Café Einstein Unter den Linden occupies a ground-floor position on one of Europe's most deliberate boulevards — the avenue that runs from the Brandenburg Gate to Museum Island, lined with linden trees and the accumulated weight of Prussian ambition. The café operates in the Viennese tradition: leather banquette seating, white tablecloths, a row of black-and-white photographs running above the dado rail, and the particular quality of a room that expects its guests to stay. The Wiener Schnitzel and the coffee are the correct order; the Frühstück is unhurried and served until midday. Unter den Linden is at its best on a weekday morning before the tour groups arrive — which means the café is at its best then too: the room quiet, the coffee freshly prepared, and the boulevard outside still belonging to its own rhythm.
Mitte, Berlin, Germany