VIENNA'S CAFÉ CULTURE

By Smita Chandra & Sanjeev Chandra

Beyond the common tourist haunts, some of Vienna’s best stories are told within the walls of its coffee houses.

We have experienced Vienna’s charms in many different ways: visiting museums, listening to scintillating concerts, admiring baroque palaces and simply walking along its grand boulevards. But for us, the real Vienna lives in the coffee houses that are at the heart of the city’s culture.

For centuries, the aristocrats, intellectuals and artists who made Vienna one of the most exciting cities in the world flocked to cafés to meet, flirt, gossip and debate. Philosophers, writers, musicians and even revolutionaries had their favourite cafés, and many of the intellectual and political movements that defined the 20th century were shaped in heated arguments over cups of coffee.

Today, the cafés of Vienna are as busy as ever and serve a bewildering variety of coffees. However, asking for coffee will only get you a perplexed look for the Viennese have developed their own unique terminology. You can choose between a Schwarzer (espresso), Brauner (espresso with cream), Melange (espresso with steamed and frothed milk), Franziskaner (espresso with steamed milk and whipped cream), or Einspänner (diluted espresso with whipped cream). Here are a few cafés we recommend:

Every one of Vienna’s historic cafés has a hundred stories to tell of the people who passed through its doors, but only Café Frauenhuber, Vienna’s oldest, can truthfully claim that both Mozart and Beethoven played music here for their guests. The décor inside the café is understated by Viennese standards, but still full of charm. They serve many Austrian classics such as schnitzel and goulash, and it is a great place to try the harder-to-find plum strudel.

This place exudes Viennese elegance at its best. Housed in a building modelled on a Venetian palace, it has high vaulted ceilings, soaring marble columns and portraits of Austrian royalty on the walls. Leon Trotsky was a regular during his time as an exile in Vienna and met Joseph Stalin there. The café was also a meeting place for writers such as Stefan Zweig and Peter Altenberg. Seat yourself and order a slice of their signature chocolate-orange Café Central Torte.

Leopold and Josefine Hawelka opened this café in 1945 and ran the place for the next 66 years during which time it entertained celebrities such as Andy Warhol, Arthur Miller and Peter Ustinov. Entering Café Hawelka is like stepping back in time, as it has not been renovated since its founding and still has the scarred wooden chairs, creaking floors and vintage posters on the wall. There is no menu, but the food on offer is listed on a blackboard. Try the buchteln, sweet jam-filled buns made according to Josefine’s original recipe.

Franz Sacher, an apprentice cook at the imperial palace, saw an opportunity when the royal chef de cuisine fell ill just before an important banquet in 1832. He did not fail, serving a chocolate cake with a layer of apricot jam covered with chocolate icing. This dessert so captivated the diners that it was henceforth known as the Sachertorte and became one of the most beloved of Viennese specialities. Franz’s son Eduard went on to found the Hotel Sacher, whose café now has the exclusive right to sell the “original” Sachertorte. The interior is in classic Viennese style, with couches covered in red velvet, reminiscent of the splendour of imperial Austria.

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