CAFÉ CHULO, FROM GUATEMALA TO GRENOBLE

Café Chulo takes pride in offering ethically sourced, high quality coffee, roasted to perfection.

Jérôme Alexandre and Oliver Arturo, the couple behind Café Chulo, are here to bring very carefully sourced and beautifully roasted specialty coffee to the Grenoble region. Here is their story.

Love and Guatemala

In 2017, Jérôme decided it was time to leave his Parisian life behind, where he had been working in various branches of marketing, telecom and travel for over a decade.  His life was calling him to Central America, in order to explore and develop his ever-growing passion for coffee.

He fell in love with Guatemala, where he eventually completed the Asociacion Nacional Del Café’s roasting program and began working as a barista. A new chapter began when Jérôme met Oliver, who was also working as a barista.

The Birth of Café Chulo

After two years they decided to pursue a new life adventure together, in France, and relocated to Lyon, where Jérôme began working in the budding “craft” coffee industry while Oliver concentrated on his French studies. Eventually, the two found that Grenoble was better suited to their dream of starting a business together.

Initially, the idea was to have a small, mobile roaster, but after happening upon the Fontaine storefront they began receiving a great deal of enthusiasm and support from the neighborhood.

As luck would have it, their friend and peer, Loïc Thépot of Le Caféyeah in Mens, had a beautiful roaster that was in need of a good home, and everything fell into place. And thus, Café Chulo was born – a charming, intimate boutique café, complete with artisan roasting behind the scenes.

High Standards

Jérôme is passionate about every aspect involved in making the ever-elusive perfect cup of coffee.

Quality, transparency, equitability, and community are of the upmost importance in how Chulo sources their beans.  And, in the coffee world, this means a very small number of import options and a lot of work involved in finding them. Due to their knowledge of and relationship with Guatemala, its culture and people, this is naturally their main source for coffee beans.

In an industry where waste and consumption tend to be high, Jérôme and Oliver have made great efforts to minimize their footprint by limiting their use of energy, keeping packaging to a minimum, privileging environment-friendly modes of transport, and equipping their café with a majority of second hand, repurposed, and locally made items.

They are active in the community and it shows: after only a few months of being open, they have regulars who bring them goodies and expressed to us that, during these solitary times, having Café Chulo has brought new life to the community. They are bringing people together and sharing their values through the cherished daily ritual of coffee. 

The Coffee

The goal of Café Chulo is to please those who already know and love specialty coffee, as well as to introduce all aspects of it to those who are unfamiliar. The finished products are phenomenal: complex yet well-balanced coffees with beautiful aromas, each one unique. 

Some things to look forward to in more normal times will be the different ateliers Café Chulo will be serving up, from courses on various preparation techniques, to coffee cupping and co-roasting.

Café Chulo is just a short walk up from the Les Fontainades tram stop on the ‘line A.’ You can stop by for a cup, purchase beans either whole or pre-ground in 250g, 500g and 1kg quantities, or bring your own container to buy in-bulk by the gram.

Prices range from 6,20€ – 7,60€ for 250g bags. Be sure to try their “assemblage” – not only is it incredibly delicious, but it’s an opportunity for Jérôme to show off his impeccable English skills and explain why it’s not a “blend.”

Café Chulo
35 Avenue Aristide Briand
38600 Fontaine
Tel : 07 69 81 09 31
Web site 

Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Thursday, pier market, 8 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., depending on the weather.
Sunday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Kalleen Kyle

Franco-américaine, j’ai grandi à San Diego en Californie, avant d’atterrir à Paris, puis Grenoble.
Ici, j’aimerai apporter à la communauté anglophone de Grenoble (mais pas que) des bonnes
astuces qu’elle puisse profiter pleinement de cette ville merveilleuse. Le top 5 de tout et
n’importe quoi j’adore ça !