Comme Chez Nous’s French owners, Mike and Alex, met mango farming in the Northern Territory. They thought if they can work together on sweltering mango farms, they can work together to run a café.
“We come from a hospitality background in France,” they said. “Coming to Australia, you just find a farming job to get along and learn English. Once English was ‘almost’ covered, we could finally work in the industry we love.”
Finding the perfect location to run their café took nearly two years, but when they discovered Pymble, it ticked all the right boxes. Now, eight years into their journey, Comme Chez Nous has become a beloved fixture in the community.
“We wanted to bring to Australia the service we were accustomed to in France,” they explained.
“We really take care of our customers. We try to remember everything from the first time they come here: orders, names, questions about family, kids. It’s very important. You come to the café and you want to feel taken care of, it’s part of the service. When customers come back, it feels good, like a home.”
Despite rising costs, they’ve insisted on high standards (so French!) to ensure the quality of their offerings remains unchanged. Their flour comes from France, and they couldn’t contemplate otherwise. Bread is baked and meats are slow cooked daily, all before the café’s 6:30am opening.
In mid-July, as France celebrates Bastille Day, marking the historic Storming of the Bastille that ignited the French Revolution, Mike and Alex find themselves in a quieter period as many Australians opt for steaming European vacations during the colder months here. Despite the relaxed foot traffic, their spirits remain high. “To anyone going to Europe,” they chuckled, referring to the recent heatwave, “please think of us!”
