Le café de la Conversation, the neighborhood canteen that takes you on a journey through the 18th arrondissement

With its large wooden tables in the style of a family meal, the Café de la Conversation aims to be a convivial place where people can meet and talk... And that's exactly what this new space within the Maison de la Conversation is all about: creating links between people through workshops, conferences, shared brunches...

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The Mam'Ayoka cooperative is at the helm, with a menu that is both responsible and, above all, committed. On the menu, we opt for the unmissable bowls made with quinoa, fresh or cooked vegetables, marinated chicken, vegetable dumplings for the veggie version... There's also a choice of daily specials which, as the name suggests, vary daily (and the same goes for the daily dessert and the daily drink). Today, Ayat, the chef at Café de la Conversation, offers us a traditional Moroccan galette, inspired by msemen and revisited as avocado toast, served with a fresh salad of crudités. "The best way to communicate with people is on the plate," she asserts.

So Mam'Ayoka 's cooking blends cultures, tastes and textures from all over the world, but always with love and generosity, in the same way as our mom or grandma did at family meals when we were children. And with good reason: Mam'Ayoka is a concept unlike any other. The cooperative helps women who are far from employment to reintegrate into the world of work. Here, it doesn't matter what qualifications you have, whether you can read or write. " Each of these women has a talent", explains Ayat: that of cooking, in the ancestral way, in a spirit of sharing, generosity and the perpetuation of family recipes, preciously preserved (and handed down) from generation to generation. Ayat and her team revisit and modernize these recipes, offering vegetarian versions (as is the case with many of the dishes on the menu!) and making them from raw ingredients sourced from Île-de-France market gardeners and local producers.

Moroccan, Tunisian, Brazilian, North African... All of these cuisines meet and mingle on the Café de la Conversation menu to offer dishes for under €10, affordable desserts made on the premises and homemade drinks at unbeatable prices. The spirit of a neighborhood canteen dominates at Café de la Conversation, where people come to take their lunch break, telework all day (wifi is free and there are sockets), have a snack with the kids after school and enjoy the lovely terrace on sunny days.

All in all, the café is a real place to live, with a great program to come, mixing dinners with strangers, workshops, games, concerts... All in all, it's a great address to discover right next door to Porte de Montmartre!