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Café Luitpold Historic coffeehouse in the Brienner quarter

Wednesday, November 25 2015
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Opening Times

Monday: 8.00 am - 8.00 pm
Tuesday to Saturday: 8.00 am - 10.00 pm
Sunday: 9.00 am - 8.00 pm

Address

Café Luitpold
Brienner Straße 11
80333 Munich-Altstadt
.How to get there

Contact

...
+49 89 24 28 750
.www.cafe-luitpold.de

Munich is well-known for its historic beer gardens and breweries, but for coffeehouse culture? Hasn’t it always been better to enjoy it in the neighbouring Austria? Not necessarily! I only just found out that Café Luitpold on Brienner Straße was the largest coffeehouse in Europe at the time of its opening. Perfectly placed on the route from the old Munich residency to Nymphenburg, it offered a small detour for the prince regent and his fealty. Within the twenty luxurious halls, the finest drinks and specialties were served up, enjoyed amidst artistic murals and marble columns.

After its opening in 1888, the cafe palace was such an attraction that the “common folk” were only allowed a quick peek in for an entry fee of twenty pence. It remained a grand meeting point for the elite for decades- Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee supposedly founded the group of Blaue Reiter here. And today? You can still dine like a king. Even though the entire Luitpold block was largely destroyed in the second World War, the owners have worked since the fifties to rebuild it brick by brick.

The inner architectural structure is now simplified, and in place of the numerous halls are the visiting and sales area with an attached patisserie, concentrated on the ground floor. Columns directly behind the entrance still adumbrate the original opulence and chairs and tables extending into a roofed palm garden provide a wonderfully dreamy escape.

But it’s not just the interior- the kitchen hails seasonal delicacies and, midday as in the evening, one can dine so finely that this year the cafe-restaurant has been listed in the Michelin guide, amongst others. Luitpold is at the very front of my personal hitlist for the best breakfast locations in Munich. For starters, they have very late-riser-friendly offers: weekdays the wonderfully multifaceted breakfast menu is offered until noon, weekends until one p.m. And variations like “Le Petit Suisse” and “Le Luitpold de Paris” don’t just sound grand on the card- they’re just as satisfying on the plate. At our last visit we ordered “Le Grand Luitpold” for two and had to expand our table just to fit the array of cold cuts, crisp and juicy pastries, and fresh fruit that was carted over.

If you’re in the mood for a very special brunch, come Sundays, when bands and soloists set the menu. On top of everything else, the historically-rooted salon culture is actively maintained through regular events with philosophical, economic, and culinary themes. The Dîner Criminel is thrilling- with a murder for the main course and facts from history on the side!

I can also definitely recommend a visit to “Munich's smallest museum” on the first floor of the Luitpold block. The photograph and audio documentation doesn’t just provide a nice look into the history of Cafe Luitpold, but- if you’re lucky and the peephole is open- into the chocolate workshop of the patisserie as well…

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Café Luitpold – Historic coffeehouse in the Brienner quarter
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