Mary Celeste in Paris:View Larger Map