A new afternoon ritual has arrived at Café 21

Kaffee und Kuchen, our take on the much-loved German pleasure of coffee, cake and conversation.

It has its roots in Terry Laybourne’s early years as a young chef in southern Germany, where he first came across the tradition and saw first-hand the joy it brought. Coffee and cake, yes, but really something much more than that. A pause in the afternoon. A reason to meet. A slice of something lovely between lunch and dinner. No great performance, no painful planning, just time well spent with the people you like.

Afternoon Tea has been a much-loved part of Café 21. However, over time it has become something of an occasion. Lovely, certainly, but often saved only for birthdays, celebrations and those rare moments when everyone’s diary lines up.

We wanted to offer something more relaxed. Something that kept the luxury and the joy of sitting around a table with coffee, cake and conversation. Then, if the occasion demands, a glass of something sparkling, but without the ceremony that can sometimes get in the way.

From southern Germany, it is not hard to wander towards Vienna, where the afternoon cake table finds a little more finesse: think coffeehouses, tortes, pastries and the quiet confidence of people who understand that cake is not merely ‘afters’ – it is the entire point.

So, Afternoon Tea makes way for something we think feels much more accessible and much more Café 21. A new cake counter, filled daily with beautiful things to tempt you: generous cakes to slice, delicate pastries, seasonal bakes and the sort of sweet treats that make stopping for coffee feel like a very good idea.

The cakes will be available all day, whilst 3pm to 5pm becomes our new moment for coffee and cake or, if the afternoon calls for it, Cake and Bubbles.

To introduce this new ritual, we are launching with two cakes that nod directly to the tradition that inspired us: Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte and Versunkener Apfelkuchen, or as we would say: Black Forest Gâteau and German Apple Cake. These will change with the seasons, as all good things should, but they are without doubt the appropriate place to start.

A fitting first chapter for your new afternoon tradition. After all, every tradition has to have a beginning.