An Austrian Kaffeehaus

 

Before I tell you about the Austrian Kaffeehaus, I want to show you the Christmas cards I received - I wanted to do that last week, but completely forgot. It's pretty obvious that work has started again and I don't get all the things done I actually want to.

Above on the left is the card that I received from Erika and to the right you can see Jeanie's card. Both cards are so beautiful - thank you so much, Erika and Jeanie, you made me happy!

I am one of the lucky ones who actually received two cards from Elle. Aren't they cute?

Elle, I really feel lucky to have gotten two cards from you - thank you so much. I also loved the cat postage stamp she put on one of the envelopes - from one cat lover to another.

Now let's visit the Austrian Kaffeehaus, the Konditorei Austrian Pastry in Davis, CA. Konditorei actually means pastry shop - you can buy your pastry and take it home, but you can also have a real sit-down experience here. A Konditorei doesn't sell bread, it only sells pastries - and coffee, of course. If you want to buy bread in a German speaking country you go to the Bäckerei (which often also sells some pastries).

When I visited Kaefer while she was studying at UC Davis we sometimes would go to this Konditorei, either for lunch or for breakfast. It was not exactly a Kaffeehaus the way you would find it in Austria, but compared to other similar places here, it came close. It definitely had much more of the "gemütliche Atmosphäre" than many coffee places in the US.

The coffee was excellent, strong without being bitter. And of couse they had baked goods that you would find in a decent Austrian Kaffeehaus.

Palatschinken (a thin pancake) on the left, something hearty in the middle (I forgot the name of it) and Topfenstrudel (quark strudel) on the right

The food was delicious and we really liked the special Kaffeehaus atmosphere. It was so different from other coffee shops here - when it comes to coffee culture, there is definitely room for improvement in the US. I tried several coffees during those four college years - here I'm having a Macchiato while Kaefer is enjoying her Palatschinken.

Unfortunately, the Konditorei closed in February 2022 since the owners retired after 32 years of hard work (Albert immigrated from Austria while Gloria is from San Francisco). 

Of course this is for Bleubeard and Elizabeth's T Tuesday. Rain's prompt for this week's Thursday Art and Dinner Date is coffee shop and since Kaefer can be seen in the pictures, I also share to Nicole's Friday Face Off.

T is for Temptation

 

A German bakery is probably one of the most tempting places on earth. It seems there is a bakery on every other corner and they not only sell all kinds of breads and rolls but also delicious pastry and cakes. Some of them are sit-down cafés where you can have coffee and cake, and many also serve breakfast.

Rischart is a bakery and café in Munich with 17 stores all over the city. The first bakery was opened in 1883 and since then, five generations of Rischarts have made this bakery one of the most popular in Germany. Its main café is at Marienplatz and that's where we decided to have breakfast one morning.

Of course the location is superb. We could do a lot of people watching while we were waiting for our food and also observe what was going on at Neues Rathaus. At the full hour we heard the bells ringing of the churches in the vicinity. The weather was wonderful and we had the most attentive waiter you could wish for.

We got orange juice and coffee served in their very own designed Rischart mugs. Every year a new mug is designed with images of Oktoberfest. Rischart has its own "sugar castle" at Oktoberfest, called Café Kaiserschmarrn.

Kaiserschmarrn is what the Geek had for breakfast whereas Kaefer opted for the vegan breakfast and I chose the "Klassiker".

Can you see all the bread and rolls that Rischart is selling at its bakery? I always miss the variety of our healthy German bread.

And here's some of their sweet stuff - those of you who have a sweet tooth, are you tempted?

I also bought a Rischart mug - I couldn't resist their cute designs. This one is from 2015. The word "Wiesn" on top refers to Oktoberfest that takes place on the Wiesn.

You probably guessed it - since there are a couple drinks in this post I am linking to Elizabeth and Bleubeard's T Tuesday.