Demel

Demel opened on the Kohlmarkt in 1786 and received the title K.u.K. Hofzuckerbäcker, purveyor of confectionery to the imperial and royal court, under Franz Joseph. The shop has operated continuously on the same address ever since. The ground-floor patisserie counter is the project: the Anna-Demel Torte, the candied violets the Empress Elisabeth used to order, the layered Kardinalschnitten, and the legendary Demel-Sacher (the original Sachertorte, court-purveyed before Sacher's own hotel claimed the patent). The first-floor kaffeehaus is the sit-down register and operates as a working kaffeehaus despite the gift-box trade downstairs. Service is in the historical form, Demelinerinnen, the all-female waiting staff in black-and-white uniform, addressing customers in the third person (the famous Demel'sch).