Hammock Cafe in Warsaw's Coolest Library

Hammocks remind me of holiday, lazy days and summer. What could be more relaxing than reading a good book on a summer day in a hammock? Well, perhaps drinking coffee while swinging in a hammock?

In Warsaw at the University of Warsaw’s Library building there is a café where the seats are hammock swings that dangle from the ceiling. The concept is brilliant but not unique – there are at least a few famous hammock cafes in Japan. The café in Warsaw is called Fenomenalna Crepes & Café and they serve sweet and savoury crepes and other light snacks and drinks. The place used to be called “Sin Frontereas Café” as it still says in their coffee cups. At the café there are also regular chairs available. I think it is a wise idea since they serve food – it is not that easy to eat and swing in a hammock at the same time. Even with coffee it was a little challenging.

The University Library itself is a very modern. The building was designed by architects Marek Budzyński and Zbigniew Badowski and opened in 1999. Glass and steel are distinctive features of the Library’s architecture. The interior has a feeling of space and interior design is very minimalist. The Library garden, designed by Irena Bajerska, is located on the roof of the building. It is one of the largest roof gardens in Europe and definitely worth a visit. Seems like it is quite fun to be a student here - during breaks you can swing in a hammock or enjoy outdoors on the roof garden.

Fenomenalna Crepes & Cafe

Dobra 56/66 (University Library)

Warsaw, Poland

Funky Baroque at Royal Smushi Café

Hi again! I have been very busy lately and I had to take break from the blog. The list of cafes I want to write is becoming longer and longer but there just does not seem to be time for writing.  After my recent trip to Copenhagen there has been especially one particular place I have wanted to share. During my trip I found a clear favourite café and a highlight of Copenhagen – an extraordinary place with absolutely delicious coffee and food. This place is the Royal Smushi Café. A café that captured me in so many ways!

According to their website the founders of the Royal Smushi Café had felt that many cafes are nowadays too predictable and similar to each other and wanted to create a stunning experience with a soul. They describe the style of the café as funky baroque – design confusion, humorous, and chic. The funky interior design of the café is of course the first thing you seen when you enter.  The place is full of details but still the overall feeling is very bright and beautiful. There are big portraits and wall paintings on the walls together with smaller humorous and funky design items. I really admire their ability to create such a chic place - with all these different elements it is not self-evident at all to get this kind of atmosphere.

After tasting their cappuccino and raspberry chocolate mousse cake my opinion was clear: the Royal Smushi Café was love from the first cup. The cappuccino tasted amazing and the coffee cup was perfect (the cup was from next door porcelain shop the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain). The cake was definitely the best I had in Copenhagen. The combination of chocolate, raspberry, and coconut chips was absolutely heavenly and although it seemed like a big piece it was eaten to the last crumb.

On their menu, you find “Smushi”, their signature sandwiches created by using the two words “smørrebrød” and “sushi”. Apparently their food is amazing too. While there I discovered that the Royal Smushi Café is and has been recommended by the Michelin Guide for many years in a row. I should definitely start reading the Michelin guide more carefully! I had no idea of this in advance and it was actually an accident that I ended up in the Royal Smushi Café. Before my trip to Copenhagen I had received some tips of must go cafes in Copenhagen but no one had mentioned about the Royal Smushi Café. After my experience I will be sure to recommend this place to everyone going to Copenhagen. Go there! The place is actually right in the centre of Copenhagen, at the Amager Square. This is also the main shopping/turistic area so you should not miss it.

By the way Copenhagen was very windy – the new record 54 m/s wind hit Denmark during my trip there. Luckily when the storm hit I was safe inside at a café with a cup of coffee and a big piece of cake in front of me. The storm did not bother me that much J

Royal Smushi Cafe

Amagertorv 6

Copenhagen, Denmark

Coffee break and shopping at Rialto Living

Rialto Living is a store and coffee bar in the city of Palma de Mallorca. On the same place there used to be a theatre called the Theatre Rialto and the store is named after the theatre. Klas Käll who has a history at Gant is one of the founders of Rialto Living. The store sells a wide range of interior design, clothes, accessories, gifts etc. The concept of Rialto Living reminds me of Moko market in Helsinki, Finland – both of the stores have a really nice coffee bar integrated in the store. During my resent trip to Palma I paid a visit to Rialto Living. I enjoyed their coffee bar and ended up doing some shopping at the store as well. The place is on a side street from Passeig del Born which is one of the shopping streets in Palma. From Passeig del Born you will find for example Louis Vuitton, Zara and Uterqüe. By the way if you are not familiar with Uterqüe I highly recommend it for those who like to shop at stores like Zara and Massimo Dutti.

