Sanctuary from The Mad World
Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch. - Orson Welles

I heard about this place for a while now but didn’t really pay attention until my colleague brought to the office a box of goodness from their patisserie to celebrate her one year in the department.  She brought little cannoli (of the Godfather’s and The Soprano’s fame which was then parodied in one of Bourdain’s shows), bite-sized Choux pastries topped with ganache, and mini summer-fruit-topped cream pies.  I was intrigued further when she promoted the good coffee and the unique arancini, stuffed rice-ball which is a Sicilian specialty.  I’ve been back about four times since the first visit within two short months.  I went immediately that afternoon for a coffee with a friend.  By that time, most of the food was gone.  The coffee was delicious, alright, and the surrounding was really pleasant.  Squeezed between the pink Matthäus Church and a tree-lined alley, sitting on the sidewalk under their green and white canopy is a treat for a sunny day.  I immediately get cozy and lazy as if I were on a holiday.

The second instance was with the colleague for lunch.  The selections were more abundant.  I was torn between arancini or calzone (bread roll with stuffings) or even the lucious-looking ham and cheese pie (Is it Sfincione?  I’m not sure).  I opted for arancini because it’s unique and rather a rarity in this town.

I was blown away:  I’m used to all sorts of rice but the sticky yet firm Arborio rice stuffed with savoury mozzarella and spinach dusted with breadcrumbs and deep fried?  That’s a completely new experience and as soon as I was finished, I had a craving for more.  But I decided to restrain myself and return with my husband in tow.  Instead, I tried their full-sized cannoli, a fried pastry tube filled with chocolate-flavoured ricotta cream, and their special pistachio cookie (for the lack of better name).  The pastry was crispy and the filling smoothly delicious.  It wasn’t even sweet.  The cookie was interesting with grainy pistachio paste inside a shell of thin pistachio slices.


I went back one good Friday with husband in tow.  This time round, rice-ball was gone so I opted for Calzone stuffed with roasted red peppers for him and mozzarella and spinach for me (Yes, I have a thing for spinach and cheese).  While waiting for me, he had finished half of a Zeppole, fried dough dusted with sugar crystals, which he pronounced to be excellent.  The Pepper Calzone was to die for:  the red peppers, sans skin, exuded smoky aroma, possible only from perfectly roasted peppers, in each sweet bite.  Suddenly my spinach and mozzarella didn’t taste as exciting.  The coffee, however, was pronounced below par from our standard and favourite, Café Floatarium. 

As the rice ball continued to elude him, we actually returned the very next day to pick up a few pastries for lunch at a friend’s house.  It was a Saturday mid-morning and the place was mad: three waiters ran around the small establishment at dangerous pace with impatient patron lining up the cashier to either pay or order take-aways.  But the food was in its full glory:  I saw stacks of Calzone, Pies, various kind of full-sized and, this time, mini pastries.   The rice ball was even there!  So I ordered a portion to share and was glad when it was finished because the place got even more hectic.

So it’s a difficult choice: when the crowd is gone, so is the great selection of nibbles.  But this coffee shops open quite early in the morning (6 AM if I’m not mistaken) so it’s worth getting up from bed to savour these goodies for breakfast on a Saturday, or even Sunday morning.  Otherwise, try your luck at their much smaller branch in Gundeli or sometime later but don’t expect too much when you’re near the closing time at 6PM. For more details, please visit: here