A charming new French cafe has opened its doors in Sheffield, bringing a little je ne sais quoi to the Steel City.
Aux Bon Vivant comes from Zara and Pierre - partners in both business and life - and is promising all-day drinking, dining, and deli.
The new Campo Lane business opened its doors at the tail end of 2025 and has already become a local favourite, thanks to its varied offering and Pierre’s exceptional cooking.
As you enter the cosy space you’re faced with a huge deli counter, packed with meats, cheeses, fresh French sandwiches (including a 10/10 jambon-beurre), and pastries, including enormous flaky croissants and homemade tarts.
So far, so French - and that continues with the decor of the main restaurant, which features pendant lights made out of wine boxes, a wall of wine, and plenty of personal trinkets.
Even the gravel outside is French - Pierre has arranged blue, white, red pebbles beneath the windows.
Inside Aux Bon Vivant
The couple, who welcomed a brand-new baby boy into the world around the same time they opening the business, want Aux Bon Vivant to feel like a welcoming home for everyone who pops in, whether you want to sit with a coffee and get some work done, or while away an afternoon eating hearty food with a great glass of wine.
The plan is to recreate the French village way of life here in Sheffield, with welcoming hospitality that extends all the way to the end of your meal when Pierre comes at you brandishing a gigantic bottle of Chartreuse.
As for that menu - it centres around a traditional plat du jour, dreamt up by Pierre based on whatever the best produce he can get that day is.
Expect French favourites like galette, French onion soup, and an almighty croque monsieur, where top-quality bread is layered with ham, cheese, and bechemal sauce.
When we popped in, Pierre also served up whole roasted onions stuffed with pork and herbs, and a phenomenal gnocchi dish with a mushroom cream sauce, baked so the edges are all delightfully sticky.
Pierre says the restaurant is all about 'generous food, simple, and everyone can understand what we're doing'.
He added: "We're not chasing the trends, we need to be more home comfort.
"You come, you enjoy, you relax. It's like a break on your day, and after you can restart."
Aux Bon Vivant is now open on Campo Lane, serving coffees and pastries through to takeaway lunches and full bistro meals.
Always a hot topic of conversation around a pizza is how to eat the damn thing – knife and fork, slice and hold, fold it up?
And now a new pizza concept is heading to Sheffield, where authentic Neapolitan pizzas are always served with a pair of scissors for cutting up your dinner.
We here at The Sheff are firm believers that scissors are a far superior tool for getting your pizza into slices, so news that Forbici (which literally translates as ‘Scissors’ from Italian) is opening in the city centre is music to our ears.
Forbici is taking over an old office unit on St Paul's Square, after becoming a firm favourite amongst foodies over in Manchester including none other than Marco Pierre White who hailed it as the 'best pizza I've ever had in my life!'
Images: The Manc Group
Very high praise indeed from Mr White.
Claiming to be arriving in town with ‘the world’s most powerful pizza dough’, the restaurant hails a ‘new wave’ of pizzeria.
Its roots will be firmly in Naples, with puffy biga dough handmade fresh daily and proofed for 12 hours. It’ll be made so fresh every day that pizzas will only be available while the dough lasts.
Forbici will serve its pizza the Neapolitan way too – quartered (it’s ‘four ways always’, with scissors, which protects that signature airy crust.
Images: The Manc Group
The pizzas are going to be topped with tomatoes from Solania, the only producer of true San Manzarno DOP tomatoes, and Fior di Latte Mozzerella from Vico Equese, a small coastal town where tradition runs deep.
Andrew Garton, chief executive of Individual Restaurants, said: “Our Manchester opening showed there’s a real appetite for pizza done properly.
"We’re incredibly proud of the response so far, and Sheffield feels like a natural next step for Forbici. While plans are still evolving, what we can promise is something energetic, built upon craft, rooted in true Neapolitan culture and created specifically for the city.”
A new Aussie coffee shop and cafe is opening in Sheffield this month
Daisy Jackson
Sheffield is set to welcome a new Australian-inspired cafe and coffee shop later this month, promising 'coffee that kicks and food that fuels'.
Drop Bear Coffee will come from the same husband-and-wife team behind Sheff's beloved Hygge, the Scandi-inspired cafe with sites dotted around town.
This time, Alex and Gigi are turning their sights on the cafe culture of Australia - think great coffee and beautiful but nourishing food.
Vinyls have gone up in the windows of the new Drop Bear Coffee site this week. Those passing along Howard Street will now spot a cartoon koala in a baseball cap smiling back at them.
As for the name of the new venture - it's a silly nod to the folklore hoax of a carnivorous koala bear the drops from the trees to attack people (many-a tourist visiting Australia have fallen for this one).
Drop Bear Coffee will be opening in the Strines Building before the end of this month, and they want to keep things affordable.
The team are promising 'bold, healthy, affordable food and drink, made with quality ingredients and served with personality'.
Alex said: "Our vision for Drop Bear Coffee is simple. We wanted to create a space that feels energetic, welcoming, and real, somewhere people can fuel up properly."
The official opening date for the new Drop Bear Coffee in Sheffield hasn't yet been announced, but things are shaping up nicely.
Keep an eye on their Instagram HERE for the latest.
Daisy Jackson -
26th January 2026 
