Hofcafé, Garden Cafe, Wannsee

Can it be?

One and a half days of brilliant sunshine seem to confirm it.

Although the trees are still brown and bare with no promissory green buds.But today as I sat in the courtyard of the Hofcafé in Wanssee, I could hear euphoric bird song and pretty flowers dazzled me every which way I looked. They were all greenhouse grown and potted but it didn’t matter to me.  My eyes fixed on their brilliant colour.  I grew optimistic and slid my sweater off, exposing my bare arms - ah well, perhaps a smidgen too early for that but a whisper of what is to come.My first week in Berlin, I remember chatting to a Brazilian father in Kollwitzplatz, I was delirious with the excitement that seems to afflict nearly all those moving to Berlin.  I gushed about how wonderful it was.

“Yes…” he paused, perhaps considering whether he should quash my enthusiasm.  ”The winters though…  They are very hard.  Grey skies every day, for days, for months…”  His voice trailed off and so did his gaze, as if contemplating something unsettling.Pah!  Probably seems that way to a Brazilian used to seeing everything in Technicolor I thought then.  Now two years later, a Londoner entirely acclimatized to setting out with an umbrella even if there isn’t a cloud is the sky and a person who believes that SAD is just another made up Western affliction to keep company with lactose intolerance - I say

“Yeah, WOW! Those Berlin winters will knock all the ‘raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens‘ right out of you!” Until all that’s left is, well the grey fluff you find when you move the sofa.

If what my iPhone tells me is to be believed, Spring may just be coming to town next week.  I hope it plans on sticking around until buxom Summer knocks it aside.A great place to admire Springtime (and a collection of handsome dogs - I counted 10 in 2 hours), to positively suck it up with big greedy gulps is Hofcafé in Wannsee.  Breakfast is available every day until 2 pm.  Expect the usual platters of cold cuts and cheeses.  Nothing extraordinary except that a lot of it is organic and of course the setting it’s served in.  I haven’t tried it for lunch but from what I saw in the vitrine, I am sure it won’t blow my mind, however it is all homemade and properly made which is something to respect especially since it’s so elusive in this city.  There are giant frilly cakes (bought in from Tillmann) which are consumed with gusto by septuagenarians and octogenarians who are probably using this unsupervised opportunity to rack up the diabetes offenses.On the same site, there is a store selling organic and / or fair trade foods.  A quaint garden center.  An art gallery and from what I understand quite a few cultural events in the warmer months.

Surprise someone with brunch at this place on a sunny day, they will love you for it.

Hofcafé in Mutter Fourage
Chausseestraße 15a
14109 Wannsee,
T.030 8058 3281
www.hofcafe-berlin.de

6 Responses to Hofcafé, Garden Cafe, Wannsee

  1. Sylee says:

    Going to Mutter Fourage always feels like being on holiday. Today was the perfect day for it too!

  2. Giulia says:

    We went from -19C to +25C in one week! Crazy weather!
    I’d like a cheese and meat platter for breakfast like that…not something we get readily here.

  3. Annika says:

    I miss the meat and cheese platters - in a country where two options are served for breakfast (aside the Arabic, if available: omelets or pancakes.
    Although I agree it can get boring, sometimes all I want is some bread, butter and jam in a nice setting.

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