Coffee break at Rialto Living

Rialto Living

Carrer Sant Feliu 3C

Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Coffee cups, tables and more at Habitare

On Wednesday I had the chance to visit Habitare at Messukeskus in Helsinki. Habitare is an annual fair exhibiting interior decoration ranking from furniture and materials to art and design products.  Here are some of the things I spotted at the fair.

Coffee inspired graphic design in these sweet postcards caught my eye at the Polkajam stand. The postcards are designed by Kristiina Haapalainen and Sami Vähä-Aho. Naturally I bought a whole set of these.

Marimekko cups and textiles

Wood material was widely used at the stands and many times in the format of wooden euro pallets. I wrote about these also in my earlier post Trendy coffee table: wooden pallets. A big trend at the moment!

A more colourful coffee table by Tikkurila

Wine bottle cork inspired bar stools from Boknäs

A cake pop is a perfect little dessert to have with coffee. These cake pops made with Lékué’s silicone baking mould looked delicious at Mastermark Brands stand.

I spent the entire day at the fair and of course I had some coffee during the day - three cups in total to be exact. My first cup was at the Tori kahvila in the Reading corner located in the ahead! area. Tori kahvila’s coffee was filtered and served by Benjamin Andberg from Helsingin kahvipaahtimo. Benjamin told me that the coffee beans he used had been roasted only one day before – fresh coffee in so many terms!

The second cup I had was machine made at Miele's stand. They had a very nice coffee bar surrounded by newest Miele home equipment.  Their automatic coffee machine is meant to be integrated as part of the interior design. I could see this used at office type of environments but I am not sure who will have space for this at home? The machine uses beans but the taste of the coffee was very much the average what you can expect from an automatic machine.  

The Messukeskus exhibition centre has been recently renovated and especially the cafeterias and restaurants seemed to have gone through a big facelift. My third coffee was at Fazer café located at the newly renovated space in the entrance lobby. I can still remember how the café here looked before and I think that the renovation for this space has really made miracles. This was really needed here I would say.

Habitare is open until Sunday 22^nd - do you plan to visit?

Trendy coffee table: wooden pallets

Wooden Euro pallets seem to be at the moment the hot decoration piece for the trendy cafes. These wooden pallets traditionally used for product transport and storage are now turned in to furniture. Basically you can easily make a piece of furniture by using these wooden pallets. Either used or new wooden pallets can be used. The used ones might be too damaged and generally I think the ones used for furniture are bought for this use. Anyway, the pallets are not expensive to buy. Of course you can also find ready-made furniture made from these pallets in design interior shops.

The first time I saw a table made from wooden euro pallets was on the pages of an interior design magazine. I cannot remember anymore which magazine it was. On that moment it hit me: I want a table like that! I am not a handyman myself but with the help of my father I got the coffee table of my dreams! Since then I have seen these wooden pallets made into furniture in many other magazines, shops and now also in cafes in Finland and abroad. In my opinion these coffee tables made from wooden pallets on the one hand look very fresh and contemporary and on the other hand there is a hint of romanticism.

Here is my coffee/TV table 

The coffee bar desk made from wooden pallets in Kaffecentralen in Helsinki, Finland

Wooden pallets are also the key element of the interior desing in one of the trendiest places in Vienna to drink coffee, CaffeCouture.

Have you noticed this trend and what do you think about it? Is the wooden pallet table a smart piece of furniture or do think its place is in the warehouse?

Suomeksi: Eurolavat suosittuja sisustuksessa - Tee-se-itse kahvipöytä on nyt trendikäs