Stockholm Kicks Starbucks To The Curb With The Retro 'Konditori Valand'
Starbucks might be attempting to create more of a cafe with their concept "15th Street Coffee & Tea" restaurant, but it will simply never equal the awesomeness of truly great, very authentic cafes that still exist and serve up homemade goods around the world. One such spot, which might not last too much longer as the owners grow old, is Stockholm's Konditori Valand.
The cafe, in the Surbrunnsgatan section of town, is run by Magdalena Åström, who has maintained the original interior of the cafe since it was begun and designed by her husband in 1954. The result is a mid-century modern stunner, with well-worn teak furniture and an imported black stone floor from Italy. The cafe is a fixture in German guidebooks and on the lists of retro furniture enthusiasts, but that doesn't mean that a regular old, design-appreciating tourist can't enjoy a coffee and slice of cake here.
Actually, what you'll be receiving with that coffee and slice of cake is something Starbucks can't even pretend to have: tradition. To this day, Magdalena still does all the baking, cooking and cleaning herself, and a healthy portion of the patrons have been coming to the Konditori Valand for over fifty years.
Nonetheless, all good things must come to an end, and Magdalena and her family are aging and she laments, on Classic Cafes, that no one wants her sort of a job anymore. So you have been warned that the Konditori Valand is an endangered design destination. We almost want to hightail it to Sweden right now just to sit swaddled in the mid-century modern. Mad Men fanatics should add this to their bucket lists for sure.
Related Stories:
· Konditori Valand, Stockholm [Mid-Century Modernist]
· Magdalena Åström, Konditori Valand, Stockholm [Classic Cafes]
· Coffee Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Mats Jonholt/Classic Cafes]
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