In Vienna there is “Full Board”, the strange pastry that unites grandparents and grandchildren
At first glance it is one of the many hipster clubs that are found around the world: old but not antique mismatched furnishings, flea market paintings, lace doilies, a little kitschy knick-knacks. It could be any grandparent’s house. The impression becomes more acute when, entering the large room with whitewashed brick walls, that unmistakable scent reaches the nostrils: yes! It is that of grandmother’s cake baking in the oven.
That unique scent that has nothing to do with what one perceives when entering a pastry shop: it is the scent of home, childhood, happy moments. It is a perfume that tells of memory and security, the one that envelops the Café Vollpension in Vienna, a café dedicated to that extraordinary and irreplaceable human heritage that is grandparents. The clear message already comes from the sign on the central Schleifmühlgasse, near the historic market Naschmarkt: the stylized portrait of an old-time grandmother, with hats gathered in a bun and a lace collar. In fact, they are grandmothers (and some grandparents) together with most of the staff of the restaurant born 10 years ago, whose name “Vollpension” means “full pension” and refers both to what Austrians receive from the state from the moment of retirement, and they receive the type of hotel stay that includes all meals. Grandmothers are the ones who prepare the sliced pies that are the core business of the restaurant, using only their own recipes (inherited, perhaps, from their grandmothers): apple pies, pies, chocolate pies, donuts, strudel, pies with seeds poppy, even some vegan declination.
Nothing particularly elaborate: they are the home cakes with which you grew up, fragrant and fragrant. There is no defined program: whoever is at work behind the counter at the four exposed ovens highlighted by neon that seem to float in the air prepares what they want, so it is always a surprise for customers. The proposals change every day. Those looking for certainties, for example when the fork can be plunged again into a slice of the legendary Sacher prepared by Johannes, must inquire about the work shifts. Because the Omas (grandmothers) and Opas (grandparents) of “part time work with the contract” which provides for a limited number of hours per week, “we can choose our shifts, when to come, every day changes everything here”, one of they are engaged in table service, an activity in which the “oldies” are joined by young people who are entering the world of work, or by students who need to be able to count on a small income to pay for their studies.
“They are all on the payroll – explains one of the owners, Moriz Piffl-Percevic – it was tough but we made it even during the lockdown period., we have not left them alone, for many of them that monthly income is important to reinforce their pensions, but also to chase away the loneliness that often accompanies the life of the elderly ”. In the period when everything was closed, Moritz and his other partners, all in their thirties, devised and implemented activities that saved the social enterprise they created. First of all the Back Akademie, where backen in German means to cook, inform and akademie is self-explanatory: online courses, also in live streaming, to learn how to prepare cakes and other desserts with the legendary grandparents as teachers in front of the camera. It took just a click, and despite the restrictions due to the pandemic, we found ourselves in the kitchen with a grandmother (or a grandfather) to discover the secrets of home baking. The operation went so well that the course offering has been expanded and continues to be successful, with online courses being joined by live ones in the studio where the videos are shot.
And then the idea of takeaway Butcheln: while most of the other Viennese places during the lockdowns offered the traditional Kaiserschmarrn (split crepes served with berry jam) in a take-away version, the kitchen of the Vollpension is offering differentiated take-away boxes of delicious Buchteln, the typical yeast dough sweets covered with vanilla sauce. They liked them so much that they remained the only fixed part of the Vollpension, the rest, in fact, depends on who is in the open kitchen. A traditional card therefore does not exist, you order by going to the table and looking at what is available. And the bill goes by time: in the restaurant at number 16 of Schleifmühlgasse, you order and pay for the time you want to stay at the table: 30 or 60 minutes, in the case of abundant breakfasts up to two hours. The cost always includes unlimited hot and cold drinks, and, depending on the formula chosen, a slice of cake, a large portion of Buchteln or whatever can delight the palate to start the day well. otherwise you must always be willing to wait in line, but there is always a grandfather or a grandmother who entertains you, talking about his life of knitting, card games or cooking recipes. It always depends on who is on duty.