Between Brexit and the growing discontent in other member states, it’s safe to say the European Union has seen better days. But perhaps one of the better examples of European unity in Brussels is not at the EU, but at a small Scandinavian-inspired coffee shop, called Fika.
Fika, famously, is the word for the coffee and cake break that is a daily tradition in Sweden and other Nordic countries. But one need not be in Scandinavia to appreciate a daily coffee ritual, or, as it turns out, minimalist café design. The interior at Fika is simple but elegant, with all of the natural light that Instagramers long for.
The coffee at Fika when I visited was roasted by Copenhagen-based April Coffee. In my biased American opinion, sometimes there’s a thin line between Scandnavian-light and underdeveloped, but I found my cup of autodrip, a Tanzania brewed on a Marco Bru, to be sweet and fruity. Soft berry notes made for a fruit-forward cup that still paired well with my chocolate and chia seed pastry. My espresso was dense and rich, with a moderate acidy and nice sweetness.
Certainly, Belgium has a long coffee history of its own, but this small consulate of Scandinavian coffee culture is not to be missed when in the Belgian capital. And yes, you do need a piece of cake to go with that.
Fika is located at Rue de la Paix 17, 1050 Ixelles, Belgium
Three flat screen televisions are showing The Wizard of Oz on mute while loud speakers blast classic 50s rock and roll. In the background, a dull screeching sound, accompanied by the immediately recognizable smell of roasting coffee, fills the expansive space. A small army of baristas, all dressed in identical horizontally striped shirts, swarm behind the bar, making drinks for the quickly growing queue of office workers on their lunch break. Somehow, all of these disparate things harmoniously join to create Petra Coffee’s headquarters in Istanbul’s Gayrettepe neighborhood….
When I first starting blogging about coffee, specialty coffee shops were few and far between, often in far flung places well off the beaten path. These days, it seems like you could throw a rock in any global mega city and hit a pretty decent coffee shop. In rare form, a recent trip to London saw me mostly visit coffee shops I happened upon (rather than meticulously — one might say obsessively — researched ahead of time). But even though I found these cafés by chance, I dare say they’re worth planning a visit to next time you’re in London.
