La Dame du Café has an immediately appealing idea: a mobile bike café, a founder who is visibly present in her own project, and a carefully made cup served away from the conventional coffee-shop setting. The person behind it is Emilie, a barista, roaster and entrepreneur in Lausanne.
The bike is the most recognisable image. It is associated with Chalet-à-Gobet, the Plaine de Mauvernay, sunny weekends and a coffee break during a walk. The project extends beyond mobile service, however. La Dame du Café roasts and sells beans, attends events, develops recipes and is gradually building a distinctive world around coffee.
Who is La Dame du Café? #
The official profile introduces Emilie as the founder and “master roaster”. It describes experience in food and drink as well as Lausanne hospitality, including work at Café Pointu and the Beau-Rivage Palace.
The company’s LinkedIn page focuses more on the project in motion: the bike café, events, collaborations, coffee ideas and milestones. That combination gives La Dame du Café its character. It is best understood as a living coffee project rather than one fixed venue. There are drinks to enjoy outside, beans to brew at home and occasions to meet the person selecting, roasting and preparing them.
Direct contact is valuable, although statements on a brand’s own website should still be recognised as first-party information. Customers interested in sourcing can ask for the producer, importer, harvest and purchasing details behind a particular coffee.
The bike café at Mauvernay #
The bike café, now also presented on the website as Totum Café®, is the clearest symbol of the business. The official location page gives Route de Cojonnex 95, beside the sports centre on the Plaine de Mauvernay in Lausanne. It lists Saturday and Sunday service from 10:00 to 15:00 when the weather is good.
Those details should not be treated like the permanent hours of a fixed café. A mobile outlet depends on season, conditions, events and operational changes. Check the website, Instagram or LinkedIn on the day before making a special journey.
The format changes the relationship between barista and visitor in a friendly way. Instead of waiting for people to enter a specialist shop, the coffee goes to a walking and recreation area. Someone can encounter it by chance, ask a question, try a cup and continue their outing. That makes specialty coffee feel less formal and more approachable.
Mobility also sets limits. Rain, wind, maintenance or an external engagement can change the schedule. That flexibility is part of the concept, but it matters when planning a visit.
A specialty-coffee project #
La Dame du Café places its work within specialty coffee and describes an interest in aroma, extraction and roasting. Its website emphasises the relationship between selected green beans, a roast profile and the intended brewing method.
“Specialty” is more than a fashionable label. In the current SCA framework, it refers to coffee or a coffee experience recognised for distinctive attributes that carry significant additional value. Origin, processing, freshness, roast and preparation all help make those attributes understandable. Our guide to specialty coffee labels and certifications in Switzerland explains what different claims can and cannot establish.
The online shop has presented Seasonal Espresso as well as APU and Inti in espresso and filter versions. The range distinguishes roasts intended for espresso, moka and percolator from those aimed at French press, drip, AeroPress, Chemex and V60. Products, crops and prices change, so consult the current listing rather than relying on an old recommendation.
Tokata and coffee events #
Events form another part of the project. La Dame du Café attended World of Coffee at Palexpo Geneva in June 2025. Its announcement listed stand 2291 and a new coffee recipe developed for tasting and sale during the show.
The Tokata project marked another step. An official event page announced that the espresso creation would appear at the Prix Épicures de l'Épicerie Fine in the Pavillon Gabriel, Paris, on 23 March 2026. The brand described it in terms of technical precision, sensory emotion and terroir. The page confirms participation but publishes no competition result, so it would be wrong to infer an award or ranking from it.
Participation still illustrates the project’s direction. La Dame du Café is not only serving good drinks outdoors; it also treats espresso as a gastronomic creation that can be designed for a particular tasting experience.
Local roots and sustainability claims #
The mobile format, the Jorat setting, local events and emphasis on lower-impact mobility give the business a recognisably Lausanne character. The site also describes its roasting as local, artisanal and ethical and says coffees are selected with producer relationships in mind. These are the project’s own claims, not a universal certification. A curious customer can ask how a specific lot was bought and traced.
The practical strength is the direct exchange. At the bike, it is natural to ask where a bean comes from, when it was roasted, what to expect in the cup and which method suits it at home. Clear answers to those questions are more useful than a long row of vague premium terms.
Where to find current information #
The La Dame du Café website brings together the shop, location information, events and contact details. Its social channels are useful for last-minute updates:
- Instagram for bike appearances, new coffees and behind-the-scenes posts;
- Facebook for local notices;
- LinkedIn for partnerships, events and project milestones;
- YouTube for video material.
For the mobile café, check the day’s update. Weather, season and the event calendar naturally affect where and when it operates.
What the project says about Swiss coffee #
La Dame du Café reflects a visible development in French-speaking Switzerland: specialty coffee is no longer confined to a conventional urban coffee shop. It can take the form of a bike, an event stall, a micro-roastery, a gastronomic collaboration or a recipe created for one style of tasting.
The appeal lies in personal contact, flexibility, local identity and a strong point of view. Here the cup comes with a person, a place and a set of technical choices. Anyone keen to discover independent Swiss roasters has a good reason to follow the project. Before setting out, the final practical rule is simple: verify the latest location and weather update.