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Updated on Aug 18, 2025
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Behind the Brew: Christelle Slinger of Etape in Estavannens
In the picturesque village of Estavannens, where traditional Swiss houses line quiet streets and cyclists outnumber cars, sits an unexpected cafe. The remoteness of this location might seem like an odd choice for a specialty coffee shop. There’s no passing foot traffic, no busy commuters, and reaching it requires a deliberate journey. Yet this isolation is precisely what makes ETAPE special. Co-owner Christelle has – together with her husband, an avid cyclist – transformed this challenge into an opportunity, creating a destination that draws cyclists from across Switzerland and beyond.
What inspired you to open a coffee shop in such a remote location?
We just love being here in nature. Sometimes people ask us, why did you move the cafe out here? Because you know, there’s no people passing by just by coincidence. So we really needed to work on getting people to come here. But that’s what we like. The space was sold to us together with the house that’s attached. It’s a very old house, and we have teenagers at home. That would have been a little bit difficult to get them to move here, so we decided to turn it into an Airbnb. We also kept a room for ourselves as an office.
When did you open Etape?
We opened in 2022. So it’s been a few years.
Who are your main customers?
Our main community is cyclists. That’s my husbands forte – he built a challenge for bikers: a 175 km route with 4000 verticals. And it’s made in three loops that starts here and comes back to here. And the challenge is to do it in one day, within our opening hours.
Have cyclists managed to complete it?
Yeah! The fastest did it in 7 hours and 41 minutes. But not all of them manage.
Tell me about the coffee you serve here.
Both of our coffees are roasted by Horizonte. My husband is from Denmark and used to biking a lot. The founder of Horizonte is a previous world champion in biking. So, that’s how we got to work with him. And he’s become a friend since then.
Do you offer filter coffee as well?
No, we don’t have enough people stopping by amd don’t want those coffee beans going to waste.
You mentioned you have a second location now?
Yeah, we just started with a second shop near Bulle, where the main coffee concept is similar, but the surrounding is completely different. It’s by the main road, there’s a gas station just in front. And we are part of a garage. So, it’s a little bit of a collaboration with a repair shop. And similar to here, it’s not common to find specialty coffee in the area.
What’s your vision for Etape’s future?
The idea is to create an even stronger community, to be a nice place for people to gather and ride together. This concept of cycling cafes is already very famous in Denmark, we want to establish it here in Switzerland.
