An SZ correspondent visits a café in Seoul with an English name, Russian-French art, Italian espresso – and Korean tricks. Three anecdotes from around the world.
In the middle of…Seoul
Suddenly there is this narrow glass door in a row of houses in Gangnam district. “Touch Café” is written above it. The trend towards self-service has also taken hold of the coffee house culture in South Korea. In the small guest room there is a metal counter and stools to linger. Sockets for USB sticks. Free wifi. Plastic lids, stir sticks and other paper cup coffee accessories can be found on the shelves. Prints by Chagall hang on the wall. The coffee machine says “Made in Italy”. You order the drink you want by touching the screen. However, nothing comes. Various money cards are tried, none work. Why? You can only pay in Korean in the self-service cafe with an English name, Russian-French art and Italian espresso. Very international. Thomas Hahn
(Illustration: Marc Herold)
In the middle of … Wörgl
The train is overcrowded again, there are also delays, and the baby is hungry. Luckily they shamelessly ignored the instructions at the hotel buffet (“Please do not take any food with you”) and packed watermelon wedges. Because it is best to give children regional, seasonal fruit first, the baby has mainly known pears so far. And, well, bananas. The watermelon is good though. Luckily, because the announcement sounds: “People on the track, we are now driving on sight.” Then silence again. The baby nibbles happily. Then an indignant toddler voice, maybe three years old, echoes over to us from the four-seater seating group in the direction of travel: “You’ll buy me no watermelon. Parents mumbled reply. Again loudly the indignant child: “Only because they don’t grow here!” Elisa Britzelmeier
(Illustration: Marc Herold)
In the middle of… Turin
A cozy café in a prime location in Turin. The barista needs to talk, jumping from one table to another until it is your turn. It quickly comes down to the essentials: the financial situation. She is terrible, before the pandemic he took over the shop and invested a lot, but the business is no longer profitable, I have no idea where all the people are, at least he is considering selling. Customers feel pity, so they want to leave the rest of the money at the checkout, although this is not common in Italian cafés. Ma no! Under no circumstances does the barista want to accept tips, you should rather spend the few coins on something nicer. “It’s already too late,” he says. Then he reaches behind the counter, opens a packet of the best quality traditional sweets and hands them over. Wistfulness can taste so sweet. Francesca Polistina
You can find more episodes of the “In the middle of …” column here.