It is Saturday morning and we have walked the round of the second district’s bustling Kamerliter Markt several times looking for a place at one of their many cafes to sit to no avail. The little man in my head tweaking my hunger nipple (yes, your brain does have nipples – it’s a scientific fact) is yelling and screaming at the handsome people sitting back with their Melange and their little breakfasts – bastards. It’s amazing what hunger can do to a person. World war two would have been averted if somebody had gotten Hitler a bloody muffin.
But as I said, the tiny flowers on the outdoor setting hugging the young Katscheli café/bar around the corner from the market saves the day; and shuts up that nipple tweaking little man.
The place is empty. We sit on the long wooden bench under the front window and slide along it with our bums (it seemed like the thing to do) until we have nowhere else to go. One thing delights me instantly about this place: whoever decorated it understood the beauty in subtly and small things – the bent forks used as coat hooks on the wall, the old wiener café chairs pulled up to modern plain tables, once again, the tiny flowers. These small details are framed by plain modern furniture, no fancy stuff; It’s as if they have used no other makeup but a bit of mascara to bring out Katscheli’s eyes.
But to get to why we’re here: the breakfast. It is the small things that also blow you away here as well. There are two choices on the menu: The Croissant Frühstuck (including a Frenchman’s war rations: croissant, butter and marmalade for about €3) and The Katscheli Frühstück (cheese, ham and salami – optional for vegetarians – homemade tomato sauce, homemade marmalade and warm pita bread from the market = around €5). I opt for the Katscheli. The homemade gazpacho-like tomato sauce has me asking for more flat bread, and vice versa. The waitress tells us she just made it that morning. She’s pretty, so we take her word for it. The homemade marmalade is just like granny used to make and the cappuccino leaves me with a frothy smile. And, Katscheli is one of the recently opened young café gang who realised coffee was incredibly overpriced in Vienna and accordingly priced their cappuccino at a reasonable €2.80.
Katscheli has the appearance of a trendy bar, but serves breakfast. It has this cold, sleek, straight line, flat-pack IKEA look, but feels incredibly warm with its subtle touches. Just like it’s breakfast, Katscheli cannot be defined for it has a unique personality of its own. I mean, homemade tomato sauce – who would have thought of that!
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