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).