It’s Sunday morning. The day after WordCamp Europe in Berlin. I get up, take a shower, and head out to get some breakfast.
I step out of the building and turn right, just like the on the two mornings before, when I was heading to the venue. And then I have this “weird” feeling… a whisper from the Universe, a touch of the Force. I decide to listen to it, so I stop and turn around to head in the other direction.
On the way I’m checking the map on my phone for a café or a breakfast place. It’s helpful, but not really, because it shows places that open at 10am which is still a good half hour away. I trust the Force / Universe, I keep going.
In about 5 minutes I get to a square, and on one of the corners there are some tables with people sitting around them. Looks like a potential option so I head over.
When I try to enter one of the bystanders — a waitess, judging by the apron — asks for a bit of patience, they will open in 2 minutes. Once inside they ask if I’m OK to sit at the bar, since I don’t have a reservation. No problem.
Reservation? For a Sunday breakfast? Hmmm… “Sign of a good place maybe”, I think.
I look around and already see some bread and pastries that look freshly baked. And some peach / orange colored mushy something in unusual looking containers… Home made jam or marmalade maybe?
I order an americano until I browse through the menu. There is a wide variety of options: cold cuts, bread and jam, pancakes, eggs in different forms… I settle for scrambled eggs with avocado and bacon. Long day ahead of me.
Interlude
I’m Hungarian and my name is pronounced as “ond-rush”. My Slovak friends call me Andrasko “und-rush-co”, (means little Andras or Andy if you will) which I actually find very sweet coming from them.
The cute waitress puts down the coffee mug in front of me. I’m like “WHAT?” and start smiling like crazy.
This really made my day. On top, it was the best breakfast I had in the last year. The bread and the pastries are freshly baked, the juice freshly pressed (yeah, that was not marmalade), the coffee freshly brewed and strong both in taste and effect – just the way I like it. There is a wide variety of choices from sweet to salty. From pastries to pancakes, to eggs and more. The staff is friendly and attentive. If I would live around here, I would be a regular for sure!
Encouraged by a friend I ask the waitress if I could take one of the mugs, after telling her the background story. She smiles at me hands one over. Of course I reward them with a fat tip.
This superb place is called Hallmann & Klee and you can find it here on what3words or gMaps. If you decide to give it a try — which I strongly recommend if you are in the neighborhood — then it’s worth reserving a table.
WordCamp Europe was a blast. Good organization, good sessions, but what I enjoyed even more is meeting up with collages, partners, friends, and new faces from the community. Looking forward to meeting you at the next one.
Leave a Reply