In collaboration with Julius Meinl, Vienna’s famous Café Central is bringing a piece of Austria to the Chinese metropolis. By invitation of the prestigious luxury Hotel Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, for a period of two months the Café Central will be presenting the sweet highlights of its award-winning patisserie.
They will all be accompanied by coffee specialities from Julius Meinl, Vienna’s most traditional coffee roaster.
Hong Kong is regarded not only as a city of contrasts – flamboyant, loud, modern and yet traditional – but is also a gourmet stronghold.
Now for the first time ever, a touch of Viennese coffee-house culture can be found at the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, the flagship of the hotel group located at the heart of the city.
From 21 April until 20 June 2016, coffee and cakes will take on a new meaning in Hong Kong. Three outlets in the five-star hotel – the Clipper Lounge, the Café Causette, and the Mandarin Cake Shop – are now serving delicacies from the Café Central accompanied by original Viennese coffee specialities from Julius Meinl to some 400 guests daily.
Viennese coffee-house culture courtesy of Café Central and Julius Meinl
The famous Café Central Vienna has been a focus and melting pot of Austrian cuisine, literature, philosophy and lifestyle ever since 1876.
This year the “grand dame” of the Viennese coffee-house tradition celebrates her 140th birthday, a milestone that makes this invitation to Hong Kong all the more gratifying.
“It is a great pleasure for us at the Café Central to be baking and decorating at the legendary Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong. Chinese guests are amongst the most frequent visitors to our café in the inner city of Vienna.
Now Vienna is coming to them. Our patisserie sous-chef Johannes Warmuth is on site for two weeks and creates with the 40-member pastry team of the hotel typically Viennese pastries.
Together with Wolfgang Eisler, a barista from Julius Meinl, we will be introducing international guests staying at this luxury hotel to the taste of fine Viennese coffee-house culture,” explains Alfred Flammer, Managing Director of the Café Central.
These two traditional Viennese establishments – Café Central (since 1876) and Julius Meinl (since 1862) – share more than just their 150-year history and close collaboration over the years; they also subscribe to the culture of enjoyment.
Marcel Löffler, CEO of the Julius Meinl Coffee Group adds: “It is a great honour for us to be able to serve our Viennese coffee blends alongside the Café Central’s fine patisserie creations.
Julius Meinl is a worldwide ambassador for the Viennese coffee-house culture. Today our tradition-steeped blends are available in China’s 20 largest cities. Time and time again when I am in China, I find that people enjoy taking time out from their everyday lives.
This is exactly what makes the Viennese coffee-house culture so unique. To this day, it inspires people in the same way as it once did the famous Viennese coffee-house literati. Julius Meinl is closely associated with this tradition, and aims to give people the world over enchanting moments with its coffee and teas specialities.”
Chinese metropolis encounters “Wiener Apfelstrudel”
Guests will find a variety of the most popular home-made delicacies in the Clipper Lounge, the Café Causette and the Mandarin Cake Shop, including “Wiener Apfelstrudel”, “Mohr im Hemd”, Esterházy cake, and the famous Viennese “Sachertorte”.
Julius Meinl rounds out this enjoyment by providing original coffee specialities such as the “Kleiner Brauner”, the “Wiener Melange”, the “Franziskaner” and the “Mozart Café”.
The Café Central serves an incredible 300,000 cakes and pastries every year, followed by 140,000 hot and cold dishes, and 320,000 cups of Meinl coffee. The legendary “Apfelstrudel” tops the list of the top patisseries with 55,000 portions, closely followed by the “Sachertorte” with 25,000 slices.
