When Julia Kutas decided to open her second hiddenkitchen cafe, she may, or may not have been aware of this fact, nevertheless, we’re not surprised the hiddenkitchen park has been packed ever since its opening in late September.
“We’re finally starting to settle a bit. The first few weeks have been quite chaotic – everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong. We even had a power outage that left us unable to do anything for the day, not even cook.”
But Julia – one of those people as a calm as a shady tree – lets the constant ringing of her phone slide right off her as we talk. The airy cafe which sweeps around like a broad curve on a highway, holds the same calm. Julia’s also one of those people you get jealous of when they start to list off their major accomplishments as casually as you list off yo’r order when getting Chinese take-away. After studying Culture management and Art history, and starting a guerrilla pop-up catering business from home (hence the hidden kitchen reference in the name), she opened up her first lunch cafe in Färbergasse (1st district) 6 years ago.
Offering a daily changing menu made up of soup, a meat dish, a quiche, salad variations and stews, hiddenkitchen offers the light, fresh, healthy and quick lunch alternative that was missing in Vienna’s midday meal-scape. And as to be expected in such a place with that cleanly-shaven image, everything on the menu is prepared fresh daily, with organic ingredients. It’s no wonder the big hiddenkitchen sister in the first district became a hit so quickly, especially amongst office people sitting down for a light lunch, or taking a bunch of stuffed food containers with them to feed their hungry co-workers.
The beautifully and purposefully arranged interior of hiddenkitchen park is a lot more roomy than its big sister, offering a lot of cosy seating space to sit for hours. And while serving all the tasty lunch food its sister does, it’s also open in the mornings for breakfast, and on Saturday for brunch.
“We already have a lot of regulars, I really like that”, Julia says. “They love the sweet potatoes and the Böses Mandel-Nougat-Croissant (evil almond-nougat-croissant) and are really upset when they are too late to get one.”
Because at hiddenkitchen, if you’re unlucky enough to arrive after a certain dish has been sold out, you’ll have to wait until its prepared fresh the next day. Or the next season. This is a very pleasant detail that makes this homey, uncomplicated place even homey-er, as if you’re back at your parents’ place fighting for the last portion of spaghetti with your brother.
“All food is freshly prepared in this kitchen, and we deliver it to the other shop from here as well,” Julia explains. “I still help with the cooking a lot, to make sure everything goes right, and because I love to cook.”
It’s a food additive free-zone here, and the hiddenkitchen’s motto is making the most out of the natural flavour of the food’s ingredients. While this place is good looking, the magic happens in hiddenkitchen’s hidden kitchen.
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