Benoit Georges

Future A visitor shakes hands with a humanoid robot during the China International Digital Economy Expo 2023. Luo Xuefeng/Xinhua/ZUMA Future A visitor shakes hands with a humanoid robot during the China International Digital Economy Expo 2023. Luo Xuefeng/Xinhua/ZUMA You've reached your limit of free articles. To read the full story, start your free trial today. Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime. Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

A coffee shop like no other has just opened in the heart of Manhattan, on the corner of Lexington Avenue and East 52nd Street. In this corporate district near Rockefeller Center, Café Joyeux’s careful furnishings and peaceful atmosphere are in stark contrast to neighboring eateries, which tend to emphasize speed of service and a minimalist decor. But the main difference in this new French chain is above all human.

Paris, Avignon, and now Manhattan! At the age of 41, Cyril Dewavrin has already taken over or set up three bookstores in France. For his fourth, he decided to cross the Atlantic. Last December, he opened La Joie de Vivre at 145 West 27th Street. For now, the space has been launched as a pop-up with a limited selection of 3,500 books in French and English. Meanwhile, he is finishing work on the “big” bookshop, due to open in mid- March.