Kaffee Und Kuchen The Way It Used to be

Image by insidious_plots via Flickr

I was in town yesterday for a writers’ critique group. I always make a point of going to Drucker’s before I go there. After all, there is something about writers and cafés. By why Drucker’s?

Well, several reasons.

Branches of Drucker’s are not usually housed in the abominable food courts we see everywhere. They are a little apart and a little more elegant.

They are always air-conditioned.

The coffee is good. It is European. We are now used to the big American chains where the coffee can be a little bitter and the portion often too strong. I’m also convinced they don’t always clean their machines out properly. The drinks sometimes seem stale.  Not at Drucker’s. The coffee is always fresh. It is strong but never bitter. Drucker’s concept of a coffee bar was something new when he opened his first shop La Boheme in Birmingham in 1958. Eventually he opened his own bakery later because he couldn’t get the type of cakes available in Vienna. And we’re back to writers and cafés, because didn’t the great coffee houses start in Vienna anyway?

Patisserie had now become commonplace in pour lifestyle. The particular ones that Drucker’s serve are no longer exotic. There is no longer quite the thrill of visiting his shops, which are now after all another chain. There was a lot of romance in that tiny first shop in the middle of Birmingham and although the romance was already going when they opened a new outlet in West Bromwich’s new shopping centre, the quality of the cakes and the drinks were still way ahead of anyone else. 

They still have the edge, though, and are well worth a visit.

And the old Austrian / German habit of Kaffee and Kuchen is really a must for any writer.