- Diana & Greg
The cherry on the top of the Slovakian cake
The silence is broken by the tinkling of the dessert forks. The classical music in the background is subtle assuring a moment of peace and reflection while tasting the delicacies on the plates. The many varieties of the mouthwatering cakes delight our eyes. The Hungarian Dobos cake tastes the creamiest I have ever tasted so far. The white chocolate covered poppy seed cake is a perfectly balanced peace of heaven and the ice cream and the Sachertorte are full of flavor. We are so excited that the cookies go round and each of us have a helping from the other´s cake. This is one of those moments when you wish to have the belly of an ogre so you can sit here an entire day and eat all the cakes. And the next day start all over again.
Humming and yumming in delight, our eyes wander involuntarily to the walls of the room, from the paintings to the ceiling, from the wooden chair decor back to the cakes. We realize the place got animated with other customers while our main focus was on the cakes.
The patisserie which was almost empty when we entered hosts now a middle-aged couple, a lonely young maiden sipping coffee and reading a book, a family with 2 children and another middle-aged man.
Not much room left in the 8 tables rooms.
We wonder whether our presence made all these people get tempted to enter, or maybe they just simply got curious as we did when we got a glimpse of the interior through the window. And the interior is captivating...
The walls are richly decorated with pictures of saints, Greek mythological figures, angels, depictions of the seasons, growth and wealth painted in Renaissance and Neo-Renaissance style. The chandeliers are held by angels and the ceiling is covered with painted shipping maps. It took 6 years for the painters of the Slovak Art Academy to finish this masterpiece.
The chairs, the benches and backrests are meticulously carved with floral motifs.
Finishing our drinks, we decide to go on an exploration tour to discover more hidden gems of the place. The reception area is also decorated with paintings of historical and royal figures, chandeliers in form of deer antlers, wooden carved cabinets protecting tea sets and cookie plates.
Next to the cake counter on the divider wall is a large clock decorated with wooden carved and colored dwarves and flowers.
In the next room the exhibition of the cookie and tea sets continues. The place is worth of its pastry shop-museum title. The carefully selected collection looks like the heritage of a wealthy, or royal family and is the more valuable version of the sets we would find in the servings of our grannies.
There is also a third room in the back, but this one is closed for visitors. We find out that it was also in use, but due to the fewer customers, it is now opened only on special occasions. The pastry-shop functions as a museum with an entrance fee of 10 euro and a cake and a soft drink or coffee are included in the price. In comparison with the general prices in town, the entrance fee might seem a little high, but the host holds on to this custom no matter what.
Suddenly we hear Greg´s mom coming up from downstairs: ˝Check out the restroom. So beautiful I almost did not dare use it.˝
We go down the lower level curious to see the reason of such wonder.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs we come into a lobby, on the left a ready-steady bar waiting only for the orders.
In front of the bar, behind vaulted steel bars a large room is hiding in the dark. Given its bunker style one might imagine it´s a perfect men´s cave, but it´s rather used for occasional gatherings.
Opposite the stairs is a 3D painting depicting a deep wine cellar. Whether there was indeed a cellar behind the walls or it´s just an artistic image remains a mystery.
We reach the toilet where the closet and the sink are painted with abstract motifs. The pissoir has an interesting shape too: its top is a Greek mythology type man-beast sided by two dragons, the inside shows cupid with his bow and arrow in the middle of nature above a waterfall.
The place is indeed creatively decorated and on our way out we try to take in as much of the local atmosphere as possible.
The patisserie-museum which was once the ˝Sturtzer˝ candy shop runs now under the name Konditorei Kormuth.
The owner seems to be among the few people who still uphold the traditions of the Austro-Hungarian empire and he speaks all three „official” languages of old Bratislava (German, Hungarian and Slovakian) and clings to the traditions of his patisserie, assuring an authentic piece of history.
This pleasant place with beautiful paintings and art collection, and the wonderfully tasty locally-made cakes guarantee all visitors a unique experience for which worth coming by and one may gladly return.
